MEAL Manager

Location: Ukraine (will consider home-based for the right candidate)

Area of Impact: Ukraine Crisis Response Across 3 countries

Fixed term contract: 8 months

HelpAge and Strategy 2030 – delivering real impact for older people

HelpAge International works with partners and a diverse global network of more than 150 organisations across 85 countries, supporting millions of older people to live safe, dignified and healthy lives. Through our partnership and collaborations, we work to ensure the inclusion of older people across society and strive to deliver a just and fair world for everyone, whatever their age. Our work is driven by our desire to deliver real impact for older people, to be inclusive, to work in partnership and to learn from our shared experience.

Our 2030 strategy Ageing in a Just World sets out how we will work together to shape the future we all share. By working together, we aim to help inspire a movement for change and through ensuring all our work promotes older people’s wellbeing, dignity and voice, we can transform the lives of older people now and in the future.

As part of our 2030 strategy, we have a continued commitment to inclusive humanitarian action, supporting older people and their families at a time of crisis.

Ukraine Crisis

HelpAge has been present in Ukraine since 2014, responding to the ongoing conflict in Donetsk and Luhansk (eastern Ukraine), providing support to protect older people from violence, abuse, and neglect and help to reduce psychosocial distress. In March 2022, HelpAge expanded its work in Ukraine, opening new offices in Dinipro, Livi and Chernivsti, and lauched refugee response programmes in Moldova and Poland. We currently have a workforce of +600 people including staff and volunteers/contractors.

HelpAge’s overall objective for this crisis is to ensure that older people (especially refugees and IDPs) including older people with disabilities, are protected, feel safe and have access to humanitarian assistance, social care and health assistance; and that our response promotes and actively supports, social integration, reduced isolation, improved autonomy, and independence, of most at risk older people with and without disabilities.

Key areas for impact/influence and responsibilities:

Evidence-based programming and decision making

• Design, conduct and commission evidence reviews, applying appropriate qualitative methodology, to inform the design of HAIs programmes.
• Support Country Humanitarain Programme Managers to lead project teams to develop evidence-based programme logic, using a theory of change that reflects the priorities of the HAI Results Framework (2030).
• Support technical advisors and project teams to use standardised indicators and measures that support meta-analyses across projects.

Evaluation

• Project manage both short and long-term evaluations to ensure they are delivered on time and to a high standard.
• Working with Country Humanitarain Programme Managers convene project teams to develop Monitoring and Evaluation Frameworks, including Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) plans that detail process, output and outcomes indicators and measures, as well as data sources and operational requirements for collecting, analysing and reporting data for evaluation.
• Design, conduct and commission complex program evaluations, including process/implementation evaluations and cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness evaluations to inform HAIs on the impact and efficiency of our programming.
• Provide technical input and guidance to country project teams to develop data collection tools such as surveys, interview or focus group discussion questionnaires.
• Conduct quantitative data and qualitative data analysis.
• Produce evaluation reports and learning products such as fact sheets, policy briefs, policy position papers, publications, working with the Communications Team on packaging and dissemination.

Capacity Building

• Provide appropriate capacity development and supportive supervision for staff in monitoring and evaluation procedures, data collection tools, and data management practices in alignment with the MEL plan.
• Work closely with partners to review their internal MERL systems, M&E plans, and data quality management, oversee partners’ compliance with MEL system, and design and conduct trainings to support capacity for MEL among partners.

Quality Internal & External Reporting

• Ensure that reports (e.g. for KAP surveys, evaluations, PDMs, etc.) are of high quality, follow best practices and MEAL standards and support program reporting as per donor contractual requirements.
• Support the country teams with internal reporting to the global impact team ensuring timely reporting as well as accurate and consistency of data reported.
• Ensure that high quality analysis reports are being generated region-wide to illustrate HelpAge International’s impact in the region and that assessment findings are produced, including evidence of good practice and replicable programs, and that they are communicated via appropriate internal and external channels/platforms.

Lets talk about you:

You will be someone with:

• 5+ year of relevant and progressive professional experience.
• Extensive experience in data analysis, program monitoring, including designing monitoring systems, indicators, developing MEAL plans, data quality assessments, survey techniques incl. sampling, qualitative investigation, and statistical analysis.
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate complex activities, meet deadlines, and exercise sound judgment
• Fluency in English and strong English writing skills
• Exceptional analytical skills and proven skills in data management; and statistical analysis using SPSS/ STATA/ CSPro, or any other statistical application.
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment
• Excellent time management skills and resourcefulness with strong attention to detail
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills and ability to guide others and build the capacity of diverse teams

Desirable

• Fluent spoken and written Ukrainan or Russian
• Previous experience of working in Eastern Europe and/or Ukraine
• Previous experience of working with older people

At HelpAge International, we believe in the importance of empowering our people to be change makers and leaders at all levels. We expect our people to embrace and live our values, challenging themselves every day to identify issues that are most important to older persons and their communities, and to make an impact that matters.

In addition, as a HelpAge employee you are expected to:

• Work collaboratively, building mutual trust and respect, with external organisations and partners to achieve our strategic aims and objectives; being accountable for the work you do together
• Adapt to new directions or opportunities arising within the organisation and in your work area; being flexible in your role, constantly using the feedback to learn more and evolve further.
• Lead behavioral and cultural change through embracing a supportive, collaborative and highly inclusive environment where everybody feels supported, respected and engaged
• Extend HelpAge’s reach and impact, by creating and identifying new business development opportunities and building relationships with new partners.
• Lead and promote a culture of including the voices of older people across our support, convening and thought leadership roles, in a way that is transformative, empowering and highly inclusive of those marginalised by age, gender, economic status, disability and other factors of discrimination.

Safeguarding

HelpAge International is committed to safeguarding the communities with which we work, our partners, staff and any others who we come into contact with.

Therefore you will also be responsible for:

• Preventing harm and abuse from our people, operations and programmes to anyone that encounters our work;
• Reporting all safeguarding incidents you see, hear, hear about or suspect, using our internal reporting mechanism;
• Complying with all safeguarding framework policies and practices
• Completing mandatory training courses relating to our safeguarding policy framework and complying with HR vetting procedures.