Learning and Evaluation Officer, Africa

Join us in our mission to power the potential of young people

Global Fund for Children (GFC) works to build a world where all children and youth are safe, strong, and valued. We partner with innovative, locally-led organizations, helping them deepen their impact and build their capacity for social change. By pairing flexible funding with targeted capacity development support, we help our partners grow stronger and more responsive to challenges on the ground.

Over the last thirty years, we have invested more than $60 million in over 1000 community-based organizations around the world. Our work advances the rights of children and youth across four focus areas: education, gender justice, safety and wellbeing, youth power, climate resilience, and solidarity in emergencies.

You will join a multinational team of caring and committed individuals who believe in investing in bold ideas to help grassroots organizations deepen their impact and advocate for children’s rights. We value courage, excellence, learning, partnership, and inclusion, as well as kindness and passion. Our partners’ visions for change inspire all we do. Feedback and learning inspire us to do better, and we strive to be youth-centered.

The role:
We are seeking a Learning and Evaluation Officer to support our 3-year 'Thriving through Play' initiative, which promotes children’s mental health and well-being through play-based interventions in refugee and host communities in Kenya and Uganda. This multi-year project integrates participatory grantmaking and a community-led approach, focusing on building the monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) capacity of 20 community-based partners and developing a robust evidence base to enhance programming and sustainability.

In this role, you will provide intensive MEL support to partners, helping them document and evaluate their play-based interventions, capture key learnings, and refine their approaches. You will work collaboratively with community-based partners to develop contextually relevant MEL frameworks, applying emergent learning principles to ensure adaptability and foster knowledge sharing across the cohort.

What will you be doing?

• In collaboration with the Africa programs team as well as the Learning and Evaluation team, you will:
• Strengthen the monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) capacity of 20 community-based partners and developing a robust evidence base to enhance programming and sustainability
• Develop contextually relevant MEL frameworks tailored to community needs.
• Apply an Emergent Learning (EL) approach to guide reflective practices, including learning logs and action reviews.
• Organize events and creative spaces for partners to connect both virtually and in person.
• Collect, analyze, and synthesize qualitative data to track progress and impact.
• Collaborate with external stakeholders like the LEGO Foundation and its learning partner, Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) to align with the initiative’s learning agenda.
• Immerse in learning and evaluation spaces to strengthen civil society engagement in positive change.
• Coordinate with GFC’s team and partner cohorts in other sub-regions, particularly in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

About you

We are always looking for people who enjoy building strong trust-based relationships with diverse grassroots leaders and groups, particularly young leaders. We need people with as much passion for fighting for a more equitable world as they have for mastering all the pieces of learning and evaluation, from early planning to final reporting and reflection.

Essential experience and skills

• Commitment to participatory approaches that support community-based organizations.
• Experience in developing flexible MEL systems responsive to community needs.
• Knowledge of play-based interventions for children's well-being.
• Proven ability to work collaboratively with diverse stakeholders and enhance evaluation capacity in resource-limited organizations.
• Proficiency in guiding organizations through reflective practices based on emerging insights.
• Strong organizational skills with a track record of meeting deadlines.
• Expertise in qualitative research methods; familiarity with quantitative methods is a plus.
• At least an undergraduate degree in social sciences, public policy, applied research, or related fields; a master’s degree is preferred.
• Understanding of children’s rights, psycho-social development, or child protection topics.
• Three or more years of professional experience demonstrating time management, critical thinking, attention to detail, and cross-cultural communication skills.
• Full professional fluency in English and Swahili

Desirable experience and skills

• Fluency in French and/or other regional language in East Africa
• Creative facilitation skills
• Experience with participatory practices and/or community-led social change
• Experience with Salesforce

What we offer you
Our team dreams big.

We work together to build a world where all children and youth are safe, strong and valued.

GFC fosters a caring work environment that promotes collaboration, respect, and professional development. We set standards of excellence and quality in our work, firmly believing that children and youth deserve the best we can offer.

We believe that every person has equal rights, and we affirm the diversity that enriches our globalized world. In line with these core values, it is our policy to actively seek diverse candidates from a variety of backgrounds who are committed to Global Fund for Children’s mission.

Our values shape our vision, guide our daily decision making, and signal to the world what to expect when you encounter Global Fund for Children. We hold ourselves to these values to best serve our local partners and the children and youth they support. We attract talented people from all over the world because we believe deeply in living our values.

Salary - Monthly salary of $2200-$2500 USD equivalent, payable in local currency. May increase depending upon your professional experience

Working Location – The position will be located in Kenya or Uganda. Applicants should be legally authorized to work in one of these countries.

Benefits - We strive to build a culture that embraces care and wellbeing. Our global employee benefits include:
• Paid time off, including vacation and sick leave
• Opportunities for training and professional development

How do I apply?
If this sounds like you, we want to hear from you. You can read more about working at GFC here: https://globalfundforchildren.org/careers/

Instead of a traditional cover letter, please use our online application to 1) upload your Resume or CV and 2) answer the following questions:

• What is it about this role that makes it a good fit for you?
• What are some norms in learning and evaluation practices that you would like to see shifted and how might that be possible in this role?
• Which one of GFC’s organizational values do you identify with the most and why?

The deadline for applications is Tuesday, December 31st at midnight UTC.