Senior Director, Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL)

Job Description

Devex Talent Solutions (DTS) is exclusively retained by Feed the Children to search for the Senior Director, Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) role.

Location

This is a full-time remote role, with the Senior Director based in Washington, DC or anywhere in Africa, preferably in a country where Feed the Children operates, such as Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, or Uganda.

Description

At Feed the Children, we recognize the value of outstanding people, and we are looking for compassionate changemakers to join our team. We pride ourselves on cultivating a collaborative workplace where employees experience productive and rewarding employment and feel engaged in our mission to end childhood hunger. Our passionate team shares a deep sense of purpose, and we dream big to solve complex problems and create positive impact in communities around the world.

Feed the Children is recognized by Candid with its Platinum Seal of Transparency and is accredited by the BBB Wise Giving Alliance. The organization has received a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator and is consistently recognized on the Forbes Top 100 Charities list.

Feed the Children is currently searching for a Senior Director, Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (Senior Director, MEAL) who will provide technical leadership to develop the programme framework, plans and indicators to capture project performance results and provide effective, accurate and timely monitoring, evaluation, and reporting of all project activities.

This role will report into the President of FEED International.

Essential Functions

• Works closely with the MEAL Officers to design, implement and supervise the program’s MEAL activities, ensuring that lessons learned are integrated into program implementation to continuously improve quality of interventions and outcomes.
• Responsible for strengthening information management and data quality and improving knowledge sharing and learning across the organisation.
• Responsible for documenting and disseminating program successes and challenges to FEED, Fund Managers, and the Donor.
• Oversee the designing and conducting of operations research. The Senior Director will lead the development and implementation of the DHIS2 system in the organization.

Key Performance Areas

• Technical Leader: Lead the development, deployment, and ongoing ownership of all MEAL technical standards and tools, for use by program and MEAL staff across country programs and the regional office. Ensure high-quality technical support is provided to regional and country leaders as well as the International Leadership Team. Write and present technical MEAL information at an international level.
• Organizational Leader: Own and implement FEED’s MEAL Strategy. Ensure that the organization and its partners in other technical, regional, and country teams have a clear vision for how data about our clients, programs, and outcomes can be defined, collected, shared, and leveraged to improve planning, implementation, adaptation, and learning. Generate buy-in and commitment to the strategy from inside and outside the organization.
• Collaboration: Promote purposeful intra and inter-departmental collaborations with colleagues as a key member of the cross departmental Senior Leadership Team.
• Technology Leader: Own and deliver the MEAL technology strategy to develop and deploy electronic data collection, harmonized database systems, and interactive data visualization across all FEEDS country programs.
• Manager: As the leader of a large, dedicated group of technical and program quality specialists you will bring vision, cohesion, experience, and knowledge to cultivate a strong and inclusive culture of performance and collaboration. You will proactively invest time and care in the support and development of FEED staff within the MEAL Department. You will be responsible for the recruitment, engagement, and retention of a diverse team of individuals and help them to deliver in their various functions. You will also be responsible for the mentoring, training and upliftment of the skills of the team to utilise data for impact.

Key Working Relationships

• Reports to the President of FEED International.
• Lead the teams across data, monitoring and systems, client responsiveness, country support, and departmental operations functions.
• Oversee the performance of the wider team.
• Collaborate with other Senior Directors, Regional Directors, IT leadership, Country Program leaders, and other leaders from other departments.

Job Requirements

Education:

• Master’s in a relevant field required.

Experience

• A minimum of 15 years of relevant experience, with on-the-ground MEAL experience in a service delivery organization, International NGO, or comparable international agency required
• Experience with significant data and technology accountability.
• Experience in building and leading teams, collaborations, and strategic partnerships.
• Experience in leading and managing within a complex global organization.
• Experience in leading innovation and/or change management processes for program quality improvements.
• Experience in managing budgets over $2m
• Experience with adaptive management and real-time monitoring of systems
• Ability to work with projects over multiple countries and teams
• Proficiency in MEAL software and data analytical tools (e.g. PowerBI)

Demonstrated Skills and Competencies:

• Very strong leadership and management proficiencies including the ability to build a diverse team, foster an inclusive team culture, encourage confidence and trust, and lead a team in a unified vision and strategy.
• Capacity to communicate effectively with FEED program leadership and to lead cross-departmental collaborations for strategic initiatives.
• Highly effective strategic planning and execution and decision-making ability
• Understanding of the program life cycle and effective practices used by aid organizations to design, implement, and measure the progress of interventions.
• Expertise in a range of cross-cutting program quality approaches
• Excellent public speaking and writing skills are essential
• Committed to achieving the best possible outcomes for clients, being courageously collaborative with colleagues, and continually adapting to a dynamic working environment.
• Demonstrated flexibility, creativity, and enthusiasm, as well as a willingness to learn and to be continually adaptive within a dynamic and often self-directed working environment.
• Ability to communicate in Spanish will be an added advantage

About Feed the Children

As a leading anti-hunger organization, Feed the Children is committed to ending childhood hunger. We provide children and families in the U.S. and around the world with the food and essentials kids need to grow and thrive.

Through our programs and partnerships, we feed children today while helping their families and communities build resilient futures. In addition to food, we distribute household and personal care items across the United States to help parents and caregivers maintain stable, food-secure households. Internationally, we expand access to nutritious meals, safe water, improved hygiene, and training in sustainable living. Responsible stewards of our resources, we are driven to pursue innovative, holistic, and child-focused solutions to the complex challenges of hunger, food insecurity, and poverty.

For children everywhere, we believe that having enough to eat is a fundamental right.

Our Values:

We are driven by a shared sense of PURPOSE. At Feed the Children, our commitment to the mission is at the heart of what we do and fuels our collective impact in the communities where we serve.

We cannot achieve our bold vision without our talented PEOPLE. We are passionate about fostering a best-in-class workforce that is engaged, respected, and empowered to deliver results.

We believe in CURIOSITY and continued learning. Success requires a culture of discovery, curiosity and continued learning to expand our knowledge, seek new perspectives and challenge the status quo.

We know COLLABORATION is the only way to end childhood hunger. We cannot succeed alone. It will take all of us – our employees, donors, partners, volunteers – working together to accomplish our ambitious goals.

We DREAM big. When we work together, we collectively reimagine what is possible. We dream big to solve complex problems and create deep impact in communities around the world.

We VALUE every donor. We respect our donors’ intentions and promote responsible stewardship of the resources they entrust to us.

Join Feed the Children and help create a world where no child goes to bed hungry.

Feed the Children is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified candidates will receive consideration for positions without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin, disability, political affiliation, pregnancy, military and/or veterans’ status, genetic characteristics, marital status or any other considerations made unlawful by applicable state, federal, or local law. Feed the Children welcomes and encourages applications from persons with physical and mental disabilities and will make every effort to reasonably accommodate the needs of those persons. Additionally, Feed the Children strives to provide an environment free from sexual exploitation and abuse and harassment in all places where relief and development programs are implemented. Feed the Children expects its employees to maintain high ethical standards, protect organizational integrity and reputation, and ensure that Feed the Children work is carried out in honest and fair methods, in alignment with the Feed the Children safeguarding and associated policies.