Plan International is an independent non-profit organization that advances children’s well-being and equality for girls. Working in building powerful partnerships for children for over 75 years and present in 70 countries, Plan International strives for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children while working together with children, young people, our supporters and partners. Plan International Ethiopia is looking for Monitoring,Evaluation,Accountability and Learning /MEAL/ Lead for Country Office who will be reporting to the Head of Programs .
Dimensions of the Role
The role will ensure:
Supervises the MEAL Coordinators / Specialist at Country Office and at Program Unit levels.
Directly monitor the Country Program budget at the Country Office, but also oversees the management and utilisation of the MEAL in all Program Units. The post holder will have delegated financial authority for expenditures up to 835,375 Birr per year.
Responsible for developing, implementing and communicating the results of quality program initiatives, systems and processes at different levels of the organization. The post-holder will be required to work with all CP leaders and program coordinators/specialists to ensure that PIE has effective and efficient MEAL system in place, that mainstreaming of the cross cutting issue is addressed and programme quality is properly assessed.
Provides managerial and technical leadership in the development of the MEAL and Research Plan.
Support the Implementation of Country Strategic Plan (CSP) in line with the Global CSP guidelines.
Participate in the different global and regional Programme Quality Frameworks and provide inputs from the country
Key components of the position include portfolio development, knowledge management, advocacy and networking, monitoring, evaluation and Learning, developing and strengthening partnerships and mainstreaming of child centred community development approach.
Ensures smooth teamwork within the Program Quality Country Program team, and effective linkages with other Country Program teams, while ensuring that the required staff capacities, competencies and skills are in place.
Accountabilities
Program design and management
Provide leadership and oversight in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation and Learning of all programme Quality functions; assess the outputs, outcomes and impact of program interventions and activities.
Coordinates the documentation, generation and sharing of lessons learnt and best practices from CO and PA MEAL activities for continuous program improvement
Ensure the development of standard TORs and manage consultants and evaluation partners to ensure that commissioned evaluations are carried out to a high, international standard and successfully completed.
Lead the analysis, synthesis and dissemination of global evaluation findings, including maintaining a database of evaluation findings and responses.
Provide guidance on Plan’s corporate system (APPR, CPPR and SAP business) to PA and CO program department team.
The Programme Quality lead develops program and project implementation guidelines and provides program quality assurance through operational monitoring and evaluation.
The post holder participates in the development of programs and projects to ensure that appropriate and adequate monitoring, evaluation and research components are incorporated
· Lead the design and implementation of the Programme Quality functions and its component projects and initiatives, ensuring consistency with the agreed Country Program strategic goals and objectives as well as high quality program delivery.
Ensure mainstreaming of programme Quality in all other Country Programs, developing ways to improve and strengthen implementation of the Plan’s CCCD approach.
Ensure appropriate and effective MEAL system is in place, consistent with established benchmarks, plans and organizational policies and in close cooperation with all CP leads.
Lead the programme Quality team to ensure quality and timely reporting and documenting of program activities including preparation of quarterly/annual program progress reports;
Ensure that all proposals have clear goal, objectives and indicators illustrated by a clear log frame.
Support the roll-out of the Plan’s Programme Policies (Programme Guide, and Programme Quality) and train plan staff at CO, PA and partners on these policies, as appropriate
Job Requirement
Technical expertise, skills and knowledge
Technical Expertise:
Minimum of Bachelor’s degree in the area of Monitoring and Evaluation /Master’s Degree preferred
Minimum 7 years relevant experience and of which at least 4 years with NGOs in leading MEAL /program quality team.
Demonstrated experience in the area of Monitoring, partnership, inclusion and DRR programmatic areas.
A commitment to, and understanding of, participatory approaches to development.
Previous experience of managing multi-disciplinary teams and the ability to lead, motivate and develop others.
Skills and knowledge to achieve the following:
Thorough knowledge of programming processes, systems and principles, and the ability to provide leadership and support to staff working at community level.
Sound understanding of integrated development issues and critical analysis of child poverty
In-depth knowledge of child-rights programming
Knowledge of development issues, trends, challenges and opportunities and implications to community development.
Knowledge of human resource and change management
Demonstrated knowledge of strategic planning processes
Knowledge of effective participatory monitoring, evaluation and research systems and processes
Exceptional conceptual and strategic thinking/strategic planning skills.
Comfortable with taking timely decisions in situations where information may be incomplete, based on consultation and sound judgement.
Excellent interpersonal skills, including the ability to build relationships with colleagues at long distances in a multi-cultural environment.
Excellent written and oral communication skills, including presentation and public speaking
Strong negotiation, influencing and problem solving skills.
Solid experiences in resource mobilization with a variety of donors;
Numeracy and the ability to interpret financial data, in order to provide management support to budgetary processes including planning, monitoring and reporting.
Ability to provide leadership, communicate effectively and build high performance teams in support of achievement of organisational objectives.
Strong team-building and motivational skills with ability to interact and work effectively with others
Ability to analyse information, evaluate options and to think and plan strategically
Proficient in computer skills and use of relevant software and other applications