Senior MEAL Officer

Job Posting Organization:
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. Established to serve those in need, CRS operates in approximately 100 countries worldwide, focusing on saving, protecting, and transforming lives regardless of race, religion, or nationality. The organization has a long-standing presence in the Philippines, having begun its work there in 1945, making it the longest-running continuous CRS country program globally. CRS Philippines implements various programs, including emergency response, disaster risk reduction, climate resilience, and peace and development initiatives. With a dedicated team of over 70 staff members located in cities such as Manila, Cotabato City, Tagbilaran City, Iloilo City, Virac, and Malaybalay City, CRS collaborates closely with local partners, government agencies, and civil society organizations to support vulnerable communities across the nation. One of its current initiatives is the Innovative Climate Financing - Philippines Carbon Finance Pilot, which aims to prepare indigenous peoples’ ancestral domains for participation in high-integrity forest carbon markets while delivering co-benefits in biodiversity, livelihoods, and governance. This initiative is set to run from April 2026 to September 2027, focusing on various aspects such as forest restoration, agroforestry, and investment readiness for carbon projects.

Job Overview:
The Senior MEAL Officer plays a crucial role in ensuring the availability of quality data and evidence that supports adaptive management, donor reporting, strategic decision-making, partner accountability, and organizational learning. This position involves leading the development and operationalization of the project's results framework, indicators, monitoring plans, databases, reporting systems, accountability mechanisms, and learning agenda. The Senior MEAL Officer will work closely with the MEAL officer from the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) to enhance evidence generation, knowledge management, and learning throughout the project lifecycle. The role requires a strong understanding of results-based management and the ability to transform complex data into actionable insights that can inform program improvements and decision-making processes.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• MEAL System Design and Management: Lead the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of the project's MEAL framework, systems, processes, and tools. Develop and maintain indicator reference sheets, monitoring plans, data flow procedures, databases, dashboards, and reporting templates. Ensure alignment of MEAL systems with CRS program quality standards, policies, and procedures, as well as relevant carbon finance project requirements. Establish systems for data management, quality assurance, storage, confidentiality, and accessibility. Support the development and refinement of project results frameworks, logframes, and performance indicators.
• Monitoring, Data Collection, and Verification: Coordinate routine project monitoring activities, field verification, assessments, surveys, and data validation exercises. Develop quantitative and qualitative data collection tools and methodologies. Oversee data collection, entry, cleaning, analysis, and reporting to ensure accuracy, completeness, and timeliness. Monitor implementation progress against workplans, targets, milestones, and performance indicators. Identify implementation gaps, emerging risks, and challenges, and provide recommendations for corrective action.
• Evaluation, Research, and Learning: Lead or support baseline studies, endline surveys, evaluations, and learning studies. Analyze quantitative and qualitative data to generate actionable insights for program improvement and decision-making. Facilitate quarterly reflection sessions, after-action reviews, and learning events. Coordinate documentation of lessons learned, best practices, innovations, and project achievements. Produce learning briefs, case studies, success stories, presentations, and knowledge products.
• Accountability and Community Feedback Mechanisms: Lead the implementation and strengthening of Feedback and Complaints Response Mechanisms (FCRM) across pilot sites. Ensure accessible, inclusive, and culturally appropriate feedback channels for all stakeholders, including indigenous people's communities. Monitor feedback trends, complaints resolution, response timelines, and documentation. Generate analyses and recommendations from stakeholder feedback to improve project implementation and accountability.
• Reporting and Data Utilization: Develop regular monitoring reports, dashboards, and analytical summaries for management, partners, and donors. Support the preparation of quarterly, annual, and other reports through the provision of quality data and analysis. Promote evidence-based decision-making and adaptive management across project implementation teams.
• Capacity Strengthening and Technical Support: Design and facilitate training, coaching, and mentoring activities on MEAL concepts, tools, methodologies, and data use. Provide technical guidance to project staff and partners on indicator measurement, reporting requirements, and learning processes. Support partners in reflecting on project experiences and using evidence to improve implementation effectiveness.

Required Qualifications:
The position requires a Bachelor's degree in Statistics, Economics, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Environmental Science, Forestry, Agriculture, Public Administration, Data Science, or a related field. A minimum of 5 years of experience in MEAL is essential, along with experience in designing and managing MEAL systems for donor-funded development, environmental, natural resource management, climate, or conservation projects. Candidates should demonstrate experience in quantitative and qualitative data collection, analysis, and reporting, as well as managing accountability and feedback mechanisms. Experience in facilitating learning, reflection, and adaptive management processes is also required. Additionally, experience working with local partners, indigenous peoples, and community-based organizations is highly desirable, particularly in Mindanao, especially in Bukidnon and Davao del Norte. Candidates must be willing and able to travel regularly to field sites and remote communities.

Educational Background:
Candidates must possess a Bachelor's degree in a relevant field such as Statistics, Economics, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Environmental Science, Forestry, Agriculture, Public Administration, Data Science, or a related discipline. This educational background is crucial for understanding the complexities of monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning (MEAL) systems and their application in various project contexts.

Experience:
The position requires a minimum of 5 years of relevant experience in MEAL, particularly in the context of donor-funded projects. Candidates should have a proven track record of designing and managing MEAL systems, as well as experience in quantitative and qualitative data collection, analysis, and reporting. Familiarity with accountability and feedback mechanisms, as well as experience in facilitating learning and adaptive management processes, is also essential. Experience working with local partners and indigenous communities, especially in the Mindanao region, is highly desirable.

Languages:
The mandatory language requirement for this position is excellent spoken and written English. Additionally, a working knowledge of Bisaya is highly desirable, as it will facilitate communication with local communities and stakeholders in the project areas.

Additional Notes:
The position may require travel up to 50% of the time to locations such as Malaybalay, Bukidnon, and/or Talaingod, Davao del Norte. The role is expected to be full-time, and candidates should be prepared to engage with various stakeholders, including indigenous peoples' communities. CRS is committed to safeguarding program participants and ensuring that all staff adhere to the organization's Code of Conduct. The successful candidate will be expected to sign and comply with this code, reflecting CRS's dedication to protecting the rights and dignity of all individuals, particularly vulnerable populations.