Job Description

• Job Title: MEARL Manager
• Status: Full time
• Duty station: Al Mukha & West-Cost
• Duration: 10 months
• No. of staff required: 1

An Overview about ADO

Abs Development Organization for woman and Child (ADO) is a well-established national, humanitarian, developmental, non-profit and non-governmental organization, founded in August 1996 by a group of Yemeni girls to provide a better life for women, children, and youths. ADO has been operating in Yemen for more than 28 years with an outstanding coverage to the deprived rural areas located on the coast of Tehama and other various areas in Yemen aiming to get rid of poverty and infectious diseases. Since its inception, ADO has implemented over 213 developmental and humanitarian projects. According to ADO latest cumulative statistics, by end of the year 2021, a total of  6,695,412 people were benefited from these interventions. Consequently, the organization has established itself among the most effective civil society organizations in Yemen that are working on issues related to livelihood, health, education, and WASH supporting women, children, and youth. Operating from its Headquarter office in Sana’a, and through its branch offices in Al-Hodeidah, Hajjah, Abs, Raymah Taiz and Aden, ADO provides educational, health, livelihood and WASH services to urban and rural communities. As ADO believes that women are the essence of life, it has devoted all its activities and programs to empower and educate women who will lead to a modern and just state. ADO also believes that protecting and caring for children will result in a prosperous future; free from crime and terrorism. Furthermore, ADO believes that youth are the potential and driving force of any modern civil society.

Job objectives/ Scop:

The purpose of this position is to manage, strengthen, and provide strategic direction to the ADO Program’s Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Policies and Procedures, ensuring cross-learning among projects, creating systems for accountability to beneficiaries, donors and other stakeholders, and to build capacity of MEAL staff. The MEAL Manager will be responsible for supervising MEAL activities, particularly during times of emergency, and assessments required for proposal development. The MEAL Manager under the supervision of quality, development & research manager, will work closely with ADO program teams and partner staff to develop high quality monitoring systems and tools which address indicators set out in project proposals. He/she will ensure that learning from projects is systematically captured and used throughout the ADO programs. He/she will also take learning needs into account, and develop and conduct capacity building for MEAL and program staff, with support of the programs' manager and the quality, development & research manager. The MEAL Manager is expected to have a high level of self-initiative and use critical thinking skills to identify and fill gaps in MEAL. The MEAL Manager will also work closely with the quality, development & research manager and programs' manager to ensure that the ADO's programs comply with the agency’s regional and global MEAL systems, standards and good practices. The MEAL Manager should have the ability to work sensitively and positively with programming teams and promote a learning environment – success of the post relies on this.

Reports to: Quality, Development & Research Manager

Supervisor on: MEAL officers, accountability officer, Research officer

Duties & Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the quality, development & research manager, and in cooperation with project managers and MEAL staff in the operational bases of its responsibility, the MEAL manager:

• Strategy: S/he is responsible to develop and roll out the mission MEAL strategy at base level. 
• Training and technical support: S/he is responsible to provide training and technical support to all program teams on technical questions linked to MEAL and cross-cutting issues.
• Monitoring and evaluation: S/he is responsible to support operational teams in monitoring and evaluation of ADO programs.
• Accountability: S/he is responsible of the roll-out of accountability activities at bases level.
• Knowledge building: S/he is responsible to contribute to lessons learned and institutional knowledge building.
• Resources Management: S/he is responsible to manage the MEAL team in Sana’a and all of sub-offices and focus on capacity building of the MEAL teams in all bases.
• Representation and reporting: S/he is responsible to support the bases in reporting, communication and representation in her/his field of expertise.

Note: The responsibility for some assessments, monitoring and evaluation of program activities will remain the primary responsibility of the program teams. MEAL manager, in link with the quality, development & research manager will however ensure the proper tools are developed and are made available to the field teams.

Specific objectives and linked activities:

Develop and roll out the mission MEAL strategy:

• Participate in developing a sector-based strategy (M&E, accountability, gender, do no harm) in accordance with ADO strategy and in link with ADO's MEAL framework. 
• Participate in programming work at base level.

Training and technical support:

• Develop MEAL teams’ capacities in the department’s field of expertise: data collection and analysis (method, format, software etc.), measure of indicators, feedback and response mechanism, do no harm analysis etc. 
• Deploy ADO’s MEAL Framework trainings and develop tailored training modules in link with the quality, Development & research manager.
• Provide program teams with a technical and methodological support for M&E activities, data management (questionnaire design, sampling, data entry, extraction of useful data and interpretation) and integration of cross-cutting issues.
• Support program teams in creating or adapting tools for: PMT, indicators monitoring, impact monitoring (MEAL plan and survey tools) or risk analysis.

Monitoring and evaluation of ADO's programs:

• Contribute to the elaboration, review and harmonization of M&E tools, data management, especially in the PMTs (indicators table) and the MEAL Plans.
• Create / revise the tools needed to implement program-based evaluation monitoring (database, survey form ...) and ensure that the monitoring tools developed work and are correctly used by the teams;
• Define / improve / monitor and ensure the quality of information and data collected in the field and participate in data quality assessment; 
• Design baseline and baseline studies to collect information on performance indicators and project results.
• Check relevance of reports, analysis, maps and recommendations produced.
• Propose adjustments, new activities to improve the quality of the operations or approaches, in consultation with PMs and program/technical coordinators.
• Upon ad hoc request from the program/ technical coordinator, perform advanced analysis.
• Contribute to terms of references for external evaluations and studies.
• Accompany teams in drafting project proposals and reports for donors. Be proactive in identifying innovative indicators and collection methods.

Accountability

Following guidelines from ADO’s Framework: 

• Support the design and roll out of complaint feedback and response mechanisms.
• Check that the key principles of the feedback mechanism are respected.
• Produce regular analysis of the complaints and feedbacks received.
• In conjunction with the program teams, ensure that a participatory approach is initiated with local actors and partners in the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of projects.
• Work in collaboration with the program teams on the design and improvement of accountability mechanisms.

Lessons learnt and institutional knowledge building:

• Build on institutional knowledge on M&E activities and missions’ results (lessons learnt and recommendations) and make sure these are known by PMs and other team members. 
• Support recommendation tracking process and work on action plans.
• Use ADO's tools to document MEAL tools and methodologies/approaches.
• Ensure that learning activities are included in the project activities.
• In link with ADO’s MEAL framework and tools ensure the implementation at base level of the recommendation tracking process (internal and external) and work together with PMs on action plans.
• Contribute to the preparation of kick off and learning meetings per project and ensure capitalization of its content. 

HR management/capacity development:

• Make sure that new staffs are briefed on MEAL’s roles and responsibilities.
• Participate in the evaluation and in the assessment of the performance of collaborators under his/her supervision.
• Identify training needs. 
• Supervise and support MEAL teams in implementing their action plan and achievement of their objectives

Reporting / communication / representation:

• Participate in writing project proposals and reports’ paragraphs on crosscutting issues and MEAL.
• Make sure the right reporting formats are used and delays are respected. 
• Represent ADO when asked and/or delegated to do so.
• In link with programs, develop articles, case studies and success stories.
• •    Where necessary, perform any other duty as and when called upon by the line manager (Quality, Development & Research Manager) or in the absence of technical supervisor.

Required Personal Characteristics     

• Strong leadership and managerial skills, with the ability to inspire and motivate a team towards achieving common goals.
• Excellent analytical and critical thinking skills, with a keen attention to detail and the ability to synthesize complex information into actionable recommendations.
• Effective communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage with diverse stakeholders and facilitate collaborative processes.
• Commitment to transparency, accountability, and ethical conduct in all aspects of work.
• Adaptability and flexibility to work in a dynamic and fast-paced environment, managing multiple priorities and deadlines effectively.
• Strong commitment to learning and professional development, with a proactive approach to staying updated on emerging trends and best practices in MEARL.
• Cultural sensitivity and respect for diversity, with the ability to work effectively in multicultural settings.
• Willingness to travel to project sites and work occasional evenings or weekends, as required.

Required qualifications and experience:    

• A Bachelor’s degree or higher in relevant field such as social sciences, statistics, monitoring and evaluation, or international development.
• At least 5 years (at least 4 years for Master’s degree holders) field experience in a relief or development environment.
• Proven experience in designing and implementing MEARL systems for complex development projects, including the development of monitoring plans, evaluation methodologies, and research protocols.
• Must be conversant with both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods and analysis.
• Previous experience with major donor proposal M&E requirements.
• Capacity building experience in project monitoring, reporting, and evaluation.
• Experience in implementing Information and Communication Technology for Development and Emergency activities.
• Strong project management skills, with the ability to plan, organize, and coordinate multiple activities simultaneously.
• Computer knowledge including Word, Excel, and Power Point (additional experience with Access or SPSS is preferred).
• Familiarity with donor reporting requirements and compliance standards for international development projects.
• Strong skills in written and spoken English; Knowledge of the local language is preferred.
•  Required Travel: Willingness to travel 50% of the time to remote areas of the country.
• Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.
• ADO procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.

Gender:  Male/Female

Start Date: 1.3.2024