Sr. Manager, Monitoring, Evaluation, & Learning

Title: Senior Manager, Monitoring, Evaluation, & Learning

Location: Remote

Reports to: Senior Director, Strategy & Innovation

Start Date: Q4 2025

Grassroot Soccer

Grassroot Soccer (GRS) is a rapidly growing adolescent health organisation that leverages the power of soccer to educate, inspire, and mobilise at-risk youth in developing countries to overcome their greatest health challenges, live healthier, more productive lives, and be agents for change in their communities. Since 2002, GRS has reached over 2 million young people in 50 countries with life-saving HIV prevention and sexual and reproductive health information and services. Grassroot Soccer is looking to significantly scale its impact via partnerships over the next five years, and reach over 1 million young people annually.

Position Description:

The Senior Manager (SM) is responsible for setting the strategic direction for Grassroot Soccer’s (GRS) monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) approach, ensuring it is aligned with our Global Theory of Change and responsive to the evolving needs of our adolescent health programmes. The SM oversees the organisation’s MEL function, ensuring our systems capture, analyse, and share high-quality data that drive both accountability and continuous learning across all business units.

A core responsibility of the SM is to foster a culture of evidence-informed decision-making at GRS - ensuring that data are usable, practical, and readily available to inform organisational strategy, programme design, and innovation. The SM works in close partnership with the Research team to integrate learning into all stages of programme delivery, from design to adaptation, and to generate insights that strengthen our collective impact.

The SM is accountable for:

• Managing systems to measure and report on GRS’s key performance indicators,
• Ensuring compliance with donor reporting and grant management requirements, and
• Supporting GRS Impact Teams and a network of local implementing partners to deliver measurable, sustainable outcomes across 10–15 countries each year.

The SM will supervise MEL personnel, collaborate with the Research team on shared learning initiatives, and work closely with Impact Teams and partner organizations to ensure our MEL systems capture the full scope of our impact in line with our Global Theory of Change. The SM reports to the Senior Director, Strategy & Innovation.

The ideal candidate is a team-oriented senior manager, proactive problem-solver, and quantitative thinker who can “see the story in the numbers” and communicate confidently with both internal and external audiences. They will have a demonstrated ability to identify gaps in systems, implement effective solutions, and champion the use of data for both accountability and learning.

We are seeking a leader who is both visionary and hands-on - someone who can modernise MEL systems, embed a culture of learning, and ensure data drives decision-making across the organisation. The ideal candidate will be:

• A Strategic Innovator and Communicator: Able to see the big picture and chart the path to get there, leveraging mobile technology, AI tools, and standardised quantitative indicators. Skilled at translating complex data into clear, compelling insights that shape strategy and inspire action.
• A Learning-Oriented Leader: Committed to continuous improvement, embedding rapid learning cycles, and connecting research with practice. Able to share lessons in ways that engage diverse audiences, from field teams to global partners.
• A Data-Driven Change Agent: Championing data quality and usability, leading cost-effectiveness analyses, and guiding resource allocation with evidence. Thrives in managing change across cultures and geographies, with communication that motivates teams to adapt and innovate.

The Senior Manager should thrive in a matrixed organisation and be adept at coordinating with all Global functions, including Global Programs, Business Development, Fundraising, Marketing & Communications, and Finance & Operations.

Primary Responsibilities:

Lead GRS’s Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL) Cycle (40%)

• Set the strategic direction for MEL, ensuring alignment with GRS’s Global Theory of Change and organisational priorities.
• Manage two global MEL staff (Assistant Systems Analyst & Developer, Coordinator, MEL) and provide functional guidance to MEL staff in Impact Teams.
• Ensure Impact Team staff are trained in data collection, MEL systems, consistent quantitative indicators, and the use of data for decision-making.
• Partner with the Research Manager to design and implement rapid learning cycle assessments that generate actionable insights for programme adaptation.
• Lead the creation and rollout of implementation standards and process indicators to assess and improve programme quality alongside results data.
• Deploy and manage dedicated paid data collectors in priority geographies to strengthen data quality and timeliness.

Strengthen MEL Tools, Systems, Indicators and Data Quality (30%)

• Oversee the design and implementation of MEL plans, systems, and processes, ensuring standardised quantitative indicators are used across all programmes and countries.
• Lead GRS’s transition to and optimisation of mobile-based MEL systems, improving real-time data access and quality.
• Chair the Salesforce Governance Committee, ensuring the platform holds all data needed for organisational KPIs and is supported by strong governance protocols.
• Explore and pilot the integration of AI tools into MEL systems and processes to improve data collection efficiency, analysis, visualisation, and reporting.
• Establish and enforce annual and mid-year cut-off dates for data input to improve timeliness and accountability.
• Conduct routine data quality assessments and verification protocols, with feedback loops to field and partner teams.
• Analyse the global dataset to identify trends, risks, and dependencies such as reliance on certain partners or delivery models, and advise senior leadership on implications for MEL systems and resources.
• Expand the use of Salesforce to replace key spreadsheets, prioritising data of greatest organisational value and risk.

Leadership, Learning, and External Collaboration (30%)

• Build a culture of learning across GRS by integrating MEL and research insights into programme design, strategic planning, and organisational decision-making.
• Oversee preparation of MEL and learning outputs, including Tableau dashboards, data visualisations, and narrative briefs.
• Lead the analysis of programme cost-effectiveness to inform strategic resource allocation, programme design, and donor engagement.
• Establish a standard internal annual global reporting template as the single source of truth for organisational results, accompanied by analysis of key trends and drivers.
• Collaborate closely with Fundraising, Institutional Philanthropy, and Marketing & Communications to ensure MEL insights and consistent quantitative impact measures are effectively integrated into donor proposals, reports, and public communications.
• Facilitate regular learning forums such as quarterly learning calls to share global data, evaluation results, and thematic insights across geographies.
• Manage the MEL budget, aligning resources with organisational learning and impact priorities.

The ideal candidate should hold qualifications and demonstrate exceptional skills in the following areas:

Qualifications

• Master’s degree or higher in public health, business, social sciences, or a related field.
• 8 - 10 years of progressive management experience.
• Proven expertise in both qualitative and quantitative programme evaluation methods in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Experience applying technology solutions, including AI tools, to strengthen MEL systems and processes is strongly preferred.
• Preferred expertise in MEL in one or more of the following areas for programs in Sub-Saharan Africa: implementation science, adolescent health, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), HIV and AIDS, and mental health.
• Experience in programme cost-effectiveness analysis and using cost data to inform decision-making is an asset.

Skills

• Inspiring and leading teams while ensuring accountability for results.
• Managing change within a growing organisation.
• Building strong relationships with a wide range of staff and partners, and operating effectively across diverse social and cultural contexts, often virtually across multiple continents and time zones.
• Thinking strategically while knowing when to engage with the details.
• Communicating effectively, both verbally and in writing, with diverse external and internal stakeholders, including senior leadership, board members, staff, young people, civil society leaders, and government officials, with a particular ability to translate research and MEL data into action across the organisation.
• Designing and managing M&E databases, reporting systems, and related personnel.
• Proficiency in data management and statistical software (MS Access, STATA, SAS, or SPSS preferred).
• Ability to identify and pilot innovative tools, including AI-enabled solutions, to improve MEL efficiency and data use.
• Strong analytical skills, including the ability to interpret and present cost-effectiveness data to inform strategy and resource allocation.

Successful leaders at Grassroot Soccer are bold, yet humble. They are passionate about the mission of Grassroot Soccer, and understand their role on the Grassroot Soccer team to achieve its mission.

Day to day, they are….

• Proactive: can anticipate both opportunities and obstacles and take action, with a drive towards results
• Professional: level-headed; ability to de-escalate difficult situations, behave exceptionally, and manage/minimize distractions
• Problem Solvers: comfortable with ambiguity, can creatively unlock bottlenecks and turn problems into opportunities

…they demonstrate lots of…

• Common Sense: prioritizing the right things at the right time; making good, quick, informed decisions balancing multiple issues and points of view
• Self-awareness: know where one’s blind spots are, recognise differences, and build a team to complement one’s skills and weaknesses

…and a strong bias for…

• Follow-through and outcomes: deliver results, not just create lots of activity
• Treating people well: empathetic, kind, great listener, yet can make tough decisions and hold oneself/others accountable

All candidates should apply using the following link: https://forms.gle/rdqTTsysCaDVw7Gd6

Application Deadline: Open until filled. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

At GRS, we are committed to fostering a workplace where all employees feel valued, supported, and empowered. We offer a comprehensive benefits package designed to promote well-being, including health insurance, dental insurance, retirement plan, paid time off, professional development opportunities and more.

At Grassroot Soccer, we are committed to offering competitive and fair compensation. Salaries are determined based on multiple factors, including experience, qualifications, and the geographic location.

We are an equal opportunity employer and believe in fair and equitable pay practices. We are committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, ensuring that all employees, regardless of background, have equal access to opportunities for growth and success.

Grassroot Soccer does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. We strive to create an inclusive workplace that reflects the diverse communities we serve.