Head of MEAL Team

CALL FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST – VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT:** 2201080

Head of MEAL Team

Job Posting: 20/Apr/2022

Closure Date: 04/May/2022, 11:59:00 PM

Organizational Unit: FAAFG

Job Type: Non-staff opportunities

Type of Requisition: Consultant

Grade Level: N/A

Primary Location: Afghanistan-Kabul

Duration: Up to 11 months

Post Number: N/A

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

• FAO is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality, background and culture.
• Qualified female applicants, qualified nationals of non-and under-represented Members and person with disabilities are encouraged to apply;
• Everyone who works for FAO is required to adhere to the highest standards of integrity and professional conduct, and to uphold FAO’s values
• FAO, as a Specialized Agency of the United Nations, has a zero-tolerance policy for conduct that is incompatible with its status, objectives and mandate, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination
• All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks
• All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality

Organizational Setting

FAO Afghanistan is investing, across all 34 provinces, in resilience reinforcing actions that focus on protecting agriculture livelihoods and local ecosystems, boosting local production of nutritious foods and cash-incomes, and safeguarding critical agriculture sectoral development gains achieved over the past couple of decades through revitalizing rural markets and economy. In 2022-2023, FAO will, under the life-saving assistance Outcome (1) of the UN Transitional Engagement Framework (TEF), focus on the following four priority actions: (i) Safeguarding Wheat Seed Security, (ii) Enhancing Local Production of Nutritious Food, (iii) Livestock Protection and Dairy Sector Support, and (iv) Restoring Irrigation Structures to Boost Cash Incomes. Additionally, FAO will contribute towards resilience building activities under Outcome 2 of the TEF.

Reporting Lines

The Head of MEAL Team will work under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative (FAOR), the direct supervision of the Emergency and Resilience Officer and in close consultation with the Deputy FAOR.

Technical Focus

The Head of MEAL Team will be responsible for the design, coordination and implementation of the Monitoring and Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) programme of the FAO Afghanistan programme.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Lead the development of a MEAL system for the FAO Afghanistan programme portfolio;
• Develop a sustainable MEAL framework and monitoring plans for the programme and its projects so as to provide, in a timely manner, the data/information needed on project progress in terms of results (outputs, outcomes and impacts), with which to guide and advise in improvements/adjustments to the project/programme implementation strategy and generate learning through active engagement with all relevant actors involved in implementation;
• Design, implement and report technical studies, impact assessments and evaluations on resilience and food security in technical guidance with relevant colleagues;
• Ensure the continued monitoring and reporting of all project/programme activities against work plans (annual and quarterly) and results frameworks (logframes), undertake periodic travel to project sites for monitoring/follow up of field activities, and identify activities/areas requiring follow-up to alert the Management in case of significant deviation from expected outputs and outcomes;
• Conduct pre- and post-evaluations of trainings/workshops and pilot activities;
• Provide support to FAO implementing partners to facilitate knowledge transfer, streamline MEAL tools and ensure a harmonized approach;
• Provide support to the Communication, Outreach and Reporting Team, Programming Colleagues and FAO implementing partners to generate learning and mainstream Accountability to Affected populations (AAP) in the programme;
• Strengthen FAO’s partnership monitoring system and its integration with corporate information tools;
• Contribute to project reporting and support the formulation and preparation of concept notes, project proposals and project
• documents;
• Conduct regular and ad hoc training for FAO and IP staff on M&E Data collection, particularly for surveys to be conducted within the given MEAL strategy/framework;
• Act as focal point for independent evaluations conducted by the FAO Office of Evaluation (OED) and in coordinating
• management response and follow-up in implementing evaluation recommendations;
• Represent FAO in evaluation taskforces with UN and other partners and stakeholders;
• Perform any other related duties as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced university degree in Economics, Statistics, Rural Development, Social Sciences or closely related technical field;
• Minimum of seven years (category B) of relevant experience in coordinating and implementing MEAL activities related to food security and/or agriculture programmes;
• Working knowledge of English (level C) and limited knowledge (level B) of another official language of the Organization (French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese or Russian).

FAO Core Competencies

• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills
• Work experience in more than one location or area of work;
• Relevant work experience in MEAL applied to food security and/or agricultural programmes;
• Excellent knowledge of MEAL tools and methodologies applied in food security, resilience and agricultural interventions;
• Working knowledge of advanced statistics with ability to use statistical software packages (i.e. SPSS and R);
• Good knowledge of using and programming questionnaires in Open data kits (in particular Kobo toolbox);
• Experience in team management and training/capacity-building;
• Experience in the implementation of beneficiary complaint and feedback mechanisms is highly desirable;
• Able to work under pressure and adapt to an evolving and complex humanitarian context and within multidisciplinary and different cultural background teams;
• Knowledge of humanitarian response in the context of Afghanistan is considered a strong asset;
• Previous working experience with UN and/or international organizations will be considered a strong asset.

Please note that all candidates should adhere to FAO Values of Commitment to FAO, Respect for All and Integrity and Transparency

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• FAO does not charge any fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview, processing)
• Please note that FAO will only consider academic credentials or degrees obtained from an educational institution recognized in the IAU/UNESCO list
• Please note that FAO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/
• For more information, visit the FAO employment website
• Appointment will be subject to certification that the candidate is medically fit for appointment, accreditation, any residency or visa requirements, and security clearances. Subject to certain exemptions, vaccination against COVID-19 will in principle be required. Vaccination status will be verified as part of the medical clearance process.