Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Officer - Nigeria

The key roles and responsibilities for this position include the following.

MEAL Planning and Strategy: Support the development of Coalition MEAL plans and strategies in alignment with the objectives of the donors and the Coalition's own goals. This includes defining key performance indicators (KPIs) related to: i) the grant objectives; ii) broader Coalition health, governance and power dynamics, and effectiveness, and impact; and iii) WAC/Share Trust pillars of action (Coalitions, Self Help Groups, and support to the enabling environment). This will involve providing technical support to Coalition members (including the Coalition’s M&E technical working group) on implementation of the MEAL plans linked to the Joint Action Plan (JAP) and the Joint Crisis Strategy (JCS), and liaising with the LCA Steering Committee to review progress achieved.

Data Collection and Analysis: Design and implement data collection methods and tools to gather information on the KPIs and other relevant JAP/JCS indicators. This may involve surveys, interviews, focus groups, and other data collection tools. The post will also support centralisation of data (data management) and analysis of collected data to assess progress and inform decision-making.

Quality Assurance: Ensure the quality and integrity of data collected by implementing rigorous quality assurance measures including data verification, validation, and regular checks to maintain data accuracy and reliability. Specifically:

• Review community level assessment reports, baseline studies and evaluation reports.

• Ensure that reports from partners/consultants are complete and meet the quality requirements.

• Undertake the quality control of the JAP implementing strategies and approaches.

Evidence Gathering and Reporting: Compile evidence and findings from MEAL activities into comprehensive reports and knowledge products. Communicate results to internal stakeholders, donors, and coalition members, highlighting achievements, lessons learned, and areas for improvement. Specifically:

• Support the Coalition with their preparation of the M&E unit's periodic progress report and submit this to the LCA Coordinating office.

• Assist teams to prepare periodic JAP/JCS reports by providing M&E related information.

• Collect and/or assist the collection of qualitative evidence including progress stories, most significant changes, case studies, good practices, lessons, and updates.

• Work closely with the LCA structures to ensure that lessons learned from JAP evaluations are documented properly and disseminated.

• Contribute to developing and managing knowledge products (knowledge management) of the JAP to inform advocacy and communications working closely with the WAC Communications Officer.

Capacity Sharing: Conduct capacity-strengthening activities within the Coalition to strengthen MEAL-related skills and knowledge among members. Provide training, workshops, and mentorship to strengthen capacities on data collection, analysis, dissemination, and utilisation drawing upon the learning tools.

Adaptive Management: Promote a culture of adaptive management within the Coalition by using MEAL findings to inform iterative adjustments to strategies, interventions, and activities. Encourage learning from both successes and challenges to improve overall effectiveness.

Review MEAL processes: Oversee the monitoring and evaluation activities related to donor, Coalition, and WAC/Share Trust initiatives. This includes tracking progress, identifying challenges and successes, and making recommendations for improvements based on evaluation findings.

Research Support: Provide support for data primary and secondary research (data collection, analysis and reporting), and collaborate with researchers or external partners to deliver on impact evaluation work.

Learning Tools Development: Collaborate with Coalition members to develop tailored MEAL learning tools and resources that facilitate knowledge sharing, capacity strengthening, and learning within the Coalition. These could include training materials, workshops, knowledge-sharing platforms, etc.

General LCA responsibilities:

Work closely with the LCA/M&E TWG to:

• prepare monitoring field visit plans and conduct monitoring visits as and when required;

• conduct regular monitoring at intervention sites to ensure the quality delivery of inputs and contribute to generating expected results; and

• participate in internal and external monitoring missions.

Work closely with the implementing team of each Coalition member and relevant stakeholders for monitoring and evaluation of interventions.