Background of IRC:
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of 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 that support them, as well as with 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. IRC reaches over a million children annually with education and child protection programs in 25 countries around the world.
Position Summary:
IRC is seeking to hire a MEAL Manager on a short-term arrangement of 6 months for its five-year project, “PlayMatters”, that is funded by the LEGO Foundation. This position will be a part of the larger PlayMatters initiative to increase play-based learning opportunities for nearly 1 million pre-primary and primary school aged refugee and host community children impacted by the humanitarian crises in East Africa and living in Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda. This project aims to build children’s social, emotional, cognitive, physical and creative skills through play in their homes, schools, and communities and is implemented in partnership with War Child, Plan International, Ubongo, Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) and Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA).
The MEAL Manager will be responsible for ensuring that PlayMatters Ethiopia consortium and IRC staff work in line with the MEAL Plan of PlayMatters, which is part of a wider Research and Learning agenda. This includes provision of MEAL technical support and supervision of the three MEAL officers in the different field locations and ensuring that our robust monitoring will provide evidence on the cost-effectiveness of the interventions on the academic, holistic, learning and wellbeing outcomes of children ages 3-12+ in Ethiopia. Furthermore, s/he will evaluate which program components yield the greatest benefit for children, and how benefits can be optimized – for whom, under what circumstances and at what level of investment and scale.
The MEAL Manager will report to the country level Project Coordinator and work closely with the Regional Senior M&E Manager to align all MEAL activities with the other countries as may be required.
Job Responsibilities:
Monitoring and Accountability Systems
Assessment, Learning, and Documentation
Capacity Building
Essential Functions and Physical Demands: