Job Description

Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Officer - national position

Duties and Responsibilities

Design and Implementation of a MEAL System that meets SCI standards
• Support the development and implementation of a MEAL System for the Zimbabwe County Office. This requires close collaboration with the Programs and Partnerships Department and must be in line with SCI’s Quality Framework. Project-specific MEAL systems need to meet demands and standards of different donors.
• Ensure the use of monitoring frameworks, tools and processes to measure performance and quality. This includes supporting thematic and operation staff to develop and monitor Quality Benchmarks.
• Ensure digitalisation and use of Accountability and Quality Benchmarks for easy capturing and Reporting
• Lead routine collection, analysis and use of evidence, including disaggregation for gender, disability and the most marginalised and deprived, to document impact, innovate and learn what work for children, and inform management, policy and programme solutions.
• Working under the supervision of the MEAL Manager and collaboratively with the Zimbabwe Office Programs and Partnerships Department and colleagues , supports needs and baseline assessments, feasibility studies, evaluations and research conducted in the Zimbabwe Office.
• Support the use of systems that safely and appropriately ensure accountability to children and communities with whom we work by building trusting and collaborative relationships through information sharing and two-way communication, participation, and feedback and reporting mechanisms.
• Assist to identify, document, share and use learning from Save the Children and others’ work, to continuously adapt and improve our programming. This includes learning agendas, learning workshops and after-action review, action planning and tracking of learning uptake.
• Where relevant and assigned support the MEAL Manager in emergency preparedness and response within existing country MEAL frameworks, systems, tools, and processes, adhering to the Core Humanitarian Standards, Sphere Charter, and Red Cross Code of Conduct.
• Ensure the championing of knowledge management through the development and use of platforms that store and display evidence and learning that is made accessible and actively used between countries, regions, and the Centre,
• Work with New Business Development, the Programs and Partnerships Department and Thematic Sector teams to ensure that all projects have quality assurance mechanisms integrated into their design and implementation.
• Support data collection for NBD processes working with Sector Programs and Partnership Leads, and Resource and New Business Development team.
• Explore innovative opportunities to pilot approaches that are new or could expand to further areas of programming.
• Ensure that KPIs related to MEAL activities are regularly met through institutionalisation of robust systems for tracking, reporting and following up improvement actions.
• Foster innovation by identifying opportunities to pilot new approaches and to upgrade tools, systems and process based on advances in the aid sector.
• Work closely with the PRIME MEAL lead in the cluster and the MEAL Manager to promote the update and use of PRIME in all projects within the Zimbabwe Country office.
• Assist the MEAL Manager and Sector Programs and Partnership Leads in developing and/or revising Country MEAL Plans, logic models, MEAL frameworks and annual/quarterly reports
• Develop and/or provide technical support to the maintenance of program databases for all SC projects across the 4 thematic areas.
MEAL Structure and Capacity
• Assist to identify capacity gaps and design and deliver MEAL capacity building for MEAL, programme and partner staff and foster an organizational culture which prioritizes MEAL leading to quality programming
Knowledge Management
· Work with Advocacy and Communications department to ensure that all evidence generated through SCI implementations research and evaluation work is well packaged for internal and external use.
· Support programmes on all learning process including strategic learning events.
· Assist with designing lessons learnt capturing tools for programmes process documentation.
· Support the process of lessons learnt capturing while projects are ongoing ensuring that lessons learnt for programmes are documented, presented and used to inform future
· Support the Country office use of Community of Practices across all thematic areas for learning on innovative approaches as well as to facilitate sharing of ideas among internal teams and external partners.
· Support the tracking of organisational research and evaluation activities for wider reviews through the SCI Global Repository for Evaluations and Research as well as the Pipeline for Evaluations and Research platforms.
· Ensure effective storage of assessment, surveys and evaluations and/or organizational knowledge on the shared folders, and to use this knowledge base to promote learning across the organisation.
· Ensure that data/information collected from MEAL function informs Country Office strategic and project-based decision making.
Strategic and Annual Planning
• Assist to ensure that evidence and learning is brought together across thematic and operational regions to develop a Country Strategic Plan (including participating in a Child Needs Situational Assessment).
• Support the development of the Country Annual Plan (CAP) including identifying future evaluations and ensure that data is accurate.
• Support Programs and Partnership staff to analyse progress against organisational objectives and strategies.
Internal Reporting
• Support the accurate data collection and processing for all regular reporting including internal reports such as the Country Annual Report, the Programme Quality KPIs, categorised emergency Sitreps, and “Total Reach”.
• Ensure all the programme data for all projects is captured and reported using SC Project Reporting, Information Management & Evidence (PRIME) System
• Support MEAL aspects of donor reporting, including review of baseline, mid-term, endline or any other donor/project specific studies.
• Respond to any internal or SC member request for specific information including production of geographic, thematic or programme-specific data.
• Assist to ensure that regularly updated MEAL mechanisms are in place for each project including technical reports and MEAL tracking tools that identify necessary future actions.
• Ensure data quality and accuracy (including for external reporting as needed).
Programme Development and Partnerships
• Support the Programme Operations team to ensure MEAL plays an integral role at every stage of the project lifecycle, leading to enhanced quality, accountability, management, and impact.
Advocacy & Representation
• Support CO advocacy efforts by providing real time evidence-based data in line with identified priority advocacy objectives and assist to identify key opportunities for Save the Children Zimbabwe to position itself as the leading organisation for championing children’s rights in Zimbabwe.
Child Safeguarding:
• Ensure that Child Safeguarding mainstreaming is integrated in all MEAL frameworks through measurable output and outcome indicators
• Ensure Accountability systems are in place in all projects
· Staff inform people who come into contact with them of the conduct to expect of SC staff
· Report any Child Safeguarding concerns to the focal person