Senior Monitoring Evaluation Accountability and Learning Coordinator - Beirut

ROLE PURPOSE:

The Senior MEAL Coordinator plays a key role in assuring accountability to stakeholders and strengthening quality in the delivery, learning and reporting of the EUTF funded Haqqi Education consortium. The consortium is led by Save the Children, with three other I/NGOs, and will implement a two-year project which aims to improve the  learning outcomes and wellbeing for vulnerable children and youth, with or without disabilities, supporting them to reach their full potential. This will be achieved by following  an integrated, cross-sectoral approach, and through a) a focus on improving access to education for out-of-school children by addressing key barriers to education and b) providing quality education to vulnerable children in safe, inclusive and protective learning environments, including youth opportunities and younger children and c) supporting children in public schools at risk of drop out to remain in education, including through retention support/catch up programmes, establishing more conducive learning environments and contribution to enhanced coordination in the education sector. The project will include children and caregivers from the most vulnerable households in refugee and Lebanese communities in Lebanon.  

The Senior MEAL Coordinator will be responsible for creating, establishing and maintaining a consortium level MEAL framework as well as project related MEAL systems, in coordination with SC and partner MEAL staff. S/he will lead on developing approaches to ensure beneficiaries are engaged throughout the project management cycle and are able to hold Save the Children and other consortium members to account. The role will require establishing and maintaining systems and processes related to monitoring and accountability as well as supporting on developing and implementing an evaluation and learning framework. The Senior MEAL Coordinator will ensure continuous learning and evidence-based adaptive programming and lead on coordinating research for the consortium.

CHILD SAFEGUARDING:

Level 3:  the post holder will have contact with children and/or young people either frequently (e.g. once a week or more) or intensively (e.g. four days in one month or more or overnight)

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to: Education Chief of Party 

Staff reporting to this post: MEAL IM Officer  (with dotted line matrix management to MEAL IM Specialist)

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

MEAL framework

• Create, establish and maintain a consortium-wide programme MEAL framework that:

- Aligns with Save the Children’s quality framework standards yet is contextualised to the Lebanon context

- Enables quantitative and qualitative data to be captured, stored, presented and analysed

- Supports the delivery and adaptation of the EU programme

• Ensure MEAL activities, processes, progress and performance are effectively handled to inform timely decision making to all consortium members.
• Play an active role in monthly review meetings to track consortium member and partner progress.
• Advise consortium members and partners on MEAL-related issues and ensure alignment between parties.

Monitoring

• Create, establish and maintain programme level monitoring tools and databases that are mainstreamed to existing systems and:

- Align with programme design and allow for evidence based adaptation

- Capture relevant data for measuring the delivery of the programme and contributing to learning

Evaluation

• Lead on program evaluation to provide more in depth, objective assessments of the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability of programmes.
• Lead on information dissemination of evaluation findings and take part in discussions on related program adaptations.

Accountability

• Create, establish and maintain an accountability mechanism that ensures meaningful beneficiary participation and two-ways dialogue are factored into all stages of the project management cycle.

Learning/Research

• Lead the research and learning components of the programme, ensuring all consortium members are engaged.
• Ensure use of evidence-based quantitative and qualitative analysis in line with the reporting requirements and produce quality reports as needed.
• Together with the Chief of Party, promote a culture of continuous learning and analysis of data at every level of the consortium with the objective of ensuring the programme is refined and remains relevant in a changing context.

Information Management

• Together with the SCI IM Specialist, lead the development of information management tools in order to ensure the systems are fit for purpose of monitoring, data analysis.
• Together with the SCI IM Specialist, lead the digitalization of MEAL tools & databases, ensuring consortium members and partners are orientated on all tools.

Staff Management

• Recruit and manage the MEAL IM Officer ensuring performance objectives are set and revisited, support is provided as needed and feedback is provided on a timely basis.

Coordination, Communication and Capacity Building

• Liaise with consortium actors to ensure technical inputs and recommendations provided into tools development and coordination efforts.
• Coordinate with consortium members to ensure relevant data is shared.
• Chair the MEAL working group and facilitate bi-monthly meetings to review the progress and performance of programme activities and attend internal and external meetings as needed,
• Lead MEAL activities across the consortium ensuring the coordination, harmonization and following implementation of MEAL activities among the consortium members.
• Collaborate with consortium partners’ MEAL field staff and provide needed capacity building to oversee the execution of MEAL implementation plan at field level.
• Visit program locations to ensure MEAL mechanisms are working as they should be in the field,

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant subject or equivalent field experience.
• Fluency in English and Arabic.

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS:

• 5-7 years’ experience of creating, establishing and maintaining a MEAL framework for a large-scale multi-partner programme in a humanitarian or development context.
• 5 years’ experience of building community participation and accountability.
• 5 years’ experience of information and data management.
• 5 years’ experience monitoring and evaluation skills, including planning/participating in evaluations.
• Ability to work both in an advisory and a hands on implementation capacity.
• Experience in supervision, training and coach staff including line management experience.
• Ability to write clear and well-argued assessment and project reports.
• Excellent communication skills and proactive attitude.
• Politically and culturally sensitive with qualities of patience, tact and diplomacy.
• The capacity and willingness to be extremely flexible and accommodating in difficult and sometimes insecure working circumstances.
• Commitment to the aims and principles of Save the Children. In particular, a good understanding of the Save the Children mandate and child focus and an ability to ensure this continues to underpin our support.

Additional job responsibilities

The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience

Equal Opportunities

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI Equal Opportunities and Diversity policies and procedures

Child Safeguarding

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse

Safeguarding our Staff

The post holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI anti-harassment policy

Health and Safety

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI Health and Safety policies and procedures