Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Officer(Mogadishu)

About CIVIC

Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC) Center is an international nonprofit and nongovernmental organization with offices around the world working to improve protection for civilians in conflict zones. Our mission is to support communities affected by conflict in their quest for protection and strengthen the resolve and capacity of armed actors and relevant institutions to prevent and respond to civilian harm. We are advocates who believe that no civilian caught in conflict should be ignored, and advisors who provide practical solutions to preventing and responding to civilian harm. Learn more at civiliansinconflict.org .

About the Position

• Position: Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Officer
• Duty Station: Mogadishu, Somalia, with approximately 50–60% of working time spent in field and programme locations,
• Contract duration: 12 months, with the possibility of extension
• Employer: Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC)

Background

The Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC) is seeking an experienced Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Officer to strengthen evidence, learning and programme quality across its work in conflict-affected areas of Somalia. CIVIC works across civilian protection, peace and security, stabilization, community engagement, institutional strengthening, research and policy engagement. Its programming involves communities, civil society, government institutions, security actors, and national and international partners.

As CIVIC expand its engagement with frontline and conflict impacted communities and security forces and government authorities, the programme needs to assess what changes as a result of training, community engagement, dialogue, advocacy and institutional support. This includes changes in knowledge, attitudes, relationships, behaviour and institutional practice; implementation of commitments; the functionality and local ownership of community-based protection mechanisms; community–security relationships; and policy influence on civilian protection. Such changes are rarely linear, involve multiple actors and may take time to emerge. CIVIC therefore seeks a MEAL professional with strong technical skills and practical knowledge of conflict, peace, security and protection programming. The officer will help teams understand what works, what does not, why, and what to change.

Purpose of the Role

The MEAL Officer will support the development and implementation of the Somalia programme's MEAL systems and take day-to-day responsibility for monitoring, data collection and analysis, results tracking, evidence management, and follow-up of programme outcomes across the portfolio. The role will maintain clear project- and donor-level results tracking while supporting an integrated Somalia programme evidence system, with particular attention to behavioural, relational, institutional, policy and protection-related change.

Key Responsibilities

MEAL Systems and Programme Quality

Support the development, maintenance and strengthening of programme and project-level MEAL frameworks, plans and tools.

Translate theories of change and programme objectives into clear results chains, indicators, baselines, targets and monitoring approaches.

Maintain reliable programme results databases, indicator tracking systems and evidence repositories.

Support programme teams to develop realistic indicators, targets and learning questions for new projects and proposals, while ensuring alignment with approved project results frameworks and donor requirements.

Harmonize common MEAL approaches, indicators and tools across projects where appropriate, while maintaining traceability to project-specific donor requirements and avoiding duplication or double counting.

Conduct routine data quality checks and ensure significant programme results are supported by credible evidence.

Work closely with programme teams to make MEAL practical, proportionate and useful for programme management.

Portfolio and Grant-Level MEAL Management

Maintain project-specific results frameworks, indicator tracking tables, targets, evidence requirements and reporting schedules for each active Somalia grant, while linking them to a coherent programme-level MEAL framework.

Maintain clear traceability between approved proposals, results frameworks, workplans, activities, monitoring evidence and reported results, and flag material gaps or inconsistencies to programme management.

Establish controls to prevent double counting of participants, activities and results where projects overlap geographically, institutionally or thematically.

Support periodic portfolio-level analysis to identify where projects contribute jointly to common outcomes, where evidence gaps remain, and where programme adaptations are required.

Monitoring Outcomes and Programme Impact

Support the development and application of practical approaches for assessing whether interventions are producing meaningful and sustained change. This will include monitoring changes in:

Individual knowledge, attitudes and behaviour;

Institutional capacity and practice;

Community protection capacities;

Communication, trust and responsiveness between communities and relevant institutions. etc

Capacity Strengthening and Engagement Effectiveness

The MEAL Officer will attend selected trainings and field engagements, in coordination with programme leads, to observe delivery, test content and methods, collect baseline and follow-up evidence, and assess how participants apply learning. The officer will help assess effectiveness beyond attendance and satisfaction.

This will include:

Working with trainers to agree learning objectives, competency measures and follow-up questions before delivery.

Designing baseline, pre-, post- and follow-up intervention assessments where appropriate.

Assessing changes in knowledge, attitudes, confidence and behaviour;

Assessing whether training contributes to changes in professional, institutional and/or operational practice. etc

Community, Security and Institutional Change

Support the development and application of conflict-sensitive approaches for assessing changes resulting from engagement with communities, security actors and government institutions.

This may include assessing:

Community perceptions of safety and protection concerns.

Communities' ability to raise protection concerns safely and effectively.

Functionality and effectiveness of Community Protection Groups, Community Protection Champions, and other community-based protection mechanisms, including their ability to identify, document, refer, and follow up on protection concerns.

Responsiveness of relevant institutions to concerns raised. etc

Advocacy, Policy and Research Influence

Support the development and maintenance of practical systems for assessing the influence of advocacy, policy and research work.

This will include:

Tracking policy and advocacy objectives, recommendations and institutional commitments;

Documenting evidence of uptake of recommendations;

Assessing changes in policies, procedures, institutional mechanisms and practice. etc

Accountability, Community Feedback and Complaints

Support the establishment and regular review of safe, accessible and context-appropriate channels through which community members, training participants and other stakeholders can give feedback or raise complaints about the organization’s activities. Explain the channels in Somali and other appropriate formats, including options that do not require approaching a local authority, security actor or programme participant.

Help maintain a restricted feedback and complaints register for routine programme matters, with minimum necessary information, clear categories, assigned owners, acknowledgement and follow-up dates, status, resolution and closure. Apply organizational procedures and agreed response times;