Consortium MEAL Manager

Job Title: Consortium Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Manager

Reports to: RESPECCT Consortium Coordinator

Terms: 12 months Fixed Term, Full time, Unaccompanied

Location: Abéché, Chad

Salary: €41,108 - €45,676

Requirements: Based in Abéché, with frequent travel to N’Djamena as well as Wadi Fira, Ouaddaï and Sila Provinces. You will work closely with all consortium partners including MEAL staff (with technical supervision of two staff members), programme staff (including programme managers/coordinators), as well as Area Coordinators and members of the Concern Country Management Team (including Country Director and Programme Director).

About Concern: Established in 1968, Concern is a non-profit, non-governmental humanitarian organisation, dedicated to the reduction of suffering and the ultimate elimination of extreme poverty in the world’s poorest countries.

Concern’s vision, our mission and our work are all defined by one goal – ending extreme poverty, whatever it takes. Concern strives for a world free from poverty, fear and oppression.

Our culture is values driven and we believe that our people are central to all that we do and are key to delivering on our goal of Reaching the Furthest Behind First. We are committed to ensuring a workplace where everybody feels valued and are enabled to succeed in their work and contribute to delivering on our mission.

Role Purpose: The Economic and Social Resilience of Populations in Eastern Chad to Conflict and Climate Change (RESPECCT) programme aims to strengthen the resilience of communities affected by forced displacement, climatic hazards and community conflicts in Eastern Chad in the short, medium and long term. Specifically, the programme will help to improve the living conditions and resilience of host communities, refugees and returnees, through support for inclusive local development, in order to minimise the factors contributing to tension between communities, instability and the risk of increased forced displacement and conflict. A consortium of three international and three national NGOs led by Concern Worldwide, the programme began in February 2023 and will run until January 2028. It is jointly financed by the European Union (EU) and French Development Agency (AFD) with additional funding from the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC).

As Consortium MEAL Manager, you will play a key role in strengthening the programme’s monitoring and accountability systems and capturing programme learnings and impact and will support the Consortium Coordinator in ensuring effective coordination between consortium partners and high-quality implementation. You will develop M&E systems to keep track and report on programme progress; identify key learning areas and develop case studies, impact evaluations and other learning documentation; coordinate internal and external data collection and evaluations; provide training and capacity building to staff; support coordination between consortium partners including organisation of regular reviews and monitoring meetings; provide technical support to programme staff including review of activity SOPs and other key documentation as required; support high-quality narrative reporting (internal and donor) including review and consolidation of partner reports; and support the development of new funding opportunities as required.

Responsibilities:

Monitoring & Evaluation:

• Design, implement and oversee a strong M&E system that provides appropriate measures of programme progress against agreed objectives for all consortium partners.
• Conduct periodic reviews of existing M&E systems to ensure that monitoring tools are appropriate and propose modifications/additional tools as required.
• Oversee the design and lead on the implementation of data collection for the consortium including annual surveys and the endline.
• Provide technical supervision to consortium MEAL staff to ensure high-quality data collection and reporting in line with programme requirements. Expose staff to a range of M&E methodologies for the collection of both qualitative and quantitative data and ensure that knowledge of approaches filters down to frontline staff.
• Take the lead on internal evaluations and be the focal point for external evaluations, including development of terms of reference, budgeting, holding inception meetings and writing/reviewing reports.
• Prepare for and oversee any research activity conducted by the programme, both directly and through consultants and ensure research outcomes are clearly documented.
• Support programme teams in preparing and conducting needs assessments and contextual analysis as required. Undertake qualitative research to complement quantitative data.
• Identify capacity building needs within the consortium, conduct MEAL trainings, and lead learning exchanges between partners to support capacity development.

Learning:

• Take the lead on documenting and disseminating programme learning in line with the programme’s learning strategy.
• Together with Concern’s Communications Manager, develop high-quality external communications products to showcase the programme’s impact, including case studies; summaries of post-distribution monitoring, annual surveys and internal/external evaluations; and thematic learning papers (cash, gender, economic development, conflict sensitivity, peacebuilding etc.).
• Develop and maintain a structured consortium learning agenda, identifying priority learning questions and ensuring learning is generated, documented and used throughout the programme cycle.
• Organise lessons learned workshops both internally with consortium members and externally with programme participants and local authorities.
• Promote a culture of learning and reflection within the consortium through regular pause-and-reflect moments, after-action reviews and cross-partner learning exchanges, with a focus on national partners.
• Coordinate with the other PM MEAL and programmes of the mission to ensure learning is grounded in Concern’s mission, not only in RESPECCT, including community feedback and FCRM analysis.

Accountability:

• Ensure the consortium’s feedback and complaints response mechanism (FCRM) is operational and accessible to target populations and that programme staff are trained.
• Support MEAL staff in collecting, documenting and analysing feedback/complaints including regular production of reports/summaries.
• Identify ways of strengthening communication with the target communities around FCRM, programme progress, planned activities, delays etc.
• Coordinate with other Humanitarian Actors in joint efforts to promote accountability within the sector and keep abreast of discussions/initiatives of the Protection Cluster.
• Ensure that Concern mainstreaming polices are understood by all staff and are implemented at all levels, both in the programmes and internally, particularly relating to gender equality and protection.

Consortium coordination and programme management support :

• Support the Consortium Coordinator in organising and facilitating monthly monitoring meetings and quarterly/annual reviews with all partners and participate in review meetings with national partners.
• Propose improvements to existing consortium coordination mechanisms to improve harmonisation among partners.
• Review and provide feedback on partner narrative reports and consolidate inputs for donor reporting.
• Support the Consortium Coordinator in reviewing partners’ activity SOPs, terms of reference and other key documents to ensure high-quality programming.
• Represent the consortium in external meetings including the Cash Working Group (CWG) and Nexus Task Force as well as meetings with donors.
• Support the development of new funding proposals as required.

Other:

• Actively participate in collective exercises such as preparation of updates for Effective Emergency Response (PEER) planning, Security Management Planning (SMP) and other Concern initiatives.
• Undertake other related duties as may reasonably be assigned by the Country Director or the line manager.

Role Holder Requirements:

Essential:

• Relevant graduate degree (economics, development or equivalent).
• A minimum of three years of relevant field-based experience in the development/ humanitarian sector.
• Experience of setting up and implementing multi-sectorial M&E systems throughout the programme cycle (from assessments and programme development through to baseline, routine monitoring and endline etc.).
• Significant experience in documenting/disseminating programme learning and conducting/facilitating research and evaluations.
• Strong analytical skills and understanding of all aspects of quality programming.
• Experience in applying quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis methodologies.
• Strong writing skills, including experience with donor reports.
• Demonstrated experience in external representation (consortium coordination meetings, clusters/working groups, donor meetings etc.) and coordinating with multiple stakeholders (e.g. in a consortium environment).
• Experience in staff capacity development and management.
• Ability to translate M&E concepts into practical methodologies and tools for teams in the field.
• Ability to work independently and under own initiative.
• Experience of working in an insecure environment.
• Fluency in French is required with English language ability.
• Flexibility and the ability to work with a multi-cultural team.
• Demonstrable interpersonal and communication skills.
• Good organisation, planning and management skills.
• Ability to work under pressure, often to strict deadlines.
• Excellent computer skills, including Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel.
• Knowledge of Digital Data Gathering (DDG).

Desirable:

• Post graduate degree in relevant discipline.
• Experience in programme or grants management.
• Experience working within a consortium, in particular in a MEAL role.
• Practical experience of ensuring gender sensitive monitoring.
• Experience in preparing budgets and proposals for international donors.
• Cross cultural awareness and sensitivity.
• Experience in CHS and particularly set up of CRM.
• Experience in SPSS and GIS or other similar software.
• Strong English language skills.
• Previous experience working in Chad or a similar context.
• Previous experience developing external communications products.

How to apply

For full T&Cs and to apply, please visit the Concern Worldwide website: Concern Careers | Consortium MEAL Manager