MEAL Specialist

Organizational Setting

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) contributes to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda through the FAO Strategic Framework by supporting the transformation to MORE efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems, for better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life, leaving no one behind.
FAO is a specialized agency of the UN that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. FAO's goal is to achieve food security for all and ensure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. With 195 Members (194 countries and the European Union), FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide.
FAO Country Offices, working under overall corporate guidance and in line with the Strategic Framework, offer policy advice and support to countries in the mandated areas of FAO, facilitated through partnerships, resources and an active country programme to provide technical assistance, develop capacities and deliver core services while fully observing international standards of accountability to establish leadership and strengthen impact at the country level.
The offices deliver on the programmatic priorities of each country as agreed in their respective Country Programming Frameworks (CPFs) aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) and ensure effective and efficient operations with adequate human and financial resources.

Specifically, FAO Country Offices:

• Advocate, inform and support policies and investments in the areas of FAO’s mandate;
• Provide technical assistance and deliver core services;
• Assist and catalyse partnership and resource mobilization activities to support agrifood systems transformation;
• Position FAO as the specialized/authoritative technical agency in food and agriculture and agrifood systems transformation; and
• Ensure risk-smart and accountable operations and management.

Reporting Line

The Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Specialist works closely with the various projects implemented by the Representation, providing technical support for planning, monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning activities.

The Specialist reports directly to FAO representative and contributes to ensuring effective programme implementation, evidence-based decision-making, and continuous organizational learning.

Technical Focus

The Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) function plays a key role in ensuring that the project's logical framework, MEAL Plan, and other related documents are designed and implemented to support the achievement of the objectives of the Country Programming Framework through a gender-responsive and socially inclusive approach. The framework will monitor gender-related outcomes using disaggregated data on access to resources, economic benefits, income, leadership, and decision-making. It will also assess changes in labour burden, asset ownership and control, and women's empowerment, generating evidence to inform adaptive management, accountability, learning, and gender-transformative programming.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Provide guidance for the overall Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) and gender-responsive requirements of the Representation.
• Guide the enhancement of projects' gender-responsive logical frameworks, as well as facilitate the selection of indicators, tools to measure deliverables, means of verification, and donor reporting requirements.
• Develop and manage project Risk Management Matrices and incorporate gender-responsive risk analysis and safeguarding measures to identify and address social barriers, including SGBV, SEA, SH, discrimination, exclusion, unequal participation, vulnerabilities, and unintended impacts affecting women, men, youth, and marginalized groups, thereby promoting equitable participation, benefit-sharing, and sustainable project results.
• Support the conduct of baseline assessments and gender analyses for new projects with key target communities, and use the findings to inform indicator selection, targeting, and monitoring throughout implementation.
• Ensure that all subsequent data collection activities (i.e. beneficiary registration, midline assessments, and endline assessments) capture sex-disaggregated and social inclusion data, providing an evidence base to assess differential impacts, guide equitable targeting, and strengthen reporting on gender-related outcomes.
• Monitor and assess gender and youth inclusion outcomes through the collection and analysis of disaggregated data on participation, leadership representation, economic empowerment, labour dynamics, decision-making authority, and benefit distribution across projects.
• Work with project focal points to supervise beneficiary data collection through KoBoToolbox, gender-responsive Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) surveys, and grievance and feedback mechanisms, ensuring safe, accessible, and gender-responsive feedback channels for women, youth, and vulnerable groups; and lead post-distribution monitoring to assess beneficiary satisfaction, inclusion, and programme effectiveness.
• Support projects in conducting gender-sensitive focus group discussions (FGDs), social protection assessments and reports for cash-based transfers, exit surveys, and other related analyses.
• Guide the documentation of best practices, gender-responsive findings, impact stories, lessons learned, and knowledge products to support organizational learning.
• Organize quarterly field monitoring missions in collaboration with the FAOR and the AFAOR (Programme) and use the findings to contribute to the preparation of the Country Annual Report.
• Work with the Operations Team to establish and maintain databases for project and corporate reporting requirements, including the updating of FPMIS, PIRES, and other core FAO MEAL corporate systems.
• Support project teams by providing analytical information and evidence generated through MEAL processes to inform project formulation, design, and resource mobilization efforts.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Monitoring and Evaluation, Statistics, Management Information System, Economics, Data Science, Agriculture, Nutrition or related degree programs.
• At least five (5) years of relevant experience in monitoring, evaluation accountability and learning (MEAL), data analysis, data visualization, and/or information management specially in the field of agriculture and disaster risk reduction.
• Working knowledge of English (level C).
• National of Sierra Leone

FAO Core Competencies

• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

• Demonstrated experience working with project logical frameworks, and functional gender-responsive performance monitoring and M&E systems
• Statistical skills for analyzing data
• Knowledge and skills in the use of KoboCollect, Tableau, Power BI and other office software’s, such as MS Office (Word, Excel, Power Point).

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION