Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, Learning (MEAL) Manager

WHO ARE WE?

The Danish Refugee Council  assists refugees and internally displaced persons across the globe: we provide emergency aid, fight for their rights, and strengthen their opportunity for a brighter future. We work in conflict-affected areas, along the displacement routes, and in the countries where refugees settle. In cooperation with local communities, we strive for responsible and sustainable solutions. We work toward successful integration and – whenever possible – for the fulfillment of the wish to return home. The Danish Refugee Council was founded in Denmark in 1956, and has since grown to become an international humanitarian organization with more than 7,000 staff and 8,000 volunteers. Our vision is a dignified life for all displaced. All of our efforts are based on our value compass: humanity, respect, independence and neutrality, participation, and honesty and transparency.

ABOUT THE JOB

The MEAL Manager will work closely with the Head of Programmes (HoP), Area Managers, Area Program Managers, and technical units to strengthen DRC Afghanistan’s monitoring, evaluation, learning, and accountability systems. Ensuring that the country office is compliant with Core Humanitarian standards 4 (Humanitarian response is based on communication, participation and feedback), 5 (Complaints are welcomed and addressed) and 7 (Humanitarian actors continuously learn and improve). The position is responsible for feeding into strategic decisions and program design based on the evidence and outcomes of ongoing monitoring and evaluation work. The MEAL Manager will also provide technical guidance and capacity building to implementing partners.

Responsibilities:

CO MEAL capacities and commitments

• Develop and strengthen DRC’s MEAL team/department including coordinating recruitments, capacity building and performance management
• Ensure that DRC MEAL guidance is understood and adhered to, completing the annual compliance check, and ensuring areas of weakness are addressed
• Liaise with the HQ and regional MEAL focal points to ensure compliance and understanding with all global standards
• Apply DRC guidance for MEAL and division of labour, particularly vis-à-vis programme staff, and foster collaborative relationships with internal and external stakeholders within the area of responsibility
• Create a MEAL strategy in line with country needs and best MEAL practices, with practical guidelines which can be used and followed by the team and non-MEAL specialists
• Ensure resources for MEAL are appropriately budgeted in proposal, including for both country office and area offices, including by providing guidance to the area office team on minimum staffing and resources required for the implementation of high quality MEAL activities
• Ensure all projects have adequate MEAL budget for effective MEAL work, and prioritizing spend according to core needs
• Establish and maintain processes and protocols for data protection, storage, sharing, and security in the area of responsibility and work with relevant staff to ensure these are mainstreamed across country operations

Results Monitoring and programme quality support

• Engage throughout project development and assist the Programme Support Unit in developing strong indicators and logical frameworks for new projects
• Support in the creation of project, programme and country based logframes and M&E plans, ensuring that indicators are SMART
• Coordinate with field staff to develop or standardize tools and methods to improve data collection for monitoring and evaluation
• Support programme and grants team in grants management tools developed to collect information and track achievements against indicators. Support team to use these tools on all project activity levels (Excel, SPSS, ODK, SurveyCTO…)
• Provide technical support and trainings to all MEAL staff, including advising on data collection processes, analyses, and report writing
• Guide the regular sharing of the outputs and the M&E findings with project staff and implementing partners
• Train and support field staff on data management and data quality assurance. Provide suggestions for information management solutions, including design, key features, user interfaces, automatic analysis, data mining and automated reports
• Review and finalise data collection tools, such as surveys and questionnaires developed by the MEAL team
• Collate all project indicators and support Technical Coordinators to use pre-agreed indicators for core areas of work
• Participate in project Kick-off meetings, Grant Review meetings and Close-out meetings in order to present on achievements as reflected in the IPTT and highlight cross-project components aimed at replicating good practices and strengthening synergies between projects or programmes

Accountability

• Coordinate the design and implementation of accountability systems for DRC projects working closely with Area Managers and Technical Coordinators
• Guide the compilation, analysis, and regular sharing of trends in feedback and complainst received with the Senior Management Team and relevant management staff
• Build the capacity of staff to plan and implement effective accountability systems for the country programme and ensure sufficient ongoing refresher trainings for staff country wide
• Strengthen the country program’s Community Feedback Mechanism and set-up new systems as the program extends to new geographical areas
• Identify, plan for and implement different mechanisms for community engagement and feedback in monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning in the area of responsibility
• Act as organisational focal point on Core Humanitarian Standards, ensuring local compliance and reviews across all standards and supervise the annual or biannual CHS self-assessment and prepare the resulting accountability improvement plan (AIP)
• Liaising with regional colleagues responsible for accountability, compliance and risk management

Evaluation, analysis and learning

• In coordination with program and technical managers, support design and implemention of needs assessments and conflict analyses within the areas of intervention to support the evidence-based design of programming
• Lead and contribute (as apropriate) to analysis, evaluation, and research for data-driven evidence generation and use in the area of responsibility
• Act as a donor focal point for MEAL components of projects
• Lead on internal evaluations, and supervise consultants implementing external evaluations
• Regularly present key M&E findings to Country Office and Area Offices teams to ensure learnings and to inform strategies
• Support DRC’s aim for further strengthen integrated programming and actively propose ways of achieving this using MEAL findings
• Provide capacity building to MEAL and non-MEAL staff in key areas of project planning, monitoring, evaluation, accountability, Qualitative and Quantitative research techniques and analysis
• Support utilisation of results for better planning and decision making; translate MEAL findings into organisational learning; plan and implement learning events and design appropriate learning products
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• Perform other duties as directed by the Head of Programmes.

ABOUT YOU

To be successful in this role you must have:

Experience and technical competencies: 

• Experience working with International NGO’s, UN agencies, , preferably in migrants/refugee settings in complex emergencies;
• Experience working in the monitoring and evaluation of WASH, shelter, CRI/NFI, Cash/ livelihoods and protection sectors in an emergency context
• Experience in developing/ guiding information management systems for large humanitarian programs
• Experience in managing multi-sector programs
• Experience in managing multiple projects at the same time
• Experience in participatory assessment and community-based monitoring approaches;
• Clear understanding of Core Humanitarian Standards (CHS);
• Experience training national staff in the area of MEAL, and in convening and facilitating trainings and workshops
• Excellent analytical and report writing skills (English)
• Knowledge of the following softwares: KOBO, Excel, and at least one analytical software (SPSS/STATA/R/SAS)
• Knowledge of qualitative research and analytical methods
• Excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to establish effective and working relations with local staff and other stakeholders;
• Experience living and working in a cross-cultural, multi-sector, insecure, remote area environment, under team condition

Education/qualifications:

• A Bachelor’s degree in relevant field (international development, social sciences, statistics, etc.) + at least 7 years of relevant experience
• A Master’s degree in relevant field + at least 5 years of relevant experience

Languages:

• English (fluent)
• Local language (desirable)

We Offer:

• Salary and conditions will be in accordance with DRC salary scale

Application process:

Application process: Interested? Then apply for this position by clicking on the below link. All applicants must send a cover letter and an updated CV (no longer than four pages). Both must be in the same language.

Note. only applications ( CV) will not be considered.