Iraq is emerging from over three years of civil war against the Islamic State and remains one of the most complex operating environments in the world. The devastating human consequences to huge numbers of people will endure for decades and the destruction of communities, livelihoods, homes and infrastructure will take years to repair. Over 4 million Iraqis have returned in the past year, but 1.9 million remain displaced. 230,000 Syrians continue to seek refuge in the Kurdish region. The new government will struggle to rebuild trust and restore basic services.
A lead responder in Iraq since 2003, the IRC delivers aid and services that help communities survive, recover, and gain control of their future. The IRC is providing robust programming across five governorates through women’s protection and empowerment, child protection and protection and rule of law programming; cash distributions and livelihoods programming in support of economic recovery and development; education programming; and integrated early childhood development programming. Our work spans emergency response to long-term programming supporting our clients to rebuild their lives.
The Cash Consortium for Iraq (CCI) was established in 2015 to better meet the needs of conflict-affected households by harmonizing approaches to multi-purpose cash assistance (MPCA) and improving data collection and analysis. Using the power of its unique structure the CCI has created new modalities for cash leadership and NGO-UN coordination. More recently, the CCI has added work with the World Bank and the Government of Iraq to link humanitarian cash transfers to the government social payments system and in 2019 broadened its scope to better support a comprehensive and integrated response to the variety of needs faced by the Iraqi population, including addressing livelihoods, employment, and ongoing social support needs. CCI maintains a Relief portfolio, focused on humanitarian MPCA, and a Recovery portfolio, focused on integrated livelihoods and resilience. With a cumulative budget estimated at 140M$ and a reach of 400,000 people, the CCI is led by Mercy Corps in partnership with 4 international organizations: Danish Refugee Council (DRC); International Rescue Committee (IRC), Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC); and Oxfam.
In early 2017, the CCI expand the scope of its activities beyond MPCA to include early recovery (ER) programming in accordance with the evolving context and needs. This will entail community-oriented programming with integrated activities focusing on livelihoods, rehabilitation of shelter and public infrastructure, local governance, social cohesion and protection.
Since its establishment, the CCI has worked to harmonize program design for MPCA and livelihoods programming including targeting, monitoring and evaluation, accountability and delivery mechanisms. With that, the MEAL Manager – in collaboration with the CCI Director and relevant CCI focal points – will coordinate CCI efforts on harmonization and implementation of M&E tools, methodologies and approaches, in line with reporting requirements. S/he will work in partnership with CCI member organizations to ensure technical input is provided into tool development and coordination efforts. The main objective of this position is to ensure that data on program beneficiaries, processes, progress and performance are effectively collected, entered, analyzed and documented, in a way to inform timely decision making and the adoption of sound corrective measures, and to ensure coordination of all processes across CCI and interagency processes. A broader objective is to lead on the design and production of information management tools and products to support evidence-based programming across all CCI partners, ranging from household vulnerability assessments to market and price monitoring.
The ideal candidate will have demonstrated experience in monitoring and evaluation, information management and research, preferably with experience in cash and livelihoods programming, and experience with multi-stakeholder arrangements. The MEAL Manager will be recruited and hosted by the IRC Iraq, but will be seconded, full-time, to the CCI, reporting to the CCI Director.
MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES
Technical Leadership
•Contribute to proposal development processes with design of logical frameworks and MEAL inputs as needed.
•Ensure timely development, refinement and effective implementation of MEAL frameworks for CCI programs.
•Support the development and implementation of CCI performance monitoring plans (PMPs) for each program in partnership with CCI program and M&E focal points; ensure regular tracking of progress on all targets and indicators, communicating progress and flagging concerns to the CCI Management Unit where necessary.
•In consultation with CCI Technical Working Group (TWG) and Management Unit colleagues, develop data collection tools and methodologies for each CCI program as needed, including data collection instruments and analysis plans.
•Follow-up with CCI partners to provide support and ensure adherence to CCI’s MEAL frameworks, including the MEAL Guidelines and Accountability Guidelines, implementation of PMPs and data collection tools and methodologies; conduct regular reviews, provide structured training and feedback sessions as needed.
•Conduct trainings for enumerators, M&E and program staff at partner agencies on M&E tools and methodologies, mobile data collection, database management, accountability mechanisms, and related topics.
•Participate in CCI TWG meetings and other interagency meetings as needed, ensuring coordination and communication on tools, processes and troubleshooting. Engage with the Cash Working Group and Emergency Livelihoods Cluster as opportunities arise for strategic harmonization of tools or sharing of lessons learned.
•Lead quarterly CCI MEAL coordination meetings with focal points from each partner organization.
•Coordinate with relevant focal points across CCI partners to ensure robust channels for feedback are in place, and that feedback or complaints related to CCI programming is properly reported to the CCI Management Unit.
•Develop and maintain schedule for Peer to Peer monitoring visits across partner organizations.
•Perform regular field monitoring visits.
•Support development of culture of learning with establishment of learning agendas, facilitating lessons learned reviews, documenting and sharing key learnings.
•Any other MEAL related task as required by supervisor.
Analysis and Reporting
•Lead CCI analytical processes and timely product development to inform CCI program implementation and the broader community of humanitarian and development actors, such as vulnerability analyses, post-distribution monitoring reports, and all M&E reporting.
•Support culture of evidence-based programming and access to data across CCI team in contributing to development of and encouraging use of interactive data visualization dashboards.
•Coordinate with Data team to provide necessary figures for donor reporting.
•Contribute to and review reports.
•Liaise with Third Party Monitors and lead review of Third Party Monitoring reports with CCI partners.
Evaluations and Research
•As and when necessary, lead on and/or support the development of evaluations of the CCI’s work, including drafting TORs and managing consultants as needed.
•Lead and/or support CCI research exercises in partnership with CCI Research & Advocacy Coordinator to inform CCI programming and contribute to cash and livelihoods programming evidence-base in Iraq, the region and globally.
Team Management
•Oversee CCI’s MEAL Unit (inclusive of Information Management and Data team members)
•Assist team members with information, tools and resources to improve performance & reach objectives.
•Promote accountability, communicate expectations and provide constructive feedback informally and formally via regular one on ones and performance reviews.
•Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.
KEY WORKING RELATIONSHIPS
Position Reports to: CCI Director
Indirect Reporting: IRC ERD Coordinator
Management of: CCI Senior Database Officer; CCI MEAL Specialist; CCI Information Management Systems Officer
Other Internal and/or external contacts:
Internal (IRC): IRC Database Officer, MEAL Manager, M&E Coordinator
External (CCI): CCI technical leads, CCI Recovery Coordinator, CCI Grants, CCI Research and Advocacy Coordinator, CCI Subgrants and Compliance, CCI Finance and other CCI M&E technical staff.
