Agricultural Economist & Team Lead

Sydani Group · 2 months ago
Opening closed.
Location
Nigeria
Employment Type
Contract
Closed On
21 Sep, 2026

Position: Agricultural Economist & Team Lead

Organisation:  Sydani Group

Project:  Development and Deployment of an Integrated Software Package (MIS) for Monitoring, Evaluation and Knowledge Management - SAPZ Programme

Reports To:  The Agriculture Division Lead

Location:  Hybrid - based at the Sydani Group Office (Abuja), with regular travel to the National Coordination Office and participating states (Cross River, Imo, Kaduna, Ogun, Oyo) for stakeholder engagement, deployment and training

Contract Type:  Short-Term Consultancy

Contract Duration:  6 months (Development & Deployment Phase), with continued engagement through post-deployment support as required


Job Description

The Agricultural Economist & Team Lead will serve as Sydani's overall technical and delivery lead for the SAPZ Integrated MIS assignment, carrying end-to-end responsibility for the agricultural, monitoring & evaluation (M&E), and GIS/technical dimensions of the engagement. This is a leadership role, not a liaison role: the position holder directs the assignment's technical direction, coordinates Sydani's technology development team and the project implementation team as a single delivery unit, and is personally accountable for the quality, coherence and donor-compliance of the system design, indicator framework, M&E Manual and Performance Monitoring Plan (PMP).

The position holder acts as the primary point of accountability for the M&E/MIS workstream, and is expected to have previously led, not merely contributed to, at least one comparable M&E/MIS/GIS system development assignment for a donor-funded programme.


Job Responsibilities


1. Overall Project Leadership & Coordination

  1. Provide overall technical leadership and delivery accountability for the M&E/MIS workstream, directing the efforts of Sydani's technology team as the delivery unit
  2. Own the assignment workplan for the M&E/technical/GIS components, track progress against milestones, and escalate risks, delays or scope issues to Sydani's Project Manager promptly
  3. Chair internal technical coordination meetings between the technology and GIS workstreams and ensure alignment with the SAPZ results framework and donor requirements
  4. Serve as the designated Focal Person/Team Leader for the assignment in dealings with the National Programme Coordinator, NPMEO, and donor representatives, consistent with the Project TOR's reporting structure


2. Review of Relevant Materials

  1. Study and review existing M&E software/MIS deployed under comparable AfDB/IFAD-funded programmes (ATASP-1, VCDP, LIFE-ND, and others) to identify best-fit features and adaptable lessons for the SAPZ system
  2. Review the SAPZ Flexible Accounting Software and its Chart of Accounts to inform the coding logic linking the Annual Workplan and Budget (AWPB) module to disbursements
  3. Conduct a desk review of SAPZ Programme documents (appraisal report, design report, programme implementation manual, accounting software report) to extract key performance indicators, M&E reporting requirements, and disaggregation needs (by result level, component/sub-component, state, gender/youth, and donor)


3. Technical Direction & GIS Integration

  1. Direct the correct scoping, integration and on-schedule delivery of GIS/geospatial deliverables (mapping, geo-tagging, spatial database structure) by the technology team
  2. Maintain oversight and sign-off authority over the technical, GIS, and M&E components of the assignment
  3. Represent the M&E/agricultural economics and overall technical perspective in client and stakeholder meetings, including milestone demo presentations, as the assignment's lead technical spokesperson


4. Design Leadership for the Integrated M&E System

  1. Provide technical direction to ensure the system tracks SAPZ activities, interventions, and beneficiaries, and supports data collection, aggregation, analysis, visualization, and reporting (state, donor, quarterly, and consolidated reports) against donor core indicators and SAPZ KPIs
  2. Lead the cataloguing of SAPZ performance indicators by programme component, with clear descriptions and disaggregation logic
  3. Direct the approach to consolidating real-time data from related digital platforms (E-Voucher programme, Farmer Registry, Bundled Agricultural Services) to ensure consistency and compatibility across systems
  4. Set requirements for the customized offline/online mobile data collection application, ensuring GIS compliance and alignment with M&E data needs


5. M&E Manual and Performance Monitoring Plan (PMP)

  1. Lead the preparation of a comprehensive M&E Manual for the SAPZ Programme
  2. Lead the preparation of a comprehensive Performance Monitoring Plan (PMP), consistent with donor (AfDB/IFAD/IsDB) results-based management standards
  3. Ensure both documents reflect the final indicator framework, disaggregation requirements, and reporting cadence built into the MIS, and hold final quality sign-off before client submission


6. Capacity Building and Knowledge Transfer

  1. Direct content and technical quality assurance for the monitoring and visualization dashboard, ensuring KPI definitions, targets, and baseline values are accurately represented
  2. Lead pilot testing of the integrated software and central database to validate M&E functionality
  3. Lead the design and delivery of the capacity-building programme for SAPZ staff and state-level users on the M&E platform, M&E Manual, and PMP
  4. Establish the support and technical assistance framework from an M&E/user-adoption standpoint


7. Project Management and Reporting

  1. Hold overall authorship and sign-off responsibility for the M&E/technical sections of the Inception, Interim, Deployment, and Completion Reports required under the assignment
  2. Lead stakeholder consultations, milestone demonstrations, and project meetings, presenting consolidated progress and resolving cross-workstream issues
  3. Manage day-to-day risk, quality and timeline accountability for the M&E/MIS workstream and report formally to Sydani's Project Director
  4. Perform other tasks relevant to the assignment as assigned by Sydani's Managing Partner


Expected Deliverables

  1. Review/comparison note on relevant M&E software (ATASP-1, VCDP, LIFE-ND) with recommended adaptable features
  2. Consolidated technical direction and alignment notes across the Sydani technology team and the project implementation team
  3. Finalised SAPZ KPI/indicator catalogue and dashboard content, signed off by the Team Lead
  4. Draft and final M&E Manual
  5. Draft and final Performance Monitoring Plan (PMP)
  6. M&E, technical and agricultural economics sections of the Inception, Interim, Deployment, and Completion Reports, reviewed and signed off prior to submission
  7. Training materials and delivery for the M&E component of user capacity building
  8. Evidence of demonstrable prior leadership of a comparable M&E/MIS/GIS system development assignment, to be referenced in stakeholder and donor engagements as required


Job Qualifications

Aligned with, and not lower than, the expert qualification requirements set out for the Team Leader and Agricultural Economist position:

  1. Master's degree in Agricultural Economics, Economics, Management Information Systems (MIS), Geographical Information Systems (GIS), Computer Engineering/Science, Electrical/Electronic Engineering, or Development Economics. PhD is preferred.
  2. Minimum of 15 years' post-qualification experience, of which at least 10 years' proven, hands-on experience in the development and deployment of M&E software, M&E systems, Management Information Systems (MIS) and GIS for donor-assisted projects
  3. Demonstrated prior experience leading - as team/technical lead, not solely as a contributing member, the development of at least one comparable M&E/KM/GIS system for a donor-funded programme
  4. At least 5 years' direct experience in the preparation of M&E manuals and Performance Monitoring Plans (PMPs), consistent with the Project ToR's Agricultural Economist benchmark.
  5. Working proficiency in GIS platforms, spatial databases (e.g. PostGIS, Oracle Spatial), and geospatial programming (Python, JavaScript, SQL) sufficient to direct and quality-assure a technical GIS team
  6. Strong grounding in results-based management frameworks, logical frameworks, and theory of change models
  7. Experience with donor-funded (AfDB/IFAD/IsDB or similar) agricultural/rural development programmes in Nigeria strongly preferred
  8. Proven stakeholder engagement, team leadership, coordination, and technical writing skills, including experience representing a consulting team before donor and government stakeholders
  9. Ability to direct and translate between technical (software/GIS development) and non-technical (M&E/agricultural) teams as the single point of accountability for both


Reporting Line

Reports to the Agriculture Division Lead on overall delivery and serves as the assignment's Team Leader and Focal Person to the National Programme Coordinator and National Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation Officer, in line with the Project ToR. Holds direct supervisory and quality-assurance authority over the M&E, technical development, and team lead of the various workstreams of the assignment.

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