Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning/Knowledge Management (MEAL/KM) Advisor,P4 /ICS 11 At UNOPS

Duty Station: Geneva, Switzerland

Application Deadline: 23 November 2021

Women are encouraged to apply

The UNOPS Europe & Central Asia (ECR) Geneva Office is looking for a Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning/Knowledge Management (MEAL/KM) Advisor,P4 /ICS 11 for the SUN Movement Secretariat.

This is an International position and the candidate is expected to have relevant education and experience background along with Language proficiency

Since 2010, the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement has inspired a new way of working collaboratively to end malnutrition, in all its forms. With the governments of SUN Countries in the lead, it unites people—from civil society, the United Nations, donors, businesses and researchers—in a collective effort to improve nutrition. The SUN Strategy 2021–2025 (SUN 3.0) prioritises country leadership and focuses on supporting systemic change at the country level. It seeks to capture the ambition of SUN countries and guide the work of all actors at all levels aligning concerted action behind and responding to commonly agreed national priorities set out by governments in SUN countries.

The SUN Movement Secretariat plays a central role in enabling the multiple members and structures of the Movement to work together to advance progress on country-level priorities and the global positioning of nutrition.

The SUN Movement Secretariat comprises approximately 35 personnel, based in Geneva and in various regions globally. All parts of the Movement – member governments, the SUN Global Support System – the GSS, consisting of four SUN networks (Civil Society, United Nations, Business, Donors) and the SUN Movement Secretariat, together with the SUN Movement Coordinator, work together to align and focus efforts on priorities within countries.

The SUN Movement Secretariat is hosted by UNOPS.

Role of the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning/Knowledge Management (MEAL/KM) Advisor

The MEAL/KM Advisor is part of the Country Action team of the SUN Movement Secretariat. The purpose of this team is to support SUN Movement countries in advocacy, positioning, planning, multi-sector/stakeholder collaboration, resource mobilisation, implementation and monitoring and evaluation of their National Nutrition Plans.

The MEAL/KM Advisor reports to the Head of Country Action. The purpose of the role is to drive the role of the SMS as an active broker of knowledge, facilitating the flow of relevant new evidence and experience generated from within the SUN countries, networks and outside the Movement that:

1. makes the case for nutrition as a sustainable development imperative,
2. highlights effective programmes and policies that could be adapted and emulated by other SUN members, and
3. helps countries prioritise actions.

The SMS also has a key role to facilitate the sharing of relevant learning from one country to other, often via existing/new regional and South-South exchange opportunities and physical and virtual information-sharing platforms.

This is a critical influencing role, responsible for establishing and maintaining important relationships and partnerships, in order to foster data collection and knowledge exchange. The (MEAL/KM) Advisor plays an important role in supporting the SUN Movement to foster a strong utilisation focus and greater transparency as part of an evidence-based culture.

S/he also manages a geographically dispersed team to ensure policy and practice across the Movement is informed by country status (situations?) and needs, with a focus on translating the political commitment of SUN Movement actors into coherent action in-country, aligned with national priorities.

Functional Responsibilities

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1. Monitoring,Evaluation, Accountability and Learning
2. Lead the development and implementation of the overall SUN (or Global Nutrition) MEAL Programme Framework/Strategy.
3. Provide advice to senior leadership to ensure the MEAL framework is linked to the SUN Movement’s wider learning and knowledge management agenda.
4. Lead the development of systems to collect consistent and quality MEAL data, including from third party partners and partners.
5. Lead the establishment of innovative data analysis to track a wide range of indicators that describe the country context for nutrition action.
6. Lead MEAL data analysis, for organisational reports, assessments and data portals.
7. Lead the development of the MEAL dashboard to increase and strengthen the quality and availability of country and programmatic data.
8. Review outcome surveys, independent evaluations, and studies to ensure that institutional and systemic change within countries is monitored, assessed and shared, on an annual basis, drawing on qualitative and quantitative data.
9. Undertake periodic review of the implementation and operation of the monitoring and evaluation system(s); including the preparation of good practices and lessons learned.
10. Contribute to the Joint Annual Assessment process in SUN Countries to ensure it captures progress in institutional and systemic shifts for nutrition, and helps to assess and identify capacity building, training and integration needs.

2. Reporting

• Provide a holistic view of MEAL data to SUN Movement senior management and governance bodies through appropriate reporting, disaggregation and data visualisations.
• Provide guidance and assistance to countries in the areas of planning, performance monitoring, reviews and reporting, promoting a results mindset.
• Support SUN Countries in assuring data of good quality if identified by them as a priority.
• Provide monitoring and evaluation inputs from SUN Countries into corporate/donor reporting, and ensure consistency of data and information presented across reports.
• Review progress reports submitted by SUN Countries and provide feedback to improve quality and timeliness of reporting.
• Ensure alignment of reports with corporate and donor reporting templates and regulations

3. Matrix management of MEAL/KM function

• In collaboration with the Head of Country Action and Country Action Facilitators establish annual objectives and targets, performance measurements, standards and results expected for the Country Action team.
• Monitor implementation, oversee progress toward annual objectives and take decisions to ensure the delivery of results as planned.
• Guide, monitor and evaluate results/outcomes in enhancing the skills and competencies of communication practitioners across the Secretariat.
• Foster a positive work environment, respectful of both men and women, and ensure that the highest standards of conduct are observed.

4. Innovation and knowledge management :

• Develop the SUN Knowledge Management (KM) strategy to support the development, financing, implementation and tracking of Country Action Plans and to demonstrate SUN’s value-addition.
• Oversee the implementation of the KM strategy, track progress made, raise issues and make recommendations to address those issues.
• Address impediments to sharing information and the flow of knowledge, facilitate demand and supply of knowledge; develop an incentive structure\system for knowledge seeking and provision enshrined in accountability frameworks.
• Shape and lead Knowledge Management initiatives, and collaborate with SUN knowledge management partners, to ensure that SUN Country experiences and learning are documented and available to all SUN Countries.
• Contribute to organisational thinking on how to capture the SUN value-add for investors, SUN members and people at risk of malnutrition.
• Oversee the establishment and maintenance of external partnerships to foster knowledge exchange, including with academia to strengthen MEAL/KM at the global and country level.
• Develop learning initiatives that enhance MEAL and KM capacity across the SUN Movement.
• In collaboration with the Communication and Advocacy advisor and specialists and MEAL specialists, interact and follow up with the Country Action team members to solicit case studies, lessons learned, success stories, and best practices for internal and external sharing.
• Lead the preparation of success stories and best MEAL/KM practices for inclusion in internal and external communication products.
• Contribute to the development and introduction of innovation to ensure the SUN Movement is continually incorporating best practice approaches.

Qualifications

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in nutrition, public health, international development, or other related social science discipline is required.
• A bachelor’s degree with a combination of two additional years of relevant experience may be accepted in lieu of the master’s degree.
• Minimum seven (7) years working on nutrition, health, or related areas within international development is required.
• Demonstrated experience designing and developing MEAL/KM frameworks is required.
• Experience in providing Monitoring and Evaluation of multi-partner programmes is required.
• Experience in implementing donor funded programmes in collaboration with Government ministries and development partners is required.
• Experience in Knowledge Management related to projects is required.
• Demonstrated experience in analytics and information management is required.
• Fluency in English Language ( Writing, Reading and Speaking) is required.