Consortium MEAL and Knowledge Management Manager

30-August-2024

About Action Against Hunger 

Action Against Hunger is an international, non-governmental humanitarian organization that takes decisive action against the causes and effects of hunger through implementing relief and development programs in different countries of the world.

Action Against Hunger was established in 1979 and has led the global fight against hunger for more than 40 years in over 50 countries, saving the lives of children and working with communities before and after disasters to enable people provide for themselves, see their children grow up strong and build prosperous communities. Working with communities in such humanitarian context, we recognize that our programs and operations put out teams in contact with children and vulnerable adults who may be particularly at risk of harm and abuse.

About the Country Program in Ethiopia 

Action Against Hunger’s Ethiopia country office was established in 1985 in response to severe drought and subsequent famine, implementing relief and development projects in Tigray, Amhara and Oromia regions. Action against Hunger currently operates in six regions of Ethiopia (Amhara, Benishangul Gumuz, Gambella, Somali, Oromia and Tigray) and in Addis Ababa city administration responding to different crisis and building people’s resilience through a multi-sectoral strategy where nutrition, Food Security and Livelihoods, WASH, and Mental Health and Psychosocial Support activities are integrated to have a meaningful impact on people’s resilience.

With more than 8,900+staff in over 50 countries, last year, we helped 28 million children and their families across 55 countries. We have a country team of over 900 staff in 17 regional and satellite offices. Our main donors in Ethiopia in 2023/24 are BHA, ECHO, EU RESET, UNHCR, UNICEF, GAC, GFFO, BPRM, SIDA, EHF, FAO, WFP, CIAA, Dutch Government and others.

Summary of position   

We are seeking an experienced Consortium MEAL and Knowledge Management Manager to oversee and enhance the systems for gathering, organizing, and disseminating knowledge across the SIDA triple nexus project, ensuring alignment with the organization’s strategic goals and improving program effectiveness. Our ideal candidate is an expert at creating systems that enable the efficient use and exchange of both tacit and explicit knowledge. Ultimately, the role of the MEAL and Knowledge Manager is to ensure that the company’s knowledge base is effectively used to maximize operational efficiency and foster innovation.

The post holder will be responsible for leading the MEAL activities and Knowledge management component of the multi-donor funded and HDP nexus oriented multiyear project entitled ‘Improving Food and Nutrition Security and Climate resilience of disaster affected households and communities’ across the operational areas. He/She will coordinate with the MEAL focal across the consortium member organizations and support in planning, coordination, implementation, monitoring and reporting of the MEAL activities across the project.

Purpose 

To lead the development and implementation of an effective MEAL and knowledge management system across all consortium projects, ensuring that learning is integrated into program decision-making and shared effectively with both internal and external stakeholders, more over.

• He/She will serve as the main point of contact for MEAL and Knowledge Management related activities of the project and responsible to collect, compile and share the consolidated update/reports with the Consortium Lead and MEAL HoD as per the agreed reporting calendar, timeline and in quality.

• He/she will be responsible for establishing and coordinating the MEAL Working Group for the consortium, capturing and communicating key discussion points during the working group meeting. 

• In coordination with the MEAL HoD and ACF knowledge and learning manager contribute to the development of the country's learning and knowledge management system towards its strategic goals through developing and maintaining an effective MEAL learning and knowledge management system  all consortium projects 

• To provide support to consortium project implementation, planning and review in coordination with the consortium Lead and MEAL HoD as well as the rest of MEAL team to lead the development or adoption of tools for consortium projects, and create conditions so that learning is fed into decision-making to enable learning, teach back and adaptive management

• To contribute to the development of Action Against Hunger’s MEAL and mission strategy for learning.

• To develop systems of documentation of learnings and best practices, story banks, technics and methods of learning and knowledge management to organize internal and external learning events for the SIDA triple nexus project

• Timely identify, documents and share key learning from the SIDA project implementation to improve adaptive management and action in response to learning throughout the consortium and other projects

Engagement

• The post holder is expected to ensure the integration of MEAL related components of the HDP Nexus approaches reflected in the Nutrition Centric-Humanitarian, Development and Peace Triple Nexus (NC-HDPTN) Operational Guide (OG) and Implementation Roadmap (IR) with due emphasis on the establishment of the Nexus Governance and Coordination Structure at respective level, execution of the Periodic Situational Assessment and Need Analysis during the project period and setting of the collective outcome for the actors as appropriate.

• With the direct reporting line with Consortium Lead, and functional reporting line with the MEAL HoD the post holder will work in close coordination with other thematic working groups and technical leads; and support teams to ensure the MEAL and Knowledge management aspects of the project is well integrated at each thematic areas and implemented in the harmonized approach.

Internal

• ACF project Manager, thematic and support function heads: hierarchical relationship + exchange of information MEAL HoD: functional relationship + technical support and other MEAL team members- working relationship.

External

• Implementing partner, consortium member thematic leads and local governmental and non-governmental partners: exchange of information, coordination, training, supervision, influence on the choice of technical options Local authorities: exchange of information, participation in regular M&E activities Local representatives of international aid organizations: exchange of information

Delivery

The Post holder will be a technical lead in the development of MEAL Packages/tools, SoP and Knowledge Management platforms/systems for the project; and ensure that the content is consistent with best practices in the sector.

• He/she coordinate with the Consortium members MEAL focal, generate and compile substantial learnings from the project implementation and update the Consortium Led to support in ensuring that the evidence generated from implementation is used to improve work plan development for follow on years.

• He/She will be responsible for ensuring high quality reports and information exchange across the consortium members in close coordination with the Consortium members MEAL focal, 

• He/She is responsible for collecting, reviewing and consolidating the project’s progress update, reports, achievements, annual workplans and lessons learned across the consortium members and submit to the Consortium Lead per donor requirement, in quality and per the settled timeline, and conduct data quality audits as per the ACF DQA guideline adopted to the consortium

• In coordination with the ACF MEAL HoD and Consortium Lead, He/she will be responsible for developing the project performance trackers and ensuring its utilization across the consortium members in close coordination with the MEAL working Group.

• Convene and chair consortium MEAL Working Group meetings to share good practice and lessons learned.

• Lead and Coordinate with MEAL working Group, Consortium Lead and MEAL HoD for development of essential ToRs for project events, assessments/surveys including baseline, interim, endline and project endline evaluation.

• Ensure the project monitoring is done as per the agreed monitoring tools, and checklists and information or findings from this event and acted upon with the respective units, this include CFRM information.

• Coordinate with respective individuals and stakeholders to organize ‘learning dissemination events/workshop’ to be derived from the routine project monitoring visits, assessments/surveys, evaluation and etc. 

Key Objective: Learning and Knowledge Management

• Lead the development and implementation of a comprehensive knowledge management framework for consortium projects, ensuring effective systems for knowledge generation, storage, and sharing.
• Support programs in defining learning objectives and agendas, addressing evidence gaps, and facilitate the documentation and dissemination of lessons learned, best practices, and success stories.
• Oversee the application of learning from assessments, monitoring, data dive sessions to enhance program improvements and decision-making and manage systems for tracking and evaluating the effectiveness of knowledge management initiatives.
• In close collaboration with the program team facilitate in generating, storing and sharing knowledge (most significant change story, meta-analysis, research/evaluation summary reports, etc). 
• Ensure utilization of learning and knowledge generated in decision making and programme improvement (maintain up to date consortium action tracker and monitor the utilization and application)
• Facilitate experience shared and review meetings at the field level between ACF and partners
• Establish a system for gathering, organizing, documenting, and sharing of learnings and best practices.
• Producing success stories and share for learning and program implementation improvement.
• Document and share best practices and learnings through publications, web sharing, and other means within the mission.
• Together with partners facilitate annual data reviews and reflection sessions to track progress and agree on corrective action together with the program team
• Develop and implement strategies for effective data analysis and reporting, and ensure its functionality across the different bases and consortium projects
• Ensure knowledge management resources are timely, relevant, and accurate, and suggest areas of improvement
• Conduct training sessions to educate employees about the use of MEAL and knowledge management systems, tools and practices
• Support the ACF’s strategic goals by identifying and addressing knowledge gaps, in relation to the ISP3 midterm review findings and identify loopholes to address those issues in the country office
• Identify and map key areas of knowledge within the organization, including every base and support the base MEAL managers in activities related to learning and knowledge management
• Coordinate with the program and MEAL teams to identify key learning agendas for the consortium. Ensure the effective capture of data and evidence related to these agendas and oversee their dissemination. Facilitate learning and knowledge sharing within the project and organization based on the findings.
• Facilitate the creation of a knowledge sharing culture within the project and partner organizations, following the principles of CLA to ensure both tacit and implicit knowledge are well documents and acted on regular bases
• Coordinate with different departments to gather and disseminate knowledge.
• Track and report on the effectiveness of knowledge management initiatives of consortium projects, and follow for proper MEAL activities implementation for the consortia with strong collaboration with the consortia working groups and other relevant units 

Supervisory Responsibilities

• N/A

Gender Equality Commitments  

• Foster an environment that supports the values of women and men, and equal access to information.
• Provide a work environment where women and men must be evaluated and promoted based on their skills and performance.
• Respect beneficiaries’ women, men, children (boys and girls) regardless of gender, sexual orientation, disability, religion, race, color, ancestry, national origin, age, or marital status. 
• Value and respect all cultures. 

Fiscal Responsibility

• N/A

Physical Demands 

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to sit for long periods and to concentrate on work, including typing, and turn out heavy volumes of work accurately, within short time frames under stressful situations in the context of a moderately noisy office with many interruptions. Must be able to proofread own work accurately so that only minor corrections are needed on an infrequent basis.

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Working Conditions, Travel, and Environment

The duties of the job require regular job attendance at least five days per week. Must be available to work outside normal office hours or on the weekends as required and in line with Labor Law.

Must be able to travel as required for standard domestic and international business purposes. While performing this job in the field, the employee may be exposed to precarious settings under high-security risks and/or very basic living conditions and outside weather conditions, and infectious diseases. 

Required Qualifications and Professional Experience

• Master’s Degree in a relevant field such as International Development, Public Health, Social Sciences, Data Science, communication, or Knowledge Management. A bachelor’s degree with significant relevant experience may also be acceptable, in leu of the master's degree
• At least 5-7 years of experience in knowledge management, monitoring and evaluation (MEAL), or a similar role in a humanitarian or development setting for master's degree holders and 7-9 years of similar experience for BA holders
• Demonstrated experience working within consortia or multi-stakeholder projects, with a focus on knowledge management and learning.
• Experience in developing and implementing knowledge management frameworks and strategies, including systems for knowledge generation, storage, and sharing.
• Proven experience as a Knowledge Manager or similar role, having a track record working on CLA and adaptive management in multi donor funded projects
• Experience in developing and implementing knowledge management strategies and processes.
• Strong understanding of knowledge management principles.
• Excellent organizational, time management and leadership skills.

Required Skills & Competencies

Essential

• Professional, motivated, open, creative, mature, responsible, flexible, and culturally sensitive
• Experience with CLA (Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting): Understanding and application of CLA principles to enhance knowledge management practices.
• Excellent communication, writing, and analytical skills
• Proven ability to translate evaluated results into learning strategies
• Experience in monitoring and evaluating donor (i.e. ECHO, SIDA, PRM, EHF) funded activities
• Microsoft Office Skills (Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, Word)
• Experience in humanitarian M&E
• Experience in designing and leading internal and external evaluation
• Experience designing and leading capacity building and training for national teams
• Familiarity with Management Information Systems (Databases) and GIS
• Knowledge of project cycle management
• Commitment to ACF mission, values, and policy
• Outstanding communication and interpersonal abilities.
• Proficient in IT systems, and key software applications for communication and advocacy
• A critical thinker with problem-solving skills.
• Experienced in consortia MEAL and/or knowledge management 
• Fluency in English (both written and spoken skills)
• Knowledge of the local language is mandatory.

REFERRED

• Previous experience with nutrition, WASH, food security, and livelihoods programming.
• Previous experience with cash-based and resilience interventions (i.e. cash for work, cash transfers, or cash vouchers)
• Familiarity with Management Information Systems (Databases)
• English (fluent)
• Knowledge of local language (Desirable)

How To Apply

                                  APPLICATION PROCEDURE

If you are interested, please send your application composed of nonreturnable CV, a Covering Letter with “Consortium MEAL and Knowledge Management Manager-Addis Ababa to the following addresses:

Through www.ethiojobs.net 

Deadline: Sunday 08-September-2024

NB: Only shortlisted applicants will be communicated, and the selection process includes a 

technical test and an interview.

Action Against Hunger-USA provides all staff with an _attractive salary & benefits package. We provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees & qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, ancestry, national origin, age, handicap, disability, marital status, or status as a veteran. Action Against Hunger-USA complies with all applicable laws governing nondiscrimination in employment