Technical Advisor II – Emergency MEAL and Information Management

About CRS

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.

The Humanitarian Response Department (HRD) provides leadership and support to CRS emergency programming. The HRD strengthens CRS’ impact through high quality, innovative programs; improved technical and management capacity at the field level; and active engagement in global efforts to promote excellence and learning in humanitarian response. The HRD has technical staff that supports emergency program planning, rapid response, and capacity strengthening of staff and partners worldwide.

NOTE: This is a global telecommuter position; CRS will give preference to candidates who are based in countries where we have existing offices. CRS does not sponsor visas for telecommuting employees.

Job Summary

You will provide technical advice, guidance, and support for Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) and Information Management (IM) for emergency response and recovery programs, in line with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) program quality principles and standards, donor guidelines, and industry best practices to regional and Country Program (CP) teams and/or partners, to advance the delivery of high-quality emergency programming to the poor and vulnerable. Your MEAL and IM-related technical knowledge, advice and guidance will contribute to determining how effective, adaptive and innovative CRS’ programming is across the globe.

Roles and Key Responsibilities

• Contribute to the development and implementation of agency-wide strategies, standards, tools, and best practices in MEAL and IM that effectively engage partners, donors and governments. Help ensure a cross-sectoral approach integrating gender, protection mainstreaming, and disaster risk reduction.
• Provide MEAL and IM-related technical solutions to regional and CP teams, remotely and on-site, for strategic planning and how to best apply program design and implementation standards, best practices, partnership principles, tools, and M&E, ensuring high-quality implementation.
• Contribute to regional and CP efforts to pre-position CRS for growth opportunities in emergency response and recovery, with a focus on MEAL and IM. Lead or contribute to the development of the MEAL portions of the technical design for large and/or complex proposals, including defining appropriate monitoring systems and indicators. Advise project teams on integrating donor strategies, priorities and technical requirements into CRS’ approach.
• Guide country program teams in the development of project MEAL and IM systems that meet donor requirements and adhere to the agency’s MEAL policies, procedures, and practices. Contribute to the customization and design of digital forms for data collection and the design of approaches for data visualization that facilitate use of data and quality reporting. Contribute to or lead the periodic review of MEAL and IM systems, particularly for large and complex emergency projects.
• Contribute to capacity strengthening initiatives in emergency MEAL and IM for staff and partners through helping develop learning and training strategies and agendas/curriculums, conducting trainings and workshops, and mentoring and coaching to HRD MEAL/IM team, CP staff and partner staff.
• Contribute to knowledge management and learning through collecting and analyzing program data, evaluating strategic projects, assisting with measuring program impact, capturing and sharing lessons learned and best practices, and research and internal reports.
• Establish and maintain relationships with donors, peer organizations, research and other institutions. Participate in emergency MEAL and IM forums to collect and share best practices and promote CRS’ work.
• Work closely with CRS HRD staff, development (PIQA) MEAL staff, and IT staff to enhance CRS’ global capacity in information management, and track IM coordination trends, tools, and resources. Support CRS emergency Country Programs and partners in expanding their role in humanitarian coordination/IM, when relevant.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Excellent relationship management skills with ability to influence and get buy-in from people not under direct supervision and to work with individuals in diverse geographical and cultural settings.
• Strong strategic, analytical, problem-solving and systems thinking skills with capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgment
• Strong written and oral communication skills
• Strong presentation, facilitation, training, mentoring, and coaching skills
• Proactive, resourceful and results-oriented

Required Languages – Proficiency (verbal and written) in English and at least one of the following languages: French, Spanish, Arabic.

Travel– Willing and able to travel up to 50% (i.e., six months out of the year). Capacity to live and work in difficult/stressful environments.

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Supervise HRD’s Emergency MEAL & IM unit
• The position may undertake temporary supervision/management roles within CRS country programs during deployments, as requested

Key Working Relationships:

Internal – HRD Program Quality and Management, Ops, Safe & Dignified Programming, and Sectoral Technical teams; Development (PIQA) MEAL team; GKIM team; regional MEAL Regional Technical Advisors and IT staff; Programming, MEAL and Information Management staff in Country Programs undertaking emergency programming.

External – Implementing partner MEAL and IM staff; Caritas Internationalis member organizations; emergency donors; peer organizations; Technical Forums and Foundations; ALNAP.

Basic Qualifications

• Master’s Degree in International Development, MEAL and/or IM required.
• Minimum of five years relevant international working experience in an advisory or management role with progressive responsibilities, ideally with an international NGO, with minimum of three years working for programming interventions in MEAL.
• Previous experience providing technical assistance and developing successful proposals for external donor funding is required.
• Demonstrated application of technical principles and concepts in MEAL. General knowledge of other related disciplines to ensure proper cross-sectoral approach.
• Experience in business development, project design and proposal development, including technical writing.
• Experience in mentoring, coaching, facilitation, and training applying adult learning principles and practices.
• Experience with program monitoring and evaluation, including applying data collection tools and methodologies, data analysis, and data presentation.
• Experience and skills in networking and relations with donors, peer organizations, and faith-based and civil society partners. Understanding of partnership principles.
• Proficient in MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), Web Conferencing Applications, information and budget management systems, knowledge-sharing networks.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience using both quantitative and qualitative MEAL approaches strongly preferred
• Experience with database design and management, including concepts of relational databases and hands-on experience with one or more RDBMS preferred.
• Experience in PowerBI and one or more of the following digital data collection tools strongly preferred: CommCare, KoBo Collect, RedRose Collect.
• Expertise in statistical software such as Stata, R, or SPSS preferred.
• Familiarity with geo-spatial data management principles with demonstrable experience in GIS software a plus.
• Experience in staff management, including managing multi-cultural teams.
• Experience with staff care in emergency settings.
• Additional work experience may substitute for some education requirements.

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.

· Integrity

· Continuous Improvement & Innovation

· Builds Relationships

· Develops Talent

· Strategic Mindset

· Accountability & Stewardship

MEAL Competencies (for CRS MEAL Program Staff)

Each staff member in this position is expected to have advanced knowledge and ability and can apply the following competencies in new or complex situations. Guides other professionals:

• Monitoring
• Evaluation
• Accountability
• Learning
• Analysis and Critical Thinking
• Management in MEAL

Each staff member in this position is expected to have expert knowledge and ability and can apply the following competencies in the most complex situations. Develops new approaches, methods or policies in the area. Is recognized as an expert, internally and externally:

• MEAL in Design
• ICT4MEAL

***Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. We welcome as a part of our staff people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.

Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.

Note: All positions requiring residence or frequent travel outside their home country must undergo and clear a pre-employment medical examination.

To ensure the safety of our staff, our partners, and the people we serve, CRS requires that staff be vaccinated against Covid-19. CRS complies with all federal and state laws to allow for accommodations, as needed with supporting documentation. However, accommodations may limit the roles that candidates are eligible for based on role requirements (e.g., travel, meetings with staff, partner, donors).

CRS’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to safeguarding the rights and dignity of all people – especially children and vulnerable adults – to live free from abuse and harm.

CRS welcomes candidates from the countries and regions in which we work. In the event the successful candidate is an expatriate or global telecommuter, the anticipated duration of the assignment is informed by a term limit, based on the type and level of the job and the needs of the agency.

CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer