SOS Children’s Villages is a child focused organization and an affiliate of the SOS Children Villages International. It is non-governmental, non-political, non-denominational, and non-racial. Its overall mission is to build families for children in need, help them shape their own futures and share in the development of their communities. To realise the mission of the organisation, SOS Children’s Villages is recruiting for the under listed positions.

 MEAL Officer (2) – Livingstone and Chipata

Qualifications & Experience 

1. Full Grade 12 School Certificate
2. Diploma or higher in Monitoring & Evaluation, Demography, Statistics, Population Studies or other related studies.
3. At least 3 years’ direct experience in a position of monitoring and evaluation of large scale projects/programmes;
4. Demonstrated experience in data processing and management of large scale data and surveys;
5. Demonstrated experience of statistical packages and/ or data analysis software (e.g. SPSS, Excel, Epi Info, STAT01, Atlas) and advanced computer skills (word-processing, spread sheets, and databases) are a must;
6. Knowledge and experience in implementation of children’s rights projects/programmes is a plus;
7. Knowledge and experience in implementing of either health care or social protection programme is an added advantage; and
8. Strong experience in conducting a research studies including the entire evaluation cycle, from design and formulation to implementation, analysis and presentation of results and recommendations;

Personal Attributes 

• Good oral and written communication skills;
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to work well within a multi-cultural team environment;
• Must be result focused and be able to work under pressure and tight deadlines;
• Strong analytical skills;

Reporting Lines  
The job holder will administratively report to the Location Program Manager and technically to the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Manager

Role objective 
This position will work as part of Programme Location staff to support a culture and practice of Results Based Management (RBM), reliable planning, monitoring, evaluation, and accountability, learning and reporting at Programme Location level. This includes developing, updating and coordinating monitoring and evaluation (M&E) activities and events within the Programme Location office and among SOS Children’s Villages partners, building the capacity of Programme Location staff, and promoting MEAL knowledge transfer internally. The position will ensure that MEAL Strategy and capacity building are effectively implemented at Programme Location while adhering to SOS Children’s Villages Zambia guidelines and policies.

Key Responsibilities  

MEAL Tool Development and Data Management

• Develop and implement monitoring and evaluation tools that will ensure tracking of project/programme results at different levels (outputs, outcomes and impact).
• Ensure accountability through regular data updates, data integrity and working in collaboration with the data processors.
• Ensure PDB2 is updated regularly especially Core Assessments and Personal Development Plans.
• Carry out Data Quality Assessments in the PDB2 periodically and report on the same to National Office MEAL Manager.
• Develop and implement Data Improvement plans to ensure data quality in the PDB2.
• Work with Location Programme Manager and Coordinators officer to ensure the collection of relevant and appropriate data needed in updating the database, reporting, monitoring, evaluation, and learning.
• Ensure effective and efficiently MEAL system at Programme Location level which will be utilized used in monitoring strengths, weaknesses, gaps in existing projects/programmes and services and for reporting on MA Strategy implementation.
• Review existing data collection tools for Programme Location projects/programmes.
• Incorporate field and technical team feedback to ensure the continuous improvement of data management systems within the Programme Location.
• Timely update and share data on the to the cluster management system- Alternative Care and Family Strengthening.

Monitoring and Reporting

• Maintain and update the progress on indicators for the Programme Location.
• Work closely with the Location Programme Manager to ensure that feedback to Programme Location acted upon within time.
• Develop M&E plans for all projects and programmes and ensure the same is followed up during implementation.
• Ensure the Programme Location have updated work-plan and performance management plan (PMPs) in tandem with all approved annual plan, regularly reviewing and updating as needed.
• Carry out data quality assessments/audits regularly for MEAL data based on agreed indicators to guide decision making.
• Provide alert to the respective programme officers/ manager, on corrective actions required to avoid delays in implementation, including flagging operational issues and risks requiring timely actions.
• Review quarterly progress reports and ensure they have evidence to back-up and provide feedback.
• Collate/ prepare reports related to internal reporting such as the quarterly and annual reports.
• Ensure that cross cutting issues such as participation, gender, age and disability are effectively addressed/ mainstreamed in all project/programme implementations.

Assessments, Surveys and Evaluation

• Liaise with the National MEAL Manager to ensure that Programme Location new and ongoing projects adhere to accountability requirements by initiating baseline surveys for new projects/ programmes and conducting relevant evaluations for ongoing projects to meet SOS Children’s Villages Zambia standards.
• Ensure that Programme Location learns from all final evaluations of completed projects for decision making and improvement of project designs.
• Assist the National MEAL Manager to lead and/or coordinate all Programme Location assessments, evaluations and performance evaluation tasks including planning and reporting on the same.
• Assist the MEAL Manager in the development of TOR for external surveys and consultant recruitments/ selection.
• Timely plan and initiate all pre and post intervention assessments, KAP surveys and After Action Reviews, Pre-and Post-Test of project/programmes activities.

Learning, Accountability and Capacity Building

• Conduct Programme Location monitoring of all implementation and post implementation monitoring that meet laid down standards on a regular basis.
• Provide relevant evidence for learning from projects/programmes.
• Share learning and provide constructive comments to colleagues in order to ensure programme quality.
• Ensure Sex, Age, Disability Disaggregated Data (SADD), Accountability and Gender standards are consistently adhered in programme delivery.
• Build capacity of Programme Location staff through training to ensure adoption of new data monitoring tools and quality of data collected and reports.
• Keep abreast of new approaches and tools on M&E, and provide training to Programme Location staff as requested. Enable staff to monitor and evaluate their own efforts, gather relevant data and produce required progress reports.
• Regularly collect data on and analyse feedback to the Programme Location team to facilitate quality improvement.

General 

• Responsible to report any child safeguarding and protection suspicion, concern, allegation or incident immediately, following child safeguarding reporting procedures. child safeguarding and protection reports should be made to the child safeguarding team at programme level and/or to the respective line manager.
• Responsible within own area of work to prevent and protect children of all forms of abuse, abandonment, exploitation, violence and discrimination based on SOS Child Protection Policy principles

Closing date for receipt of applications is Friday 23rd February, 2024