Background:

Sahara Economic Development Organization (SEDO) is Iraqi National NGO, it's established in November 2007 as an independent NGO with its main office in Tikrit city. It focuses on developing the economic sector by providing business management training courses and counseling services to entrepreneurs and potential investors to enable them to efficiently contribute to the local economy. SEDO is considered among the most effective and qualified organizations in Iraq. It has conducted economic studies on the business environment in Iraq, identifying business opportunities and market niches for potential investors in Iraq. SEDO started humanitarian intervention in Iraq to respond to the urgent need for our beneficiaries, it's work in WASH, Livelihood, protection, Food security, and Education sectors.

The MEAL Assistant will be a part of the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) team, supporting implementation of the overall MEAL activities in the field. The MEAL Assistant will assist the MEAL Co/Officer with activities, such as; monitoring at field level, data collection and database management. The MEAL Assistant will support all efforts for promoting a high level of beneficiary accountability and will assist in managing the feedback mechanism. The MEAL Assistant will work closely with the MEAL Coordinator and Officer at the country office to support data entry and management as needed. The MEAL Assistant will help the MEAL Co/Officer to conduct field level MEAL activities. S/he will support in pretesting of data collection tools, data collection, data entry and editing. S/he will support field offices in implementation of MEAL activities as planned.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Objective 1. Setting up MEAL systems

    Provide feedback on  MEAL plan to the MEAL Co/ officer to support them in understanding field context while developing plans;
    Support field teams in developing and monitoring of project implementation plans and report regular progress to the MEAL Officer;
    Support the MEAL Co/ Officer in developing and pre-testing MEAL tools;
    Contribute to timely and quality reporting on all the projects;
    Support project field staff to ensure that projects are carried out with participation from all affected communities and that information is shared with affected communities;

Objective 2. Monitoring

    Collect data from the field as per the MEAL plan under guidance of the MEAL Officer;
    Follow up proactively with the Programme team and management to ensure MEAL data is collected;
    Develop and submit weekly and/or monthly field monitoring plans in consultation with the MEAL Officer;
    Prepare regular monitoring reports against the monitoring plan as per standard monitoring checklists developed by the MEAL Co/Officer;
    Support the MEAL Co/ Officer in providing field level feedback on monitoring checklists or tools;
    Identify strengths and weaknesses in existing data collection and management systems and propose field level solutions to support the MEAL Co/Officer;

Objective 3. Evaluation

    Assist in conducting surveys, observational monitoring, focus group discussions and key informant interviews;
    Supervise data collection process at field level and conduct data cleaning, editing and verification activities.
    Enter gathered data in a prescribed format, provided by the MEAL Coordinator/ Officer;
    Support the MEAL Officer in the analyses of quantitative and qualitative data, producing graphs, summaries, draft reports;
    Support the MEAL Officer in preparing Project MEAL reports by providing field level impression;
    Supervise project baselines, surveys and evaluations at field level under the supervision of the MEAL Officer.

Objective 4. Communication

    Support the MEAL Co/Officer in preparing country level presentations by providing field level data and inputs;
    Provide field level MEAL data to the MEAL Co/Officer required in preparing MEAL reports of projects;
    Any other communication or reporting task assigned by the MEAL Co/Officer.

Objective 5. Learning

    Help the MEAL Officer in assisting the field level Programme team in documenting lessons learnt;
    Help the MEAL Officer in establishing field level learning and incorporating systems/ mechanisms considering Programme needs;
    Support the implementation of reviews and learning events at project locations as guided by the MEAL Co/ Officer.

Objective 6. Accountability

    Manage the feedback systems and ensure a timely and appropriate follow-up if needed;
    Work closely with the field staff to collect data and implement activities to support beneficiaries’ accountability;
    Manage and report community complaints and feedback under the supervision of the MEAL Co/Officer;
    Help the MEAL Co/Officer in establishing and managing the Complaint and Feedback Mechanism at field level with beneficiaries and stakeholders.

 1-2 years’ work experience in data collection, conducting surveys and data analysis

    Experience in social and community engagement activities

    Experience in WASH and livelihood sector preferred

    University degree, or equivalent, in monitoring and evaluation/social sciences/systems science, and/or other relevant fields

    Excellent understanding and practical experience with MS Office application, especially MS Word and Excel

    Understanding of Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning

    Skills on collecting secondary and primary data using online and offline tools

    Skills of conducting qualitative and quantitative data collection and editing, for example  household interviews etc

    Skills on database management and data analysis

    Planning, communication and organizational skills

    Conflict resolution and negotiations skills

    Interpersonal and cross-cultural sensitivity and experience

    Ability to treat individuals with fairness and respect, demonstrating sensitivity for ethnic, cultural and gender differences

    Ability to support team work and team mobilization on MEAL findings and actions;
    Demonstrate, honesty, transparency, professionalism and strong communication with programme team

    Ability to understand the importance of data produced in field and consecutive reporting to MEAL Co/Officer

    Strong sense to conduct de-brief sessions and follow chain of command while reporting findings

    Fluency in Arabic, English is required

The application period closes on (02/ِApril/2022) Applicants may submit their cover letter and Curriculum Vitae with their Address, Telephone number and contact information) to: hr@sedoiraq.org 

Please mention the position title (MEAL Assistant- Diyala) in subject of the email.