Program Manager I-MEAL -Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

About CRS: Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work are accomplished through programs of emergency response, health, agriculture, education, microfinance, and peacebuilding. For nearly 60 years, CRS has taken the lead in responding to natural and man-made disasters affecting Ethiopia’s most vulnerable communities. Moving beyond emergency response, CRS’ disaster mitigation and recovery projects in drought and flood-prone areas have rebuilt individual and community assets through non-food aid in the form of agriculture, livestock, health, nutrition, and water and sanitation assistance. CRS’s humanitarian work in Ethiopia also provides livelihoods support to farmers and entrepreneurs, promotes equality and inclusion, and mitigates the impact of COVID-19. As part of CRS family, you will join the more than 5000 strong and vibrant individuals working globally to accomplish the mission of CRS. CRS/Ethiopia invites you, the qualified candidate, to apply for the following position.

Position Title:                Program Manager I-MEAL

Department:                 Programming – Ethiopia Seed Activity

Duty Station:                CRS Ethiopia/Addis Ababa

Employment Term:       Definite term (April 2023-March 2028)

Reports To:                     Chief of Party-Ethiopia Seed Activity

Application Deadline:   March 10, 2023

Job Summary

CRS seeks a MEAL program manager for the Feed the Future Ethiopia Seed activity, funded by USAID Ethiopia. The activity will focus on inclusive and sustainable agriculture-led economic growth and strengthened resilience among people and systems in Ethiopia. The technical focus of the activity will be on forage seed and feed reserves.

The MEAL PM primarily leads all MEAL, ICT, Data collection and analytics tasks of the activity. As a monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning (MEAL) senior project officer for the Ethiopia Seed Activity, you will facilitate the achievement of project objectives through coordinating and reporting on all project MEAL activities and providing MEAL-related technical guidance and advice to staff and implementing partner(s) advancing Catholic Relief Services’ (CRS) work serving the poor and vulnerable. Your coordination and relationship management skills will ensure that the project for which you are responsible applies best practices in MEAL and constantly works towards improving the impact of its benefits to those we serve.

Roles and Key Responsibilities

MEAL

• Provide management, guidance, and technical oversight of the S34D MEAL strategy in line with Donor Guidance and CRS quality principles and standards, MEAL Policies and Procedures, and industry best practices.
• Coordinate the development of program learning in S34D: identify opportunities for learning, research, and publications in MEAL.
• Facilitate the dissemination of promising practices and lessons learned of S34D to contribute to the agency knowledge management agenda. Ensure integration of innovations and best practices.
• Coordinate technical assistance and capacity strengthening activities in MEAL for staff and partner organizations to enhance program quality and impact.
• Coordinate the identification, assessment and strengthening of partnerships relevant to MEAL in S34D and the appropriate application of partnership concepts, tools, and approaches.
• Coordinate data collection with private sectors and other market actors, national and international (CIAT) consultants who will conduct several and varied assessments and research.
• Organize and lead the implementation of all assigned MEAL activities as outlined in Ethiopia Seed Activity’s detailed implementation plan in line with CRS program quality principles, standards and MEAL policies, procedures, and practices, donor MEAL requirements, and industry good practices.
• Lead operationalization of the Results Framework by developing performance indicator reference sheets (PIRS); data collection forms; ICT Tools, and reporting tools.
• Lead on the ground data collection efforts by coordinating with Ethiopia Seed Activity partners in Ethiopia.
• Ensure real-time high- quality flow of monitoring data through annual data quality assessments.
• Co-lead formulation of the learning agenda and lead implementation of the LA through ad-hoc studies; internal evaluation, and other relevant measures.
• Ensure learning properly accompanies project activities throughout the project cycle.
• Oversee/develop the accountability framework of the activity through closely working with centralized Feedback and Response Mechanism (FRM) team, coordinating project evaluation activities and guiding partners in their efforts to reflect on project experiences.
• Analyze implementation challenges and report any inconsistencies and gaps to inform adjustments to plans and implementation schedules.
• Coordinate and oversee MEAL-related working relationships with all local project stakeholders and serve as the liaison between them and the project team to mobilize local actors and promote project activities and impact. Identify and respond to key stakeholders’ information needs in MEAL activities, using a range of appropriate communication methods.
• Support and coordinate MEAL capacity building and technical support activities to ensure assigned project MEAL activities are implemented per project guidelines and standards. Optimize partner participation and capacity development in the implementation of MEAL systems.
• Coordinate provision of any MEAL-related logistical and administrative support to staff and partners.
• Ensure timely, project documentation for assigned MEAL activities is complete with all required documents and is filed per agency and donor requirements. Assist with preparation of trends analysis reports and documentation of case studies and promising practices.
• Lead all efforts on monitoring and reporting per USAID needs and as required by the CoP.
• Coordinate with the country program MEAL team for cross learning and capacity building.

Data and analytics

• Develop and maintain an Ethiopia Seed Activity database comprising both quantitative and qualitative data.
• Conduct rigorous analyses to transfer data into high-tech infographics and information well-understood by non-technical audience.

Other Responsibilities

• Coordinate meetings, webinars, conferences by supporting with logistics and taking meeting minutes.
• Support with any other ad-hoc research activities and duties as needed by the Technical Director, Chief of Party or Forage Technical Advisor.
• Liaise with all partners of the activity to ensure smooth progress of the work plan and Detailed Implementation Plan.
• Conduct and/or coordinate site visits as and when required to support work on the ground.

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff)

These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.

*Integrity *Continuous Improvement & Innovation *Builds Relationships *Develops Talent *Strategic Mindset *Accountability & Stewardship