MEAL OFFICER (Database) HARGEISA At ACTED

Position: MEAL Officer – Database

Department: MEAL

Location: Hargeisa, Somaliland

Contract Duration: Until 31st December 2023

Direct Hierarchy: Senior MEAL Officer

Starting date: May 2023

Background on ACTED

Created in 1993, ACTED is an international non-governmental organization pursuing a dual mandate of emergency response and development interventions in 40 of some of the world’s most vulnerable countries affected by conflicts, disasters, or socio-economic hardship. With a team of 7,000 national staff and 400 international staff, ACTED implements 500 projects a year to support more than 20 million beneficiaries, notably in hard-to-reach areas.

ACTED goes to the last mile through programs and approaches that look beyond the immediate emergency towards opportunities for longer term livelihood reconstruction and sustainable development. Guided by the motto “Think Local, Act Global” and its 3Zero –Zero Exclusion, Zero Carbon, and Zero Poverty – strategy, ACTED puts local territories at the centre and provides a tailored support to local needs.

ACTED is looking for professionally confident, self-motivated, experienced, and committed team player to fill the MEAL Officer (Database) position in Hargeisa Somaliland.

Position Profile:

The MEAL Officer Database is responsible for designing and developing appropriate and viable database systems that are in line with ACTED’s global MEAL procedures and ensuring that these systems perform as planned.

Duties and Responsibilities

Establish and implement the database management system.

1. Database Strategy

• Develop and implement appropriate data collection methodologies and tools, analysis plans, reporting outlines, and data/information dissemination/utilization plans.
• Establish and maintain data standards, best practices and adherence to these standards as required.
• Identify and design innovative practices to improve organizational efficiency and effectiveness in database management and incorporate them in the country MEAL strategy.

Database Systems Development and Implementation

• Support the creation, upgrade, and maintain the country’s central and project-specific databases, ensuring continual development and strengthening of the system.
• Create user-friendly data entry interfaces ensuring that they correspond to department needs and their information gathering system.
• Ensure accurate and consistent data entry and that databases are up to date.
• Maintain and further develop the structure or format of the databases as required, incorporating ideas and amendments from relevant staff and partners.
• Provide additional updates and data analysis as required.
• Ensure the day-to-day integrity of database and database procedures, which may include conducting weekly and monthly audits of data to confirm use of accurate entry processes; identifying and eliminating duplicate records; and maintaining users security settings.
• Compare and verify accuracy of data with source documents (quarterly reports, performance monitoring matrix, site visit reports, joint reviews etc.) for consistency.
• Train the relevant staff on the use of the databases.
• Develop and implement proper backup, restore, data validation, and security procedures to ensure data integrity and availability.
• Provide database technical support to ACTED teams and troubleshoot both hardware and software issues.

1. MEAL Support

• Ensure alignment of the tools developed with programmatic objectives for outputs and outcomes defined by key contractual indicators of donors.
• Take the lead in digitalizing MEAL tools including HH surveys, KII questionnaires, etc.
• Support the sampling methodologies for different departmental activities and reduce deviation during the data collection.
• Support the project team in the registration of beneficiaries through cleaning the registration data by identifying duplicates for retargeting and correcting inconsistencies.
• Support the beneficiary verifications to ensure targeted beneficiaries fit project’s set beneficiary selection criteria.
• Support the analysis of data collected from field assessments and distributions, including identifying trends in the data, and ensure the production of reports in various formats including graphs, charts, etc., as required.
• Ensure the verification of the accuracy of the data collected during assessments.
• Clean data collected during assessments and flag any issues to the relevant departments.
• Adhere to the standard operating procedures for data cleaning and data analysis (developing new procedures and updating existing ones) to uphold data quality assurance.
• Extract queries, figures, and reports from the database.
• Support the improvements of the data collection tools and processes and pilot new ideas with assessment teams in the field.
• Efficient Sharing and Usage of Information
• Continually gather information from the field to monitor the humanitarian situation, track trends, and provide basic forecasts to ACTED project teams.
• Support effective and efficient information production, sharing and usage among all target groups and end-users.
• Support an effective roll-out of database management systems to all staff and partners through training, site visits, manuals, and other technical support as needed. Ensure systems are well understood and properly implemented by staff and partners.
• Develop and implement strategies to increase data use and demand amongst relevant staff and other data/information users.
• Facilitate trainings for non-MEAL staff (e.g. PMs, PDs, TCs) on the use of project databases and database related reporting;
• Provide capacity building on effective use of database products and systems.

Team Management and Training

• Ensure that staff under their direct responsibility understand and can perform their roles and responsibilities.
• Manage Database Assistants delineating their responsibilities and follow-up the work plans and day-to-day activities.
• Provide capacity building on effective use of database products and systems, such as specific trainings on mobile data collection tools and methods.
• Ensure a positive working environment and good team dynamics.
• Manage interpersonal conflicts among team members.
• Undertake regular appraisals of relevant staff.
• Identify the MEAL training needs of team members and discuss plans with the direct manager for both internal and external trainings.
• Coach, train, and mentor Database Assistants with the aim of strengthening their technical capacity, exchanging knowledge within the MEAL team.

GIS Systems Development and Implementation

• Identify map information needs and relevant data sources.
• Acquire spatial data through one or multiple forms of followings:
  • GPS data including the locations of community assets, beneficiary locations, routes to data collection sites.
  • Desk-based data capture (digitizing) to convert paper maps to GIS datasets, for example, to record the location of community infrastructure from original maps.
  • Satellite imagery and other remote-sensing data to acquire features and information through technical data/image-interpretation methods.
• Produce user-friendly and informative maps in an efficient manner to fulfil information/mapping needs.
• Create new information or investigate patterns through GIS based analysis, e.g., estimating the number of people potentially affected by flooding, using population growth figures a protracted refugee/IDP situation to assess the demand for basic services.
• Ensure that the produced maps or GIS based products meet the requirements of both internal and external users.
• Create and maintain the structures necessary for GIS data storage.
• Develop the tools for loading/transferring GIS data between different systems.
• Manipulate, analyze, and present geographical information by converting GIS information from one format to another.
• Develop internet applications to present GIS data and tools on corporate websites where necessary.

Other

• Provide regular and timely updates on progress and challenges to supervisors and other team members.
• Participate in MEAL-related conferences and workshops when possible and stay up to date with best practices and new knowledge created in the field of MEAL.
• Perform any other related activities as assigned by immediate supervisor.

Qualifications/Skills Required:

• Bachelor’s Degree in statistics, social sciences or closely related to the field.
• At least 5 years of work experience in a similar field; former experience with humanitarian organizations in Somalia is an asset.
• Proficient understanding of MEAL, including the ability to work effectively with tight timelines, high quality standards, and demanding, potentially overlapping priorities.
• Experience of social research methods to conduct monitoring and evaluation for humanitarian and development initiatives/interventions.
• Experience managing huge teams and leading complex multiple field operations.
• Excellent analytical skills to interpret qualitative and quantitative data and discern useful recommendations for programme implementation and development.
• Proficiency in mobile data collection (design, deployment, and monitoring) is highly desired.
• Statistical analysis and IT skills, including use of SPSS/R/Stata and Excel for data analysis is an added advantage.
• Good English communications skills (both oral and written).
• Strong team player of high integrity, pleasant personality, ability to work under least supervision and meet strict deadlines.
• High level of integrity, transparency, and honesty.
• Knowledge of the local context and language is preferred.