Senior MEAL Protection Officer

Job Description

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster, including the climate crisis, to survive, recover, and gain control over their future. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC works with people forced to flee from war, conflict and disaster and the host communities which support them, as well as those who remain within their homes and communities. At work today in over 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC leads the way from harm to home.

IRC Poland: On 8 February 2022 three IRC staff arrived in Poland to initiate scoping of local and national actors in Warsaw, Lublin, and Rzeszow as well as across the Western, Central, and Eastern regions in Ukraine. When on 24 February Russian troops entered eastern Ukraine with the aim of toppling the government led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and conflict-affected individuals started fleeing to neighboring countries, the IRC established a presence in Poland to build partnerships with local state, civil society, and private sector actors to respond to needs of arriving refugees. As of April 26, over 5.3 million people have fled Ukraine seeking safety with nearly 50% (2.9 million) of those displaced fleeing to Poland.[1] Reports indicate almost all arrivals in Poland are women and children, including those that are unaccompanied and separated, as well as older persons. IRC Poland’s goal is to ensure the survival of emergency-affected people in a way that enables their safety, dignity, and empowerment. Working in the program areas of economic recovery and development and safety, the IRC will accomplish this by working to see that 1) People affected by the war in Ukraine are able to meet their immediate and basic needs with safety and dignity and avoid harmful coping mechanisms and 2) People affected by the war in Ukraine are protected and supported to recover from the consequences of violence and displacement through equitable access to services and information.

Job Overview: The Senior Protection M&E Officer will support the Integrated Protection (IP) program team in developing, managing, and strengthening monitoring and evaluation efforts of the IRC program in the Poland with the aim of ensuring a high program quality in line with international humanitarian standards and responsiveness to beneficiary needs in a rapidly changing context. The Senior M&E Officer will support development and maintenance of a robust monitoring system that facilitates both accountability and learning and includes but not limited to data collection, analysis, learning reflection and timely action-taking. Specifically, the Senior Protection M&E Officer will be responsible for:

1) **Monitoring, Data Collection and Analysis***:* Working with IP team to monitor programme activities in Poland, specifically:

- Support the implementation of activities according to the program’s M&E plan and adherence to IRC’s monitoring standards

- Support the program teams in designing/updating M&E tools, as well as in guiding data collection and analysis as required

- Plan, manage, and conduct periodic visits to data collection in program sites

- Lead the preparation of data for M&E reports

- Carry out regular data quality audits (DQAs)

- Ensure data received from the field teams is correctly entered into the program trackers on a regular basis - gather, consolidate, clarify errors and clean the program data

- Ensure accurate and regular data entry and review, including robust analysis and identification of trends, following the IP information management protocols and standards set out by IRC (full training will be given to the successful applicant)

- Maintain the IP information management system and ensure safe and accurate documentation, filing, storing and usage of information

- Work closely with IP Managers to develop electronic data collection for program tracker, rapid assessments, and protection monitoring

- Share weekly the updated Program Data and Indicator tracker with the Integrated Protection Coordinator and IP Managers, alongside a brief trends analysis report to guide IP activities and inform programming

- Ensure all hard copy of case management and activities files are securely stored (i.e. in strong lockable file cabinets where appropriate)

- Support with information management with regards to distributions and all other program activities, leading on ensuring that data is collected and used as appropriate

2) Assessments

- Coordinate with Integrated Protection Coordinator and Managers in consolidating of Terms of References for assessments, surveys, and evaluation by working together with sector TAs.

- Coordinate with Protection staff in developing and reviewing tools

3) Accountability: Working with MEAL Coordinator and Client Responsiveness and Accountability Officer, Senior M&E Officer will ensure a client responsiveness system is set up in Protection programs.

- Ensures that a proper complaints and feedback mechanism is in place and that all project stakeholders are sensitized on how to use the complaints mechanism

- Manage and follow up on project complaints from CRM database and work with Team to ensure all feedback are completed

- Ensure that participation and accountability activities are well documented, and learning is shared within IRC and implementing partners

4) Reporting: Based on emerging needs in Ukraine, work with potential partners/partners to design quality and responsive protection interventions, specifically:

- Submit monthly program data and indicator tracking reports and analysis to the IP Coordinator and Protection Managers, in-line with safety and ethical standards

- Compile, edit, and write monthly and quarterly IP quantitative program reports using assigned template, including collating reports from field staff and producing final information products

- Other duties as requested by the IP or MEAL Coordinator

5) Capacity strengthening and learning: Provide individual support to program staff in areas of data collection, specifically

- Orient and mentor partner M&E and program staff on protection M&E system as per MEAL Plan.

- Support/Deliver M&E/data base/ data collection trainings

- Design jointly with program staff beneficiary/client feedback on services to improve program quality, managing data collectors, and

- Conduct learning sessions with clients and staff, presenting to them the results of beneficiary feedback.

- Prepare, participate in, and support follow-up of data review meetings that serve to discuss program progress and use data to inform decision-making for program adaptation

- Ensure that IRC meets its internal and external accountability commitments through the development and implementation of accountability mechanisms appropriate for the rapidly evolving context and including a beneficiary feedback and response mechanism to be utilized by program teams.

- Promote a learning environment that include regular discussions on lessons learned, best practices, and knowledge sharing between programs and within programs between different offices.

Requirements:

- Language: English required; if possible, Ukrainian

- Bachelor’s degree in relevant field including data science, business, engineering, social sciences, economics, or related field)

- Minimum of 3 years’ experience in developing and implementing M&E plans data collection and analysis, and thorough knowledge of M&E and protection principles, methods and approaches

- Thorough understanding of project cycle management processes

- Knowledge of quantitative and qualitative data collection tools

- Demonstrated understanding of and ability to maintain confidentiality and respect for clients/beneficiaries

- Experience within international organizations a distinct advantage

- Positive and professional attitude, including ability to lead and work well in a team setting

- High degree of flexibility and strong ability to organize work, meet deadlines, maintain composure, prioritize work under pressure, coordinate multiple tasks and maintain attention to detail

- Experience in data/information management and quantitative analysis, statistical software such as SPSS, or Stata is preferred, but not required.

- Professional MS Office skills, especially Excel

Key working relationships:

- Position Reports to: Integrated Protection Coordinator and technical dotted line to MEAL Coordinator, Poland - Position directly supervises: NA

- Internal collaborations within IRC: Women’s Protection and Empowerment (WPE) Manager; Child Protection (CP) Manager; Protection Partnership Specialist, Economic Recovery and Development (ERD) Manager; Health Manager; Partnerships Coordinator - External collaborations to IRC: Protection and information services actors, organizations and agencies

Standards of Professional Conduct: The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in the IRC Way – Code of Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and makes sure policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Harassment-Free Workplace, Fiscal Integrity, Anti-Retaliation, Combating Trafficking in Persons, and several others.

Gender Equality: The IRC is committed to narrowing the gender gap in leadership positions. We offer benefits that provide an enabling environment for women to participate in our workforce including parental leave, gender-sensitive security protocols, and other supportive benefits and allowances.

Diversity and Inclusion: At the IRC, our diverse clients, partners, and staff have the power, voice, and agency to shape programs and operations. We actively work to end all forms of systemic discrimination and foster an inclusive working environment where everyone feels respected, heard, valued, and supported. The IRC is an Equal Opportunity Employer and considers all applicants based on merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status or disability. The IRC encourages women to apply and work with us to reach the people most in need of humanitarian assistance, such as women, widows, and children. The IRC is committed to providing a decent and safe work environment that considers needs of women in the workplace, including through maternity leave and safety protocols.

The IRC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The IRC considers all applicants on the basis of merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

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[1] UNHCR data accessed April 27, 2022: https://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/ukraine

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