PMEAL (Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning ) Coordinator

Shaping a stronger Oxfam for people living in poverty.

About Oxfam

Oxfam is a global movement of people who won’t live with the injustice of poverty. Together we save and rebuild lives in disasters. We help people build better lives for themselves. We speak out on the big issues that keep people poor, like inequality, discrimination against women and climate change. And we won’t stop until every person on the planet can live without poverty.

 Our Team

The technical coordination and programme quality team in Lebanon provides Oxfam and partner teams with timely and high-quality support to ensure Oxfam’s programmes contribute to sustainable transformative change at scale to address root causes of suffering and inequality in Lebanon. The team promotes programme learning and continuous improvement of programme quality and effectiveness, strengthened accountability, and ensures that evidence from programmes drives effective advocacy and campaigns.

Job Purpose

The PMEAL Coordinator will lead in providing technical support/ expertise and tools to Oxfam Lebanon’s programmes, ensuring strong programme and project design and effective, coordinated MEAL systems to drive programme quality and implementation.  The PMEAL Coordinator will lead the development and implementation of a systematic approach to PMEAL, ensuring that Oxfam and partner teams are able to effectively track outputs and outcomes and manage data effectively for reporting and learning purposes, as well as ensure programmes are in line with Oxfam minimum standards and donor requirements. In addition, the PMEAL Coordinator will build the capacity of Oxfam and partner teams, providing specialist support to institutionalize approaches and techniques that ensure high quality programme/ project design, planning, and MEAL. In line with Oxfam’s ‘one programme approach’, this role works across the spectrum of development, humanitarian and influencing interventions in close coordination with technical advisers and programme managers.

 Core Details

Location:                                             Beirut, Lebanon

Internal Grade:                                   C1

Contract type:                                     Fixed Term.

This role reports to:                            Deputy Country Director - Programmes, with technical support of the Regional Programme Quality Adviser. 

Staff reporting to this post:                 MEAL Officer(s), IM Officer(s)

Annual budget                                    for the post:     Technical sign off

Key relationships/interactions:            Technical Coordinators/ Project Managers

Screening checks:                             Screening via Refinitiv

Key Responsibilities

Dimensions

• Diverse and complex problem-solving, requiring professional knowledge, field experience and an understanding of multi-sectoral humanitarian, development and influencing work
• Decision-making requires significant levels of judgement based on technical expertise and management experience, generally actively supported within line management or the programme team.
• The role is variable with broad targets and/or minimum standards and is both proactive and reactive
• Requires the ability to analyse and communicate complex information to a wide audience to promote and influence 
• Short, medium and long-term planning is required in the context of changing priorities
• Work patterns are not routine and often high pressure.
• Communication is both with internal and external contacts. Represents Oxfam in relevant coordination meetings and external relationships with partners and other stakeholders.
• Capture and document programme learning to the teams, lead reflection meetings and disseminate lessons learned

Programme design and planning:

• Provide high quality technical input into inclusive programme and project development processes, particularly on logic of intervention (Theory of Change, logical frameworks and MEAL plans), with an emphasis on ensuring sound understanding of how changes happen and sound programme logic and objective setting that is informed by contextual information
• Provide guidance to and support Programme Managers in ensuring that programme quality is embedded in new programmes and projects and that Oxfam quality standards are met.
• Support Oxfam and partner teams on quality information gathering and analysis at community, local and national level to facilitate informed and evidence-based programme and project design.
• Support research activities, including advising on methodology, sampling and tool development for relevant activities with Oxfam’s Policy and project teams.

Programme and project Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL):

• Develop and implement MEAL strategies and systems - including the definition of specific processes, methodologies and tools– and provide technical advice and support to Oxfam and partner teams in implementation.
• Identify, test and roll out innovative MEAL approaches and methods.
• Provide technical leadership and oversight to ensure the overall quality of Oxfam and partner teams’ field data collection, data management, and analysis processes.
• Oversee information management to ensure the appropriate information is collected by project teams and managed centrally; including information on beneficiary data and site profiles, services received and progress on indicators. This includes the continued investment in database solutions.
• Ensure that the Lebanon Country Programme is compliant with internal reporting requirements
• Contribute to timely and quality reporting with MEAL findings on Oxfam’s programmes and projects in Lebanon, demonstrating accountability and learning.
• Overseeing and quality assurance of feedback and complaint mechanisms and sharing of accountability findings with programme teams and senior management.
• Lead on the Oxfam Common Approach to Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Social Accountability (CAMSA) roll out in the Lebanon office including support on the implementation of improvement plans.
• Support the programme teams and partners in extracting lessons learnt and good practises, and documenting case studies which demonstrate qualitative and quantitative changes.
• Promote and support the organisation of programme/ project learning events and periodical reviews.
• Lead / support on the design and management of evaluations in compliance with Oxfam’s evaluation policy.
• Support programme and project managers to design and monitor MEAL budgets and spending in line with donor requirements.
• Support Oxfam’s Policy team to better understand the effects of policy work and activities, including helping to articulate and report these effects internally and externally (e.g. to donors).

Oxfam and partner staff capacity development and management:

• Facilitate identification of needs, planning, and implementation for country team capacity building in PMEAL areas, and build capacity of Oxfam and partner staff on high quality PMEAL, including through induction, training, coaching and day-to-day support. This includes mobilizing of internal and external resources as relevant in close coordination with the regional programme quality adviser.
• Manage the PMEAL team and ensure that they receive adequate training, mentoring and coaching.
• Act as focal point for Oxfam’s Programme, Accountability and Learning system (OPAL) for managing information and programs including providing technical support and training staff on OPAL.

Internal and external coordination, representation and networking:

• Promote and facilitate the identification of learning from PQ practices by Oxfam and partners, ensure that knowledge and learning is shared internally and externally, and promote replication of good practices across the country programme.
• Ensure that Oxfam’s MEAL system is linked to wider inter-agency M&E initiatives and developments, and liaise with technical teams to ensure coordination with sectoral working groups and processes.
• Represent Oxfam in various consortium technical working groups, ensuring that Oxfam’s positions and interests are clearly communicated in these settings.
• Contribute to and support implementation of regional and global Oxfam PQ strategies, processes, policies, and initiatives. This includes contributing to effective corporate processes and reporting (e.g. Output reporting, indicative outcome areas, Program Quality Reviews etc).

Skills, Experience and KnowledgeEssential:

• Master’s degree in relevant area (e.g. social sciences, statistics) from a recognised university.
• At least 5 years’ experience of work in humanitarian and/or development context programmes
• Passion for improving effectiveness and impact of multi-sectoral programs and demonstrating tangible outcomes
• Experience in managing, advising, training, and coaching others on PMEAL
• Experience in adaptable management of small teams with high efficiency and pragmatic division of labour
• Demonstrable organizational and project management skills and ability to manage multiple projects to deadlines
• Proven ability to support the design and development of, programs and projects, including Theory of Change and proposal development
• Proven ability to advise and lead on the development and implementation of MEAL strategies, plans, and systems in humanitarian and development programmes
• Strong technical competence and experience in quantitative and qualitative research methods, data analysis, reporting and understanding of contemporary trends and innovations in MEAL
• Practical experience of mainstreaming gender in development, influencing, or humanitarian work
• Excellent interpersonal and negotiation skills with demonstrable ability to lead, influence, and motivate others in a diversity of contexts and functions
• Strong self-awareness, as well as strong analytical and critical thinking skills.
• Good organizational skills including accuracy, consistency, attention to detail, tenacity, and the ability to work under pressure 
• High degree of computer literacy and word processing and Excel skills 
• Excellent communication skills and fluency in English (verbal and written)
• Prepared to undertake regular travel within Lebanon and within the region

Desirable:

• Experience with statistical packages (e.g. SPSS)
• Familiarity with IT applications to support MEAL and information management (e.g. Survey CTO, ODK tools)
• Experience working on the development and/or management of databases
• Arabic language skills

Key Attributes

• Ability to demonstrate sensitivity to cultural differences and gender issues, as well as the commitment to equal opportunities
• Ability to demonstrate an openness and willingness to learn about the application of gender/gender mainstreaming, women’s rights, and diversity for all aspects of development work
• Commitment to Oxfam’s safeguarding policies to ensure all people who come into contact with Oxfam are as safe as possible

Organisational Values

• Accountability – Our purpose-driven, results-focused approach means we take responsibility for our actions and hold ourselves accountable. We believe that others should also be held accountable for their actions
• Empowerment – Our approach means that everyone involved with Oxfam, from our staff and supporters to people living in poverty, should feel they can make change happen
• Inclusiveness – We are open to everyone and embrace diversity. We believe everyone has a contribution to make, regardless of visible and invisible differences