MEAL Assistant

Organizational Setting

FAO in collaboration with the government of Bangladesh, UN organizations, and development partners, began serving both the host communities and the Rohingya population in building their livelihoods and skills development opportunities in Cox’s Bazar in October 2017. FAO Cox’s Bazar sub-office is implementing programmes sustainable agriculture, fisheries, and livestock to increase the resilience of livelihoods in the emergency humanitarian context. Several initiatives were undertaken, particularly to address sustainable productivity, resilient livelihoods, improved food security, and ecosystem health, for communities in Cox’s Bazar, specifically prioritizing the poor and marginalized farmers. FAO is implementing various multi-donor projects by developing, testing, and piloting several innovative sustainable livelihood and natural resource management approaches and intervention models. Through these innovative approaches and models, FAO is supporting marginal and smallholder farming families in four sub-districts of Cox’s Bazar district – Cox’s Bazar Sadar, Ukhiya, Ramu and Teknaf – to increase their farm productivity, natural resource base, and income generation by improving existing production and management practices.

Reporting Lines

Under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative in Bangladesh, guidance of the International Emergency & Resilience Programme Coordinator in Cox’s Bazar, and direct supervision of MEAL Specialist, the MEAL Assistant will be based in Cox’s Bazar and will work in coordination with National MIS Specialist, MEAL Associate, Operations, Livelihood, NRM and other team members.

Technical Focus

The incumbent will be responsible for ensuring the quality of field activities and outputs of implementing partners and collecting data and information for identifying programmatic gaps and opportunities. S/he will provide assistance in developing a comprehensive MEAL plan, producing assessment reports and performing preliminary data analysis. In addition, the incumbent will organize and undertake regular field visits to monitor project activities (i.e., trainings, input distribution, farmers’ group meetings, and community engagement) at the community level.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Conduct periodic household-level interviews, post-distribution monitoring, beneficiary contact monitoring, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews to track the progress of the activities against targets identified in the logical framework • Verify field data/reports collected with the Management Information Systems (MIS) database and activities in the field • Draft monitoring reports (as required) for the management identifying problems and causes of potential bottlenecks in implementation and providing specific recommendations based on observed challenges and opportunities; • In collaboration with the MEAL Associate, supervise the partners’ data collection activities and assessments (i.e, baseline, endline, impact evaluation, yearly RIMA study) • Conduct feedback sessions with enumerators to ensure the quality of data • Contribute to the analysis of qualitative and quantitative data collected and support the drafting of baseline/endline/impact evaluation reports • Contribute to the timely updating of the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) database • Work closely with the MIS Specialist to provide necessary inputs on database development, encoding in KOBO, data curation, analysis and data visualization • Support the development of monitoring tools and innovative and good practices in data collection • With guidance of the Head of MEAL and in coordination with the programme team, organize and facilitate training courses on data quality assurance, results-based monitoring systems, and Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) • Perform other related duties as assigned by the Head of MEAL and the Project Team Leader

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor's degree, postgraduate degree preferred, in Urban and Regional Planning, Statistics, Geography and Environment, Development studies, Social Science, Anthropology or related discipline with expertise in monitoring and evaluation • Minimum of four years of progressively responsible professional work experience in programme planning, monitoring, evaluation, accountability, learning, and reporting with UN agencies/INGOS/NGOs • Working knowledge of English • National of Bangladesh

FAO Core Competencies

• Results Focus • Teamwork • Communication • Building Effective Relationships • Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

• Clear understanding of MEAL planning, logical framework, theory of change • Expertise in quantitative and qualitative data collection methods, including sampling and surveys • Expertise in results-based monitoring • Ability to use standard software such as MS Excel, MS Access, and R. Efficiency on STATA will be an advantage • Skill on GIS and tableau will be an asset • Skills in development of training modules and providing training to the partners on data quality, monitoring and performance evaluation. • Proven track record of successful teamwork and good presentation/facilitation skills; • Excellent verbal and written communication skills required • Ability to work independently and with minimum supervision • Self-motivation, willingness to learn, and strong work ethics in a multi-disciplinary team environment

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• FAO does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing)
• Incomplete applications will not be considered. If you need help please contact: [email protected]
• Applications received after the closing date will not be accepted
• Please note that FAO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/
• For additional employment opportunities visit the FAO employment website: http://www.fao.org/employment/home/en/
• Appointment will be subject to certification that the candidate is medically fit for appointment, accreditation, any residency or visa requirements, and security clearances.