arche noVa - Initiative for People in Need is a non-religious, independent non-profit and non-governmental organization (NGO) with Headquarters in Germany. We work in the field of humanitarian aid, rehabilitation and development and primarily focus on the WASH sector.

Globally, arche noVa currently works in twelve countries. Since 2013, we have been implementing projects for IDPs, returnees and host communities in Northern Iraq and Kurdistan (Diyala, Sulimaniyah and Kirkuk Governorate).

arche noVa provides WASH services in IDP camps in Sulaymaniyah, Kalar and Khanaqeen. Over and above that, we also provide WASH services and support outside of camps by rehabilitating WASH facilities in schools and health centers, as well as improving water and sewerage systems in villages. arche noVa is further expanding on these WASH support activities through a more sustainable long-term and holistic approach focused on community engagement, capacity building and livelihood diversification in the agricultural sector, yet always continuing to keep WASH at its core.

arche noVa co-leads the WASH Sub-cluster in Sulaymaniyah Governorate and the WASH Working Group in Northern Diyala Governorate.

Objectives of the position:

The MEAL Assistant will be a part of the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) team, supporting implementation of the overall Iraq MEAL activities in the field, in- and off-camps. The MEAL Assistant will assist the MEAL Co/Officer with activities, such as; monitoring at field level, data collection and database management. The MEAL Assistant will support all efforts for promoting a high level of beneficiary accountability and will assist in managing the feedback mechanism. The MEAL Assistant will work closely with the MEAL Coordinator and Officer at the country office to support data entry and management as needed. The MEAL Assistant will help the MEAL Co/Officer to conduct field level MEAL activities. S/he will support in pretesting of data collection tools, data collection, data entry and editing. S/he will support field offices in implementation of MEAL activities as planned, often undertaking field visits to volatile and insecure areas across Diyala province, while strictly complying with AN security protocols.

Duties & Responsibilities:

Objective 1. Setting up MEAL systems

• Support field teams in developing and monitoring of project implementation plans and report regular progress to the MEAL Officer;
• Support the MEAL Co/ Officer in developing and pre-testing MEAL tools;
• Support in LFA and MEAL plan development/revision/feedback;
• Contribute to timely and quality reporting on all the projects;
• Support project field staff to ensure that projects are carried out with participation from all affected communities and that information is shared with affected communities;

Objective 2. Monitoring

• Collect data from the field as per the MEAL plan under guidance of the MEAL Officer;
• Follow up proactively with the programme team and management to ensure MEAL data is collected;
• Develop and submit weekly and/or monthly field monitoring plans in consultation with the MEAL Officer;
• Prepare regular monitoring reports against the monitoring plan as per standard monitoring checklists developed by the MEAL Co/Officer;
• Support the MEAL Co/ Officer in providing field level feedback on monitoring checklists or tools;
• Identify strengths and weaknesses in existing data collection and management systems and propose field level solutions to support the MEAL Co/Officer;

Objective 3. Evaluation

• Assist in conducting surveys, observational monitoring, focus group discussions and key informant interviews;
• Supervise data collection process at field level and conduct data cleaning, editing and verification activities, in particular post-distribution monitoring
• Enter gathered data in a prescribed format, provided by the MEAL Coordinator/ Officer;
• Support the MEAL Officer in the analyses of quantitative and qualitative data, producing graphs, summaries, draft reports;
• Support the MEAL Officer in preparing Project MEAL reports by providing field level impression;
• Supervise project baselines, surveys and evaluations at field level under the supervision of the MEAL Officer.

Objective 4. Communication

• Support the MEAL Co/Officer in preparing country level presentations by providing field level data and inputs;
• Provide field level MEAL data to the MEAL Co/Officer required in preparing MEAL reports of projects;
• Any other communication or reporting task assigned by the MEAL Co/Officer.

Objective 5. Learning

• Help the MEAL Officer in assisting the field level programme team in documenting lessons learnt;
• Support the implementation of reviews and learning events at project locations as guided by the MEAL Co/ Officer.

Objective 6. Accountability

• Help set up and manage the feedback systems and ensure a timely and appropriate follow-up if needed;
• Work closely with the field staff to collect data and implement activities to support beneficiaries’ accountability;
• Manage and report community complaints and feedback under the supervision of the MEAL Co/Officer;
• Help the MEAL Co/Officer in establishing and managing the Complaint and Feedback Mechanism at field level with beneficiaries and stakeholders;
• Provide field monitoring support by shadowing the field activities undertaken by the Programme Team, to help ensure adequate standards of communications with affected communities are adhered to.

• 1-2 years’ work experience in data collection, conducting surveys and data analysis;
• At least 1 year experience of working with international NGOs, with at least 6 months M&E experience;
• Experience in social and community engagement activities;
• Experience in WASH sector preferred;
• University degree, or equivalent, in monitoring and evaluation/social sciences/systems science, and/or other relevant fields;
• Excellent understanding and practical experience with MS Office application, especially MS Word and Excel;
• Understanding of Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning;
• Skills on collecting secondary and primary data using online and offline tools,
• Skills of conducting qualitative and quantitative data collection and editing, for example, FGDs, household interviews etc;
• Skills on database management and data analysis;
• Previous experience conducting post-distribution monitoring in emergency relief projects.
• Planning, communication and organizational skills;
• Conflict resolution and negotiations skills;
• Interpersonal and cross-cultural sensitivity and experience;
• Ability to treat individuals with fairness and respect, demonstrating sensitivity for ethnic, cultural and gender differences;
• Ability to support team work and team mobilization on MEAL findings and actions;
• Demonstrate, honesty, transparency, professionalism and strong communication with programme team;
• Ability to understand the importance of data produced in field and consecutive reporting to MEAL Co/Officer;
• Strong sense to conduct de-brief sessions and follow chain of command while reporting findings;
• Fluency in Arabic, Kurdish and English is required;

Deadline for application:  4 March 2021

Please send CVs and Cover Letters to: iraq.mission@arche-nova.org

Subject: MEAL Assistant- Diyala 

Duration of the Contract : 10 March 2021 Until 30 June 2021 with the possibility of extension. 

Further information: www.arche-nova.org

Please note, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and AN reserve the right to not fill the position.