Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Manager –Trόcaire [Re-Advertised]

Trócaire works in partnership with local and church organisations, supporting communities in over 17 countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East to bring about lasting change. Trócaire envisages a just and peaceful world where people’s dignity is ensured and rights are respected; basic needs are met and resources are shared equitably; people have control over their own lives; those in power act for the common good.

The Lebanon and Syria Country Programmes currently focuses on integrated humanitarian response with basic assistance and protection activities and will develop a new livelihoods response in 2022. As partnership agency Trócaire works with a portfolio of local partner organisations in Lebanon and Syria. In strengthening its programming, Trócaire Lebanon is seeking to recruit a Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Manager to be based in Beirut, Lebanon but to cover both the Lebanon and Syria programme.  

The MEAL Manager will be responsible for providing strategic direction and technical advice on all aspects of MEAL for Trócaire’s programming, helping to ensure that Trócaire and its partners are implementing high quality programmes, are striving for excellence and are fostering a culture of learning and continuous improvement. The MEAL Manager will ensure the Country Programme is meeting all donor MEL requirements across all country grants. S/he will have excellent technical abilities in MEL systems and processes; solid grounding in MEAL programme quality; well-honed capacity building skills; and will be capable of maintaining strategic vision and oversight of MEAL in multiple grants.

The post-holder will oversee the rollout of quality MEAL systems working closely with the Head of Programmes, Project Managers and the Business Development and Grants Manager. Since Trócaire works through partnership, this role will involve building strong relationships with, and providing accompaniment to, local partner organisations.

For the candidate with the required experience and passion for the role, Trócaire offers a competitive package of salary and benefits.

Reporting to the Head of Programmes with direct collaboration and coordination with the Protection & Accountability Manager (PAM), Project Managers and Business Development and Grant Manager (BDGM).  This is a Fixed Term Contract of 1 years (with the possibility of extension) and is based in Beirut with frequent travel to programme locations and occasional travel to other locations.

Safeguarding Programme Participants Policy:

Trócaire is committed to Safeguarding Programme Participants from Exploitation and Abuse and has specific policies on this commitment (including a Global Code of Conduct) which outlines the expected behaviour and the responsibility of all staff, consultants and other organisational representatives.  Any candidate offered a job with Trócaire will be expected to sign Trócaire’s Safeguarding Policies and Global Code of Conduct as an appendix to their contract of employment and agree to conduct themselves in accordance with the provisions of these documents.

Technical support to Country Team

• Lead on the design and roll-out of the country level M&E plan.
• Provide technical support to the programme team to design/update and implement M&E plans at grant and/or project level. 
• Provide training and technical support on monitoring, evaluation and learning to programme staff, including results-based management, data collection, analysis and interpretation including qualitative and quantitative methodologies. This includes ethical considerations in data collection and analysis.
• Provide training and technical support to the programme team to design and implement targeting approaches in line with the organisation approach.
• Provide technical support on the design, updating and reporting on logic models and results framework for grants and projects especially Irish Aid.
• Support programme team on identifying feasible indicators for the technical programme areas. This includes the use of Trócaire global and common indicators.
• Advise and support programme staff to champion the importance of sex, age and diversity (SAD) data collection and analysis, including the use of practical indicators and monitoring tools and processes (both qualitative and quantitative).
• Support programme team in conducting timely monitoring and learning activities, including quality assurance of the design and use of data collection, and analysis tools that contribute to quality reporting, increased accountability, visibility of programme impact and continual programme improvement.
• Lead on the development, design and management of grant or project evaluations, baselines or research. 
• Support the programme team to use M&E learnings to inform and adapt programme implementation. This includes supporting learning mechanisms such as reflection meetings, pause and reflect meetings, after action reviews etc.
• Coordinate with the Protection & Accountability Manager to achieve the MEAL related components of the Trócaire Accountability & Programme Quality Framework (APQF).
• Support the programme team on measuring reach including the annual collection and reporting of reach at country level in line with the organisational approach.
• Support country team when conducting Data Protection Impact Assessments and implementing relevant action plans with partners.

• Provide training and technical support on Technology in MEL especially the use of CommCare.

Strengthening MEL related partner capacity in collaboration with Project Managers

• In collaboration with programme staff, lead on the development and implementation of a partner MEL capacity development plan, generating training materials and resources where needed but drawing on organisational resources.
• In collaboration with programme staff lead on providing training and technical support to partner on results-based management including providing feedback on logic models and result frameworks for strategic grants.
• Through training and close accompaniment, support partner staff to develop skills and competencies to gather, manage and analyse quality data with a focus on SAD data.
• In collaboration with programme staff support and mentor partner staff to analyse and interpret data ethically to inform programme quality control, produce quality donor reports, document lessons learned and programme impact and to inform future project development.
• Support partners to implement quality field monitoring in a manner that is sensitive to the different needs, responsibilities, and capabilities of programme participants and that builds their organisational MEL system.
• In collaboration with programme staff, support partners on the development, design and management of strategic grant or project evaluations, baselines or research. 
• In collaboration with programme staff provide training and technical support to the design and implement appropriate targeting approaches, technical support on measuring reach.
• In collaboration with programme staff, lead on providing training and technical support to partners on technology for M&E and advise on data protection and security in M&E.

Documenting and dissemination of learning

• Promote and model best practice in documenting, disseminating, and using learning.
• Capture relevant learning approaches, methodologies and/or tools and training resources developed at country and/or partner level to encourage learning to share at country and/or organisational level.
• Capture lessons from partner capacity building to share at country and/or organisational level.
• Actively engage with the Global MEAL Team sharing learning from Lebanon and Syria.
• Learn from other organisational and external documented learning in rolling out new approaches and methods (e.g. digital data monitoring and innovative participatory M&E methods) and explore how to apply these in the Lebanon and Syria contexts.

Support Institutional Funding

• In collaboration with the BDGM and programme team support the development of institutional funding applications (concept notes and full proposals) especially support on context analysis, targeting, ToC, indicators, and M&E plans.
• In collaboration with the BDGM and programme team support the reporting process for strategic grants especially quality control of monitoring and evaluation data. 
• In collaboration with the BDGM and programme team ensure a calendar of key MEAL events for all grants is maintained to support contract compliance
• Attend strategic meetings with key stakeholders in relation to programming, particularly MEAL.

Other

• Actively participate in relevant in-country MEAL coordination meetings to get and share experiences
• Participate in wider organisational planning and review work.
• Any other reasonable duty as may be assigned by the line manager that is consistent with the nature of the job and its level of responsibility.

Person Specification – Essential Requirements

Qualification

• Degree in social sciences, development studies, or related area.

Experience

• At least 5 years’ experience in programme monitoring, evaluation and/or development;
• Experience of implementing results focused monitoring, evaluation and learning systems.
• Previous experience of quantitative/ qualitative data management and analysis
• Experience with digital data collection software, such as CommCare, Kobo Toolbox or similar software.
• Experience in participatory M&E approaches;
• Previous experience working with local partner organizations .
• Previous experience in capacity building including facilitating trainings;
• Demonstrated commitment to international development/ justice work

Skills

• Excellent leadership skills, including ability to lead and influence, and to motivate staff to align behind a shared vision and objectives.
• Technical skills to implement M&E in a gender-sensitive manner, including tool design, sampling, data collection, analysis.
• Computer Skills: High level of proficiency in Excel, PowerPoint.  Good knowledge of IT systems such as cloud platforms, apps, Excel, databases and online data collection systems such as Kobo Toolbox or CommCare
• Facilitation, coordination and communication skills, with an ability to communicate to a variety of audiences;
• Ability to synthesize large amounts of data into different formats (e.g., reports, short summaries, presentations);
• Experience leveraging performance monitoring data for improving ongoing programme
• Excellent spoken and written Arabic and English.

Qualities

• Strong commitment to principles of partnership, solidarity, social justice and localisation
• Excellent networking skills with the ability to establish good relationships, confident in engaging with colleagues, partners and stakeholders
• Constructively critical and analytical
• Entrepreneurial, affinity to creativity and innovations
• Open-minded and flexible in approach
• Effective communication
• Readiness to work outside of the framed job description

Knowledge

• In depth knowledge of PCM especially as it relates to MEL including contextual and needs analysis, targeting approaches, baselines, monitoring, evaluations and learning approaches. 
• Results Based Management especially results-based monitoring and evaluation.
• General understanding of development issues and contexts, preferably in the areas of Humanitarian, Sustainable Livelihoods, SGBV and Women’s Empowerment;

Other

• Good understanding of the humanitarian context in Syria and Lebanon
• Availability to work outside regular hours to meet deadlines and travel within Syria and Lebanon when necessary and sometimes on short notice.

Person Specification – Desirable

Qualifications

• Post graduate level education in development studies or a relevant subject

Experience

• Previous experience with designing MEL systems for major international donors (European Union, UN, Irish Aid, UK donors, etc.).
• Experience working in MEL for protection, basic assistance or/and livelihoods programmes
• Experience in providing training and accompaniment to local organisations on MEL.
• Experience on working with CommCare, or similar tools
• Experience in rolling out Common Humanitarian Standards (CHS) within an organisation especially MEL components.
• Familiar of working in fragile and conflict affected areas.