Senior MEAL Expert

I. General Information 

·       Duty station: Addis Ababa, with frequent travel to the project areas

·       Job Title:  Senior MEAL Expert

·       Reports to MEAL Coordinator

·       Contract Period: Two years with the possibility of extension

1.    Objectives of the position

The purpose of this position is to consolidate the functional MEAL system of the Welthungerhilfe Ethiopia country office programs that ensure progress and achievement are assessed, learning and improvement take place, and accountability to people we want to assist, donors and other stakeholders is ensured, and MEAL capacities are strengthened. The position holder will work closely with the MEAL coordinator the Country Office MEAL Coordinator and the program Advisors. S/he will ensure that learning from the project is systematically captured and used throughout the project. S/he will work closely with project teams to develop high-quality monitoring and evaluation systems that assess and reflect the projects’ achievement and other criteria as the projects’ relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact, and sustainability. S/he will take learning needs into account and with the support of the MEAL Unit and the Country Office MEAL Advisor and Capacity Building Expert develops and conducts capacity strengthening for MEAL and project staff of partner organisations. The position holder is expected to have a high level of self-initiative and use critical thinking skills. S/he should be able to work sensitively and positively with the project tea, partners, communities and other stakeholders and promote a learning environment as the post’s success relies on this.

 2.    Duties and areas of responsibility

Key Responsibilities: Panning, Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability & Learning 

Planning

Advise MEAL related proposal development tasks (such as project log frame matrix, beneficiary descriptions, MEAL related activities & budget, developing MEAL capacity development activities, overall quality control)

Advise the partner and programe team in the development of the project MEAL tools (such as activity & budget plan, MEAL activities time plan and indicator tracking, reporting)

Ensure the feasibility studies, context analysis and baseline studies meet the quality and WHH and donor standards and expectations and are well adapted to the objectives.

Monitoring   MEAL Expert- 

Ensure MEAL tools and action plans are regularly updated and implemented on timely base and data/ evidence are shared with the project team

• Support partners to undertake timely- qualitative and quantitative data collection at regular basis to measure the result progress of the output/outcome indicators according to the projects’ MEAL plan
• Support in ensuring the CO MEAL minimum standards are part of the day-to-day project implementation and quality monitoring practices
• Ensue project the M&E database is developed and implemented (eg. Digital based beneficiary master list distribution list)
• Provide data quality assurance for surveys and qualitative tools (from design to data analysis)
• Support partners to conduct post distribution monitoring (PDM) both for emergency and development projects
• Support partners to implement the humanitarian response project MEAL standard of operation (such as beneficiary selection, verification, information sharing before & after distribution PDMs,)
• Support/ co facilitate MEAL capacity building training for partners to harmonize the MEAL system
• Independently develop CO MEAL tools based on observed gaps or requests
• Ensure WHH standards for output monitoring are fulfilled
• Ensure the monitoring data and documents are well captured/stored and up to data in the internal project management system (ProMIS)
• Conduct project monitoring visits, discuss observations, and develop improvement plans with the project team and share the findings with CO MEAL and programme team

Evaluation

• Involve in the process of working with the evaluation team especially on ensuring the quality of methodological approach and report
• Ensure the evaluations meet the quality and WHH and donor standards and expectations and are well adapted to the objectives.
• Carry out real-time evaluations

Accountability 

• Rollout of the country office accountability standards and support partners in implementing them
• Follow-up and review the partners’ CRM implementation and reports
• Compile Country Office CRM report from all WHH partners’ reports and CO CRM complaints
• Support in analyzing the reports and draw learnings form the complaints
• Record complaints via hotline and dispatch to the respective personnel for compliant managements
• Assist the CO CRM committee in collecting feedback/complaints from different actors/providers
• Support the roll-out of WHH Code of Conduct to the project implementing teams

Learning 

• Support the project level team in capturing lessons learned and effective use of monitoring data (including the facilitation of learning sessions or development of tools and templates)
• Support in organizing exchange among partners
• Engage in sharing of experience with other programmes (including in Somaliland)
• Share learnings of MEAL activities (on process, methodology and content) with the CO-team
• Support the technical staff in developing technical manuals or quality checklists

Capacity Development 

• Engage in coaching and following up the effective institutionalization of core MEAL components (accountability/ CRM, PDM, use of toolbox etc) in to the partner organization
• Support the partners and team in developing MEAL action plans and facilitating project-related capacity-building on MEAL
• Assist in capacity development of programme team and partners (e.g. MEAL workshops)

Job Requirements

• BA/ Msc in relevant field of studies such as rural development, developmental economics, development related discipline (agriculture nutrition WASH NRM,) statistics
• 7 years of total experience in development sector; and Five years in MEAL (for BA holders a minimum of 9-year work experience in related sectors in NNGO/INGO setting
• Language proficiency in English, and at least one additional local language (more are an advantage)
• Coordination and organization skill
• Exceptional analytical and writing skills
•  Good knowledge of statistical tools, data analysis and research processes
• Experience in working in a participatory way and Appling qualitative and quantitative tools
• Experience in establishing MEAL System including Complaint Response Mechanism
• Specific experience of managing capacity strengthening (CS) projects
• Knowledge in organizational development
• Ability to transfer/multiply lessons learned
• Experience in mentoring and coaching local partners
• Experience in facilitating interactive workshops
• Proficient knowledge of Core Humanitarian Standard
• Familiarity with the localization agenda

The position holder should work in a client and team oriented manner and adhere to standards and principles as described in the “Welthungerhilfe Code of Conduct”, Child Protection Policy; the Core Humanitarian Standard; Do No Harm;

WHH is an equal opportunity employer and particularly encourages and welcomes women applicants.

How To Apply

Interested candidates who meet the required qualifications are invited to submit an updated CV (max. of 4 pages) and a short motivation letter to WHH Ethiopia through THIS LINK no later than September 10, 2024.

Note:  Applicants are required to organize their documents (application letter, CV, and another document) as a single document i.e. with the cover letter being on the first page and the CV and other credentials starting on the second page. They should also clearly indicate the name of the position name at the subject line of their application letter, applicant who doesn’t follow the required application procedure will automatically be disqualified from the competition.