MEAL Manager

Position Title: MEAL Manager

Start Date: February 2023

Status: Full-time, 2 year contract, renewable

Reports to: Chief Program Officer

Supervises: MEAL Coordinator, ICT4D Officer

Mission Statement: To improve the quality of life for the Haitian people, particularly children.

Vision: Our vision for Haiti: Joyful children, healthy families, thriving communities, and the resources to make it so.

Brief Organizational Summary: Hope for Haiti is an innovative and creative international development organization that has been working in Haiti for 34 years. The organization partners with private donors to create community-based sustainable change through a grassroots and strategic holistic approach. Hope for Haiti is an action-oriented and fast-paced organization that believes in partnership solutions to poverty alleviation. Hope for Haiti’s vision for the future is one of the strategic growth in creating healthy, sustainable communities. Hope for Haiti has a distinguished and well-established Board of Directors that provides the organization with strong governance, oversight, and strategic direction. Building upon the organization’s proven track record of success, Hope for Haiti stays true to its mission and founding principles while offering a dynamic and supportive work environment. For more information about Hope for Haiti, please visit www.hopeforhaiti.com.

Scope of Work: The MEAL Manager will work to provide relief to the most vulnerable populations in the greater South of Haiti to gain access to basic household needs. Supervised by the Chief Program Officer, the MEAL Manager will be responsible for the overall direction of monitoring and evaluating Hope for Haiti’s programs (Education, Healthcare, WASH, Economic Development) and will work very closely with all program managers on MEAL deliverables. S/he will provide technical guidance and oversight for the design and implementation of MEAL plans and assessments to effectively track program activities, outputs, and outcomes.

The MEAL Manager will help develop the Monitoring and Evaluation (MEAL) Plan and systems to monitor and track progress against the program’s indicators, perform quality assurance checks, ensure beneficiary accountability and evaluate the program. S/he will be responsible for ensuring integrity and sound design for the collection, storage and analysis of data required for the MEAL Plan, program reporting and other information needs. S/he will collaborate across all programs and departments.

The MEAL Manager is a National position. This position is located in Les Cayes.

Major Responsibilities:

• Serve as the overall lead of the MEAL department, providing strategic guidance and direction to programs teams in order to improve MEAL systems and the capacity of the staff.
• Act as the direct line manager assigning projects, tracking outputs, and providing technical oversight.
• Perform qualitative and quantitative analysis of data gathered from program sectors and relevant stakeholders
• Ensure that the program staff and partners have a shared understanding of MEAL requirements, including skills in data gathering and reporting
• Develop new and enhanced MEAL processes as needed and ensure the program staff and partners have adequate knowledge of Hope For Haiti MEAL approaches
• Oversee the design and implementation of the MEAL strategy and monitoring, evaluation, learning, and accountability (MEAL) plan, including data collection, data systems, and results reporting to meet Hope For Haiti and donors’ requirements
• Support program interventions to strengthen the evidence base and performance reporting for program results
• Lead the development of collaboration, learning, and adaptation (CLA) mechanisms and incorporate these mechanisms throughout implementation to regularly adapt and modify approaches and interventions as needed
• Develop, with input from management, baseline survey data points and methods for MEAL per the Activity’s MEAL plan and individual activities or events the Activity implements; ensure the inclusion of gender-sensitive indicators and results in MEAL
• Provide evidence-based data and information to the technical team to develop progress reports, technical papers, success stories, case studies, etc.; recommend improvements to meet Activity goals
• Spearhead, guide, and supervise all database, survey, and assessment methodology documents (sampling frame, guides, instructions, surveys, and analysis) for quality assurance and adherence to MEAL data quality standards and industry best practices
• Research on barriers and entry points for sustainable programming in fragile contexts, including best use of resources
• Distilling and documenting and/or introducing innovative best practices for any MEAL assessments in fragile contexts
• Support management and accountability through routine, accurate collection and reporting of information to track the status of program activities based on established log frames.
• Develop quality control systems and mechanisms needed to guarantee proper management of data collected.
• Develop and maintain effective systems to capture and store program data across multiple sectors.
• Train and assist program managers to implement realistic monitoring plans that capture quantitative and qualitative data for comparison against a project’s targets.
• Document and disseminate key findings and lessons learned from project monitoring data, assessment data, and other sources to inform organizational learning and decision-making.
• Gather relevant information regarding best practices in program design, monitoring, and evaluation from within and outside Hope for Haiti and share it with field staff to facilitate organizational learning and experience sharing.
• Develop and implement plans to build and strengthen the capacity of MEAL staff.

EDUCATION / EXPERIENCE

• Previous MEAL Manager or MEAL Specialist experience preferred.
• Bachelor’s degree from a 4-year college or university in Economics, Statistics, Monitoring and Evaluation, or related field of study (required).
• 4+ years of experience in Monitoring and Evaluation and serving in MEAL management roles (preferred).
• Good knowledge of project cycle management and development.
• Strong working knowledge of at least one statistical software package including R, STATA, SPSS, SAS, Epi Info, Excel or others.
• Experience conducting project evaluations including using survey methodologies of Cluster and LQAS.
• Must be proficient in Microsoft Office programs and have strong mathematical and reasoning abilities.
• Demonstrated strength in cross-cultural staff management. Ability to work with culturally diverse groups of people.
• Demonstrated leadership, versatility, and integrity
• Critical analysis and strategic thinking skills.
• Ability to travel and work in difficult conditions under pressure. Will travel to the fields periodically to provide support.
• Strong communication, organizational, and analytical skills. Proven ability to work creatively and independently both in the office and in the field. A strong team player and adept at creating a strong team spirit.
• Fluency in English required, as well as either French or Haitian Creole.

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS THAT ALIGN WITH CORE VALUES

Resiliency

• Ability to respond appropriately and sensitively to cultural differences as they arise among the organization’s service population
• Flexible, adaptable, patient, and accepting of the fact that Hope for Haiti and its activities are constantly evolving in line with its resources and goals.
• Ability to adapt to and make level-headed decisions in stressful situations
• High energy and strong physical condition, including but not limited to the ability to hike distances over 5 kilometers and lift at least 30 lbs over the shoulders

Empower

• Ability to conduct and participate in staff meetings and strategic planning professionally and to represent Hope for Haiti’s mission to team members and colleagues

Accountable

• Excellent organizational skills and ability to prioritize assigned tasks.
• Personal commitment to the mission and vision of Hope for Haiti and a desire to help the most vulnerable population
• Maintains the highest level of confidentiality with sensitive information

Collaboration

• Ability to effectively work with a team
• Ability to resolve interpersonal conflict while preserving a team-oriented outlook

Hope

• A shared belief that there is always a pathway to improvement despite the challenges that lie ahead.
• Positive outlook and ability to work through difficult situations knowing that it’s possible to achieve desired outcomes.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

National candidates only. This is a full-time position based in Les Cayes, Haiti. This position is NOT accompanied and the organization provides no relocation, logistics or housing packages. Compensation is based on Hope for Haiti’s Compensation Scale.