MEAL Officer at Catholic Relief Services (CRS)

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is an International non-governmental organization supporting relief and development work in over 99 countries around the world. CRS programs assist persons on the basis of need, regardless of creed, ethnicity or nationality. CRS works through local church and non-church partners to implement its programs, therefore, strengthening and building the capacity of these partner organizations is fundamental to programs in every country in which CRS operates. CRS re-established presence in Nigeria in 2000 and currently focuses on agriculture, HIV and health extractives and governance, and peace building programming.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: MEAL Officer

Requisition ID: 200000HL
Location: Yobe
Job Type: Full-time
Schedule: Regular
Shift: Standard
Job: Program Management
Employee Status: Entry Level
Job Level: Day Job
Travel: Yes, 75 % of the Time

Project Background

Struggling to cope with more than 10 years of conflict, displacement and climatic and health shocks that have left millions in need of humanitarian assistance, Yobe State now faces the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Nigeria on Feb. 27, 2020, the virus has spread to all corners of the country with more than 16,000 confirmed cases as of June 15, 2020.
Northeast Nigeria saw its first confirmed case on April 18, 2020, and by early June 2020, more than 500 cases had been confirmed across the BAY states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe. In response to the health and socio-economic threat posed by COVID-19, the Government of Nigeria (GON) has mobilized a “whole of government” response via a National COVID-19 Multi-Sectoral Pandemic Response Plan. While just 55 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Yobe State as of June 23, 2020, the risk for extensive spread of the virus within the state is high due to the fragile humanitarian conditions, density and mobility of the population, and the limited capacity of the public health system to respond to a spike in critical health needs.
In response to the risk posed by COVID-19, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), in partnership with Nigerian NGO NIRA, will implement a nine-month emergency project designed to empower communities to protect themselves and reduce transmission of COVID-19, through a robust Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) approach, complemented by investments in water supply infrastructure in communities and at health facilities and the distribution of critical water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) NFIs necessary to engage in infection prevention and control (IPC).

Job Summary

Under the direction of the Program Manager, the MEAL Officer will monitor and report on all project activities in support of CRS’s work serving the poor and vulnerable. Your thorough and service-oriented approach will ensure that the project consistently applies best practices and constantly works towards improving the impact of its benefits to those we serve.

Roles and Key Responsibilities

Support compliance with agency and donor MEAL requirements;
Train MEAL Agents and enumerators on the conduct of field-based MEAL activities;
Provide input to MEAL system design and review discussions;
Supervises timely, quality data collection and management activities;
Conduct simple analyses and lead reflective discussions on monitoring data;
Contribute initial findings and field-based insights to project discussions;
Track the project performances vs. project indicators
Foster respectful relationships with community members and stakeholders
Implement activities according to MEAL DIP;
Manage databases to ensure accessibility and reliability of information;
Communicate key project information and results with community members, colleagues and stakeholders;
Contribute to reflective community-based conversations on ongoing project interventions
Share insights and perspectives based on observations and interactions with community members, colleagues and stakeholders;
Contribute to the preparation of reports.
Support timely submission of the baseline study report, post distribution monitoring reports, feedbacks and complaints management reports, and evaluations reports.

Key Working Relationships

Internal: WASH Team Lead, WASH Officer, RCCE Officers, Program Manager, Northeast Nigeria MEAL Coordinator, Northeast Nigeria Feedback Mechanism Officer, Head of Office for Yobe State, Operations staff.
External: Local partner, local leaders and representatives of other local stakeholder groups.
Supervisory Responsibilities (if none)

Qualifications
Basic Qualifications:

High School diploma required. Bachelor’s degree preferred in Information and Technology Management, Statistics or any other relevant equivalent degree.
Minimum of 2 years of work experience in project support, preferably in the field of Monitoring and Evaluation with an international humanitarian NGO.
Additional experience may substitute for some education.
Experience using MS Windows and MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint).

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

Excellent oral and written communication skills..
Attention to details, accuracy and timeliness in executing assigned responsibilities.
Observation, active listening and analysis skills with ability to make sound judgment.
Team-oriented.
Good relationship management skills and the ability to work closely with local partners and community members.
General knowledge of local and state government practices.
Well-developed knowledge of local community cultures, leaders, customs and practices through prior involvement in the community. Additional experience may substitute for some education;
Proactive, results-oriented and service-oriented.

Preferred Qualifications:

Experience working with partner organizations;
Proven experience in group discussions and other participatory methods;

Required Language:

English and Hausa required; Fulani, Kanuri and /or other local languages are a plus.

Travel:

Must be willing and able to travel up to 60% of the time to field locations in Gujba, Damaturu and Potiskum LGAs throughout the work-week.

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff):
These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results: