PMEAL (Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning ) Coordinator

ONE OXFAM GRADE:  C       ZONE:1

HOURS:  40 (FTE)

FLEXIBLE WORKING

‘We believe flexible working is key to building the Oxfam of the future, so we’re open to talking through the type of flexible arrangements which might work for you.

COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

We are committed to ensuring diversity and gender equality within our organization.

TEAM PURPOSE: The Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) team in Lebanon provides Oxfam and partner teams with timely and high-quality support to ensure Oxfam’s programmes contribute to sustainable transformative change at scale to address root causes of suffering and inequality in Lebanon. The team promotes programme learning and continuous improvement of programme quality and effectiveness, strengthened accountability, and ensures that evidence from programmes drives effective advocacy and campaigns.

JOB PURPOSE:  The PMEAL Coordinator will lead in providing technical support/expertise and tools to Oxfam Lebanon’s programmes, ensuring strong programme and project design and effective, coordinated MEAL systems to drive programme quality and implementation.  The PMEAL Coordinator will lead the development and implementation of a systematic approach to PMEAL, ensuring that Oxfam and partner teams are able to effectively track outputs and outcomes and manage data effectively for reporting and learning purposes, as well as ensure programmes are in line with Oxfam minimum standards and donor requirements. In addition, the PMEAL Coordinator will build the capacity of Oxfam and partner teams, providing specialist support to institutionalize approaches and techniques that ensure high quality programme/project design, planning, and MEAL. In line with Oxfam’s ‘one programme approach’, this role works across the spectrum of development, humanitarian and influencing interventions in close coordination with technical advisers and programme managers.

JOB REPORTS TO: Deputy Country Director - Programmes, with technical support of the Regional Programme Quality Adviser. 

ROLES REPORTING TO THIS JOB:  MEAL Officer(s), IM Officer(s)

BUDGET RESPONSIBILITY: Technical sign off

GEOGRAPHICAL SCOPE: Lebanon

KEY STAKEHOLDERS: Technical Coordinators/ Project Managers

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES (Technical, Leadership, People and Resource management)

Programme design and planning:

• Provide high quality technical input into inclusive programme and project development processes, particularly on logic of intervention (Theory of Change, logical frameworks and MEAL plans), with an emphasis on ensuring sound understanding of how changes happen and sound programme logic and objective setting that is informed by contextual information
• Provide guidance to and support Programme Managers in ensuring that programme quality is embedded in new programmes and projects and that Oxfam quality standards are met.
• Support Oxfam and partner teams on quality information gathering and analysis at community, local and national level to facilitate informed and evidence-based programme and project design.
• Support research activities, including advising on methodology, sampling and tool development for relevant activities with Oxfam’s Policy and project teams.

Programme and project Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL):

• Develop and implement MEAL strategies and systems - including the definition of specific processes, methodologies and tools– and provide technical advice and support to Oxfam and partner teams in implementation.
• Identify, test and roll out innovative MEAL approaches and methods.
• Provide technical leadership and oversight to ensure the overall quality of Oxfam and partner teams’ field data collection, data management, and analysis processes.
• Oversee information management to ensure the appropriate information is collected by project teams and managed centrally; including information on beneficiary data and site profiles, services received and progress on indicators. This includes the continued investment in database solutions.
• Ensure that the Lebanon Country Programme is compliant with internal reporting requirements
• Contribute to timely and quality reporting with MEAL findings on Oxfam’s programmes and projects in Lebanon, demonstrating accountability and learning.
• Overseeing and quality assurance of feedback and complaint mechanisms and sharing of accountability findings with programme teams and senior management.
• Lead on the Oxfam Common Approach to Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Social Accountability (CAMSA) roll out in the Lebanon office including support on the implementation of improvement plans.
• Support the programme teams and partners in extracting lessons learnt and good practises, and documenting case studies which demonstrate qualitative and quantitative changes.
• Promote and support the organisation of programme/ project learning events and periodical reviews.
• Lead / support on the design and management of evaluations in compliance with Oxfam’s evaluation policy.
• Support programme and project managers to design and monitor MEAL budgets and spending in line with donor requirements.
• Support Oxfam’s Policy team to better understand the effects of policy work and activities, including helping to articulate and report these effects internally and externally (e.g. to donors).

Oxfam and partner staff capacity development and management:

• Facilitate identification of needs, planning, and implementation for country team capacity building in PMEAL areas, and build capacity of Oxfam and partner staff on high quality PMEAL, including through induction, training, coaching and day-to-day support. This includes mobilizing of internal and external resources as relevant in close coordination with the regional programme quality adviser.
• Manage the PMEAL team and ensure that they receive adequate training, mentoring and coaching.
• Act as focal point for Oxfam’s Programme, Accountability and Learning system (OPAL) for managing information and programs including providing technical support and training staff on OPAL.

Internal and external coordination, representation and networking:

• Promote and facilitate the identification of learning from PQ practices by Oxfam and partners, ensure that knowledge and learning is shared internally and externally, and promote replication of good practices across the country programme.
• Ensure that Oxfam’s MEAL system is linked to wider inter-agency M&E initiatives and developments, and liaise with technical teams to ensure coordination with sectoral working groups and processes.
• Represent Oxfam in various consortium technical working groups, ensuring that Oxfam’s positions and interests are clearly communicated in these settings.
• Contribute to and support implementation of regional and global Oxfam PQ strategies, processes, policies, and initiatives. This includes contributing to effective corporate processes and reporting (e.g. Output reporting, indicative outcome areas, Program Quality Reviews etc).

CORE DIMENSIONS

• Diverse and complex problem-solving, requiring professional knowledge, field experience and an understanding of multi-sectoral humanitarian, development and influencing work
• Decision-making requires significant levels of judgement based on technical expertise and management experience, generally actively supported within line management or the programme team.
• The role is variable with broad targets and/or minimum standards and is both proactive and reactive
• Requires the ability to analyse and communicate complex information to a wide audience to promote and influence 
• Short, medium and long-term planning is required in the context of changing priorities
• Work patterns are not routine and often high pressure.
• Communication is both with internal and external contacts. Represents Oxfam in relevant coordination meetings and external relationships with partners and other stakeholders.
• Capture and document programme learning to the teams, lead reflection meetings and disseminate lessons learned

Person Specification

Most importantly, every individual in Oxfam needs to be able to:

• Live our values of INCLUSION, ACCOUNTABILITY, EMPOWERMENT, COURAGE, SOLIDARITY and EQUALITY (read more about these here)
• Ensure you commit to our ORGANIZATIONAL ATTRIBUTES (including adhering to the Code of Conduct):

1. Be committed to our feminist principles, and to applying them in your day-to-day behaviour and your work. Be ready to keep learning, with accountability to those who experience oppression as a result of their identities, such as their gender, race/ethnicity, disability, class, or LGBTQIA identity."

2. Be committed to undertaking Oxfam’s safeguarding training and adhering to relevant policies, to ensure all people who come into Oxfam are as safe as possible.

Experience, Knowledge & Competencies

ESSENTIAL

• Self-Awareness
• Systems Thinking
• Enabling

In addition:

• At least 5 years’ experience of work in humanitarian and/or development context programmes
• Proven ability to support the design and development of programs and projects, including Theory of Change and proposal development
• Proven ability to advise, coach and lead others on the development and implementation of MEAL strategies, plans, and systems in humanitarian and development programmes
• Strong technical competence and experience in quantitative and qualitative research methods, data analysis, reporting and understanding of contemporary trends and innovations in MEAL
• Excellent interpersonal and negotiation skills with demonstrable ability to lead, influence, and motivate others in a diversity of contexts and functions
• Excellent communication skills and fluency in English (verbal and written)

Desirable

• Master’s degree in relevant area (e.g. social sciences, statistics) from a recognised university.
• Experience in managing, advising, training, and coaching others on PMEAL
• Practical experience of mainstreaming gender in development, influencing, or humanitarian work
• Experience with statistical packages (e.g. SPSS)
• Familiarity with IT applications to support MEAL and information management (e.g. Survey CTO, ODK tools)
• Experience working on the development and/or management of databases
• Excellent communication skills and fluency in Arabic (verbal and written)

SAFER RECRUITMENT: Oxfam is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behaviour at work including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity and financial misconduct; and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults. Oxfam expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment through our code of conduct. We place a high priority on ensuring that only those who share and demonstrate our values are recruited to work for us. Offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks, which can include criminal records and terrorism finance checks.