MEAL Technical Advisor – National Contract

CRS Background

Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. We welcome as a part of our staff and as partners people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.

Job Summary

You will provide technical advice and support for monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning (MEAL) to a range of program design and implementation issues in line with CRS program quality principles and MEAL policies, procedures and practices, donor guidelines, and industry best practices to the Country Program (CP) project teams to advance the delivery of high-quality programming to the poor and vulnerable. Your MEAL-related advice, knowledge, and support will contribute to determining how effective, adaptive and innovative CRS’ programming is across the globe.

Roles and Key Responsibilities

• Support the development and contribute to the implementation of agency-wide strategies, standards, tools and best practices in MEAL that effectively engage partners, donors, and governments. Help ensure a cross-sectoral approach on gender integration, protection mainstreaming, disability inclusion and disaster risk reduction.
• Provide MEAL-related technical solutions to CP teams, remotely and on-site, for strategic planning and how to best apply standards, best practices, partnership principles, and tools, helping to ensure high-quality implementation.
• Lead the development of project MEAL systems that meet donor requirements and adhere to the agency’s MEAL policies, procedures, and practices. Support the documentation of MEAL systems, including leading a participatory approach to the development of project-specific MEAL manuals (CRS’s SMILER+ Guidance).
• Lead the customization and design of digital forms for data collection and the design of approaches for data visualization that meet information needs of project managers and senior leadership.
• Provide technical support to project- based MEAL staff to collect and analyze program data, perform high-quality data visualization, capture and share lessons learned and best practices for specific projects to facilitate improvements in decision-making and contribute to sectoral and country program learning agendas.
• Facilitate workshops/reflection activities to review project data. Support program and partner staff to use data to make evidence-based decisions for program implementation.
• Support staff and partners on accountability approaches and establish appropriate feedback mechanisms for the project. Ensure accountability to participants is at center of project MEAL systems. Ensure feedback from project participants is effectively analyzed to inform project decision-making and learning and is documented.
• Lead capacity strengthening initiatives in MEAL across programming and partner staff through helping develop learning and training strategies and agendas/curriculums, conducting trainings and workshops, and coaching that are tailored to learners needs. Oversee a CP-wide Community of Practice on MEAL.
• Contribute to maintaining relationships with donors, peer organizations, research and other institutions, participate in MEAL forums to collect and share best practices and promote CRS’ work.
• Lead key sector related evaluations and other learning initiatives, including reflections on Theory of Change and identification and documentation of lessons learned for future projects through After Action Reviews, Midterm Reviews and Final Evaluations.
• Contribute to, and in some cases lead, the development of the MEAL portions of the technical design for proposals. Support the process of preparation, design, submission and approval of project concepts and full-fledged proposals. As needed, act as a technical writer for MEAL on proposal development teams. Advise project teams on incorporating donor MEAL strategies, priorities and technical requirements into CRS’ approach.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree required; Master’s Degree preferred in Monitoring and Evaluation, Statistics or related field required. Additional experience may substitute for some education.
• Minimum of 5 years relevant work experience with progressive responsibilities, ideally with an international NGO, with preferably at least 2-3 years relevant field-based experience in MEAL within humanitarian response or refugee integration projects.
• Knowledge of technical principles and concepts in MEAL. General knowledge of other related disciplines to ensure proper cross-sectoral approach.
• Knowledge of ICT4D platforms and solutions.
• Experience in project design and proposal development. Experience in writing content for proposals.
• Knowledge of capacity strengthening best practices.
• Strong communication skills, including demonstrated ability to write concise reports
• Experience with quantitative and qualitative data collection and data analysis.
• Experience and skills in networking and relations with donors, peer organizations, and faith-based and civil society partners. Understanding of partnership principles.

Required/Desired Foreign Language: Fluency in English and Greek

Travel Required: 10% in country travel (Attica and Thessaloniki), in accordance with COVID-19 travel restrictions

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Strong relationship management skills with ability to influence and get buy-in from people not under direct supervision and to work with individuals in diverse geographical and cultural settings
• Good strategic, analytical, problem-solving and systems thinking skills with capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgment
• Good technical writing skills
• Presentation, facilitation, training, mentoring, and coaching skills
• Proactive, resourceful and results-oriented

Preferred Qualifications

• Proficient in MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), Power BI, Commcare and any other data visualization and analysis packages.

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff)

These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.

• Integrity
• Continuous Improvement & Innovation
• Builds Relationships
• Develops Talent
• Strategic Mindset
• Accountability & Stewardship

Supervisory Responsibilities

No supervisory responsibilities.

Key Working Relationships:

Internal: CRS Project Managers, Caritas Project Managers,CRS MEAL Senior Project Officers, CRS Safeguarding Manager, CRS Head of Programs, CRS EMECA Regional Technical Advisor for MEAL

External: Caritas Athens, Caritas Hellas, Project Consortium Members

MEAL Competencies (for CRS MEAL Program Staff)

Each staff member in this position is expected to have solid knowledge and ability and can apply the following competencies with minimal or no guidance, in the full range of typical situations, while requiring guidance to handle novel or more complex situations

• MEAL in Design
• Monitoring
• Accountability
• Evaluation
• Learning
• Analysis and Critical Thinking
• ICT4MEAL
• Management in MEAL

Each staff member in this position is expected to have advanced knowledge and ability and can apply the following competencies in new or complex situations. And guides other professionals:

• Monitoring
• Accountability
• Evaluation
• Analysis and Critical Thinking
• ICT4MEAL

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff):

These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfil his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.

• Trusting Relationships
• Professional Growth
• Partnership
• Accountability

Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.

CRS’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.

Equal Opportunity Employer

By applying to this job, I understand and acknowledge that CRS requires its staff to treat all people with dignity and respect and to actively prevent harassment, abuse, exploitation, and human trafficking. Further, I understand that if I am a successful candidate, I will be subject to a comprehensive background check, and my personal/professional references will be asked to evaluate my behaviors related to the above safeguarding-related topics.

Please note that applications will be continuously reviewed, and CRS reserves the right to close the vacancy before the deadline once a suitable candidate is identified.

We thank all applicants for their interest, however only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.