MONITORING, EVALUATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY AND LEARNING LEAD

JOB SUMMARY: The Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) Lead is a senior technical position responsible for designing, managing, and continuously improving the project's integrated monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning system. Based at the PEER office in Lomé, the MEAL Officer ensures that high-quality, sex- and age-disaggregated data is reliably transmitted from the community level, where community facilitators and value chain actor platforms operate, to the field offices, and then to the PEER office. This position has technical responsibility for the implementation of CARE's social accountability framework and the community dashboard methodology within the consortium. It also coordinates and oversees external consultants conducting the various project evaluations, including the baseline study, mid-term evaluation, and final evaluation. The MEAL Lead works closely with the Policy and Advocacy Officer to ensure that data and lessons learned from the monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning system are used to inform project learning and inform evidence-based policy dialogue. This collaboration aims in particular to support exchanges with the Regional Training and Application Centre in Agrometeorology and Operational Hydrology (AGRHYMET), the Permanent Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS), and relevant national multi-stakeholder platforms. RESPONSIBILITIES: Design and management of the MEAL system framework

• Lead the design and implementation of a comprehensive monitoring, evaluation, learning, and accountability (MEAL) system, aligned with the project's logical framework, the reporting requirements of the European Union's Operational System for External Action (EU SOPSYS), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and CARE's social accountability framework.
• Develop and standardize data collection, management, and quality assurance systems to ensure consistent, reliable, and comparable data across all project sites and partners.
• Oversee data aggregation, analysis, and reporting, including the management of centralized databases and the production of evidence-based performance reports and analyses.
• Strengthen accountability, learning, and inclusion mechanisms by integrating community feedback processes, monitoring corrective actions, and ensuring the integration of gender- and age-disaggregated data Data collection, quality assurance and reporting
• Provide technical leadership for the Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) function by supervising field teams, harmonizing methodologies, and building capacity across all countries of operation.
• Manage monitoring and data collection systems, ensuring the quality, integration, and analysis of community, climate, pastoral, and market data to support decision-making.
• Lead program performance reporting and analysis by consolidating multi-country data and producing high-quality reports that meet donor requirements.
• Strengthen accountability and community engagement by establishing effective feedback and grievance mechanisms to continuously improve programs. Reference, evaluation, and learning studies
• Lead the planning and management of project evaluations, including the development of terms of reference, evaluation methodologies, and the supervision of initial, mid-term, and final evaluations.
• Manage external evaluation processes and consultants, ensuring compliance with donor and organizational procurement requirements and providing technical guidance throughout the evaluation cycle.
• Oversee the production and use of evidence for performance measurement, including baseline assessments, annual surveys, and monitoring of project results and impacts to inform program planning and decision-making.
• Promote learning, accountability, and the application of evaluation findings by commissioning thematic studies, disseminating results to key stakeholders, and ensuring the implementation of recommendations. Empowerment, learning and knowledge management
• Strengthen accountability and community participation by implementing and adapting feedback mechanisms, including the Community Dashboard, for sedentary and nomadic pastoral communities.
• Leverage community feedback and evidence to guide corrective actions, improve governance, and support advocacy and policy dialogue at various levels.
• Foster organizational learning and adaptive management through regular reviews, knowledge sharing among partners, and systematic documentation of lessons learned.
• Promote knowledge management and dissemination of results by transforming data into accessible knowledge products and sharing best practices with stakeholders and learning platforms.