Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Assistant at Save The Children

Role Purpose

• To support the MEAL team in ensuring accountability, learning, and programme quality.
• The MEAL Assistant will be responsible for data collection, field monitoring, supporting accountability mechanisms (including handling feedback and complaints), and contributing to reporting.
• The role requires extensive field visits (over 80%) to directly engage with affected populations, including children.

Key Areas of Accountability
Monitoring:

• Conduct regular field monitoring visits using standardized tools (e.g., quality benchmarks, checklists).
• Support the MEAL team in data collection for assessments, baseline/endline surveys, and programme evaluations.
• Perform post-distribution monitoring (PDM) and other verification activities.
• Facilitate focus group discussions (FGDs) and other participatory data collection methods with communities and children, ensuring ethical standards.

Accountability:

• Support the operationalization of Complaints and Feedback Mechanisms (CFM) across programme sites.
• Act as a focal point for receiving, documenting, and tracking feedback and complaints from beneficiaries, ensuring confidentiality and security of data.
• Liaise with programmes and operations teams to ensure timely follow-up and resolution of complaints.
• Communicate responses back to complainants in a clear and respectful manner

Documentation and Dissemination:

• Contribute to preparing weekly, monthly, and quarterly reports on MEAL
• Prepare field visit report and do debriefing and action planning with the relevant staff

Quality Benchmarks:

• To conduct quality monitoring of programme activities, measured against international standards and using participatory methodologies (including child-friendly methodologies) and the quality benchmarks

Coordination:

• Coordinate and communicate with MEAL and relevant programme staff regarding feedback and complaints
• Maintain liaison with MEAL unit and programme particularly field coordination/community mobilization team

Skills and Behaviours (Values in Practice):
Accountability:

• Accuracy and timeliness in all areas of responsibility
• High level of accuracy in work, and ability to analyse complex sets of relationships and situations
• Holds self and others accountable

Ambition:

• Creating best-in-class EA function
• Future-orientated, thinks pro-actively

Collaboration:

• Working effectively with stakeholders to achieve common goals
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, members and external partners
• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to

Creativity:

• Designing more effective admin and data management systems
• Willing to take disciplined risks

Integrity:

• Honest, encourages openness and transparency, demonstrates highest levels of integrity.

Qualifications & Experience

• A first degree in Statistics, Social Sciences, Development Studies, or a related field.
• Minimum of one year of experience in a similar role (M&E, data collection, community engagement) with an NGO.
• Proven experience in quantitative and qualitative data collection methods (e.g., surveys, FGDs).
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English, with the ability to draft clear reports.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work effectively within a team.
• Proficiency in basic Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel).
• Ability and willingness to undertake frequent travel to field sites (over 80% of the time).
• Fluency in Hausa and/or other local languages spoken in Borno State.

Desirable:

•  Experience in working directly with children in a research or monitoring context, with an understanding of ethical standards and child safeguarding protocols.
• Familiarity with key MEAL concepts and humanitarian standards (e.g., Core Humanitarian Standard).
• Experience using mobile data collection tools (e.g., KOBO Toolbox, ODK)