Project Officer (MEAL) At Catholic Relief Services

About CRS

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.

Job Summary:

As a member of the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) team, you will monitor and report on all project activities in support of Catholic Relief Services’ (CRS) work serving the poor and vulnerable. Your thorough and service-oriented approach will ensure that the project consistently applies best practices and constantly works towards improving the impact of its benefits to those we serve.

Roles and Key Responsibilities:

• Support the coordination and implementation of all assigned project activities as outlined in the detailed implementation plan in line with CRS program quality principles and standards, MEAL Procedures and Policy, donor requirements, and good practices.
• Liaise with various community stakeholders and mobilize them to ensure full involvement of community members and leaders in the overall implementation and improvement of project MEAL activities.
• Monitor and report any challenges and/or gaps identified to inform adjustments to plans and implementation schedules. Assist partners in their efforts to reflect on project experiences.
• Compile data provided at the community level as per project requirements and contribute to the preparation of reports. Ensure timely project documentation for assigned MEAL activities is complete with all required documents and is filed per agency and donor requirements. Assist with identifying information for case studies and reports on promising practices.
• Collect information on staff capacity needs and technical assistance needs of partner organizations and monitor capacity building and technical support activities to ensure effective impact.
• Lead the training of field staff on data collection tools for project monitoring.
• Lead the roll-out and implementation of the project’s feedback and complain response mechanism (FCRM). Support actively seeking and responding to feedback from all members of targeted communities and other stakeholders as defined by the FCRM. Serve as the key CRS point-person for uploading data on CRS’ CommCare platform.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Data Sciences, Public Health, Statistics, or a related field is required.
• Minimum of 2 years of work experience in project support. Experience in the field of Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning and for an NGO would be a plus.
• Experience with community engagement; demonstrated ability to work within communities while being sensitive to gender and intercultural norms.
• Additional experience may substitute for some education.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in participatory action planning and community engagement.
• Experience monitoring projects and collecting relevant data.
• Experience using MS Windows and MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, OneDrive, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams(including Microsoft Forms)).
• Experience using CommCare and Power BI a plus.

Required Languages – Fluency in Arabic, verbal and written proficiency in English.

Travel – Must be willing and able to travel up to 70% of their time to project locations in the North, Bekaa Valley, BML and the South (if security permits).

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Observation, active listening and analysis skills with ability to make sound judgment
• Good relationship management skills and the ability to work closely with local partners and community members
• Attention to details, accuracy and timeliness in executing assigned responsibilities
• Proactive, results-oriented and service-oriented
• Strong listening and interpersonal skills

Agency REDI Competencies (for all CRS Staff):

Agency competencies clarify expected behaviors and attitudes for all staff. When demonstrated, they create an engaging workplace, help staff achieve their best, and help CRS achieve agency goals. These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.

• Personal Accountability – Consistently takes responsibility for one’s own actions.
• Acts with Integrity – Consistently models values aligned with CRS Guiding Principles and mission. Is considered honest.
• Builds and Maintains Trust – Shows consistency between words and actions.
• Collaborates with Others – Works effectively in intercultural and diverse teams.
• Open to Learn – Seeks out experiences that may change perspective or provide an opportunity to learn new things.

Agency Leadership Competencies:

• Lead Change – Continually looks for ways to improve the agency through a culture of agility, openness, and innovation.
• Develops and Recognizes Others – Builds the capacity of staff to reach their full potential and enhance team and agency performance.
• Strategic Mindset – Understands role in translating, communicating, and implementing agency strategy and team priorities.

MEAL Competencies (for CRS MEAL Program Staff)

Each staff member in this position is expected to have solid knowledge and ability and can apply the following competencies with minimal or no guidance, in the full range of typical situations, while requiring guidance to handle novel or more complex situations:

• Monitoring
• Accountability
• Learning

In addition, each staff member in this position is expected to have basic knowledge and ability and, with guidance, be able to apply the following competencies in common situations that present limited difficulties:

• MEAL in Design
• Evaluation
• Analysis and Critical Thinking
• ICT4MEAL

Supervisory Responsibilities: None

Key Working Relationships:

• Internal: Program Managers, Project Officers, Emergency Technical Advisor, Field Officers, Operations staff and other team members
• External: Project participants, Community Representatives, Partner Staff.

***Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. We welcome as a part of our staff people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need. CRS’ processes and policies reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.

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.

CRS prioritizes candidates who are citizens/ permanent residents of the countries where we have CRS offices.

CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer