Job Title: MEAL Coordinator
Location: Bor.
Reports to; Area 1 MEAL MANAGER dotted line to Senior Programme Manager
Contract Period: 6 Months
CHILD SAFEGUARDING:
Level 3 - the responsibilities of the post may require the post holder to have regular contact with or access to children or young people.
ROLE PURPOSE
The job holder is responsible for providing oversight for the NORAD Education Program MEAL function and will work with the MEAL Department, Technical Specialists, Partners’ programme teams to design and lead a strong Education MEAL system. The MEAL system’s objective is to ensure harmonized and aligned data collection and monitoring to inform decision-making, accountability, reporting and learning in a timely and strategic manner.
The MEAL Coordinator ensures that the program undertakes routine continuous Quality Improvement & data quality assessment, has information briefs, regular sharing of Programme updates with stakeholders, a mechanism for collecting, tracking and responding to feedback and complaints from Programme stakeholders.
In addition, the job holder ensures that Quality Benchmarks are used during program implementation of activities and puts in place a tailor-made documentation strategy for impact stories, reports, and best practices. The MEAL Coordinator will cultivate a culture of learning within the program and ensure that lessons learnt from pilots, programme interventions and working in consortia are documented, shared between partners and with key stakeholders and contribute to national and global level learning and research. The staff is responsible for ensuring that Programme data on outputs and outcome progress is collected, analyzed and synthesized accurately and in a timely manner; supports training of Programme team and partners in quality data collection and management including use of data to inform decisions on the Programme priorities. The job holder may be called upon as and when necessary to support the emergency team in cases of humanitarian crisis.
SKILLS AND BEHAVIOURS (SCI Values in Practice)
Accountability:
• Holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
• Holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved
Ambition:
• Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves (and their team), takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages others to do the same
• Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
• Future orientated, thinks strategically
Collaboration:
• Builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, members and external partners and supporters
• Values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength
• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to
Creativity:
• Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
• Willing to take disciplined risks
Integrity:
• Honest, encourages openness and transparency.
KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:
A: Program design:
• Assess the needs and capacities of the target communities.
• Involve communities in problem analysis and project design.
• Implement gender assessment studies and other key project deliverables in line with the theory of change.
B: Set up a strong MEAL system and operationalize MEAL in all field locations
• In close collaboration with the NORAD Education Manager and Partners, put in place an operational MEAL plan including setting up of mechanisms to monitor and document the progress of implementation of Programme activities, Specifically,
• Ensuring that MEAL planning and discussion are held will all project staff, partners, and key stakeholders before and after the project kick off meetings.
• Developing the project MEAL pack (Project Log frames, detailed M&E plan, Activity Targets Trackers (ATTs), Quality Benchmarks, IPTs, accountability, Data audit and learning plans) within the 1st three months of the project life in close collaboration with the project team and partners
• Results monitoring and Learning for decision making by tracking and maintaining Project Performance Tracker (IPTT) to flag/address required performance improvements on monthly basis.
• Conduct, analyse and disseminate monthly IPTT/outcome monitoring, Evaluations/Evaluations, program studies/research.
• Analyse project data from the project team and produce strategic analysis for the project management team.
• Develop and review program data collection tools to ensure that tools provide required information on program indicators.
• Implement data quality assurance activities according to the MEAL plan (e.g. data verification and spot checks).
• Control for double counting/create beneficiary unique identifiers.
• Conduct monthly QB monitoring (at least 80% of activities implemented) and ensure that improvement actions are developed & logged into the action tracker for follow up.
C: Design and operationalize Accountability mechanism
• Support the project team in the development of information sharing materials/briefs, posters and brochures, and dissemination of Programme information materials to relevant stakeholders, partners, and beneficiaries.
• Facilitate the project team to set up relevant contextualized feedback and complaints infrastructures, mechanisms, and approaches to receive feedback and complaints from beneficiaries including children.
• Collect and manage complaints and feedback in close coordination with Programme team. Track timeliness of response to complaints and maintain an updated Programme complaints tracker.
• Adopt Child Safeguarding and Safe programming into accountability mechanisms for the consortium
D: Integrate ICT in the project MEAL system
• Support implementation of program MIS and integration of Geographical Information System (GIS) in program reporting. Support GIS mapping and dissemination of MIS/GIS reports. Provide MIS content/requirements and feedback to MEAL team and document progress on indicators/achievement of targets.
• Enhance use of digital data management within the program, this includes use of Kobo and ODK among other programs.
E: Build culture of Learning and Knowledge Management
• Participate/coordinate the design of quantitative and qualitative participatory Programme evaluations (baseline, annual and final evaluations), assessments, reviews and other special studies.
• Facilitate documentation of the project results, impact, best practices, and the most significant changes.
• Document learnings and best practices; disseminate learnings, reports, publications and participate in learning sessions, and ensuring that the lessons learnt are utilized to inform programming and advocacy.
• Support conceptualization and planning of learning events/activities
F: Planning, Budgeting and Reporting:
• Coordinate with Technical and project teams for appropriate allocation of MEAL resources and budget in project reviews and annual plans.
• Provide day to day direct support to the project team in preparation and reviewing of annual and quarterly project plans and reports, ensure that project reports meet donor and SCI reporting standards.
• Oversee the MEAL budget utilization and ensure timely implementation MEAL activities.
G: Communication and Networking
• Create and sustain positive working relationships internally with other technical staff; externally with the district local government and CSO partners, and other stakeholders, and maintain an up to date understanding of key development trends in the project area.
• Representing the project in various thematic coordination fora, payam as may be requested by the line manager or Field Offices.
Qualifications, Skills and Experience
• Minimum of a bachelor’s degree in Statistics, Public Health, Sociology or Development Studies preferably with Post Graduate training in M&E or Project planning and Management.
• Minimum of three years working experience in monitoring and evaluation working experience (preferably in education/protection/health/nutrition/CRG/FSL related programs with an International NGO).
• Experience collecting data through quantitative and qualitative methodologies.
• Experience interviewing community members and leaders and/or facilitating focus group discussions (especially with beneficiaries including children)
• Understanding of the basic standards to ensure data quality.
• Knowledge of data analysis principles and software (ideally SPSS, STATA, R, ArcGIS, NVivo, and/or ATLAS.ti)
• Familiarity with mobile data collection platforms (like Kobo Collect, ODK, SurveyCTO, etc).
• Experience with monitoring and evaluation techniques to assess the quality and effectiveness of program strategies for program learning
Child Safeguarding:
We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.
Safeguarding our Staff:
The post holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI anti-harassment policy.
Humanitarian response
In the event of a major humanitarian emergency, the role holder will be expected to work outside the normal role profile and be able to vary working hours accordingly.