Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Lead, USAID/Burkina Faso Resilient Education for Crisis-Affected Children Activity At Save the Children – US

Summary

Save the Children is seeking a Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Lead for an anticipated five-year Resilient Education for Crisis-Affected Children activity in Burkina Faso. The purpose of this activity is to increase primary education completion, particularly for displaced and host community learners who have been marginalized due to conflict and crisis conditions, with improved foundational skills and wellbeing, even in the face of shocks and stressors. A disproportionate number of Burkinabe primary school-aged children are unable to complete their primary school education, nor receive quality instruction, and therefore struggle to acquire foundational skills. Insecurity, displacement and climate risks further exacerbate poor education conditions for both host community and displaced learners. This activity has been designed to support the Government of Burkina Faso’s Education Sector Plan (2017-2030).

The MEAL Lead develops, implements, and continuously improves MEAL systems for all project activities. They will be responsible for ensuring development and operationalization of high-quality MEAL systems and reporting on a large-scale USAID education project. They will incorporate best practices to ensure information collected is accurate, timely and disseminated appropriately in high-quality reports. The MEAL Lead will use these findings to improve the program and achieve the objectives. They will also be actively involved in promoting learning through documentation of lessons learned and developing approaches for community analysis and using data for decision making. The MEAL Lead will also establish an effective accountability system at the community and school levels that will provide feedback on our actions to improve participative programming.

This position is contingent upon donor approval and funding.

What You’ll Be Doing (Essential Duties)

• Develop, revise and implement the M&E Plan on an annual basis.
• Provide leadership, training and mentoring to develop M&E Plans, M&E tools, survey design, methodology, and data analysis to assess program impact.
• Develop systems for capturing and documenting data and relevant information on project activities, beneficiaries, outputs, outcomes, and impact.
• Design methodology and coordinate research activities for project operations and assessments.
• Effectively roll out M&E collection and reporting systems to all staff and partners through trainings, site visits, manuals, and other technical support as needed.
• Capture appropriate cost and financial information to track money indicators, including benchmarking information to analyze program effectiveness and cost-effective inputs.
• Ensure programming is aligned to targets and indicators contained in the project proposal, and use the information from the M&E systems and tools to improve program effectiveness.
• Manage and support rigorous evaluations of project performance, impact, and cost effectiveness, including coordinating mid-term and final evaluations and supporting donor and external reviews.
• With support of other senior staff, provide oversight of M&E budget and ensure effective and timely use of appropriate M&E activities. Provide on-going support to maintain M&E systems, identify skill gaps and build capacity among project team members.
• Prepare high-quality, accurate and timely reports for Save the Children, project partners and USAID as required.
• Ensure that evidence and learning are brought together across education and child protection and promote learning aspects across the project according to USAID approaches.
• Organize data collection, documents and testimonials and write success stories for project stakeholders.
• Promote accountability to children and communities as well as child participation, and child rights principles among project stakeholders.
• Establish and support data collection and analysis of information needs, appropriate and reliable approaches to information sharing, and inclusive and accessible feedback and reporting mechanisms in communities and schools.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in statistics, mathematics or related field is required.
• Advanced training in quantitative methodologies, including database management.
• Minimum of five years of experience in monitoring and evaluation related to education, literacy or other related fields.
• Experience with qualitative research approaches and methodologies.
• Knowledge of gender equity and transformative concepts.
• Prior experience overseeing and ensuring the success of M&E systems in USAID education projects including ensuring approval of the M&E plan, reporting on approved education projects, and successfully completing annual data quality assessments.
• Strong analytical skills and an understanding of monitoring, evaluation and assessment tools to promote evidence-based learning.
• Ability to analyze complex data and summarize it for a range of audiences.
• Expertise in data visualization and GIS.
• Ability 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, set manageable priorities and work plans, and evaluate progress.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to lead and work effectively in team situations.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English and French required.
• Familiarity with the political, social, and cultural context of Burkina Faso.
• Personal commitment to gender equality, child rights and social inclusion.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior work experience in the monitoring and evaluation of non-formal education programs and assessing student learning outcomes.
• Experience in systems thinking and application of complex adaptive systems methodologies would be advantageous.
• Strong experience working within a complex national program in the context of an emergency intervention or in conflict/fragile state contexts.
• Research experience with communities and youth.
• Strong experience in the establishment of accountability system.
• Ability and willingness to be very flexible and accommodating in difficult and sometimes dangerous working circumstances.

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.

We provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, ancestry, sexual orientation, national origin, age, handicap, disability, marital status, or status as a veteran. Save the Children complies with all applicable laws.

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. In addition, it is Save the Children’s policy to create and proactively maintain an environment that aims to prevent and deter any actions and omissions, whether deliberate or inadvertent, that place children at the risk of any kind of child abuse. All our representatives are expected to conduct themselves in a manner consistent with this commitment and obligation.

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.