MEAL Officer 149 views6 applications

Oxfam South Africa, an African affiliate of Oxfam International which is a part of a global movement of people working together to end the injustice of poverty. That means we tackle the inequality that keeps people poor. Together we save, protect and re build lives. When disaster strikes, we help people build better lives for themselves, and for others. We take on issues like land rights, climate change and discrimination against women. And we won’t stop until every person on the planet can enjoy life free from poverty.

We are an international confederation of 19 organizations (affiliates) working together with partners and local communities in the areas of humanitarian, development and campaigning, in more than 90 countries.

Oxfam South Africa’s purpose is to work with others to find lasting solutions to poverty and injustice. We are an Affiliate member of Oxfam International, a global confederation of 20 Affiliates working together in more than 90 countries across all regions of the world for a just world without poverty.

All our work is led by three core values: Empowerment, Accountability, Inclusiveness. To read more about our values please click heree

Oxfam South Africa is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behavior at work including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity and financial misconduct; and committed to promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults. Oxfam expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment through our code of conduct. We place a high priority on ensuring that only those who share and demonstrate our values are recruited to work for us.

Note: All offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and may be subject to appropriate screening checks, which can include criminal records and terrorism finance checks.

Job Purpose  

To drive and improve program performance by leading the development and implementation of a comprehensive MEAL framework for Oxfam’s 3-year People, Power, and International Financial Institutions (IFIs) program. Work with both Oxfam teams and partners on the People, Power, and IFIs program to develop a theory of change for the program and monitor and evaluate progress over the 3 years of the program assessing strategies and approaches and enhancing initiatives and overall program effectiveness by promoting learning.

Key Responsibilities

In coordination with the other People, Power, and IFIs and Oxfam staff, the Advisor will:

• Provide technical support in the design and implementation of high quality, integrated program-wide MEAL system to assess effectiveness of initiatives, activities, and approaches.
• Take a leadership role coordinating the development and implementation of the MEAL framework for the 3-year People, Power, and International Financial Institutions (IFIs) program;
• Serve as the program expert on advocacy evaluation methods and best ways to assess initiatives aimed at influencing IFIs at national and global levels;
• Ensure the MEAL framework is aligned with the Oxfam Confederation’s approaches and standards and meets donor requirements;
• Support cross-country learning amongst People, Power, and IFIs program team and throughout the Oxfam Confederation to enhance strategies and approaches and the overall effectiveness of program initiatives, activities, and approaches.
• Develop evaluation approaches that improve the measurement of the effectiveness of influencing approaches that are aligned to Oxfam’s value and goals.
• Participate and contribute in Oxfam’s shared initiatives to enhance standards of monitoring, evaluation and learning activities and improve performance of programs across the confederation.
• Provide supervisory guidance and hands-on facilitation for team-based analysis and reflection processes. Manage processes to ensure teams capture outcomes and evidence-based insights and commit to actions to implement changes that drive more effective policy advocacy efforts.
• Act as the lead commissioning manager for external evaluations of the program. Develop Terms of Reference (ToRs) for and oversee execution of commissioned evaluative studies, such as baseline, longitudinal studies, meta-reviews and formative evaluations that inform strategy.

Skills, Knowledge and Experience

• Experience in practically implementing monitoring, evaluation and learning processes that drive effectiveness for a project or program in a developing country context.
• Strong conceptual foundation in social science research, quantitative and qualitative methods and analysis, and demonstrated understanding of evaluation methodologies for rights-based international development work.
• Experience supporting the design, monitoring and evaluation of complex, rights-based programming and/or development approaches that aim for large-scale systemic change using influencing strategies.
• Experience advising national policy and advocacy work, program and project design, and strategy development using MEL findings to help enhance intervention design and implementation.
• Demonstrated ability to translate technical findings into accessible formats for various audiences.
• Excellent project management and organizational skills, including preparation and monitoring of plans and budgets.
• Able to work effectively in a networked and matrixed structure, demonstrating good leadership and good “followership” as need­ed and move easily between both.

Qualifications

• Academic Qualifications: Master’s degree with a strong social research component, or equivalent combination of education, experience, and training
• Five or more years of experience in evaluation and research in the international development or policy field.
• Fluency in English.
• Experience carrying out gender-focused and developmental evaluation studies in cross-cultural settings. (Preferred)
• Experience in training and facilitation in the development sector. (Preferred)

How to apply

Please submit your CV to [email protected]