Moldova : MEAL Manager – Chisinau

Fixed term | 12 Months | March 2023

ACTED

Created in 1993, ACTED is an international non-governmental organization pursuing a dual mandate of emergency response and development interventions in 40 of some of the world’s most vulnerable countries affected by conflicts, disasters or socio-economic hardship. With a team of 7,000 national staff and 400 international staff, ACTED implements 500 projects a year to support more than 20 million beneficiaries, notably in hard-to-reach areas.

ACTED goes to the last mile through programs and approaches that look beyond the immediate emergency towards opportunities for longer term livelihood reconstruction and sustainable development. Guided by the motto “Think Local, Act Global” and its 3Zero –Zero Exclusion, Zero Carbon, and Zero Poverty – strategy, ACTED puts local territories at the centre and provides a tailored support to local needs.

ACTED Moldova

As of February 24th 2022, ACTED deployed an emergency team in Moldova to support people who were affected by the conflict in Ukraine and had to cross the border.

Our teams mobilized quickly to carry out needs assessments along the border and in reception centers, in close coordination with the Moldovan authorities.

ACTED’s first actions concerned the deployment of buses in Palanca and Tudora, in addition to buses provided by the Moldovan and Romanian authorities, in order to transport refugees from crossing points to reception centers or to Romania, in agreement with the authorities of both countries.

Today, ACTED has diversified its fields of action in the country and implements or participates, with its partners, in the following operations:

• Support to the government for the site management of over 100 refugee accommodation and reception centers
• Reception and distribution of donations of basic necessities to refugees for NFIs and hot meals (around 20,000 hot meals were distributed from February to April) and multi purpose cash assistance for refugees and Moldovan families hosting refugees
• Installation of sanitation facilities at border points and provision of free transportation services to Romania and within Moldova for newly arrived refugees
• Distribution of SIM cards and power banks to facilitate access to information for refugees and provision of Wi-Fi-connectivity at transit and accommodation centers

You will be in charge of

The Country Appraisal, Monitoring and Evaluation (AME) Manager is responsible for designing and developing appropriate and viable appraisal, monitoring and evaluation systems that are in line with the ACTED’s global AME procedures and ensure that ACTED’s projects and programs perform as planned.

Main duties:

Coordination of M&E activities

• Develop and regularly update the country M&E strategy;
• Develop and regularly update an M&E work plan that includes all ongoing projects and planned M&E activities;
• Develop and oversee the implementation of appropriate data collection and analysis tools, methodologies (survey questionnaires, focus groups, key informant interviews, etc.) and data/information dissemination/use plans;

Management of the M&E department and team

• Ensure that the department staff understands and is able to carry out its role and responsibilities;
• Ensure a positive work environment and good team dynamics;
• Implement regular staff evaluations and monitor career development.

Capacity Building and Training

• Identify training needs for the M&E team, discuss plans with coordination and HR for internal and external training, and implement in accordance with M&E strategy and operational priorities;
• Coach, train, and mentor M&Es with the goal of building technical capacity, sharing knowledge within the M&E team, and providing career development guidance.

Process Development

• Identify and design innovative practices to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of M&E procedures and project management and integrate them into the M&E country strategy;
• Implement M&E policies and procedures as described in ACTED’s M&E procedure and ensure that the tools are used and applicable to the intervention context;

Capitalization

• Contribute to the proactive dissemination and use of knowledge gained through M&E activities among Project Managers, Technical Coordinators and Project Managers and Development Officers;
• Organize and facilitate training sessions to capture best practices and lessons learned at project close-out or as needed;
• Document and share lessons learned and best practices and ensure that the knowledge gained contributes to project improvement and influences the strategic development of future projects and activities.

Implement the beneficiary Complaint Response Mechanism

• Establish, evaluate and monitor the functioning of the beneficiary Complaint Response Mechanism (CRM) in line with ACTED’s standard CRM procedures;
• Ensure that beneficiary complaints/returns are properly captured, analyzed, addressed and processed in a timely manner and used by the Program and Coordination teams;
• Oversee proper management of the CRM central database;
• Work to ensure that ACTED staff, partners and contractors understand and are skilled in the procedures of the CRM.

Other

• Provide supervisors and other team members with regular and timely updates on project progress and issues;
• Represent ACTED at high-level national forums, such as M&E technical working groups;
• Participate when possible in conferences and workshops related to M&E and keep abreast of best practices and new knowledge in the M&E sector.
• Perform any other related activities as assigned by the direct manager.

Expected skills and qualifications

• University Degree in Political Sciences, Public Administration, International Affairs, Economics or a related field (anthropology, sociology, statistics);
• At least 2-5 years of professional experience in humanitarian and/or development organisations;
• Experience with participatory appraisals and project cycle management encouraged;
• Good organizational and communication skills with international and national staff and rural communities;
• Ability to coordinate and manage a team;
• Teamwork and team building skills, capacity building skills;
• Flexibility and adaptability are essential, as well as the ability to plan, take initiative and work independently and under pressure;
• Excellent communication and drafting skills in English;
• Knowledge of the region is an asset;
• Familiarity with basic Office software programs (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and Kobo Toolbox.

Conditions

• Salary between 2100 and 2300€ monthly (before income tax), depending on the level of education, security level, etc as well as a monthly living allowance of $300
• Contribution to a housing allowance of up to 75% of ACTED benchmark or accommodation and food provided in ACTED guesthouse
• Pension, health insurance, life insurance and repatriation assistance (& unemployment insurance for EU citizens)
• Flight tickets every 6 months & visa fees covered
• Contribution to the luggage transportation: up to 100 kgs, depending on the length of the contract
• Annual leave of 25 to 43 days per year
• One week pre-departure training in ACTED HQ, including a 3-days in situ security training
• Tax advice (free 30-minute call with a tax consultant)
• Psychological assistance