Malawi MEL Lead

About One Acre Fund

Founded in 2006, One Acre Fund equips 5.5 million smallholder farmers to make their farms more productive. Across nine countries that together are home to two-thirds of Africa's farmers, we provide high-quality farm supplies, tree seedlings, accessible credit, modern agronomic training, and a wide range of other agricultural services. On average, this model enables any farmer to increase their income and assets on supported land by more than 35 percent, while permanently improving their resilience. This is all made possible by our team of 9,000+ full-time staff, drawn from diverse backgrounds and professions. To learn more, please see our Why Work Here blog post.

Our Malawi program, founded in 2016, provides more than 670,000 farmers with quality farm supplies and training. Our office in Malawi is located in Zomba, in the country’s south. One Acre Fund works in Malawi’s southern region, which has the highest concentration of smallholder farmers in the country.

About the Role

The Malawi MEL Lead will independently lead all in-country evaluations across One Acre Fund Malawi's Agriculture, Agroforestry, and Carbon portfolios. They will have the opportunity to lead rigorous large-scale research projects to develop recommendations that will ultimately guide the Malawi program in a direction where we can deepen impact at scale. They will also lead a team of 100+ members and be responsible for their growth and well-being.

Responsibilities

Oversee Malawi MEL Execution

• Independently lead in-country or program-level impact evaluation and studies
• Establish and continuously improve frameworks, processes and procedures for quality assurance, in consultation with key stakeholders including but not limited to the Global MEL team. 

Analysis and Reporting:

• Update existing analysis plans and develop new analysis for new programs/ business units within the Malawi program.
• Develop high quality survey reports and presentations (including summarising the key findings and proposing actionable recommendations). 

Drive evidence to action through effective stakeholder engagement  

• Work closely with the Program teams and other Global stakeholders to ensure the MEL results and recommendations are understood and acted upon.
• Strengthen availability and use of high-quality MEL data for decision-making at all levels of the organization.
• Contribute to the development of Malawi’s impact deepening strategy

Team Management

• Contribute to the development of MEL OKRs based on MWs Impact Strategy as well as Global MEL’s priorities. 
• Manage all human resource matters within the department including overseeing the hiring and development of MEL staff.
• Oversee the departments’ budgeting and financial management ensuring that growth and efficiencies are explored without sacrificing team sustainability and data quality.

Career Growth and Development

We have a strong culture of constant learning and we invest in developing our people. You’ll have weekly check-ins with your manager, access to mentorship and training programs, and regular feedback on your performance. We hold career reviews every six months, and set aside time to discuss your aspirations and career goals. You’ll have the opportunity to shape a growing organization and build a rewarding long-term career.

Qualifications

Across all roles, these are the general qualifications we look for. For this role specifically, you will have:

• Strong academic or professional experience designing and implementing evaluations and analysing data (e.g. with large scale data collection and field team management).
• Knowledge of evaluation concepts and mastery of experimental and quasi-experimental evaluation designs.
• Strong analytical skills, especially the use of statistical techniques leveraged in impact evaluation measurement strategies (e.g. propensity score matching, difference in difference, regression discontinuity, etc.).
• Knowledge of statistical software, such as Stata or R
• Strong project management skills with the ability to oversee multiple projects with various levels of complexity at the same time.
• A clear and compelling written communication style with an eye for design and visual presentation.

Preferred Start Date

As soon as possible

Job Location

Zomba, Malawi

Benefits

Health insurance, housing, and comprehensive benefits

Eligibility

One Acre Fund can support a work permit for this role. However, nationals of (or those with an extensive professional background and work history in) our countries of operation are preferred.

Application Deadline

20 November 2026. Please note that we hire on a rolling basis which means that applications are reviewed and processed on a continuous basis until a hire is made.

One Acre Fund never asks candidates to pay any money or pay for tests at any stage of the interview process. Official One Acre Fund emails will always arrive from an @oneacrefund.org address. Please report any suspicious communication here (globalhotline@oneacrefund.org), but do not send applications or application materials to this email address.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI), and anti-racism are deeply connected to our organization’s mission and purpose. One Acre Fund aspires to build a culture where all staff feel consistently valued, represented, and connected – so that our team can thrive as professionals, and achieve exceptional impact for the farmers we serve.

We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity or expression. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.