Program Associate

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.

About the Role

The Senior Program Associate (Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning) will independently manage the full MEL country program in the DRC, driving data-backed strategies to achieve more impact per farmer. You will design rigorous evaluation studies, spearhead advanced statistical analysis in Stata or R, and lead a dedicated departmental team to translate data into actionable organizational decisions. Over time, this role offers a clear pathway to shaping the broader, long-term impact strategy for a rapidly scaling organization while managing and growing your own team.

Responsibilities

MEL Vision and Strategy

• Engage with in-country leadership on short-term MEL priorities
• Contribute to the short-term Impact Division strategy
• Run departmental strategy meetings and set short-term MEL priorities
• Develop and set departmental objectives and key results 
• Build consensus with all stakeholders on MEL recommendation and track and report on their implementation 

Design and Implement Studies

• Conceptualize the key impact pathways and draft the Theory of Change 
• Conceptualize and develop study design, including an evaluation strategy and implementation plan
• Calculate the sample size and define the sample selection process, select the sample and prepare the control sheet
• Revise and develop  questionnaires, including stakeholder consultations

Clean and analyze data

• Update existing and develop new analysis plans, based on previous reports and/or do files/ R scripts
• Edit existing cleaning .do file / R script and develop new cleaning files for complex surveys
• Produce summary statistics with Stata or R , Run regressions (i.e. yield drivers) and distribution analysis, with minimal errors
• Run more advanced analysis (PSM, PCA...), with some manager support
• Conceptualize and run novel impact measurement analyses, with some manager support
• Peer review (incl. direct reports, other country leads, etc.) do files / R scripts 

Reporting

• Develop final survey reports and presentations (including summarizing the key findings and proposing actionable recommendations) that are of a high quality, with minimal manager support

Project and Budget Management

• Develop overall project management dashboard for the department, with minimal oversight
• Develop survey specific dashboards. Monitor and ensure timely execution 
• Progress updates on specific tasks and related documentation
• Develop annual MEL budget

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:

• Can produce written deliverables with no revision necessary
• Able to independently conduct highly complex analyses using inferential statistics in Excel and Stata and/or R and present them in a clear manner with little error
• Able to efficiently and independently clean data in Stata and/or R
• Able to advise on optimal evaluation design with minimal supervisor support
• Able to independently program surveys into commcare or oversee that programming done by others. 
• Able to manage a team by setting goals and reviewing staff performance. 
• Understand complex topics and can communicate them in a simple and concise manner
• Communicate appropriately in accordance with changing cultural frameworks
• Computer literacy and typing speed are at a level where no further improvement Is necessary
• Language: Upper Intermediate Level of French and English

Preferred Start Date

As soon as possible

Job Location

Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

Benefits

Health insurance, housing, and comprehensive benefits

Contract Duration

1 year

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

29 October 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.