Job description

About Kidogo:

Kidogo is dedicated to addressing the global childcare crisis, with a focus on increasing access to affordable, quality childcare in informal settlements across East Africa. Our innovative approach empowers local women, to improve substandard childcare services through a social franchising model. Our work is centered on early childhood development, nutrition, and women’s economic empowerment, ensuring that children receive the care they need to thrive. Through ongoing mentorship, coaching, and community support, we foster sustainable, community-driven change. Kidogo has become East Africa’s largest childcare network, making a measurable impact on developmental milestones, reducing malnutrition, and increasing the income of local women. Our holistic model not only addresses immediate childcare needs but also contributes to long-term systemic change in early childhood education and women’s empowerment.

Job Summary:

The Director of Monitoring, Evaluation, & Learning will lead the execution of an impact strategy to enhance the effectiveness, scalability, and sustainability of our work through data-driven monitoring, evaluation, and learning efforts. As both an individual contributor and a team leader, they will implement systems and processes that enable our data to be more reliable, accessible, and actionable – all with an eye towards ultimate impact. This role involves being able to move effortlessly between the forest and the trees and being comfortable working in the gray. This means partnering on strategic planning while simultaneously thinking through tactics and the details of a project management plan. This means authentically valuing different perspectives and closely collaborating with stakeholders and partners to ensure accurate and effective collection of data and insights. Perhaps most importantly, it means clarity of communication: this individual will bring people of different backgrounds along in understanding what our numbers mean and don’t mean so that decision-making rests on the right evidence.

Key Responsibilities:

(1) Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Leadership by Example

• Steward and execute an impact strategy that aligns with Kidogo’s mission as well as operational and policy goals.
• Serve as a thought-partner to senior leadership, board, and partners on leveraging data to power insights for improving the effectiveness of our work.
• Promote evidence-based decision-making and ensure that program inputs, activities, outputs, and outcomes are systematically tracked, reported, and understood across teams at different all levels of operations.
• Manage and support the professional development of the M&E team towards successful execution of work according to planned targets.

(2) Scalable MEL Systems, Processes and Products

• Drive the revamping of our quality assurance program to bring alignment between data collected and priority use-cases.
• Structure right-sized research projects to drive continuous improvement.
• Ensure the interoperability of data collection tools and with operational dashboards and other tracking systems; this includes closely partnering with our Director of Technology to align data streams and storage.
• Identify, streamline, and define clear measurements on performance metrics across programmatic areas.
• Develop automations around routine analyses and reports.

(3) Stakeholder Engagement

• Build and maintain relationships with stakeholders, including donors, community partners, and academic institutions.
• Ensure rigorous compliance with donor reporting requirements and contribute to the development of funding proposals.
• Support external evaluation and research collaborations.

Qualifications:

• Advanced degree in Education, Public Policy, Economics, Data Science or a related field.
• 6-10 years of relevant experience, with a strong background in impact measurement within a non-profit or social enterprise.
• Demonstrated proficiency in both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, combined with an obsession with the details that matter.
• Exceptional communication skills, both written and verbal; ability to synthesize and present complex data and concepts in a simple and meaningful way.
• Track record of building exceptional teams and bringing out the best in those you manage.
• Readiness to travel as needed to support program initiatives.
• Prior experience working with children/in informal communities in Kenya in early childhood development is an advantage.

Encouragement Statement:

If you’re excited about our mission and this role, but are unsure if you meet all the criteria, we encourage you to apply anyway. We are looking for passionate individuals who align with our values and are driven to make a difference

Shortlist is our exclusive recruitment exclusive partner for this role. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until the position is closed, though early applications are strongly encouraged.

To apply, click the “Easy Apply” button or share your cover letter and resume/LinkedIn profile using the contact details below. If you would like to refer someone from your network or have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us.

Ashbira Singh

Associate Partner

ashbira@shortlist.net

Alisha Coelho

Talent Consultant

alisha@shortlist.net