MEL Lead
Posted 28 Aug 2026
Advertised as “Zambia MEL Lead”
BranchFactor Summary
The original posting with the fluff stripped out
- Expected experience
- 4+ yrs
- Management level
- People management
- Visa sponsorship
- Not offered
No salary listed for this role.
Field of studyAgricultural Economics, Development Studies, Economics, Statistics (or related)
Study levelBachelor's
Study levelMaster's or higher
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.
In Zambia, from our hub in Kabwe, we run a specialised climate-smart input and agroforestry program to address challenges such as irregular rainfall and soil degradation. By partnering with local Tree Nursery Operators, we raise and distribute agroforestry trees that enrich soils and build long-term financial resilience. Supported by a structured frontline field team across Central and Southern Provinces, we use rigorous, data-driven frameworks to measure our impact and ensure we drive meaningful improvements in farmer yields, asset accumulation, and food security.
About the Role
We are seeking an exceptional MEL professional with 4+ years of experience to run our day-to-day field data collection operations, and statistical analysis, strengthen data quality, and manage our 13-person field implementation teams. You will coordinate the entire survey lifecycle from questionnaire scripting and data cleaning to field deployment across our operational districts, ensuring our climate-smart agriculture and agroforestry programs are backed by bulletproof evidence to drive impact for smallholder farmers in Zambia. As the team’s direct link to our Global MEL team, you'll be based in Kabwe and report to our Research and Data Lead.
Responsibilities
Survey Design & Data Management
- Design statistically sound data collection instruments and survey methodologies tailored to rural agricultural interventions.
- Establish rigorous data management workflows, cleaning protocols, and automated quality assurance checks to minimise data errors.
- Continuously audit and improve data collection processes to streamline reporting pipelines.
Survey Analysis
- Analyse survey data using statistical software (R, Python, etc.) to produce summary statistics and rigorous impact analysis and other statistical analysis as needed (e.g. regression, multi-level modeling, and difference-in-difference methods).