Job title: Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Lead       

Employment Category: Full Time

Reporting to: Program Management Unit Director 

Employment condition: contract for one Year with the possibility of extensions

Direct reports:  N/A

Unit/department:  Project Management Unit (PMU)

Duty station: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with occasional field travel

Number of positions: One (1)

Salary: As per the organization's salary scale

The overall purpose of the role:

The MEAL Lead is a key member of the Project Management Unit (PMU), responsible for overseeing all monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning activities across the program. This includes overseeing data collection by consortium partners - and ensuring high-quality, timely, and actionable insights are shared with government and donor stakeholders. The MEAL Lead will serve as the primary liaison with government counterparts, advising them on monitoring results and supporting evidence-based decision-making. The role also involves ensuring that data collection, analysis, and reporting are aligned with program goals and donor expectations.

Major Role & Responsibilities:

• Lead the development and implementation of the Program MEAL strategy and M&E framework, with consortium partners, ensuring alignment with program objectives and stakeholder needs.
• Oversee and coordinate with consortium partners on data collection activities, assessing performance against indicators and establishing whether deliverables have been met on a quarterly basis. 
• Serve as the primary point of contact for government stakeholders on MEAL matters, presenting findings and advising on implications for policy and practice.
• Support data quality improvement process, including necessary revisions of existing tools and or design of new tools and systems to ensure quality MEAL data. 
• Support the development and use of digital platforms and tools, e.g. Power BI, SPSS, STATA, Kobo for data collection, storage, and analysis,
• Ensure that monitoring data is used for adaptive management, learning, and accountability across the program.
• Oversee the Community-centric data gathering approach in remote areas and training for local community members on data collection and reporting. 
• Lead collaboration with the Knowledge Management and Learning Partner to adopt and contextualize insights from other education programs. 
• Lead the compilation and submission of periodic reports (monthly, quarterly and annually) to the donor and Government, on program performance against the targets and indicators. 
• Lead quarterly performance review meetings to assess progress, validate assumptions, and adjust implementation strategies. 
• Determine whether rapid evaluations need to be conducted in response to monitoring data which indicates issues such as unmet milestones or insufficient data. 
• Lead the process of annual evaluations to identify issues quickly and allow time for correction
• Build capacity of consortium MEAL teams through training, mentoring, and technical support.
• Promote a culture of learning and continuous improvement within the program and among partners
• Contribute to program planning, reporting, and knowledge management efforts.
• Any other duties as assigned by the Consortium Lead

Gender Equality Commitments  

• Foster an environment that supports the values of women and men and equal access to information.
• Provide a work environment where women and men must be evaluated and promoted based on their skills and performance.
• Respect beneficiaries, women, men, and children (boys and girls) regardless of gender, sexual orientation, disability, or religion. race, colour, ancestry, national origin, age, or marital status. 
• Value and respect all cultures. 

Safeguarding Commitment 

Imagine1day has zero tolerance for violations of Child and Adult Safeguarding, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, and the Code of Conduct. In the process of recruitment, selection, and appointment, Imagine1day implements a range of procedures and actions, including Criminal Background Checks/ International vetting/Certificates of good conduct to ensure children and vulnerable adults are safeguarded and abuse is prevented.