MEAL Manager

Background/IRC Summary:  The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in over 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC leads the way from harm to home. IRC has been working in Pakistan for over 40 years and manages and delivers large, complex programs to meet the needs of health, education, protection, environmental health, and livelihoods for displaced, poor, and disaster-affected communities. IRC works in partnership with local government and non-governmental organizations and currently works in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Baluchistan, and Sindh provinces.

Job Overview/Summary:

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is implementing various humanitarian, recovery, and development projects across Pakistan and is seeking a dynamic, self-motivated MEAL Manager based in Islamabad. This role, under the guidance of the MEAL Coordinator, involves supporting MEAL implementation at the field level, ensuring adherence to standards, designing MEAL frameworks, coordinating data collection and analysis, and promoting learning processes. The MEAL Manager will also work with partners to build MEAL capacity and ensure compliance with project guidelines

Major Responsibilities:

• Assist the MEAL Coordinator in establishing and operationalizing an efficient, action-oriented MEAL system.
• Design and lead various assessments, including Needs Assessments and Do No Harm Assessments, drafting ToRs, designing tools, training enumerators, ensuring data quality, analyzing data, and drafting reports.
• Help program leads, provincial management, and partners make data-informed decisions based on monitoring data and findings.
• Support the MEAL Coordinator in implementing IRC’s MEAL Handbook, standards, and tools across projects and partners, ensuring real-time analytics.
• Assess and enhance partners' capacity to strengthen their MEAL systems.
• Coordinate with the Country MIS team to develop and update dashboards for project indicators and discuss trends in periodic meetings.
• Validate data for completeness, accuracy, and consistency, follow up on data quality issues, and conduct regular data quality assessments.
• Review and develop formats, data collection tools, and systems for monitoring and evaluating programs, ensuring quality and data management according to standards.
• Ensure robust monitoring mechanisms for project processes, outputs, and outcomes. Lead surveys and studies to assess interventions' relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, and impacts, organizing debrief meetings for quality improvement actions.
• Support program teams in tracking project activities' progress according to performance indicators and beneficiary numbers, establishing and maintaining data storage and dissemination systems.
• Assist in drafting ToRs for consultants conducting baseline, mid-term, and endline evaluations.
• Represent MEAL during program review meetings and other events, providing updates and presentations.
• Promote accountability and ensure compliance with IRC-WAY policies and global Humanitarian Standards for Quality and Accountability, including the Client Feedback and Complaints Response Mechanism.
• Ensure proactive and reactive feedback collection from beneficiaries, aiding project teams and partners in making informed decisions.
• Lead quarterly Client Satisfaction Surveys, ensuring timely data entry in the Dashboard, and draft survey reports.
• Organize lessons learned events, document learning from program implementation, and coordinate with program leads, partners, and communities to document lessons learned.
• Perform any other tasks as assigned by the Country MEAL Lead.

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to: MEAL Coordinator Position directly supervises:  MEAL Officers

Coordination: Program leads, Management and MEAL/MIS team of Partners

Job Requirements:

a)      Education:

• An individual holding a Master’s degree in Social Sciences, Development Studies, Economics, Statistics, or a related field, along with diploma certificates in MEAL and M&E technology..

b)      Work Experience:

• At least five years of extensive experience in Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) with INGOs.
• Experience working in both emergency and long-term development projects and programs.
• Proven experience in Monitoring, Evaluation, and Accountability, with knowledge of the global best practices in MEAL.
• Demonstrated skills in collecting, analyzing, and reporting quantitative and qualitative data, and in producing analytical reports.
• Strong monitoring and evaluation skills, including planning and participating in evaluations.
• Ability to manage a large and varied workload, work under pressure, and meet deadlines.
• Proficiency in research methodologies and demonstrated ability to conduct research to support monitoring, evaluation, and learning objectives.
• Proficiency in M&E technology, including practical experience with software used for data collection, analysis, and synthesis, ensuring efficient and effective management of MEAL processes.

c)       Demonstrated Skills and Competencies:

• Strong understanding of statistical data, with the ability to identify, interpret, and synthesize patterns.
• Excellent team-building skills. Adaptable, open to change, and flexible in behavior.
• Excellent research and analytical skills.
• Exceptional communication and coordination abilities.

Language Skills:  Proficiency in English and Urdu, along with knowledge of a local language.

The IRC Core Values and Commitments.

The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity Anti-Retaliation and Combating Trafficking in Persons.

IRC is committed to ensuring that IRC staff is suitable to work with children and have the knowledge s/he needs to uphold and abide by the IRC’s Child Safeguarding Policy.

Level of interaction with children: Less contact with children

IRC ensures that its staff must actively practice the roles and responsibilities related to client responsiveness, accountability to people in affected communities and must have competencies to solicit and listen to feedback and other’s perspectives, respond to feedback with maturity and sensitivity and take appropriate decisions and makes changes to behavior or actions in response to feedback.

IRC recognizes that gender equality is fundamental to achieving our organizational mission. As such, IRC is committed to promoting gender equality in all aspects of our operations and programs. Our organizational policies, procedures, and actions demonstrate this commitment.

Women candidates and differently-abled persons are highly encouraged to apply.