The Joining Forces Alliance, reuniting the 6 biggest child rights organizations in Germany, namely ChildFund, Plan International, Save The Children, SOS Children’s Villages, Terre des Hommes & World Vision applied for an initial €16 million grant from the German Foreign Federal Office (GFFO) to address major child protection in emergency issues in various conflict settings across the world between July 2022 and June 2024 under the project “Joining Forces for Child Protection in Emergencies (JF-CPiE)”, implemented in 6 countries (Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Colombia, South Sudan, Ethiopia). All six consortium members implement in two of the six targeted countries.

The Joining Forces Alliance is preparing a 2nd phase of the “Joining Forces for Child Protection in Emergencies (JF-CPiE)”, which will be implemented for a duration of 26 months with a foreseen starting date in July 2024. The project will be implemented with the same organizations across

the same countries, focusing on the gender-sensitive and inclusive integration of food security, nutrition and child protection.

This position is subject to funding.

The position will be based in one of the four African countries where the project is implemented, or in another country in the region (Africa) where Plan International has an office.

Plan International Germany is the consortium lead and will contract the Global Project Manager and MEAL Coordinator as well as the Finance Coordinator.

Under the project, this position is responsible for the technical leadership and guidance of monitoring, evaluation, reporting and learning activities in the project. He/She will ensure quality and standards in the planning and implementation of project MEAL activities. Doing so the position holder will interface with the Consortium Members, their Implementing Partners as well as with Plan International Inc Headquarter and Plan International Germany. The coordination with so many stakeholders requires a high-level of understanding of complex project settings and excellent communication skills.

DIMENSIONS OF THE ROLE

The MEAL Coordinator is responsible for technical leadership and guidance of gender-sensitive and inclusive monitoring, evaluation, reporting and learning in the context of project implementation. She/he will oversee and ensure that information from implementing partners is fed into the overall project framework to allow continuous gender-sensitive and inclusive results-based monitoring, and will maintain a coherent monitoring approach across the six implementing countries – together with the country-based MEAL specialists of the different consortium members.

The MEAL coordinator will also be responsible for overall knowledge management and documentation of best practices and lessons learnt from the project in collaboration with the teams. She/he will also strengthen the projects teams and will provide technical support to the MEAL staff of implementing partners. She/he will coordinate closely with the Global Project Manager, the project managers of the Joining Forces Agencies in Germany, as well as the MEAL staff at implementing partners level in-country.

ACCOUNTABILITIES

Coordination and Capacity Strengthening

· Coordinate and contribute to the development and update of the existing MEAL systems/framework, including MEAL SOPs, guidelines and tools with technical specialists of the consortium.

· Provide technical support to partners in adapting the project´s gender-sensitive and inclusive MEAL system to their context and to set up and implement while ensuring compatibility with the overall MEAL Framework;

· Ensure that gender-sensitive and inclusive monitoring, evaluation and learning is used to enable the project to identify and address the different needs and capacities of girls and boys, adolescent girls and adolescent boys and their intersecting identities, and assess impact on gender relations.

· In collaboration with technical advisors, support the global and project teams to assess aspects of gender and inclusion that need to be mainstreamed and integrated into the project;

· Maintain effective gender-sensitive and inclusive information database on the project, providing resource and necessary support for program inputs and outputs;

· Train staff of implementing partners on gender-sensitive and inclusive MEAL systems, tools and strategies, including feedback and complaints activities and learning strategies;

Technical Support and Supervision

· Develop guidance (incl. definition of the approach and the methodology, incl. tools, process of data collection, analysis of data and reporting, including management response based on data analysis and findings) for project baseline, midterm and endline assessment (final evaluation), which can be adapted from existing Plan International guidance, and support implementing partners to adapt to their context and to prepare and implement;

· Support implementing partners to interview and select potential MEAL colleagues to work on the project, as well as external consultants to conduct project baseline and endline assessments (final evaluation) when required;

· Ensure quality control of data and information collected, through the ongoing review of data collection processes and MEAL systems;

· Analyse and provide feedback on quarterly and (bi)annual reports, baseline, midterm review and endline assessment reports;

· Perform regular visits to project implementation areas to support MEAL activities;

Dissemination of MEAL products

· Organize and ensure data collection and analysis for the capitalization of lessons learned and good practices identified in the context of the project implementation;

· Develop guidance and support for country teams to organize lessons learned and knowledge sharing workshops and learning exchanges, among other (external) learning events and opportunities, ensuring gender-sensitive and inclusive approach and outcomes and evidence derived from the project implementation;

· Support PM to consolidate quarterly and (bi)annual reports into a global report and support the consolidation of the logical framework with progress of indicators against targets;

· Analyse and consolidate results of outcome monitoring, baseline, midterm review and endline assessment reports into a global report and logical framework with final achievement of indicators against targets;

· Perform any other tasks assigned by the Project Manager.

General

1. Ensures that Plan International’s global policies for Safeguarding Children and Young People and Gender Equality and Inclusion are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.

KEY RELATIONSHIPS

Internal

· Global Coordination Team

· Consortium Steering Committee

· Project Management Steering Committee

· Technical Project Committee

· Plan International Germany

· MEAL teams of implementing & local partners, as well as consortium

External

· Civil Society Organisations

· UN Agencies

· Institutional Donors

· Embassies

TECHNICAL EXPERTISE, SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE

Knowledge/Experience

· Degree in social sciences, statistics, economics or other related sectors;

· Eight (8) years minimum experience in monitoring, evaluation and learning in programmes and projects;

· Experience working in complex, multi-country and/ or multi-agency programmes or projects;

· Solid experience in setting up MEAL systems and processes for large projects;

· Extensive experience managing baseline, midterm and endline and final evaluations;

· Experience in Child Protection program MEAL;

· Knowledge of ethical principles and safeguarding standards for involving children in MEAL activities;

· Practical and relevant experience in interventions in emergency contexts. Experience in one or more of the intervention countries would be an asset;

· Good knowledge and understanding of humanitarian principles and established international child protection and safeguarding standards; SPHERE standards and the Red Cross/ NGO Code of Conduct;

· Fluency in French and English essential (and eliminatory), Spanish is an added advantage;

Skills

· Skills in participatory assessment, particularly with children, young people and vulnerable population;

· Strong planning, organizational and analytical skills;

· Skills in managing qualitative and quantitative data collections;

· Skills for data base management (design, entry, analysis);

· Strong analytical skills;

· Ability to deliver to tight deadlines;

· Demonstrated facilitation and active listening skills;

· Good presentation skills;

· Cross-culturally agile;

· Solid writing skills (report writing, concept paper writing etc.);

· Requires general finance, administration, information management and telecommunication skills and proficiency in information technology/ computer skills (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SPSS and other statistical analysis software, data base software);

· People Skills: Ability to work independently and as a team player who demonstrates leadership and is able to support and train local staff and also able to work with displaced persons and communities in a sensitive and participatory manner;

· Communication Skills: Well developed written and oral communication skills. Able to communicate clearly and sensitively with internal and external stakeholders as a representative of Plan. This includes effective negotiation and representation skills;

· Commitment to and skills in capacity building – together with the ability to assess and coach others.

PLAN INTERNATIONAL’S VALUES IN PRACTICE

We are open and accountable

1. Promotes a culture of openness and transparency, including with sponsors and donors.

2. Holds self and others accountable to achieve the highest standards of integrity.

3. Consistent and fair in the treatment of people.

4. Open about mistakes and keen to learn from them.

5. Accountable for ensuring we are a safe organisation for all children, girls & young people

We strive for lasting impact

1. Articulates a clear purpose for staff and sets high expectations.

2. Creates a climate of continuous improvement, open to challenge and new ideas.

3. Focuses resources to drive change and maximise long-term impact, responsive to changed priorities or crises.

4. Evidence-based and evaluates effectiveness.

We work well together

1. Seeks constructive outcomes, listens to others, willing to compromise when appropriate.

2. Builds constructive relationships across Plan International to support our shared goals.

3. Develops trusting and ‘win-win’ relationships with funders, partners and communities.

4. Engages and works well with others outside the organization to build a better world for girls and all children.

We are inclusive and empowering

1. We empower our staff to give their best and develop their potential

2. We respect all people, appreciate differences and challenge equality in our programs and our workplace

3. We support children, girls and young people to increase their confidence and to change their own lives.

PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

The holder of the position will be working in a typical office environment and might travel to any of the Implementing Countries. The position will be based either in one of the four African countries of implementation or in any of their neighboring countries.