CARE is a leading global humanitarian and development organization. Since its establishment in 2005, CARE Pakistan has been responding to major disasters and undertaking an array of development projects. CARE works through its local partners and a range of stakeholders for development, as well as emergency response related interventions, which makes collaboration a key component of its work, across the country. Health and education, with particular focus on women, are some of CARE’s core identified program areas in Pakistan, as part of its Long-Range Strategic Plan

Job Summary:

MEAL Manager will provide technical support to Partners and CARE staff in design, implementation and maintenance of the MEAL system and tools. Furthermore, the position will assess and build capacity of the staff, both at field level and also of partner organizations to ensure effective program monitoring and accountability whilst ensuring that M&E tools and mechanism are set up and running smoothly. The MEAL Manager will support continuous learning and reporting of ongoing interventions and will be responsible for conducting timely and effective monitoring and evaluation, impact assessment and undertake assessments to inform management and field team/s, in order to meet high quality standards. The MEAL Manager will also focus on the learning and accountability agenda of the CO. The incumbent will develop and roll out MEAL Plan for the project and ensure that donor and the CO compliances are met. The MEAL Manager will lead the development and implementation of project learning agenda and suggest adaptation in program.

This is a Key Personnel position open to national candidates and subject to project award and funding.

Job Responsibilities & Tasks

1. Setting up MEAL System for the project (30% of the time)

• Develop monitoring framework on focused on promoting education, nutrition and WASH practices in communities and schools;
• Lead and strengthen the MEAL System in line with CARE's Quality Framework, Standards, donors quality benchmarks/milestones and procedures including monitoring, action research, learning and knowledge management, evaluations, and accountability functions;
• Help understand the program and partners specifically on CARE’s MEAL Strategy, Global MEAL Framework, and approaches particularly in the areas of objective hierarchy, indicators, and monitoring mechanisms;
• In consultation with the field supervisor, develop the overall MEAL plan consistent with CARE’s MEAL strategy that includes baseline, mid-term reviews, Knowledge Attitude and Practices (KAP) studies process monitoring, context monitoring, and lessons-learned workshops;
• Design and roll out operational studies to assess effectiveness and efficiency of the program implementation.
• Develop systems to track results for community mobilization, advocacy campaign in a systematic way to report on set milestones.
•  Lead the process for identifying and designing the key indicators and KPIs for each component, to record and report physical progress against the work plan;
• Develop an inclusive and accessible feedback channels, such as suggestion boxes, community meetings, and digital platforms, are established to gather ongoing input from community members, ensuring their voices are heard and addressed;

2. Implementation of MEAL System in the project (40% of the time)

• Collaborate with partners and CARE staff on quantitative and qualitative monitoring to provide relevant information on project activities, effects, and impacts;
• Engaging community members in the evaluation process ensures that their insights and feedback are incorporated, fostering a sense of ownership and accountability.
• Assist partners and CARE MEAL and reporting functions in reviewing and analyzing project progress reports in terms of problems identified and actions required; also prepare consolidated progress reports for sector managers to submit to the respective donor in accordance with approved reporting formats and deadlines.
• Supervise and constantly track all project activities, inputs, outputs, and outcomes ensuring continued relevance to the project.
• Lead the process for identifying and designing the key indicators and KPIs for each component, to record and report physical progress against the work plan
• Assist the MEAL and reporting staff in synthesizing accurate information in monthly, interim, and end project reports and output tracker.
• Ensure that partner organizations have effective Feedback and Accountability Mechanism in place and roll them out from the inception stage of the project.
• Review monitoring reports, analyze them for impact evaluation, and identify the causes of potential bottlenecks in project implementation.
• Recruit, guide, and supervise external teams that are contracted to implement special surveys and studies required for various field assessments related to project effects and impacts.
• Assess the quality of data in the MIS system and generate reports for project and CARE country office reporting.
• Ensure that follow-up procedures are in place and are regularly tracked and reported.
• Plan for regular opportunities to identify lessons learned and implications for the project’s next steps; participate in these events when possible.
• Design and conduct real-time evaluation, baseline, and end line of the project.
• Act as CO focal person for engaging consultants for MEAL or surveys.
• Coordinate with the country MEAL team to ensure the CO is collecting and reporting data according to the organizational standards.
• Act as a focal person to work closely with the internal audit team.

3. Communication and Reporting of Results (15% of the time)

• Develop a mechanism whereby monitoring feedback is owned by the program team and ensure that learning is being incorporated into the program implementation cycle.
• Collaborate with stakeholders on research and advocacy initiatives. Generate reports on M&E findings, as required, and work closely with sector managers, technical staff, and partner organizations.
• Undertake regular visits to the field to support the implementation of M&E and to identify where adaptations might be needed.
• Help in systematic information and communication flow on process, progress, and impact-related information for vertical and horizontal communication.
• Set up and maintain a common electronic and hard copy system for access to key documents such as MEAL tools, tracking and reporting forms, monitoring reports, proposals, donor requirements and reports, evaluations, other program information, and other necessary documents against immediate outputs of projects.

4. Learning and Knowledge Management (5% of the time)

• Keep abreast with M&E systems and knowledge management and reporting requirements of the larger CARE organization
• Submit M&E annual reports on PIIRS (data management on reach and impact) to CARE USA;
• Support CIP in developing a system of managing and storing information from the project
• Work with the program teams to identify KML priority agendas and needs
• Ensure regular review of progress against the KML plan
• Organize learning workshops that bring together internal and external stakeholders and generate learning products
• Produce regular documentation and analysis of KML work for raising cross-learning and sharing with other CARE teams in the region (and internationally)
• Ensure synthesis of key learnings is documented and fed into proposal development and advocacy planning processes
• Support Project/Program Teams to develop KML plans/strategies (as needed);
• Support the development of knowledge products for the project.

5. Technical Support to Partners and MEAL Staff (5% of the time)

• Conduct training needs assessment of the CARE and partner staff on MEAL
• Develop a plan to build the capacities of the partners, staff and consultants
• Provide on the job technical support to the field teams and partners.

6. Other Responsibilities (5% of the time):

• Any other tasks or responsibilities based on organizational and programming needs as assigned by the Line Manager.

A) Qualifications (Know How)

Required:

• At least a Bachelor’s degree in sociology, economics, development studies or equivalent;

Desired:

• Master's degree in the above mentioned disciplines