Country: India, Nepal
Closing date: 25 Mar 2016
About CRS:
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.**Purpose**:
The South Asia MEAL Manager will support the efforts of the South Asia sub-region in building stronger MEAL systems and skills of country program staff in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. The MEAL Manager will lead teams in implementation of high quality, systematic MEAL practices across the sub-region.**Background**:
MEAL is one of the agency’s five core competencies and an area of focus for PIQA, OpEx, GKIM and all regions and Country Programs. The new MEAL Policy & Procedures provide a “bronze” or minimum standard for MEAL, and will be supplemented by the strategic initiatives which include strengthening the MEAL system, setting up an agency wide data system and developing a learning agenda for the agency.
In South Asia CRS has prioritized MEAL as a key area of capacity building and PQ focus. The programs in the South Asia sub-region have dedicated MEAL staff in place; new projects hold MEAL system development sessions in the first quarter; and staff increasingly use quantitative and qualitative information generated by their MEAL system in program decision making. Several programs have undertaken Operation / Action Research efforts, and there is general interest in becoming a better learning organization.
The sector focus of the MEAL Manager is on health, nutrition, food security and agricultural livelihoods, anti-trafficking, gender-based violence, and emergencies. With the range of programs in the South Asia sub-region, the MEAL Manager will spend significant time working with relevant RTAs, MEAL staff, and the South Asia Head of Programming to ensure staff has the capacity to implement high quality MEAL work that align with CRS’ MEAL policy.
CRS programs in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka constitute a South Asia sub-regional hub with overall leadership from the South Asia Representative, the South Asia Head of Programming, and the South Asia Head of Operations, all based in New Delhi, India.
CRS has managed emergency and development programs across India since 1946. Currently, CRS supports a variety of programs in multiple Indian states on disaster management (including emergency response, disaster preparedness and risk reduction), health, agricultural livelihoods, and women and child protection.
In Nepal CRS focuses primarily on supporting Caritas Nepal in emergency aid to families affected by disasters. In 2005, CRS broadened its scope to include projects in counter-trafficking and civic education. After the 2015 Nepal earthquake, CRS has significantly increased its presence and support to Caritas Nepal to implement immediate relief, recovery and reconstruction programming.
CRS has been providing humanitarian assistance to Bangladesh since its independence in 1971. CRS began by assisting refugees and then gradually moved to education and emergency response activities. Currently CRS supports Caritas Bangladesh in implementing agriculture livelihoods and disaster risk reduction projects.
CRS began assisting the people of Sri Lanka in 1994 from its office in India. CRS responded to the December 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka, in collaboration with Caritas Sri Lanka and Jesuit Refugee Services. When Sri Lanka’s civil war came to an end in 2009, CRS and its partners created return and resettlement programs for the displaced people. CRS currently supports programs in Sri Lanka in a range of sectors.
Specifically, the South Asia sub-region seeks support for
Ensuring the quality of MEAL systems in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka programs, recommending improvements and leading program MEAL staff in making the necessary changes;
Developing staff MEAL skills and practices in the various programs in South Asia;
Ensuring beneficiary accountability at every stage of the project cycle, through information sharing, two-way feedback, using beneficiary input in decision making, and participatory impact measurement;
Learning from our programs and beneficiaries, through our analysis and use of MEAL data, our critical analysis of context, stakeholder input, partner reflections and documentation of lessons learned, promising practices and best practices; and through our project evaluations.
Developing learning agendas at country and sub-regional level.
Using ICT4D to improve MEAL and to contribute to program impact in a sustainable, participatory, cost efficient and effective way. Activities:
Capacity building:
On-site capacity building of program staff, including but not limited to MEAL staff, including formal and on-the job staff training and co-facilitation of MEAL events and activities;
Distance coaching of staff through reviews, emails and conversations which provide tools, resources, and practical advice on assessments, MEAL system setup, and improvements to MEAL practices;
Project Design
- For concept notes and proposals, lead development of the results framework, indicator definition for tracking process and measuring outcomes, and MEAL plans or Performance Monitoring Plans.
- Leadership in assessments and data interpretation, and working with MEAL officers, coordinators and managers to improve assessment and analysis practices.
MEAL Systems
Provide oversight of MEAL activities for Nepal emergency relief and recovery projects.
Support programs to adhere to and self-assess against CRS Policy & Procedures as a minimum standard across the sub-region.
Review existing MEAL systems and practices and assist teams in setting up and/or strengthening appropriate MEAL structures and systems;
Support program staff with SMILER sessions and the review of MEAL binders for selected projects, with a focus on completeness and quality.
Direct and distance support to program teams in designing simple, practical and relevant MEAL tools.
ICT4
Working with the regional ICT specialist (based in New Delhi) and program teams to establish and implement appropriate ICT4D and ICT4E solutions.
Sharing experience of ICT use with the regional and global team to contribute to agency learning.
Beneficiary Accountability
Increase accountability to beneficiaries at every stage of the project cycle through guiding CRS staff and partners and sharing resources (CRS and external) to promote good BA practices;
Documenting experiences and developing tools as necessary.
Providing feedback to ESA MEAL RTA on what works well for beneficiary accountability. Project Evaluation and Learning
Support MEAL staff to lead project evaluation and learning events to ensure promising practices, lessons learned, and recommendations are identified, documented, and used to improve program quality.
Facilitate cross-country learning and sharing in MEAL approaches and practices among countries in the sub-region.
Review Terms of Reference for evaluations and reviews which include evaluation and review questions, a balance of qualitative and quantitative methods, and the necessary level of technical rigor based on project duration and learning needs.
Facilitate the use of evaluation and review results with partners, staff, and other stakeholders to inform decision-making and to identify lessons learned and promising practices.
Facilitate reflection on key issues and themes to identify gaps in knowledge and to improve project and program performance and impact.
Foster an internal enabling environment for learning and support key partners to establish enabling environments for learning.
Reporting:
The South Asia MEAL Manager will report to the South Asia Head of Programming. As country program reporting structures grow and evolve, this position may be required to have direct supervision of MEAL staff. At a minimum, MEAL staff will have a dotted line reporting responsibility with the MEAL manager.
Key Working Relationships:Internal:** MEAL staff, Program Managers, ESA Regional Technical Advisor (RTA) for MEAL, Sector RTAs, South Asia Country Managers/Country Representatives, and senior country program staff.
External: CRS partners; USAID, BMGF, and other donor agencies; other international NGOs; consultants working in MEAL; professional associations (e.g., national evaluation associations)
Professional Qualifications:**
- Three to five years of progressively responsible and directly relevant professional experience; including a management role in at least one baseline and final evaluation event; use of ICT4D for MEAL; and sectoral experience in health, nutrition, food security, and emergencies are preferred.
- Thorough familiarity with principles and current approaches to MEAL using both quantitative and qualitative methods.
- Demonstrated MEAL field experience; skilled in collecting, manipulating, synthesizing and analyzing data.
- Understanding of donor expectations and trends for MEAL.
- Experience in one or more of the core programming sectors of the South Asia sub region.
- Demonstrated ability to transfer knowledge to diverse audiences through training, mentoring, and other formal and non-formal methods.
- Excellent analytic and computer skills; skilled in MS Office Suite including Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint and Access.
- Experience with management information systems.
- Willingness and ability to travel approximately 30-40% of time.
- Prior experience in the regional context preferred**.**
Education:**
· Graduate degree in a development-related field.
Personal Competencies:**
- Skilled in influencing and obtaining cooperation of individuals not under supervisory control; able to work as member of multinational team and manage long-distance relationships to achieve results.
- Ability to engage and motivate staff and partners in a challenging new area.
- Demonstrated strengths in relationship management with a strong client service focus; able to work with diverse groups of people in multicultural, team oriented environment.
- Able to prioritize work, multi-task and meet deadlines
- Excellent organization and planning skills; self-motivated
MEAL Competencies
MEAL in Design: Developing project-level Theories of change, results frameworks, Proframes, related MEAL system tools and competencies, and accompanying MEAL narratives.
Evaluation: Developing project-level Theories of change, results frameworks, Proframes, related MEAL system tools and competencies, and accompanying MEAL narratives.
Accountability: Improving our accountability to a range of stakeholders through increased participation, transparent communication, responsive feedback mechanisms, and adherence to internal and external quality standards and requirements.
Learning: Promoting excellent knowledge management and collaborative learning processes at the project, program and institutional levels, generating robust evidence for project and programmatic learning that leads to action, decision-making and influence.
Analysis & Critical Thinking**:** Engaging with data, challenging biases and assumptions, posing thoughtful questions, pursuing deeper understanding of evidence through reflection and perspective-taking, and making informed programming decisions.
ICT for MEAL: Applying knowledge on information and communication technologies (ICT), both hardware and software, for opportune and accurate data collection, database management, conducting analyses, and making information easily accessible.
Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff):These are rooted in the mission, values, and principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and to achieve the desired results.
- Serves with Integrity
- Models Stewardship
- Builds Constructive Relationships
- Promotes Learning**Working Conditions**:
Normal office environment. Requires approximately 30-40% travel throughout the sub-region.
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.
EOE/M/F/D/V
How to apply:
Apply through the CRS Career Portal: https://www5.apply2jobs.com/CRS/ProfExt/index.cfm?fuseaction=mExternal.showJob&RID=2499&CurrentPage=1