MEAL Assistant-Turkana

ROLE PURPOSE:  

• Under the general guidance and direction of the Research and MEAL Specialist; the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Assistant will work as part of the county M&E team responsible for program quality assurance, accountability, documentation and learning. S/he will be involved in day to day implementation of the M & E system sub-county level including data collection, collation, entry, analysis and use for decision-making. In the event of a major humanitarian emergency, the role holder will be expected to work outside the normal role profile and be able to vary working hours accordingly.

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to: MEAL Officer 

Staff reporting to this post: None

Budget Responsibilities: None

Country Dimensions:   Save the Children has been operational in Kenya since the 1950s, providing support to children through developmental and humanitarian relief programmes delivered both directly and through local partners. Current programming focuses on child protection, child rights governance, education, health, HIV/AIDS, livelihoods, nutrition and WASH. In 2012, as part of a global reorganization process, Save the Children combined the programmes of SC UK, SC Canada and SC Finland to create a single operation in Kenya. In Feb 2014, we completed a second transition, which saw us join forces with the British INGO, Merlin, and merge their health and nutrition programmes with our own.  Save the Children now has an operational presence in Bungoma, Dadaab Refugee Camp, Garissa, Mandera, Turkana and Wajir and we work through partners in many other parts of the country. In 2016, Save the Children established a new project office in Madagascar whose operations are managed by the Kenya CO. In total, we employ around 250 staff in both countries and had an operating annual budget in 2019 of approximately US$13.5million.  Save the Children is currently a member of NAWIRI consortium (Kenya Development Food Security Activity: Program for Resilient Systems) which is led by Mercy Corps and is being implemented in Turkana and Samburu counties.

KEY AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Manage information generated through MEAL activities, such as complaints databases, action tracker.
• Organize field visits to monitor program activities / interventions against Quality Benchmarks/Quality Checklists and produce & share reports with program team as well as management team based on quality and accountability findings. 
• Support program staff to strengthen joint planning and monitoring with stakeholders. 
• Contribute to the quality of program design – reviewing log-frames, results frameworks, project plan, strategic plans, MEAL Plan etc. 
• Ensure that the agreed action plans are followed in timely manner by program team and that the feedback loop is closed. 
• Share all information (monitoring reports, CFM databases, preliminary verification reports, case studies etc.) with the support of  Research and MEAL Specialist.
• Share MEAL findings & CFM issues in each monthly meeting 
• Support in roll-out  of USAID Nawiri monitoring and evaluation strategy and tools at the Sub County level
• Collect program routine monitoring data and follow-up with the program team on data collection and reporting.
•  Support roll-out and supervision of data collection through Annual Surveys, Post Distribution Monitoring (PDM) and Quality Inquiry Surveys.
• Timely entry of  monitoring data into mobile and  computer-based data collection systems and working with MIS officers to resolve data quality issues observed.
• Entry of IPTT data on PRIME.
• Support  Monitoring and Evaluation activities to ensure that program-based monitoring activities are being performed according to schedule.
• Support in conducting Quarterly data review meetings and Routine Data quality Assurance.
• Support and collaborate with the M&E Officer to provide timely reports and data summaries.
• Assist to maintaining a clear and transparent filing system at the Sub County level office.
• Support the process of testing and adopting relevant technologies for improving the efficiency of the program’s MEL function at the Sub-county level.
• Strengthen Sub-County government M&E and Data Use Platforms including Review Meeting, Data Quality Assurance, Mentoring and Supportive Supervision.
• Other duties as assigned from time to time by supervisor

BEHAVIOURS (Values in Practice)

Accountability:

• Holds self accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values.
• Holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.

Ambition:

• Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team, takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages their team to do the same.
• Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others.
• Future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale.

Collaboration:

• Builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters.
• Values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength.
• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to.

Creativity:

• Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions.
• Willing to take disciplined risks.

Integrity:

• Honest, encourages openness and transparency; demonstrates highest levels of integrity.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Must hold at least a diploma in Social Sciences, Public Health, Development Studies, or Population Studies, or relevant field (with coursework in M&E, research and evaluation methodologies, statistical analysis or organizational development) or similar field of study. Undergraduate in similar faculty is an added advantage.
• At least 1-2 years of program monitoring and evaluation experience ( Entry Level  Fresh Graduate)
• Certificate in Monitoring and Evaluation from UoN, AMREF or KIM will be an added advantage
• Proven experience of undertaking evaluations/research with outstanding skills in qualitative and quantitative research and data analysis using relevant software such as STATA or SPSS and ATLAS.ti 
• Good communication skills in English and Kiswahili. Local language (Turkana or Samburu) preferred

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS:

Essential

• Minimum of 3 years of experience working in INGO’s and or UN Agencies in developmental or in humanitarian programmes, with 2+ years in field postings, and 2+ years working for an international agency on monitoring, evaluation, and learning.
• Experience working with USAID funded project and familiarity with USAID/FFP M&E guidance and requirement is an added advantage
• Experience of, and commitment to working through systems of community participation and accountability
• Demonstrated strong monitoring and evaluation skills, including planning/participating in evaluations
• Ability to write clear and well-argued assessment and project reports
• Technical expertise in various data analysis software and proven experience using mobile technology for data collection with experience of electronic data collection using tablets or other devices.
• Exceptional analytical and problem-solving skills and experience with statistical/graphical software or spatial software. 
• Proven experience with current technologies, such as web-based data management and analysis tools, digital data collection, mapping, Google applications, data visualization, interactive dashboards, etc
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with experience working in multicultural, multi -location, values driven teams.

Desirable

• Experience working in arid and semi-arid land (ASAL) settings preferred.
• Highly developed cultural awareness and ability to work well in an international environment with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures
• Experience working with complex/large USAID funded project and familiarity with USAID/FFP M&E guidance and requirement is an added advantage
• Experience of managing private and international donor funded projects
• Experience of training and capacity building 
• Some experience of representation and ability to represent SC effectively in external forums.