Meal Officer at Save the Children

Role Purpose: 

Within the MEAL Department, the candidate will provide statistical analysis and other information to support management decision-making within Health and Nutrition Programmes in Mandera

He/she will ensure an up to date and quality data on both program performance and quality delivery while maintaining high professional standards of all our Programmes.

Scope of Role: 

Reports to: MEAL Coordinator

Dimensions: Save the Children has been operational in Kenya since the 1950s, providing support to children through developmental and humanitarian relief programmes delivered both directly and through local partners. Current programming focuses on Child Protection, Child Rights Governance, Education, Health & Nutrition and Child Poverty. In 2012, as part of a global reorganization process, Save the Children combined the programmes of SC UK, SC Canada and SC Finland to create a single operation in Kenya. In February 2014, we completed a second transition, which saw us join forces with the British INGO, Merlin, and merge their health and nutrition programmes with our own. Save the Children now has an operational presence in Bungoma, Dadaab Refugee Camp, Garissa, Mandera, Nairobi, Turkana and Wajir. We work through partners in many other parts of the country. We have a staff complement of around 300 members in hard to reach areas to make great breakthroughs to children and in communities they live. 

Duties 
Key areas of accountability: 
Monitoring;

•  Ensure that projects have solid MEAL plans, Indicator Performance Tracking Tables and log frames and well updated in PRIME.
•  Take the lead and work with the project leads to update the indicator tracking tables and provide necessary MEAL guidance regarding project performance. Supporting projects to develop systems and processes for the implementation of M&E plans based on Save the Children best practice.
•  Take the lead in the development of tools and guidelines for data collection, collation and reporting, for instance ensure that projects have clear MEAL plans, IPTT as well as tracking of total beneficiary reach.
•  Support design and monitoring of quality benchmarks and take lead in monitoring project quality benchmarks to ensure that project quality standards are not compromised.
•  Manage information generated through MEAL activities, such as complaints and feedback databases, action tracker etc. Additionally improve use of the information gathered to improve programs quality.
•  Support monitoring of field level activities with quality benchmarks and course correction action planning 
•  Support and/or promote utilization of data generated through MEAL activities and events such as monitoring visits, baselines, assessments, reviews, real time evaluations etc.; by conducting regular and/or periodic trends analysis and producing short and precise internal reports in line with SCI requirements
•  Plan and conduct Routine Data Quality Assurance (RDQA) in collaboration with County staff for the reported data to ensure that data reported is validated, is accurate and consistent while providing feedback as necessary to program teams.
•  Contributing to programme updates for the response management and internal information sharing, on a regular basis.
•  Consolidate output tracker data and support Programme Managers with data collection processes if needed
•  Undertake regular post distribution monitoring to ensure  project performance, quality, timeliness and accuracy vis-à-vis logical framework approaches (LFAs), results frameworks, performance monitoring plans and emerging best practices;
•  Ensure that the minimum standards of humanitarian relief are maintained in accordance with the Sphere Charter, Core Humanitarian Standards and Red Cross Code of Conduct.

Evaluation

•  Keeping track of  project baselines, assessments, reviews, evaluations – tracking trends and recommendations, progressing their implementation where appropriate;
•  Support and participate in planning, implementation and follow-up of evaluations, for instance writing TORs, preparing literature review packs, planning evaluator itineraries, planning staff workshops, report review. 
•  Providing support during internal/external reviews, evaluations, and lessons learned activities;
•  Coordinate various assessments and reviews including recruitment of Research assistance, coordinating collection and analysis of data.
• Accountability:
•  Maintain and update action tracker for the projects while ensuring that actions agreed upon from debrief meetings with program teams are actioned.
•  Support programming and field staff to ensure that projects are carried out with participation from all affected communities (including children) and that information is shared with affected communities.
•  Ensure strong accountability mechanisms are set up and monitored, that information is correctly shared with beneficiaries through the most appropriate mechanisms and that beneficiaries actively participate in project activities. 
•   Maintain and update a complaints and response mechanism database for tracking feedback from communities and ensure that the feedback/complaints are responded to.
•  Build capacity of other program staff to undertake accountability including ensuring participation of communities and sharing information with communities as well as undertake accountability assessments.

Learning:

•  Professionally document and proactively share information and learning from projects with Save the Children staff and stakeholders as necessary.
•  Take an active role in ensuring that staff are compliant in uploading data and reports into share point and other relevant online systems and maintain such database systems.
•  Work with programme staff to promote learning culture and ensure learning is shared across field offices responding to the drought situation by encouraging cross learning between and within sectoral teams,  tracking trends and recommendations and  progressing their implementation in the planning and project design where appropriate;

Child Safeguarding;

•  Comply with Save the Children policies and practice with respect to child protection, code of conduct, health and safety, equal opportunities and other relevant policies and procedures.

Skills and behaviours (our Values in Practice)

Accountability:

•  Holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
•  Holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.

Ambition:

•  Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves (and their team), takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages others to do the same
•  Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
•  Future orientated, thinks strategically

Collaboration:

•  Builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, members and external partners and supporters
•  Values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength
•  Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to

Creativity:

•  Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
•  Willing to take disciplined risks

Integrity

• Honest, encourages openness and transparency

Qualifications and experience

•  Bachelor’s degree in Information Management / social sciences or its equivalent or Diploma in Information Management with a minimum of three (3) years’ work experience in child protection and education sector and especially in the Somali Context.
•  Knowledge of child protection and education in emergencies, education sector trends, child rights and protection issues
•  Strong self-starter, able to take initiative and adapt to changing circumstances and priorities
•  Positive attitude towards community work with emphasis on the ability to learn from communities and support participatory, innovative approaches to problem solving
•  Excellent communication skills and a willingness to be respectful, kind, sensitive and empathise with all children and their carers
•  Fluent in written and spoken English, Kiswahili and the local language in the camps and the host community
•  Good report-writing skills
•  Willingness and capacity to be flexible and accommodating when faced with difficult and frustrating working conditions
•  Commitment to Save the Children’s Child Protection Policy.

Desirable

•  Previous experience in working with IA CPIMS and EMIS in a refugee setup is an added advantage.
•  Good understanding of Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning concepts in programme context
•  Understanding of the dynamics of the refugees is essential
•  Experience of working with refugee and host communities in a Somali context and other agencies that support Child Protection and education.