Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, & Learning (MEAL) Lead at Save the Children

The position holder will provide overall MEAL leadership direction for the project, enhancing quality, accountability and learning and ensuring smooth coordination and MEAL coherence across the programme. The project aims to improve children’s holistic learning and wellbeing through strengthening of the quality and equity of the teacher professional development system in refugee hosting counties in Kenya, while also being responsive to learning environments, especially catering to teachers’ and children’s needs as shocks and stressors arise.

Contract Duration: 5years

Reports to: Head of MEAL

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Technical assistance and leadership

• Provide overall monitoring, evaluation, accountability, & learning leadership of the programme, bringing coherence to all MEAL activities and setting priorities in designing and overseeing the implementation of the project’s MEAL activities in collaboration with the other technical advisors and the implementation team.
• Working with the technical and MEAL advisors across the partners, ensuring shared, harmonised, and integrated MEAL approaches across the partners.
• Provides capacity building and leadership of MEAL staff to ensure innovative, adaptive, and iterative learning approaches across the consortium. 
• Ensure the use of digital technology for information data collection, sharing, evidence generation, learning and technical approach adaptation

Monitoring:

• Ensure that the programme has a solid MEAL plan, Indicator Performance Tracking Tables (IPTT) and log frames, that directly correlate to the programme theory of change
• Support the Program and MEAL teams in updating the indicator tracking tables and provide necessary MEAL guidance regarding project performance.
• Lead in the development of harmonized tools and guidelines for data collection, collation and reporting across the consortium.
• Maintain a program database and ensure that the databases are updated regularly.
• Capacity building of program staff , sub-grantees and local partnerson project related M&E templates/forms for data collection; like Indicator Performance Tracking Table (IPTT) etc.
• Organize field visits to monitor program activities / interventions against Quality Benchmarks/Quality Checklists and produce & share reports with program team as well as management team based on quality and accountability findings.
• Leads in the quality of program design – reviewing log-frames, results frameworks, project plan, strategic plans, MEAL Plan etc.
• Lead in conducting data quality assessment to ensure that data reported is validated, is accurate and consistent while providing feedback as necessary to program teams;
• Analysis against the performance indicators and targets on periodic basis
• To carry out follow-up monitoring visits to materialize actions agreed and update these in the online “Monitoring-Action Plan Tracker'.
• Support program teams in developing quality program reports.

Research and evaluation:

• Work with the technical teams to develop and implement an innovative plan for generating and sharing evidence to identify key issues for adaptive management and sharing feedback to consortium members and wider stakeholders on findings.
• Provides leadership, strategic direction, and oversight of the consortium’s learning approach.
• Working in close coordination with the technical teams to provide problem driven, politically smart, and adaptive research and evaluation approaches, using the results of the analysis to adapt programme activities based on learnings from data, feedback from beneficiaries, emerging risks and nascent opportunities. 
• Maintain an online research, assessments and evaluation tracker and ensure that this is visible and used by program staff.
• Managing large independent evaluations, including evaluation design and methodologies
• With support from communications, MEAL and programs teams develop quality case studies.

Accountability:

• Work with the technical teams to develop and implement a strong accountability plan, adopting the use of digital innovation to better leverage beneficiary feedback, information sharing, and promote transparency, dialogue and trust around devolution processes.
• Actively engaging project beneficiaries in the design and implementation of MEAL systems
• Ensure the Complaint Feedback Mechanism (CFM) are functional accessible to all beneficiaries.
• Ensure that the agreed action plans are followed in timely manner by program team and that the feedback loop is closed.
• Maintain a consortium complaints and feedback database while performing regular analysis of the feedback data

Learning:

• Work with the technical teams to develop an innovative learning approach for the program including an articulate agenda and implementation plan while providing leadership and oversight of the consortium’s learning approach.
• Adopt the use of digital technology to facilitate innovative strategies for shared learnings across all stakeholders and ensure the key learning's are incorporated in upcoming plans and interventions.
• Work with SC and partner teams to stay up to date with learnings from complementary programs and adopt best practices as necessary

BEHAVIOURS (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 their team to do the same.
• Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others.
• Future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale.

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; demonstrates highest levels of integrity.

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

Essential

• Bachelor's Degree in social sciences, public health, education, development, or information technology Training in data management is an added advantage.
• Recommend a minimum of 5 years practical experience in M&E system development coordination/implementation in a large international non-governmental organisation or other international relief/development body for large and complex grants, consortium leadership experience is an added advantage
• Recommend a minimum of 3 years of relevant technical experience in MEAL for education in Kenya or similar context
• Experience managing large external evaluations and a clear, deep understanding of different evaluation methodologies appropriate for teacher professional development programmes and refugee settings
• Excellent knowledge of digital data collection and accountability systems and use of CommCare and Kobo
• Excellent advanced quantitative and qualitative data analysis skills using SPSS and/or Stata as welel as Nvivo/Atlas.ti software
• Ability to use geographical information systems to collect geospatial data
• Demonstrable track-record in data management, with the ability to manage large databases
• Ability to analyse and disseminate complex information to a range of stakeholder audiences;
• Computer literacy, particularly in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint;
• Strong familiarity with project frameworks [design/implementation/M&E] cycle
• Experience of solving complex issues through analysis, adapting and innovating where necessary, and defining a clear way forward and ensuring buy in
• Strong results orientation, with the ability to challenge existing mind-sets
• Ability to present complex information in a succinct and compelling manner
• Good management skills with ability to manage a team
• Highly developed cultural and political awareness and ability to work well in an international and matrix management environment with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures
• Excellent planning, coordination, and reporting skills, with the ability to organise a substantial workload comprised of complex, diverse tasks and responsibilities;
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills in English, with experience working in multicultural, multi -location, values driven teams;
• Understanding of Save the Children’s vision and mission and a commitment to its objectives and values