MEAL Manager- Readvertisement

TITLE: **MEAL Manager**
TEAM/PROGRAMME: MEAL/PDQ LOCATION: Syria (Damascus, Aleppo, Raqqa or Qamishli) with at least 30% field visits to project locations
GRADE: 2 CONTRACT LENGTH: TBD

CHILD SAFEGUARDING:
Level 3: the post holder will have contact with children and/or young people either frequently (e.g. once a week or more) or intensively (e.g. four days in one month or more or overnight) because they work country programs; or are visiting country programs; or because they are responsible for implementing the police checking/vetting process staff.
The post holder should report and respond to interventions as determined by position related responsibilities identified in the Child Safeguarding Policy.

ROLE PURPOSE:
The MEAL team is part of Programme Development and Quality (PDQ) at Save the Children and I is a critical and integrated component of the programs team, collaborating to ensure the quality, effectiveness, appropriateness, safety, and accountability of all our programs, providing data to develop and adapt evidence-based programming, and bringing immediate and lasting changes in the lives of children in program areas. Special attention should be paid to the positive and negative impact that interventions have in communities, marginalised and disabled persons.

The MEAL Manager, with support from Head of MEAL (HoM) will lead on MEAL system development and implementation for all projects in the Field Office (FO), with support from the MEAL Coordinators and field teams, and, together with the Head of MEAL, ensure those systems align with SCI MEAL strategies and frameworks, Quality Benchmarks, and programmatic Common Approaches; all through a child-friendly, and Age/Gender/Diversity (AGD) lens.

The MEAL Manager will be responsible for leading on all reviews and evaluations of projects, MEAL budgeting, and recruitment, as well as supporting Head of MEAL and Research on proposal writing, logframe development (including providing targets in collaboration with the Technical Advisors in the programs team), and timely and quality reporting on Syria figures. The role will also ensure that all SCI partners are supported in their MEAL work, with support from the MEAL Coordinators. Another core aspect of the role is to capture local and contextualised lessons learned, ensure alignment with the SCO Learning and Research Agendas, and reflect and communicate this information in various capacities to improve on-going and future programming. It is also expected that the MEAL Manager will take a leading role in the roll out of safe and secure data management systems at field level, with the support of the SCO IM Manager, and will support the PDQ Director and Head of MEAL and Research on improving data reporting processes. They will also be ultimately responsible for ensuring compliance of all SCI data protection and security policies in the MEAL Team.

Central to the MEAL department is the accountability function, and the MEAL Manager will work closely with the Accountability Coordinator in the country office to ensure programs are accountable to affected populations, and participatory. The MEAL Manager will ultimately oversee the implementation of accountability mechanisms in the FOs , acting as a key enabler for the wider system of accountability, investigation, and audit at SCI.

The MEAL Manager will directly manage a MEAL Coordinators and will lead on building capacity of staff across the MEAL team, and partners, on all aspects of MEAL but particularly on accountability and participation, with a specific focus on children.
SCOPE OF ROLE:
Reports to: Head of MEAL and Research
Technical reporting line to N/A
Staff reporting to this post: MEAL Coordinators in the field offices

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:
Quality MEAL
• Establish and maintain monitoring and evaluation processes that are aligned with the SCI global MEAL procedures and the SCO MEAL Framework in coordination with the SCO Head of MEAL and Research including compliance with Quality Benchmarks and Common Approaches.
• Support in proposal design, in collaboration with other program staff, the SCO Head of MEAL and Research, and SCO MEAL Coordinator, through contributions to the log-frame (including targeting), MEAL plans, and MEAL budgets
• Support the design, and lead on the project-based development, modification, and oversight of all data collection, collation, storage, analysis, and reporting processes for the FOs, ensuring that data is of a high quality, in coordination with SCO IM Manager.
• Support with Syria move to and rollout of the SCI Project-management platform “PRIME” and ensure that all relevant MEAL requirements are fulfilled in collaboration with the IM team.
• Support the design, and lead on the project-based development, training, and deployment of data collection tools and analysis of the results with the relevant Technical Experts (TEs); including needs assessments and focus group discussions.
• Be the technical lead for all monitoring and evaluation processes in the FO. Support the design, implementation, and management of the entire process for internal and external M&E activities, including needs assessments, IPTT, baselines, midlines, and endlines.
• Maintain, review, and oversee accountability systems and mechanisms, and ensure they are used for regular reporting and continued program quality, transparency, and learning
• Oversee the FRM, ensuring it’s fit for purpose, child-friendly, and culturally appropriate, and that feedback is fed back into programme design in collaboration with the SCO Accountability Coordinator.
• Ensure that staff at all levels, understand and promote accountability to affected populations.
• Actively and effectively plan, practice, and promote learning from routine monitoring, evaluation, and accountability interventions within MEAL and project teams, including full overview of budget and participation in Awards Review Meetings.
• Support in the development of a Research and Assessment agenda for the SCO, with the Head of MEAL and Research and REL Coordinator, and contextualise it to Syria specifically, to ensure the SCO is planning and producing evidence for long term programming strategy and proposals.
• Respond to audit requirements and requests with MEAL inputs and, where needed, provide evidence/ documentation for projects and programs.
Reporting and analysis
• Manage process for the collation of data across field offices and provide oversight on data quality reviews with the field MEAL Coordinators.
• Lead on timely data analysis, report writing, and review for all project reports in the FOs, in close collaboration with other program team staff. Ensure quality and consistency before submission to SCO, members, and donors.
Data protection
• Participate in the design, contextualisation, and review of data protection strategies, policies, procedures, and tools with the Data Protection Focal Point, SCO IM Manager, and Head of MEAL and Research.
• Manage the implementation of data protection and security policies across MEAL activities in the FOs.
Management and coordination
• Effectively lead the MEAL team across field offices, ensuring technical and programmatic support to IM team, MEAL Coordinators, Officers, and Assistants, to achieve team compliance with all MEAL systems.
• Prioritize and promote MEAL support, specifically staffing, budgeting, and resourcing. Enhance investment in technology and digital.
• Assess capacity building needs of the MEAL team, with a focus on building national capacity through face-to-face trainings, remote training, coaching, deployments, and on-the-job support.
• Build capacity of MEAL and associated program teams through mentoring, coaching, and training on required MEAL approaches, standards, and tools.
• Maintain a high-level of coordination with project staff, sector leads, and Ensure MEAL products are widely disseminated and engaged