MEAL Director, USAID/Jordan Improved Access to Early Childhood Education and Employment Activity At Save the Children – US

Summary:

Save the Children is seeking a Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Director for an anticipated five-year USAID-funded Improved Access to Early Childhood Education and Employment Activity in Jordan. The program will focus on understanding the economic viability of private sector and community-based organizations to invest in expanding access to quality and affordable KG1, KG2, and nursery education specific services targeting children between the ages of 3-6 years.

The Director is responsible for leading the establishment and implementation of the project’s MEAL system. This entails proficiently acquiring, analyzing, organizing, and interpreting project data and ensuring compliance with donor standards and Save the Children MEAL requirements. They will provide technical expertise and leadership to generate and analyze quality evidence and data through monitoring, assessments, and evaluations. The Director will supervise the project monitoring and evaluation team and coordinate with project learning and management processes to ensure effective feedback loops that contribute to achieving desired outcomes.

What You’ll Be Doing (Essential Duties):

• Build, manage, and continuously strengthen the program’s M&E system, ensuring that it is developed in a consultative fashion and provides timely and accurate data regarding program progress.
• Supervise the development of an M&E information system (MIS) program with an emphasis on cutting-edge digital M&E platforms.
• Coordinate routine monitoring and annual monitoring survey processes and fulfill donor requirements for program baseline and final evaluations.
• Lead or contribute to data quality assurance mechanisms throughout the life of the award.
• Contribute to the adjustment and management of the program’s Theory of Change (ToC), ensuring coherence between the ToC and M&E systems.
• Support and oversee the design and implementation of the Activity’s learning agenda.
• Promote evidence-based decision making among the program’s senior management team, ensuring the use of evidence from the program’s M&E system in collaborating, learning and adapting processes.
• Supervise M&E team, providing training, mentoring, and coaching to team members as required while ensuring high performance.
• Develop Scopes of Work (SOWs) for external performance evaluators and supervise their assignments.
• Supervise all data collection for project-related studies and assessments for children 3- 6 years old.

Required Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in international development, Statistics, Mathematics, Economics, or related field.
• Advanced training in quantitative methodologies, including database management.
• Minimum of 7 years of experience in monitoring and evaluation related to education programming for USAID projects.
• Strong analytical skills and an understanding of monitoring, evaluation and assessment tools to promote evidence-based learning.
• Ability to analyze complex data and summarize the inputs for a range of audiences.
• Demonstrated skills required to gain support from staff across teams and to build the capacity of others.
• Sound strategic thinking and planning skills, including ability to think creatively, innovate, and set manageable work plans and priorities and evaluate progress.
• In-depth knowledge of USAID M&E approaches, and Collaborating, Learning and Adapting (CLA) guidelines.
• In-depth experience undertaking and supporting research, data collection, analysis and report and article writing, particularly in early childhood.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English. Arabic Proficiency strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated success in working with local government and NGO stakeholders in promoting early childhood indicators and child assessment tools.

Qualified Jordanian candidates and women are encouraged to apply.

Why you should join the Save the Children Team…

Save the Children US offers outstanding benefits that include health, dental, vision and life insurances, pet insurance, short-term and long-term disability coverage, an Employee Assistance Program, 403(b), generous vacation, personal sick leave, family leave, parental/adoption leave, commuter benefits, dress for your day, and much more.

Click here to learn more about how Save the Children US will invest in YOU!

About Save the Children

Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. In the United States and around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes for children – every day and in times of crisis – transforming their lives and the future we share.

Our work for children and their families requires that we commit—at every opportunity—to work together to identify and dismantle persistent systemic and structural racism, inequality, and any other forms of discrimination in this country and beyond. As an anti-racist organization, Save the Children will not tolerate discrimination in any form—in our employment practices, amongst our staff, in our leadership or toward the people we serve. We stand in solidarity with all people to fight for equal rights, justice, inclusion, and belonging.

Save the Children is committed to conducting its programs and operations in a manner that is safe for the children it serves and helping protect the children with whom we are in contact. All Save the Children representatives are explicitly prohibited from engaging in any activity that may result in any kind of child abuse.

Save the Children is committed to minimizing safety and security risks for our valued employees, ensuring all are given training, support and information to reduce their risk exposure while maximizing the impact of our programs for children and families. Our shared duty, both agency and individual, is to seek and maintain safe working conditions for all.