Manager – Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning at Save the Children

The Manager-Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) will be responsible for providing leadership to strengthen organizational capacity to design and implement effective monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning systems. Manager-MEAL will have an integral leadership role within the PDQ department; thus will work closely with thematic advisors and programme managers and other departments; actively seeking to incorporate innovation, best practices, and lessons learned for improvement of programme quality.

The Manager-MEAL will seek to collaborate, expand and strengthen working relations with members, missions, cooperating agencies, donors, and other organizations with regard programme MEAL issues; The position holder might be assigned to represent SC among donors and diplomatic mission as required and advised.

Reports to: Deputy Country Director – Programs

Staff directly reporting to this post: Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator- Research, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer. KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Strategic Leadership

Provide strategic leadership to the MEAL activities, scanning the local and global environments for trends and new directions and then contribute in developing the Monitoring and Evaluation component of the CO strategic and annual plans and reports.

Programme Development

Take a lead role in ‘growing’ the MEAL initiatives in the Zambia country programme in terms of new and innovative ideas. With support from senior technical colleagues, support fundraising, including contributing to proposal writing and review to ensure Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability & Learning (MEAL) activities and costs are adequately covered. Develop standard guidance for incorporation of Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability & Learning (MEAL) costs into proposals in specific responses.

Work closely with Programme staff to prepare specific logical models, performance measurement frameworks, including defining objectives, collection of baseline data and establishment of targets and ensure that monitoring and evaluation components are well integrated in the implementation plans of new projects

Strengthen and support both internal and external evaluation processes through:

• Development of appropriate terms of reference
• Selection of suitable consultants
• Development of relevant data collection tools
• Oversee data collection, collation, storage, analysis and reporting
• Liaise with other staff (as relevant) to ensure that lessons learned and recommendations from M&E are fed back into programming.

Support country office and partner staff to increase their technical capacity in the area of MEAL and operational research in general and, in particular, data analysis, use of evaluation tools and processes, and use of data for decision-making and program design. Where such support is not available in-house, advise and assist with identification on external support, including coordinating and cooperating with technical advisors

Support CO advocacy efforts by providing evidence based data in line with identified priority advocacy objectives and assist to identify key opportunities for Save the Children Zambia to position itself as the leading organisation for championing children’s rights in Zambia.

Documentation and reporting

Collaborate with programme advisors and programme managers to prepare regular programme reports for submission to stakeholders and participate in documentation of lessons learned and best practices from programming, including dissemination and use for programme improvement.

Interpret research findings into written reports, bulletins and presentations maintaining an effective communications strategy to disseminate the results of the monitoring evaluations.

Knowledge Management

Tap into internal and external best practice in the MEAL sector and help to introduce this for the benefit of the country programme. Also make learning from Zambia available for other programs.

Strengthen the professional quality of the country programme through, among other means, participation in virtual working groups with Monitoring and Evaluation specialists to ensure results are shared and disseminated, and that experience from such networks is applied in the country office activities. Such engagements may also include partners in Zambia, relevant Government Ministries, other SC members, donors, SCI in the region and centrally, UN and other global partners in child rights work.

Assist in exploring additional funding sources to pilot and scale up proven interventions in close consultation with other staff and actively promote and seek funding opportunities, including writing of funding and grant proposals

Represent SC in the donor community as requested and /or assigned by the Director of Programme Development and Quality and ensure maintenance of good flow of information and knowledge on MEAL  among relevant stakeholders. This could include, but not limited to, monitoring and evaluation, programme reporting, advocacy issues, contextual information from Zambia.

SKILLS AND BEHAVIOURS (our Values in Practice)

• Holds self accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
• Holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities – giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved

• Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves (and their team), takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages others to do the same
• Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
• Future orientated, thinks strategically

• Builds and maintains effective relationships with their team, colleagues, members, external partners and supporters
• Values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength
• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to

• Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
• Willing to take disciplined risks

Integrity:

• Honest, encourages openness and transparency

• A minimum of a first degree in a relevant field. A post graduate qualification is a necessity.
• Knowledge of and experience in project design, implementation and evaluation.
• 5 years’ experience of monitoring and evaluation work.
• Knowledge of monitoring and evaluation methodologies, including indicators.
• Willing to work in isolated rural areas with basic living conditions, in politically sensitive and occasionally volatile environments.
• Good numeric skills and strong analytical skills.
• Should be computer literate.
• Excellent verbal and writing skills.