Save the Children is seeking a Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Lead for an anticipated five-year USAID-funded Resilience Food Security Activity (RFSA) in Uganda. The program will seek to sustainably improve food and nutrition security and resilience among poor and chronically vulnerable households and communities. The estimated implementation timeframe for the RFSA is 2025-2030. 

The proposed program will be an integrated, multi-sectoral food and nutrition security intervention. The MEAL Lead will provide technical expertise and leadership to generate and analyze quality evidence and data through monitoring, assessments, and evaluations. The MEAL Lead will supervise the program’s monitoring and evaluation team and will coordinate with program learning and management processes to ensure effective feedback loops that contribute to the achievement of desired outcomes.

Hiring is contingent upon successful award of the project and USAID approval of the candidate.

National candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

This position will be based in Kampala, Uganda.

What You’ll Be Doing (Essential Duties):

Develop and manage the implementation of a sound program MEAL plan. In close coordination with the technical team, lead the planning, design and implementation of formative research conducted during the Refine year of the RFSA. Build, manage, and continuously strengthen the program’s MEAL system, ensuring that this system is developed in a consultative fashion and provides timely and accurate data regarding program progress towards food and nutrition security and resilience outcomes. Supervise the development of a program Management Information System (MIS), with an emphasis on cutting-edge digital technology. Lead the program’s qualitative and quantitative analysis and survey and sample design. Coordinate routine monitoring and annual monitoring survey processes, leading the contracting of external support (consultants, firms) as needed. Coordinate with donor processes for program baseline and final evaluations, and for ad hoc assessments or evaluations as needed. Lead or contribute to data quality assurance mechanisms throughout the life of the award. Contribute to the adjustment and management of the program’s Theory of Change (ToC), ensuring coherence between the ToC and MEAL systems. Promote evidence-based decision making among the program’s senior management team, ensuring the use of evidence from the program’s MEAL system in collaborating, learning and adapting processes. Supervise the program’s MEAL team, providing training, mentoring, and coaching to team members as required while ensuring high performance. Contribute to the program’s Refinement period (initial 12 – 24 months) studies, as well as the program’s overall targeting strategies and community consultation approaches. Play an important role in annual results reporting, while leading or contributing to M&E components of routine and ad hoc program reports. Perform regular monitoring visits in project zones of intervention. Develop Scopes of Work (SOWs) for external performance evaluators and supervise their assignments. Supervise all data collection for project-related studies and assessments. Participate in the development of project lessons learned using CLA (Collaborative, Learning, and Adapting) approach. Lead project impact measurement through outcome harvesting and other relevant models.

Required Background and Experience:

A master's degree in a quantitative field (economics, agricultural/development economics, statistics, biostatistics, nutrition, applied sociology, or other relevant subject) with significant training in quantitative methods and five years of relevant experience leading the M&E of multi-year development or resilience awards; OR an undergraduate degree in a related field and seven years of relevant work experience leading the M&E of multi-year development or resilience awards. Demonstrated experience building or strengthening monitoring systems, conducting quantitative and qualitative analysis, designing survey methodology, and promoting evidence-based program management. Proven experience in resilience measurement including recurring shocking monitoring survey, resilience capacity measurement and analysis Knowledge of theories of change (TOCs), logic models, food and nutrition security indicators, MEAL plans, data quality assurance, data utilization, and gender and youth integration into MEAL. Experience developing and operationalizing comprehensive MEAL plans. Ability to network and engage with necessary stakeholders. Excellent oral and written communication and presentation skills in English. Experience with USAID and U.S. Government regulations and reporting procedures and systems are preferred. Demonstrated experience working in Uganda or other Eastern African countries. Ability and willingness to travel frequently. Strong training and coaching skills Experience of using systems thinking will be an added advantage. Commitment to child rights and to the aims and objectives of Save the Children.

About Save the Children

Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. In the United States and around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes for children – every day and in times of crisis – transforming their lives and the future we share.

Our work for children and their families requires that we commit—at every opportunity—to work together to identify and dismantle persistent systemic and structural racism, inequality, and any other forms of discrimination in this country and beyond.  As an anti-racist organization, Save the Children will not tolerate discrimination in any form—in our employment practices, amongst our staff, in our leadership or toward the people we serve. We stand in solidarity with all people to fight for equal rights, justice, inclusion, and belonging.

Save the Children is committed to conducting its programs and operations in a manner that is safe for the children it serves and helping protect the children with whom we are in contact. All Save the Children representatives are explicitly prohibited from engaging in any activity that may result in any kind of child abuse.

Save the Children is committed to minimizing safety and security risks for our valued employees, ensuring all are given training, support and information to reduce their risk exposure while maximizing the impact of our programs for children and families. Our shared duty, both agency and individual, is to seek and maintain safe working conditions for all.

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