MEAL Senior Manager

BACKGROUNDThe IRC was present in Sudan from 1981 to 2009. In November 2019, the IRC re-registered in Sudan and opened a main office in Khartoum, with programming beginning in 2020. The IRC expanded into non-SAF-controlled regions of Darfur and South Kordofan in 2024. It is currently operational in Al Jazeera, White Nile, Gedaref, River Nile, Blue Nile, South Kordofan, West Darfur, Central Darfur, and North Darfur states, including a satellite office in Tunaydbah (Gedaref). The IRC’s impact groups are vulnerable individuals impacted by conflict and crisis, including women, children, the elderly, persons with disabilities, refugees, mixed populations, and host communities.Since the outbreak of war in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the country has spiraled into relentless violence, institutional collapse, and mass displacement. Despite multiple ceasefire announcements, violence has continued for nearly two and a half years, displacing over 12 million people across all 18 states. Sudan is facing one of the most complex and devastating humanitarian crises in the world today.More than 30 million people now require humanitarian assistance, and around 25 million people face acute food insecurity, including 770,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition. Damage to infrastructure, supply shortages, and restricted humanitarian access continue to severely hinder the humanitarian response. In response to increasing needs, the IRC has scaled up its humanitarian efforts despite immense challenges. The IRC supports Sudanese communities, within the country and across national borders.The project is designed to run from mid-2026 for up to 3 to 5 years.SCOPE OF WORKThe IRC is seeking a Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Senior Manager for an upcoming FCDO funding opportunity. This project aims to enhance the wellbeing of survivors of gender-based violence (GBV) and conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) and their families and reduce GBV and CRSV in targeted states.The MEAL Senior Manager will provide leadership and direction across all aspects of monitoring and evaluation of the FCDO project activities, client feedback mechanisms, conduct assessments and evaluations, lead the reporting process, and provide project knowledge management. S/he will be developing and implementing the project’s monitoring, evaluation, reporting, accountability and learning strategy/performance monitoring plan in accordance with IRC, FCDO, and best international practices. S/he will lead the consortium’s Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) function, ensuring that all partners have centralized, safe and harmonized feedback and complaints mechanisms, which includes overseeing the collection, verification, consolidation and analysis of accountability data from all consortium partners and ensuring timely response and follow‑up in line with the IRC’s client responsiveness mechanisms. The MEAL Senior Manager will also represent and coordinate with the AAP Working Group (AAP WG) to maintain alignment with national and inter‑agency AAP standards and to promote joint learning and information sharing. The MEAL Senior Manager will work closely with the Sudan MEAL Coordinators, the Regional MEAL Advisor, technical staff, and consortium partners’ counterparts to ensure that relevant data is collected, stored, analyzed, and used to inform management and design decisions and to provide project updates, evaluations, and reports, as required. The MEAL Senior Manager will directly oversee country-based research and knowledge management staff in delivering research and learning activities, including engagement with the IRC’s global research (Airbel) team to deliver project research, as necessary.Please note that recruitment is contingent upon the successful award of the project, and the selection of final applicants is subject to FCDO’s approval.RESPONSIBILITIES* Develop, manage, and implement a monitoring and evaluation system (performance monitoring plan) across all project components including client feedback mechanisms that leverages qualitative and quantitative methods and draws from a variety of data sources to measure progress, inform project management and decision-making and evaluate impact, as well as support collaboration, implementation, learning, and adaptation across the consortium. * Provide training, assistance, and consultation, as needed, on interpreting and using performance benchmarking measures, key performance indicators (KPIs), MEAL tools and reports. * Lead the collection of periodic data reports and compilation of narrative reports and submit them to the Consortium Coordinator. * Communicate information obtained through MEAL activities to program staff, consortium partners, downstream partners and external stakeholders, including FCDO, to enable informed decision-making. * Develop and ensure compliance with procedures for collecting and reporting project and program performance data to ensure quality, timely data. * Lead centralized information management for the consortium, ensuring standardized data collection tools, unified indicators, harmonized MEAL reporting templates and a consolidated MEAL database/dashboard that supports accurate, timely reporting and decision‑making. * Lead consortium-wide AAP by ensuring centralized and harmonized feedback and complaints mechanisms across partners, overseeing accountability data from partners and ensuring timely response and follow‑up in line with IRC’s client responsiveness standards. * Represent the consortium in AAP coordination meetings, including the AAP WG, ensuring alignment with inter‑agency AAP standards and contributing to joint learning and information sharing. * Collaborate closely with the IRC Country MEAL Coordinators to harmonize AAP/CRM findings across the consortium and the wider country program, ensuring consistent analysis, escalation and follow‑up on trends that require country‑level or cross‑sector action. * Regularly review data collection processes, perform data quality assessments, and make adjustments, as needed. * Prepare the MEAL section of the annual work plans and review or update it, as needed. * Participate and provide input to program strategy, including necessary adjustments or refinements to the work plan. * Oversee baseline surveys and assessments and the implementation of the MEAL system on a day-to-day basis. * Lead consortium‑wide learning and reflection processes, including quarterly project reviews, midterm review (MTR) and after‑action reviews (AAR), ensuring findings are documented, shared and used across all partners to inform adaptive management and decision‑making. * Lead mid-term and final evaluations to inform project and programming decisions. * Oversee and support research design and research implementation, including rapid assessments, longitudinal assessments and impact evaluations, in partnership with the IRC’s Airbel Impact Lab. * Work closely with the Third-Party Monitoring (TPM) entity commissioned by FCDO to assess program delivery, capture knowledge from the project, and support TPM activities, as needed. * Provide technical oversight on MEAL‑related budgeting, supporting partners to plan and utilize MEAL budgets effectively, monitor MEAL budget absorption and ensure financial resources align with consortium MEAL priorities, including evaluations, TPM, learning and AAP systems. * Conduct regular visits to project sites, as possible, to provide technical assistance to partners and stakeholders and support monitoring of project activities. * Facilitate peer-learning exchanges between partners in Sudan East and West response areas. * Produce learning briefs, analytical reports, and MEAL sections of donor reports. * Ensure well-organized documentation and dissemination of learning across the IRC and consortium partners.Other Internal and/or external contacts:* Internal: * Program Coordinators and Managers throughout the country program, Regional Technical colleagues * Measurement Advisor, Grants Coordinator and Managers, Finance Coordinator, Partnership Coordinator, relevant Regional/HQ-based colleagues * External: partners, service providers, governmental agencies, clients.REQUIREMENTS* An advanced degree (Master’s) from an accredited university in social science, international development, evaluation research, statistics, or a related discipline is required; equivalent experience may be substituted for a graduate degree; * A minimum of 5 years of experience in MEAL/MEL/MERL/M&E for similar Protection or FCDO high-value complex programming; * Experience with projects designed to improve protection in Sudan or similar contexts is preferred; * Significant experience carrying out MEAL activities in hard-to-reach regions, preferably for FCDO multi-million and multi-partner funded projects; * Experience supporting adaptive and agile management; * Experience working in Sudan on Protection, GBV and CRSV or similar programming; * Strong negotiation skills and the ability to develop relations with local counterparts, donors, and other stakeholders; * Leadership experience and proven technical skills in setting up quality M&E/MEAL system that leads to evidence-based decision-making; * Demonstrated ability to transfer knowledge to diverse audiences through training, mentoring, and other formal and non-formal methods together with strong presentation and reporting skills; * Strong management and social skills and proven track record to work with diverse groups of people in a multicultural environment; * Self-motivated with excellent organization, planning, and analytical skills - able to work without close supervision, including prioritizing work and multi-tasking; * Proficiency and experience with mobile data collection such as Kobo, CommCare, ODK Collect are crucial as well as proficiency with Microsoft Excel; SPSS, SATA or other similar software; * Knowledge of Tableau, PowerBi or GIS software are additional assets; * An understanding of accountability and proven ability to build Client Feedback Systems is a distinct advantage; * Fluency in Arabic and English required.Please note that the job description is high-level and indicative only at this stage and may be subject to change once the Terms of Reference for the project are released and as the opportunity develops. This position will be contingent on the outcome of the stage-1 process.The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti-Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.HOW TO APPLYPlease apply on our website:https://theirc.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/External_Careers/job/Port-Sudan-Sudan/MEAL-Senior-Manager_JR00002376