Head of Monitoring Evaluation Accountability & Learning (MEAL) at Save The Children

Save the Children invests in childhood - every day, in times of crisis and for our future. In the United States and around the world, we give children a healthy start, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. By transforming children's lives now, we change the course of their future and ours. Please give monthly and support our mission. Save the Children is working to strengthen health systems and support maternal and child health in four northern states. Much work needs to be done for Nigeria to deliver its promises on Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 (which aim to reduce child mortality and improve maternal health) before 2015. Facts About Nigeria More than 173 Million people live there The average girl stays in school only until she's 9 123 out of 1000 children die before their 5th birthday A parent earns an average of just $4 a day Our Work Save the Children has been working in Nigeria since 2001. We're helping to improve health systems in northern Nigeria to delivery maternal, newborn, and child health services, including the revival of routine immunization.

ROLE PURPOSE: 

The Head of MEAL is responsible for leading the Country MEAL team and drives MEAL systems from conceptualization to implementation. S/he will ensure robust, innovative and high-quality program monitoring, research, evaluation and studies. The position holder will also ensure accessible and closed-loop accountability mechanisms and systems as well as deliberate learning and knowledge management.  The person will be responsible for ensuring quality implementation of MEAL strategies, processes and standards, ensuring that they are institutionalized within the existing project cycle management framework.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY: 

Technical Leadership

• Provide technical leadership for MEAL for the Country Office as well as review and update CO MEAL systems and processes in with line SCI MEAL standards.
• Build capacity of country office staff and partners in key technical approaches related to MEAL
• Build strong relationships with other units and provide support as required to ensure MEAL standards are understood and supported at country & field office levels

Evidence & Learning 

• Strengthen efforts to create greater efficiency in MEAL systems by continued harmonization with SCI (and other relevant) standards and use of digital technologies 
• Ensure implementing projects meet required criteria for MEAL related Key Performance Indicators and Management Indicators
• Ensure that the organisation delivers on all internal and external MEAL requirements, including reporting in a timely manner and with high quality.
• Work with Technical Advisors to develop, monitor and utilize quality benchmarks for key project activities 
• Ensure that all projects are updated on SCI Project Reporting, Information management & Evidence System (PRIME) and reflect on the Project-on-track dashboard and that projects are using the relevant MEAL Project Management Methodology (PMM) tools
• Ensure that data collection methodologies used at field level are standardised, enabling the specific vulnerabilities of different target groups to be captured and analysed. 
• Guide field-based MEAL staff to address any gaps in data quality assurance and in MEAL frameworks implementation.
• Maintain regular and proactive dialogue with technical/thematic leads and field teams to identify critical programmatic knowledge gaps, as well as to initiate, adapt or test new practices, approaches or methodologies, that will inform Country Office and/or project Learning agenda with a view of improving the impact of our work 
• Foster a culture of learning in the Country Office, including the systematic collection, storage and dissemination of evidence and learning that is used throughout the project cycle by all staff 
• Ensure the design and implementation of high-quality research, studies and assessments in coordination and cooperation with technical leads and programme staff.
• Support in Proposal development and that MEAL related staffing and activities are well budgeted.

Accountability & Participation

• Ensure that project meet the minimum standards and are maintained in accordance with the Sphere Charter as well as Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability
• Ensure that staff & partners fully understand and promote accountability in general and to children in particular, through training and coaching. 
• Contribute to improvements in existing processes and procedures to enhance effective accountability systems and mechanisms.
• Ensure that learning from Accountability data especially from the Feedback & Response Mechanism (FRM) & participation activities are used in project adaptation and proposal development. 
• Ensure that communities and children participate in decision making in the various stages of the project cycle
• Promote information sharing with key stakeholders, including affected persons, ensuring that Save the Children promotes transparency throughout all stages of implementation. 
• Ensure that project activities are designed to promote FRM and include systems to effectively manage feedback and complaints. 

People Management & Development 

• Provide leadership to the MEAL team, including strategic vision and direction, team cohesion and team building and an enabling environment where staff can be supported to develop to their full potential
• Lead, in coordination with HR, the recruitment and professional development of MEAL staff as appropriate, including the identification of development opportunities, such as coaching/training/stretch assignments to build and maintain technical skills and competencies 
• Provide technical supportive supervision of the field-based MEAL staff through regular contact, field visits and meetings.

Safeguarding

• Lead on ensuring linkages between MEAL, Child safeguarding systems, and safe programming. 
• Ensure risk assessments are done before any data collection activity that involves children 
• Ensure MEAL related Core Operational Safeguarding Activities (COSA) are implemented, and requisite standards met.
• Ensure that Information sharing activities are carried out to raise awareness of prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse and handling of serious complaints in line with child safeguarding policy.

Method of Application

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