Salama Hub MEAL Officer At American Friends Service Committee

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) promotes a world free of violence, inequality, and oppression. Guided by the Quaker belief in the divine light within each person, we nurture the seeds of change and respect for human life to fundamentally transform societies and institutions. We work with people and partners worldwide of all faiths and backgrounds to meet urgent community needs, challenge injustice, and build peace.

Job Description

Job Title: Salama Hub MEAL Officer

Supervisor: Salama Hub Program Coordinator

Location: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Duration: 2 Years

Application deadline: July 31st, 2024

Program Description: The Salama Hub Program is the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Advocacy and Policy Program for the Horn of Africa. The goal of this program is to ensure that African civil societies and Faith-Based Organizations interact efficiently with institutional stakeholders in Africa and beyond in protection of human rights, peace, and stability in the Horn of Africa region. AFSC has nurtured and sustained strategic partnerships with Brot fur die Welt, BfdW, and the All Africa Conference of Churches, AACC, and is currently in the second phase of a Joint Project with AACC on research and advocacy for policy influencing through collaboration with CSOs and FBOs. Evidence-based Advocacy is undertaken on the African continent through engagement with policymakers in the African Union and Regional Economic Communities, Europe, and the United States of America.

To strengthen collaborative work across programs, AFSC South Sudan and the Salama Hub Programs have jointly developed a project on Trauma Healing and Transitional Justice to strengthen social cohesion for conflict-affected communities including migrants. Through this joint project, community members with trauma symptoms will be accompanied for healing, and the legacies of the past conflicts within the communities will be addressed for sustainable peace and community stability. This joint project will give an opportunity for CSO Peacebuilders to be trained during early interventions in in South Sudan and Ethiopia so that they can champion trauma healing and reconciliation in the communities.

Summary of Responsibilities: The Salama Hub Program seeks to hire an experienced and dedicated MEAL Officer who will play a key role in the planning, implementation, and monitoring of the South Sudan and Salama Hub Joint Project activities to ensure effective delivery and impact assessment. The MEAL Officer will also support report writing, development of peacebuilding monitoring tools, and MEAL frameworks, and take an active role in needs assessments, baseline studies, stakeholder analyses, and situation/conflict analyses. S/he will also support the organization’s fundraising efforts; document good practices and lessons learnt and ensure the cooption of research and project outcomes in future proposal applications. S/he will also take a leading role in ensuring compliance handling and response mechanisms related to Salama Hub program areas of intervention.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Develop and implement program strategies and initiatives in line with organizational goals and objectives.
• Collaborate with stakeholders and partners to plan and execute program activities.
• Monitor program activities and ensure adherence to established goals and timelines.
• Engage with the community to foster participation and ownership of program initiatives.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with local partners and organizations.
• Contribute to the development of Partnership assessment templates, MEAL plan program proposals, reports, and other relevant documents.
• Document and implement best practices and methodologies related to the specific focus of the program.
• Evaluate program impact and outcomes using participatory and inclusive approaches.
• Provide support and guidance to program team members and partners.
• Support the AFSC Salama Hub program team to develop a Monitoring and Evaluation plan in line with the results to be attained in the framework of AFSC’s current program cycle and ASPS.
• Responsible for the fine-tuning and operationalization of the developed log frame together with any other MEAL aspects of the Salama Hub program’s current and future work.
• Responsible for ensuring partner compliance to project agreements and AFSC compliance to internal and back donor reporting timelines, templates, and achievement of program results.
• Develop and periodically review and update Standards of Procedures to ensure continuing project viability and relevance in guiding management, partners, and project beneficiaries.
• Responsible for the training and coaching of the implementing partners, to ensure that they build capacity to collect, analyze, reflect, and use the monitoring data for quality improvement of the program.
• Responsible for aggregating the monitoring data and liaising with the AFSC Programme team to enter data into the Salama Hub program system and generally update the AFSC internal database for its past and current projects.
• Together with the finance and administration officers process award documents, draft sub-agreements, MOUs, and similar documents to local partners to ensure that key compliance requirements are reflected.
• Responsible for facilitation of the use of monitoring information, evaluations for learning & accountability at both partnership and AFSC program team levels on an ongoing basis and during organized learning events.
• In collaboration with the Program Team, responsible for the coordination of the work of external consultants involved in the baseline, mid-term, and final evaluations, to ensure consistent, high-quality evaluations to enable organizational learning, accountability, and visibility.
• Responsible for making MEAL results visible via AFSC and partners’ websites, stakeholder meetings, and other relevant visibility/communication channels. Integration of this learning into funding proposals, whilst ensuring monitoring and evaluation aspects are adequately represented in proposals.
• Provide periodic Monitoring and Evaluation briefings of AFSC program implementation internally and to stakeholders as appropriate.
• Provide guidance by identifying capacity-building needs for participants and partner organizations with special attention to Monitoring and Evaluation of projects and activities using active accompaniment of program activities.
• Participate in planning and implementing Dialogue and Exchange Programme organized by Salama Hub by enhancing the Monitoring and Evaluation aspect of DEPs.
• Assist with inputs into quarterly reports, biannual and annual reports, and review narrative and financial reports of grants to partners from a monitoring, accountability, and evaluation lens.
• Develop relevant tools, training modules, curricula, and courses for enhancing monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning systems of the organisation, pre-test/test/review/update tools for relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact, and sustainability.
• Articulate AFSC’s values and principles including its commitment to peace and nonviolent approaches to social justice and peacebuilding at external meetings and when required.
• Formulate performance objectives and personal development plan.
• Meet regularly with line supervisor to review performance objectives and exchange feedback and perform any other duties deemed necessary by the Salama Hub Director.

Minimum Qualifications:

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in social science fields, such as economics, development studies, information management, statistics, or sociology, peacebuilding, international relations, humanitarian affairs, or other fields relevant to AFSC’s work on peace, social justice, and humanitarian assistance. Specific training in M&E will be an added advantage.

Experience:

• Knowledge/experience of 4 years in Program / Project cycle management, organizational development, evaluation and monitoring.
• Knowledge/experience in Grant management and exposure to multiple donor agencies.
• Knowledge of working within the context of NGOs or development organizations. Experience in specific program areas, such as education or human rights protection, can be preferred. Knowledge/experience in documentation and database management
• Knowledge/experience in peacebuilding areas, and conflict sensitivity approaches

Other Required Skills & Abilities:

• Commitment to Quaker values and testimonies. Understanding of and compatibility with the principles and philosophy of the American Friends Service Committee including nonviolence and the belief in the intrinsic worth of every individual.
• Understanding of and commitment to the principles, concerns, and considerations of AFSC regarding issues of race, class, nationality, religion, age, gender and sexual orientation, and disabilities. Demonstrated ability to work and communicate with diverse staff.
• Demonstrated analytical and communications skills; fluency in spoken and written English is required.
• Strong analytical, communication, and interpersonal skills are essential. Proficient in data collection, analysis, and management tools, such as Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and potentially statistical software (SPSS, STATA).
• An ability to take the initiative, manage priorities and work independently on specific issues.
• Willingness to work in the context of insecurity, under tight schedules, and keen interest in supporting communities living post/in conflict scenarios.
• Willingness to learn and desire to use this placement to further your personal and career development.

Assignment: This position will be offered on an initial two (2) year contract with the possibility of renewal depending on funding and performance. The American Friends Service Committee is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified persons are encouraged to apply regardless of their religious affiliation, race, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability. AFSC’s Central Office and some of its offices in the U.S. are unionized workplaces. This position is not represented under the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The American Friends Service Committee is a smoke-free workplace.