Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Officer

Cultivate; Newtown; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

Cultivate is seeking a Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Officer to lead participatory MEL for the Marches Food Systems for the Future project across Powys, Monmouthshire, Herefordshire and Shropshire.

You will design and implement a MEL framework, capture carbon savings, and support farmers and community leaders to reflect and adapt.  You will work with local coordinators and a communications colleague to translate findings into accessible outputs, ensuring inclusive participation and

Responsibilities

• Framework Design & Strategy: Collaboratively create a participatory MEL framework for the 12 community clusters and the wider Marches Bioregion, using simple, creative, and inclusive methods that allow participants to identify what is important to them.
• Carbon Tracking: Develop and manage a "carbon totaliser" tool to track estimated carbon savings directly linked to project activities (e.g. kg of food waste prevented, food miles reduced).
• Data Collection & Analysis: Support local project coordinators and community facilitators in collecting data, ensuring it represents the diversity of participants (including under-represented groups, youth, and farmers).
• Action & Learning Loops: Collate feedback and track progress against project outputs and outcomes to form the basis of a quarterly team review and reflection cycle.
• Advisory & Governance Support: Present evaluative data and insights to the six-monthly Advisory Board to help increase project impact, reach, and inclusivity.
• Storytelling & Dissemination: Support the Communications Officer in translating evaluation findings into accessible, creative assets- such as data for quarterly newsletters, social media metrics, blogs, and videos- ensuring participants can see how their views are used.
• Evidence Case Formulation: In the final year of the project, work closely with an external consultant and multi-stakeholder assemblies to develop a comprehensive evidence case pinpointing the economic and political levers for scaling up systemic change across councils, health boards, and farms.
• Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI): Embed EDI tracking mechanisms (such as part-postcode data collection) to monitor engagement with marginalised groups, refugees, people experiencing food poverty, and harder-to-reach agricultural sectors.

Job description

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Officer

As part of the Marches Food Partnership- a cross-border collaboration spanning Powys, Monmouthshire, Herefordshire, and Shropshire: Cultivate is delivering a transformative regional project: Marches Food Systems for the Future is funded by The National Lottery Community Fund's Climate Action Fund.

Our shared vision is of diverse communities connected through food, where people understand climate risks, collaborate to take action, and confidently transition to regenerative farming and localised food systems that reduce carbon impacts.

About the role

The Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Officer will design, lead, and execute the participatory monitoring, evaluation, and learning framework for this ambitious multi-county project. The role ensures that community cluster leaders, farmers, and regional partners can track their carbon reduction achievements, share qualitative successes, and continuously adapt project approaches through structured reflection loops.

Job Description

• Framework Design & Strategy: Collaboratively create a participatory MEL framework for the 12 community clusters and the wider Marches Bioregion, using simple, creative, and inclusive methods that allow participants to identify what is important to them.


• Carbon Tracking: Develop and manage a "carbon totaliser" tool to track estimated carbon savings directly linked to project activities (e.g. kg of food waste prevented, food miles reduced).


• Data Collection & Analysis: Support local project coordinators and community facilitators in collecting data, ensuring it represents the diversity of participants (including under-represented groups, youth, and farmers).


• Action & Learning Loops: Collate feedback and track progress against project outputs and outcomes to form the basis of a quarterly team review and reflection cycle.


• Advisory & Governance Support: Present evaluative data and insights to the six-monthly Advisory Board to help increase project impact, reach, and inclusivity.


• Storytelling & Dissemination: Support the Communications Officer in translating evaluation findings into accessible, creative assets- such as data for quarterly newsletters, social media metrics, blogs, and videos- ensuring participants can see how their views are used.


• Evidence Case Formulation: In the final year of the project, work closely with an external consultant and multi-stakeholder assemblies to develop a comprehensive evidence case pinpointing the economic and political levers for scaling up systemic change across councils, health boards, and farms.


• Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI): Embed EDI tracking mechanisms (such as part-postcode data collection) to monitor engagement with marginalised groups, refugees, people experiencing food poverty, and harder-to-reach agricultural sectors.