MEAL MANAGER

Aim of the position: Overall Function

The MEAL Manager assists the MEAL coordinator, who oversees the development and operations of the MEAL department. He or she is responsible for providing additional human power, key notions, and overall guidance to project staff or other people responsible for the gathering of data about projects’ beneficiaries and activities.

The MEAL Manager plays a key role especially in the launching phase of new projects, during the identification of beneficiaries, and when new instruments for data gathering are put in place. The MEAL Manager addresses the need to put sufficient work into the establishment of new mechanisms of MEAL, which tend to take more effort than what is generally believed, and for which a minimal standard of data quality must be ensured.

The MEAL Manager provides support but does not substitute project staff, who are the ultimate responsible for the data gathering. This is aimed to ensure the project team’s ownership of MEAL activities, and that MEAL technical assistance is brought to all AVSI projects, at key strategic moments.

Main tasks and responsibilities:

• Provide support to the MEAL department, in particular by following up on MEAL coordinator’s instructions and ensuring data management related to project activities and surveying.
• Planning the logistical, recruiting and organizational aspects of surveys, and overseeing the execution.
• Development and fine-tuning of questionnaires to be used for rapid and standard assessments, project baseline/endline, and monitoring of good/service delivery.
• Identification and fine-tuning of project indicators to be used for project baseline/endline.
• Design and execution of key informant interviews and other data gathering based on semi structured questionnaires
• Data analysis and reporting and crafting of assessment. Revision and editing of reports based on the gathered data.
• Under each project and based on the project logical framework, support the MEAL team in designing and developing specific methodologies and tools for planning, monitoring, evaluation and capitalization of lesson learned;
• Ensure that all processes, methodologies and tools are age/gender sensitive;
• Support M&E staff assigned for each project in applying M&E standards around project planning meetings, baseline studies, data collection tools, monitoring missions and evaluations;
• Provide technical assistance and support M&E team to implement M&E plans/processes and to collect data particularly quantitative and qualitative information from various sources;
• Manage a clear data management system for tracking and verifying programmatic performance particularly against the targets and achievement on outputs and outcomes levels;
• Develop validation data process along with the Information System team to ensure accurate and reliable data collected and archived;
• Make sure reporting deadlines are respected and M&E teams reports are submitted timely.
• Ensure coaching and capacity building for the MEAL Team as well as their engaged participation in the relevant MEAL activities, as needed;
• Ensure the MEAL department conduct information delivery and feedback sessions with beneficiaries to guide them in expressing their needs and seeking help;
• Support the process of mid-term and/or final evaluation intervention under various projects, set up team reflection around evaluations results and how to communicate results effectively to project/program teams;
• Support recruitment and management of external consultants, and data collection teams for specific projects;
• Support the process that ensure that critical MEAL findings and recommendations are discussed and addressed by Program teams and management;
• Support the coordination with the Communication department to ensure data analyzed and results achieved are effectively communicated;
• Follow-up the yearly strategy implementation of the community liaison teams to make sure the outreach and other assessments and coordination activities are done timely and according to the projects needs under each geographical area;
• Provide grant proposals and reports with accurate and quantitative and qualitative data;
• Contribute to the development of new project proposals by helping the drafting of TOC and log frames, budgeting for MEAL activities etc. in coordination with the program and finance department;
• Ensure proper coordination within AVSI Mission departments and sectors;

When required, the MEAL Manager will also:

• Provide support and training to AVSI staff
• Provide support to AVSI ESA (Eastern and Southern Africa) MEAL department and review in the design of data collection forms, tools and processes;
• Provide training to AVSI ESA MEAL team to leverage geographic data for map production and use in geographic information systems (GIS).