IRC is seeking a MEAL Assistant for the Resilience Expansion and Active Learning in Crisis (REAL) project - Lego Foundation-funded 18-months project in Ethiopia. The MEAL Assistant will work directly for the REAL Project under the day-to-day supervision of and report to the field-based M&E Officer, Education Manage (LF) based in Hawassa, and technical reporting to CPE MEAL Manager, MEAL Unite, Education Manager based in Addis. The MEAL Assistant will be responsible for routine monitoring of the project, digital data collection, quality assurance, design and implementation of key M&E tools, and establishment of client feedback channels. The MEAL Assistant will also be responsible for recording and monitoring feedback, and for ensuring that the loop is closed, and clients are informed of decisions taken.

In partnership with the LEGO Foundation, the IRC is implementing an 18-month project (beginning in October 2021) aimed at bringing play-based learning activities to children whose education and wellbeing have been disrupted and damaged by the COVID-19 pandemic. The project will target marginalized communities in the DRC, Ethiopia, and South Sudan. It will build on play-based social-emotional learning materials and approaches already developed in the region through the LEGO Foundation-supported Play Well and PlayMatters projects, led by the IRC in Ethiopia, Uganda, and Tanzania. The project aims to work closely with the full range of education stakeholders, including government ministries and education offices.

 Duties and Responsibilities

• Assist with the development, implementation, and assessment of monitoring framework for the project. 

• Collect data and routinely monitor project implementation

• Work closely with Education Managers, Officers, and Coordinators to regularly 

• Pilot and support in the contextualization of data collection tools 

• Train staff and local officials in the correct use of digital data collection tools.

• Ensure data quality of routine monitoring and evaluation data. 

• Support local management teams with ad-hoc data requests and analysis  

• Present statistics on monitoring data in clear formats to highlight feedback trends to the program team, as well as synthesize qualitative feedback in ways which provide the detail that the program team will need to design an appropriate response.

• Analyze key themes, challenges, and opportunities for program improvement.

• Support and train enumerators or data collectors as needed. 

• Provide support to the M&E Officer to conduct ongoing monitoring and evaluation activities. 

• Other duties as assigned by the supervisor to enable and develop IRC programs

Feedback Planning and Implementation

• Work with the MEAL Officer and other MEAL Assistants to collect client feedback through various channels that IRC installs including community meetings, surveys, discussions, phone lines, suggestion boxes, SMS among others

• Support MEAL officer in updating the Feedback Registry and raise cases including breach of IRC code of conduct, allegations of child abuse or sexual exploitation and other major programmatic complaints

• Collect response from the program staff on the feedback and communicate back to client

• Work with other MEAL Assistant and the MEAL officer in the field office to analyze and compile feedback and complaints 

• Collect feedbacks on use of developed contents to adopt learn through Play.  

Job Requirements

• 2 years of experience for diploma holder and zero years of working experience for first degree holders in social science and other relevant field of studies.

• Analyze and communicate data in a way that facilitates effective decision making

• Experience with digital data collection tools and the use of smart devices for data collection

• Proactively engage with clients, local officials, and community members, acting as a community liaison focal point

• Driven and able to balance multiple tasks, commitments, and to work flexibly in a team

• Creativity, curiosity and enthusiasm, and the ability to develop and test new ways of working and solutions to problems

• Strong oral and written communications in English, Amharic and local language is required.

• Resourcefulness: working in a multi-cultural environment.

How to Apply

Register using the following LINK

Note: Female candidates are highly encouraged to apply!