MEAL Assistant (Maternity Cover) - Tripoli - For National Candidates Only

Background

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and is at work in over 40 countries.

In response to the influx of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, the IRC provides income and livelihoods support to vulnerable Syrian refugees and host communities, through its Economic Recovery and Development Program. The objective of the program is to assist vulnerable households in the most affected areas in meeting their essential needs and increasing their self-reliance; this is expected to ultimately lessen the use of negative coping strategies for survival.

Interventions include cash for work, access to training and business development opportunities, legal and job counseling, and job referrals through a livelihoods center. Additional market assessments and other research are conducted under this program. The main target groups are acutely vulnerable registered and unregistered Syrian refugees and Lebanese households.

The ERD program will develop synergies with the other programs implemented by the IRC in Lebanon, particularly working closely with the Protection sector to mainstream protection principles into livelihoods approaches and expand program offerings. The ERD program will also seek synergies with the Women’s Protection and Empowerment and Children Protection sectors

Position Overview: The IRC opened a Livelihoods Centre (LC) in Akkar and Mount Lebanon to serve as venue for the IRC’s ERD activities (e.g., candidate assessments, microenterprise support, apprenticeship, financial management, and vocational trainings, etc). It will also serve as space to provide advice to both job-seekers and employers on legal matters pertaining to Lebanese labor regulations. Job-seekers will be advised on their rights as workers and on working conditions they should expect. The LC will advocate for employers to offer decent working conditions to their employees, including equal wages for women and men, minimum wages, working hours, and safety and health at work

The main objective of the position is to ensure high quality data collection registration to endline data collection, aimed at tracking the progress and performance of all ERD interventions (e.g. spot checks, focus group discussions, outcome monitoring survey, follow up). The ERD MEAL assistant will be based at the Livelihoods Center.

 Major Responsibilities:

Under the direct supervision of the Senior MEAL officer, the MEAL assistant will:

• Participate in data collection for several ERD assessments and Monitoring and Evaluation activities: intake, baseline, outcome, end line, post distribution monitoring and other follow ups with clients whether on field or by phone.
• Help organize and conduct focus group discussions with clients and community representatives, whether by facilitating, taking notes, observing or just providing support.
• Conduct pre-enrollment verification for the clients registered in our livelihood center before service enrollment.
• Conduct data quality check on LIMS (Livelihood Information Management System) for all forms filled.
• Prepare and organize data for visualization, communication or reporting (internally and externally).
• Draft and submit reports with constructive feedback on a timely manner for both asset verification and spot check visits as per the reporting templates.
• Assist the IRC’s partner organizations and field teams in verifying the accuracy of data collected at all stages of the program - in particular at the beneficiary identification phase, the efficiency and accountability of the implementation and the results of the intervention.
• Provide inputs and feedback to improve programmatic implementation or M&E activities.
• Other duties as assigned

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to: Senior MEAL officer

Other Internal and/or external contacts:

Internal: Other MEAL staff, Cash and Livelihoods Staff

External: Partner staff

REQUIREMENTS

• Bachelor of Arts or Science in Social Science, Economics, Agriculture, Food Security, journalism or related field
• 1-2 years of experience in community based projects, humanitarian work, or related field
• Demonstrated experience and capacity in conducting data collection and some experience in data analysis
• Previous experience in drafting reports or contributing to reports
• Strong ability to work independently, organize work, meet deadlines, maintain composure, prioritize work under pressure, coordinate multiple tasks and maintain attention to detail
• Excellent interpersonal and problem-solving skills, creativity and flexibility
• INGO experience preferred, or experience interacting with vulnerable populations
• Personal qualities: Works well in and promotes teamwork, comfortable in a multi-cultural environment, flexible and able to handle pressure well, approachable demeanor and ability to stay positive throughout daily client interactions in person and on the phone.
• Fluency in English and Arabic required

Travel and other requirements: Staff will be based in Tripoli, with some travel required between the field office and the main IRC office in Beirut