Regional Meal Manager – Middle East At Relief International

Position: Regional MEAL Manager – Middle East

Location: Amman, Jordan or to be negotiated within the time zone range; frequent travel in the region at minimum of 30% of time (dependent on developments with COVID-19)

Reports to: Regional Program Director – Middle East

Direct Reports: Dotted line technical management/oversight and support to Country MEAL Managers (or equivalent position) in all Country Offices within the Middle East.

About Relief International:

Relief International (RI) is a leading non-profit organization working in 16 countries globally to relieve poverty, ensure well-being and advance dignity. We specialize in fragile settings, responding to natural disasters, humanitarian crises and chronic poverty.

RI combines humanitarian and development approaches to provide immediate services while laying the groundwork for long-term impact. Our signature approach – which we call the RI Way—emphasizes local participation, an integration of services, strategic partnerships and a focus on civic skills. In this way, we empower communities to find, design and implement the solutions that work best for them.

RI includes the four corporate members of the RI Alliance: RI-US, RI-UK, MRCA/RI-France and RI-Europe. Under our alliance agreement, we operate as a single, shared management structure. **

About the Middle East Region:

RI currently operates in five countries in the Middle East region: Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Turkey and Yemen with a focus on the four RI sector pillars: Health (incl. Nutrition), WASH, Education and Economic Opportunity.

Position Summary:

As part of the Regional Programs Team within the Regional Support Office (RSO) for RI’s Middle East Region, the Regional MEAL Manager will work closely with the Regional Program Director and the Regional Senior Program Officer to provide in-person and remote guidance to RI’s MEAL teams across the five countries of the Middle East region. This position will enhance the MEAL capacity across the countries and ensure that country teams are supported in the design and implementation of a robust MEAL system, high quality analysis and reporting, and the advancement of accountability and community led approach. The Regional MEAL Manager will also work directly with RI’s Global MEAL team within the Technical Assistance Department (TAD) and support initiatives that are focused on improving program quality and accountability across the region and organization.

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBIITIES and DUTIES:

Support the Design and Implementation of Country MEAL Systems & Enhance MEAL capacities

· Through coordination with GSO MEAL staff, work closely with MEAL Country Managers to support and enhance their technical capacities and approaches to implementing MEAL practices within their country programs, serving as technical dotted line to these positions.

· Provide support on data collection exercises, including needs assessments, PDMs, and evaluations for country offices, as well as regional initiatives (i.e. coordinate with GSO MEAL on region-wide data analyses).

· Review and advise on logframes and/or results frameworks, theories of change (TOCs) and proposed MEAL activities during program design/proposal development, during the mobilization phase (baselines), implementation and close-out and reporting phase (e.g. end-lines)

· Work with GSO and country teams to adapt data collection tools and methodologies as necessary, for any given project or donor.

· Ensure country teams undertake quality design, implementation, and data analysis for a wide range of MEAL activities and provide support as necessary (e.g. KAP surveys, baseline surveys, post-harvest/planting surveys, post-distribution monitoring, Indicator Tracking Table Analysis etc.)

· Ensure that all country teams have robust Complaints, Feedback and Accountability Mechanisms in place, in adherence to global RI standards, and that regular reporting and learning is generated from the feedback received both at country-level and across the region.

· Work closely with Program Teams to ensure sound program design and implementation, meeting Core Humanitarian Standards (CHS) and prioritizing program quality and constant improvement towards a robust community centred approach

· Support the global MEAL team with the roll-out of LogAlto, RI’s web-based monitoring & evaluation software, across the region and provide ongoing support to ensure LogAlto is consistently used (when feasible) to enhance reporting and analysis.

Capacity Building

· Identify MEAL capacity-building needs of country teams and work with the global MEAL team to meet these needs through trainings and other support initiatives

· Work with the global MEAL team to ensure all new country MEAL Managers are adequately on-boarded on RI’s MEAL framework, processes, and resources

· Foster an organisational culture that recognises the importance of MEAL, beyond MEAL departments, promoting innovation, evidence-based decision making, and an interest in learning across departments.

Promote Learning for Improved Program Quality, Strategic Development & Decision Making

· Support Regional Program Director in promoting RI new strategic framework at regional and country office levels, in particular the community centred approach and the strive for innovation.

· Support Regional Program Director with regional analysis of results to tell compelling stories about the quality and impact of RI work in the region and to contribute to learning and program development

· Strengthen and reinforce linkages between the global MEAL strategy and initiatives led by the global MEAL team within the Technical Assistance Department (TAD) with the regional and country teams, to support the improvement of MEAL as an organization-wide priority as well as ensure that learning from the region informs RI global evidence and strategic direction.

· Bridge the Global-Country divide by supporting MEAL staff to understand global guidance, learning and evidence, ensure that learning from the region informs our global evidence and strategic direction, and staff at all levels understand that their roles all contribute to our global objectives.

· Work with country teams to capture Lessons Learned from ongoing and previous programs and subsequently capitalize on these Lessons Learned for improved future programming

· Work with country teams to identify and implement proactive Learning Agendas and support RI’s country teams to look beyond the day-to-day implementation and take on initiatives to analyze available program data and/or gather additional external primary data, conduct secondary data reviews to ultimately identify trends and patterns that can be used to design innovative interventions, attract new donors, and overall improve the delivery of future programs for the affected communities.

· Support Country MEAL teams to effectively communicate top level learning / analysis and monitoring data to ensure that country and regional leadership is able to make informed decisions on a timely basis

· Champion knowledge management, in collaboration with the global MEAL team and other TAD colleagues, through sharing of evaluations and lessons learned from country and regional programs and initiatives to inform program decisions and enhance Relief International’s institutional knowledge.

· Building collegial dynamic across country MEAL leadership in the region in order to support harmonized approaches and learning lessons between country offices.

Quality Internal and External Reporting

• Ensure that reports (e.g. for KAP surveys, evaluations, PDMs, etc.) are of high quality, follow best practices and MEAL standards and support program reporting as per donor contractual requirements.
• Support the country teams with internal reporting to the global MEAL team (e.g. quarterly People Reached data) ensuring timely reporting as well as accuracy and consistency of data reported.
• Ensure that high quality analysis reports are being generated region-wide to illustrate Relief International’s impact in the region and that assessment findings are produced, including evidence of good practice and replicable programs, and that they are communicated via appropriate internal and external channels/platforms.

Other Management Responsibilities

· Serve as technical referent to all Country MEAL Managers (or equivalent position) in the region, leading bi-weekly calls with each.

· Participate in meetings convened by Global Support Office MEAL department and champion new organization initiatives as requested.

· Participate in key recruitment processes for country-level MEAL leadership as technical referent.

· Participate in regional initiatives as requested from RPD.

Safeguarding

• Uphold and promote RI’s commitment to ensuring the safeguarding and safety of the vulnerable communities we serve.
• Consistent with RI’s safeguarding and protection policies, ensure all people who come into contact with Relief International are as safe as possible.

QUALIFICATIONS & SKILLS REQUIREMENTS

This position will require a demonstrated ability to achieve results in a demanding and fast paced environment.

• Bachelor’s Degree required, Master’s degree preferred with relevant specialization in a quantitative field (e.g. Economics, Sociology, Statistics)
• Minimum of 5 years professional working experience in MEAL within the humanitarian and development sector
• Ideally familiarity with integrated Health, WASH, Nutrition, Food Security and Livelihoods, and Protection programming
• Extensive experience in data analysis, program monitoring, including designing monitoring systems, indicators, developing MEAL plans, data quality assessments, survey techniques incl. sampling, qualitative investigation, and statistical analysis.
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate complex activities, meet deadlines, and exercise sound judgment
• Fluency in English and strong English writing skills
• Exceptional analytical skills and proven skills in data management; and statistical analysis using SPSS/ STATA/ CSPro, or any other statistical application.
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment
• Excellent time management skills and resourcefulness with strong attention to detail
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills and ability to guide others and build the capacity of diverse teams**

RI Values:

We uphold the Humanitarian Principles: humanity, neutrality, impartiality and operational independence. We affirmatively engage the most vulnerable communities.

We value:

• Inclusiveness
• Transparency and Accountability
• Agility and Innovation
• Collaboration
• Sustainability