Requisition ID: req59297

Job Title: MEAL Manager

Sector: Monitoring & Evaluation

Employment Category: Fixed Term

Employment Type: Full-Time

Open to Expatriates: No

Location: Ukraine

Job Description

JOB OVERVIEW

Reporting directly to the Senior MEAL Coordinator, the MEAL Manager will play a critical role in strengthening Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) systems, approaches, and practices to drive program quality, learning, and accountability to clients. This position will lead MEAL efforts for IRC’s direct and (sub-awarded) Partner lead Health, Women Protection and Empowerment (WPE), Child Protection (CP), Protection and Rule of Law (PRoL)facilitating learning across teams; and enabling accountability to clients, partners, and donors. In addition, the MEAL manager will be responsible for leading capacity building activities for the IRC and partners MEAL staff participate in Data Quality Audits, and ensure that IRC and partners’ MEAL activities and data collection tools are align with IRC standards and best practices. 

The role requires both strategic leadership and hands-on technical expertise to ensure programs are responsive, adaptive, and results-driven.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Monitoring, Reporting, and Data Management

•Lead and oversee the timely and accurate input of monitoring data into coordination and reporting tools such as IPTTs, 5W, ActivityInfo, and other sector- or donor-specific templates, ensuring compliance with external reporting requirements and coordination standards.
•Contribute to the development and consolidation of MEAL narrative and quantitative inputs for monthly, interim, and final donor reports. 
•Review and provide detailed feedback on monitoring visit reports. 
•Keep track of client counting/ reach across IRC and partner intervention with all relevant disaggregation by all relevant categories (age, gender, sector, implementor etc.)
•Ensure the Program Indicator Dashboard (PID) is updated on a monthly basis and support its utilization by the program team. 
•Participate in PIM and BVA meetings, as required, to provide MEAL updates.
•Provide technical MEAL inputs during project design and proposal development phases, including:
•Selecting appropriate output and outcome indicators aligned with IRC standard/core indicators, sector standards and donor expectations.
•Establishing indicator baselines and targets. 
•Calculating beneficiary reach across all relevant sectors disaggregation categories (age, gender, location, vulnerability, etc.).
•Completing logical frameworks, performance monitoring plans, and other MEAL-related sections of donor proposals.

Evaluations and Assessments

• Provide strategic oversight of all evaluation and assessment activities, ensuring alignment with project objectives, donor requirements, and organizational learning priorities.
• Review, proofread, and finalize all PDM and Client Satisfaction Survey (CSS) reports, ensuring data quality, analytical rigor, and practical recommendations.
• Review and provide quality assurance for baseline, midline, and endline evaluations, as well as intersectoral needs assessments and other operational research initiatives.
• Lead or support the design of evaluation terms of reference (ToR), sampling strategies, and data collection plans, whether evaluations are conducted internally or by third-party evaluators.

Leadership

• Provide technical guidance to sector leads and program managers to ensure MEAL systems are embedded in project design, implementation, and evaluation, and that evidence generated is used to inform adaptive programming and improve accountability to affected populations
• Represent IRC in technical meetings, coordination forums, and external engagements relevant to MEAL.
• Collaborate with MEAL colleagues across MENAU country programs and the global network to harmonize tools, share best practices, and enhance collective capacity to ensure effective implementation and alignment with global standards.

Technical Oversight

• Provide strategic leadership and technical oversight of all MEAL functions throughout the project lifecycle, ensuring alignment with IRC’s global MEAL standards, country strategy action plans, donor requirements, and sector-specific frameworks.
• Lead the design, development, and institutionalization of robust MEAL systems that are responsive to program needs and scalable across multiple sectors and partners.
• Ensure the effective use of data visualization and dashboarding tools (, Power BI, ) to provide real-time insights for program management, course correction, and strategic decision-making.
• Establish and enforce data quality assurance protocols, including routine Data Quality Audits (DQAs), spot checks, and verification processes.

Partner MEAL Support and Oversight

• Provide high-level technical oversight and strategic guidance to the Senior MEAL Officers, supporting their engagement with implementing partners on all MEAL-related aspects, ensuring robust data quality assurance, compliance with donor and organizational standards, and integration of MEAL best practices across the project cycle.
• When needed, contribute to Partnership Capacity Assessments (PCAs), with a specific focus on evaluating partners’ MEAL systems, tools, staffing, data management practices, and their ability to meet reporting and accountability standards. Identify critical MEAL-related risks and mitigation strategies to ensure quality program delivery.
• Support the Senior MEAL Officer in designing and implementing tailored MEAL capacity-strengthening plans for each partner.
• Conduct and/or supervise periodic joint field monitoring visits with the Senior MEAL Officer to partner-implemented activities to verify performance data, assess the effectiveness of MEAL systems, and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Lead the planning and execution of quarterly Data Quality Audits (DQAs) in close collaboration with the Senior MEAL Officer and partner MEAL focal points. Ensure timely follow-up on identified data quality issues and corrective action plans.
• Review, proofread, and finalize all PDM and other monitoring reports submitted by partners prior to external circulation. 

Human Resource Management

•Provide strategic leadership and day-to-day management of the MEAL team, fostering a high-performance, inclusive, and accountable team culture aligned with IRC’s values and leadership principles.
• Mentor and coach MEAL staff to enhance their technical skills, analytical capacity, and professional growth, promoting a learning environment that encourages innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Design and deliver targeted capacity-strengthening initiatives (including formal training sessions) to build technical expertise in monitoring, evaluation, accountability, data management, and learning.
• Foster strong collaboration with program, grants, and technical teams to ensure MEAL staff are effectively embedded in project delivery and contributing to strategic priorities.
• Foster ongoing learning, honest dialogue, and reflection at team level to strengthen safeguarding, wellbeing and duty of care, and to promote IRC values and adherence to IRC policies.
• Lead by example and support IRC’s commitment to taking all necessary preventive measures and creating an environment where people feel safe and can report misconduct.

JOB REQUIREMENTS 

Education & Experience
•Master’s degree is preferred with relevant specialization in a quantitative field (, Economics, Sociology, Statistics, or other social science groups)
•Minimum of 4-5 years of progressive experience in Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL), preferably within humanitarian or development contexts, including sectors such as Health, Protection, and Livelihoods.
•Demonstrated experience in designing and implementing MEAL systems, including logical frameworks, indicator tracking plans, data collection tools, and evaluation frameworks.

Technical Skills

•Strong applied knowledge of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, data analysis, and evidence-based decision-making.
•Proficiency in digital data collection and management platforms such as KoboToolbox, CommCare, or ODK. Advanced skills in data analysis and visualization tools such as Excel, SPSS, STATA, Power BI, or Tableau; knowledge of GIS tools is an asset.
•Proven ability to lead or contribute to assessments, surveys, and evaluations, including baseline and endline studies, post-distribution monitoring (PDM), and client satisfaction surveys.
•Experience building and maintaining Client Feedback and Accountability systems in line with international standards.

Leadership & Communication
•Demonstrated ability to lead, mentor, and manage MEAL teams, including coaching staff and promoting professional development.
•Strong facilitation, presentation, and knowledge transfer skills with the ability to engage diverse audiences through formal and informal capacity-building approaches.
•Excellent analytical thinking, problem-solving, and organizational skills, including the ability to manage multiple priorities under tight deadlines.
•Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English (C1) and Ukrainian.

REPORTING STRUCTURE AND TEAM COLLABORATION

Reports to: Senior MEAL Coordinator with technical supervision from Senior Partnership Coordinator. 

Internal collaboration: CRA team, MEAL team, Partnership team, program teams 
External collaboration: MEAL staff from partner organizations and other external stakeholders. 

WORK ENVIRONMENT AND OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION

•Travel to other locations is needed up to 30% of the time 
•The organization cares about staff and provides flexible working options (start early-finish early, start later-finish later, remote work)
•Staff can ask for accommodation in the workplace. Specific requests can be discussed with HR. 

IRC employees are eligible for the following benefits:

•Competitive salary
•Purposeful job and development opportunities
•English classes and unlimited online training courses
•Life Insurance
•Medical insurance for staff and family members
•Free psychological support to employees and their family members 
•30 calendar days of annual vacation with flexibility beyond the legally set minimum requirements
•Up to 10 days of paid medical leave