ActionAid Arab Region (AAAR) is looking for a MEAL Coordinator who is responsible to lead on ensuring the quality and accountability of ActionAid Arab Region interventions and programmes that are focused on advancing social justice, women rights, young people’s civic and political engagement and ending the protection risks faced by women and girls as a result of the protracted crisis in the region.

About ActionAid Arab Region

At ActionAid Arab Region Initiative we work with grass root organizations and civil society actors that have a strong focus on youth and women in local governance. ActionAid Arab Region Initiative (ARI) knows that to create lasting change, the root causes of poverty and injustice must be addressed and that affected communities must become the drivers of the change they want to see. Read more at http://actionaid.org/arab-region/arab-region-initiative

Full job title: Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Coordinator.

Cluster: Resource Mobilization Unit

Contract Type: One Year Fixed Term with possible extension

Location: Regional Office – Amman, Jordan

Reports to: Head of Resource Mobilization

Direct Reports: Monitoring and Evaluation Officer (based in Lebanon – matrix managed)

Job Role:

Full job title: Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Coordinator.

The main purpose of this role is to lead on ensuring the quality and accountability of ActionAid Arab Region interventions and programmes that are focused on advancing social justice, women rights, young people’s civic and political engagement and ending the protection risks faced by women and girls as a result of the protracted crisis in the region.

The MEAL Coordinator will bring significant experience and fresh ideas to lead on MEAL system implementation, review and evaluations, MEAL budgeting, as well as support to proposal writing and log frame development. The post holder will ensure that all ActionAid Arab Region and Partner projects are supported to ensure quality, effectiveness and appropriateness of their programmes. It will be important for the post-holder to capture lessons learned and communicate this information in various capacities to improve on-going and future programming. S/he will guide ActionAid Arab Region and Partner teams to maintain an effective monitoring system across all programme areas, including the use of beneficiary feedback data, to assure the quality of interventions. The MEAL Advisor will lead on building capacity of staff and partners on MEAL but particularly on accountability and participation, with a specific focus on women and young people.

Ultimately, s/he will ensure that the programme has evidence-based knowledge to inform the direction of the programme from assessment and regular programme monitoring documents. S/he will assist in improving the coherence, quality, and impact of ActionAid Arab Region’s programmes and ensures that ActionAid Arab Region and our partners learns from good and innovative work through facilitating programme-focused learning processes and resources and creating links among ActionAid Arab Region’s working clusters. Special attention should be paid to the positive and negative impact that interventions have in communities, marginalised and disabled persons. This analysis will need to be made available to all ActionAid staff and external stakeholders where appropriate. **

Areas of Responsibilities

*Key Activities:

In accordance with ActionAid Arab Region’s Office policy and procedures, the post holder will:

• Ensure and strengthen Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation at ActionAid Arab Region in order to obtain quality documentation of results and impact for donors, beneficiaries and the public, building an evidence base on our programmes and approach for our advocacy, campaign and policy work, and ensuring lessons learned, success stories and best practices of our work are documented and shared.
• Provide expert technical support to the programme team monitoring donor funded projects, to include conducting monitoring and evaluation activities (including designing data collection methods, reports, and tools); visits to the field to ensure that programming activities are being implemented per the grant guidelines and targets; and submits reports in accordance with protocols and agreements.
• Assist in improving the coherence, quality, and impact of ActionAid Arab Region’s programmes and ensures that ActionAid Arab Region learns from good and innovative work through facilitating programme-focused learning processes and resources and creating links among ActionAid Arab Region’s working clusters.
• Coordinate with ActionAid International and other ActionAid federation members: Ensure streamlining and coordination with ActionAid International’s MEAL processes and requirements, as well as regular coordination and cooperation with other ActionAid federation members as required.
• Annual Planning processes: Support planning process at ActionAid Arab Region including the AAI pre-planning and planning processes
• Reporting to donors, AAI and private foundations:
• Narrative reporting: Coordinate and quality assure narrative reporting from ActionAid Arab Region to donors. Support the reporting of private and institutional funding projects
• AAI reporting: Responsible for annual AAI reporting
• Support the process of program design, strategic planning and support staff to mainstream operational activities in accordance with strategic plans.
• In collaboration with Finance team, Review programmes budgets to ensure implementation of adequate high quality financial monitoring
• Ensure the relevance and synergies of ActionAid Arab Region’s programme and policy work in accordance with strategic plans.
• Promote and mainstream programme learning practices across ActionAid Arab Region’s clusters and organize learning workshops among staff and partners.
• Support the formulation of new projects/proposals with Head of Resource Mobilization and Head of Programmes in line with ActionAid Arab Region’s strategic objectives and thematic priorities for better financial sustainability.
• Ensure the mainstreaming of HRBA and policy work into the program clusters and track changes over time to generate lessons learned and demonstrate impact.
• Generate programmatic evidence to guide policy and advocacy work.
• Any other report needed. *

Other:

• Perform other duties when required by the Head of Resource Mobilisation or Regional Director.

Internal (to ActionAid or team)

• Regional Director
• Head of Resource Mobilisation and Resource Mobilisation Cluster
• Head of Programmes and Programme Cluster
• Actionaid International and members of the ActionAid federation

External

• Relevant national and local authorities
• Donors
• Partner organisations

Person Specification

Education & Certifications:

• B.A degree in an area of social development or equivalent. **

Essential Experience Knowledge and Skills:

• Recommended a minimum of five years’ management and/or MEAL experience in both emergency and development contexts, preferably with solid experience in more than one of ActionAid Arab Region’s programmatic priorities: social justice, women rights, young people’s civic and political engagement and protection.
• Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills including influencing, negotiation and coaching.
• Highly developed cultural awareness and ability to work well in an international environment with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures.
• Strong results orientation, with the ability to challenge existing mindsets.
• Experience of solving complex issues through analysis, definition of a clear way forward and ensuring buy in.
• Ability to present complex information in a succinct and compelling manner.
• Experience with data collection and data analysis processes.
• Good experience in dealing with different donors M&E requirements and frameworks.
• Good computer skills and ability to use Microsoft Office (Excel, Access, Word, Outlook) to organize work, prepare plans and create monthly reports.
• Experience with Project Management Software is a plus.
• Fluency in Arabic and English.
• Experience in training and capacity building.
• Contribute to AAI’s mission and comply to AAI’s values, which are: Mutual respect, Equity and justice, Honesty and transparency, Solidarity with the poor, Courage of conviction, Independence, Humility.
• Willingness to travel (25-30 %).

Desirable Knowledge, Experience and Skills

• Experience in or knowledge of the Arab Region.
• Knowledge of Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA).
• Experience with statistical data analysis program like SPSS

Personal Qualities

• Good team player and takes a collaborative approach to working.
• Takes ownership of responsibilities with an ability to priorities own workload and work with minimal supervision.
• Able to work under pressure and manage competing deadlines.
• Accountable and transparent.
• Well organized, respectful and non-discriminatory.

This Job Description covers the main tasks and conveys the spirit of the sort of tasks that are anticipated proactively from staff. Other tasks may be assigned as necessary according to organizational needs.

It is part of every staff member’s responsibility to contribute to AAI’s mission and comply to AAI’s values, which are: Mutual respect, Equity and justice, Honesty and transparency, Solidarity with the poor, Courage of conviction, Independence, Humility