Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Specialist 

Position: Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Specialist

Location: Tbilisi/ Moldova or the region (Remote considered)

Contract type: Fixed Term Contract

Hours: Full time

Contract length: 15 months (to end of March 2025). Possibility of extension

Deadline for applications:  19 January 2024

Cover letters are welcomed and will be looked on favourably as we are keen to know what interests you about working for IWPR; what interests you about this role specifically, and how you feel your skills and experience match what we are looking for.

About IWPR

The Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR) is an international non-profit organisation founded in 1991, with charitable status in the US, UK and the Netherlands. We give voice to people at the frontlines of conflict, crisis and transition to help them drive change and build more stable, just and inclusive societies.

Drawing on three decades of experience in some of the world’s most challenging environments, we support media, civil society, democracy and governance, gender, and youth-focused projects in over 30 countries – promoting reliable information and responsible public debate and removing barriers to freedom of expression.

The Role:

We are seeking a Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Specialist to lead the MEAL work in IWPR’s Eastern Partnership programme, covering Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia and Moldova. The role, which can be located in Tbilisi or undertaken remotely, will enable IWPR’s EaP programme to continuously improve its planning, programme delivery, and development of staff, partners and programme beneficiaries. The MEAL Specialist will report to the Regional Director for the EaP.

Currently, IWPR implements two large projects in the region:

• Building Resilience in the Eastern Neighbourhood (BREN) builds the resilience of CSOs to promote human security, peace and stability in the Eastern Neighbourhood countries, focused on women and other marginalised groups.
• Countering Disinformation in Moldova builds the capacity of local Moldovan organisations and journalists to effectively counter disinformation operations in their country.

Several other smaller-scale projects will also require the engagement of the MEAL Specialist.

The MEAL Specialist will be responsible for monitoring, evaluation, learning and reporting throughout IWPR’s projects in the EaP. They will support all project staff to collect data throughout the project to monitor the quality of outputs and to evaluate outcomes while integrating new MEAL techniques and approaches to best capture, analyse and share results in a simple and effective manner for timely decision-making and learning for staff, partners and key stakeholders.

In addition the MEAL Specialist will be responsible for implementing participatory (e.g. Most Significant Change, Outcome Harvesting) methodologies and developing impact reports for key project stakeholders (beneficiaries, partners, IWPR etc.) supporting cross-programme learning and demonstrating changes achieved and lessons learned. They will develop a programme & project specific indicators that capture both successful implementation and impact, help develop theories of change for the project and support in the documentation of methodologies, highlighting what works and where improvements are needed to ensure continued learning and encourage innovation and experimentation of new ideas based on evidence.

The Specialist will also work in coordination with MEAL staff across the institution to develop a set of standard and common indicators to encourage institutional learning and sharing across regions and departments.  They will lead training for project staff, partner organisations and beneficiaries on MEAL methodologies and will support the integration of new ways of measuring qualitative and quantitative impact.

In this role you will:

• Implement day-to-day monitoring and evaluation of projects across Eastern Partnership in close coordination with Project Managers;
• Routinely collect quantitative and qualitative monitoring and evaluation data, identify gaps and provide solutions in coordination with Project Managers;
• Work with IWPR’s Global MEAL Specialist to strengthen the EaP office’s organisational MEAL framework (approach, principles and tools) and ensure compliance with Global MEAL processes and requirements;
• Lead capacity building and training in MEAL best practices, tools and techniques, providing technical support and contextually relevant capacity building to EaP staff and partners;
• Lead the development/updating of regional or project-specific theory(ies) of change;
• Lead the design of MEAL plans and see to their implementation in coordination with the Project Managers;
• Coordinate with IWPR’s Global MEAL team to ensure that the EaP office captures impacts and change within institutional strategic areas, including measurement, tracking and documentation of organisational impact;
• Support communications efforts, including collecting information and writing impact reports for IWPR and donor’s use;
• Work with global and regional teams to ensure that staff are continuously updating their knowledge and learning from each other;
• Recruit and oversee consultants and/or subawards related to delivery areas not covered by IWPR staff;
• Develop innovative ideas that respond to the changing needs of our constituents. Support regional and global institutional development efforts;
• Provide support and cover in the absence of project members to enable continued programme delivery.

The successful candidate will possess:

• BA in International Development, Human Rights, International Relations, Project Management, other Social Sciences or other related fields required. MA or other post-graduate capacities in relevant fields is desired;
• Proven track record of successfully working on projects focused in Eastern Partnership countries in a leading MEAL capacity;
• Minimum of 5 years of professional experience in MEAL-related activities within an NGO or comparable environment. This can include project development and implementation with a substantial focus on M&E;
• Experience in developing, supporting, and implementing a range of MEAL systems and tools with communities and implementing partners;
• Design and delivery of evaluations of complex development programmes;
• Significant experience in collating, analysing and presenting evidence using quantitative and qualitative methods;
• Experience of the theory of change development;
• Advanced English; advanced knowledge of other languages spoken in the region (Armenian, Azerbaijani, Belarusian, Georgian, Romanian, Russian) is highly advantageous;
• Excellent data analysis and report writing skills;
• Adept decision-maker and problem solver with a high level of attention to detail;
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills to facilitate effective discussions and maintain productive relationships with a broad and diverse group of colleagues, donors and partners;
• Knowledge of best practices for MEAL and a good critical grasp of the latest thinking in the sector, tools, codes, standards and practice;
• Advanced computer literacy in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and applications relevant to MEAL;
• Willingness and ability to travel internationally as required;
• Willingness to work with colleagues remotely across time zones.

Principals only. No calls please. Only those who have been considered for an interview will be contacted.

IWPR is an equal opportunities employer and positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religion or belief, marital status, veteran status or pregnancy and maternity. IWPR will never ask for payment for recruitment.

Keywords

MonitoringEvaluationAccountabilityLearningSpecialistMEALEastern PartnershipArmeniaAzerbaijanBelarusGeorgiaMoldovaprojectsdataoutcomestechniquesimpacttrainingtheory of changeindicatorscapacity buildingcommunicationsreportsNGOsEnglishtravel