MEAL Manager - National Position

Job Description

Title: MEAL Manager

Location: Damascus, Syria

Travel:60%

Job Family and Level:Technical Family T7

Pre hire checks :This role is classified as requiring standard pre-employment checks

1.         Scope Responsibility

Department: MEAL

Reporting to: Deputy Country Director

Direct reports: 1 Directly and Technical for MEAL managers at the HUB (this might change based on restructuring)

Budget responsibility: NA

Relationship management: Programs, Support Team

2.        Context

Relief International (RI) is an international non-profit organization that partners with communities impacted by conflict, climate change and disaster to save lives, build greater resilience and promote long-term health and wellbeing.

Our team of more than 7,000 staff and local volunteers work in 15 countries across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, providing Health and Nutrition, WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene), Education and Livelihoods programming that creates the foundation for community resilience.

We do this by working with local actors to develop safe and inclusive local programming that is evidence based, conflict sensitive, climate smart, and reaches those in need.

Relief International is an alliance of four organizations with one shared mission, comprised of Relief International, Inc., Relief International-France, Relief International-UK and Relief International-Europe, which operate under a one-team concept under a single senior leadership team.

3.        Job Profile

The WoS MEAL Manager will lead and enhance the implementation of MEAL systems across all geographical areas covered by Relief International (RI) in Syria. This role ensures quality, effectiveness, and accountability in program delivery by overseeing evaluations, monitoring, learning processes, and data-driven decision-making. The position plays a key role in ensuring MEAL best practices, building staff capacity, and strengthening evidence-based programming.

Your role will drive the development, integration, and continuous improvement of MEAL systems, ensuring robust data collection, analysis, and reporting mechanisms. You will work closely with RI teams and partners to enhance accountability, learning, and adaptive programming. The position will also support proposal development, budgeting for MEAL activities, and compliance with donor requirements.

The position is open to national candidates only, and will be based in Damascus.

4.        Key Responsibilities Accountability and Complexity

• Ensure the MEAL system is fully integrated into program design and implementation, aligning with donor and RI standards.
• Lead the development and improvement of cross-sectoral MEAL frameworks, tools, and methodologies.
• Conduct in-depth analysis of program data to inform decision-making, strategy, and program adaptation.
• Oversee beneficiary feedback mechanisms, ensuring accountability to affected communities.
• Ensure accurate and timely reporting on program impact, learning, and donor compliance.

  System Strengthening and Technical Leadership

• Develop and oversee the roll-out of an organizational MEAL system, supporting both emergency and development programming.
• Integrate mobile technology and digital tools for data collection, analysis, and reporting where feasible.
• Ensure the harmonization of MEAL approaches, tools, systems and reporting, in accordance with donor guidelines and requirements.
• Provide technical guidance on assessments, evaluations, and surveys, including methodologies for target setting and reporting.
• Support third-party monitoring (TPM) activities and program evaluations, including developing ToRs, reviewing reports, providing technical feedback on tool design and methodology, and managing activities to ensure effective execution.
• Drive continuous learning through structured reviews of program implementation, effectiveness, and impact, contribute to regular maintenance of learning databases, and participate in and guide regular data review meetings to ensure that the learnings regarding programmatic decisions are evidence-based.

  Capacity Building and Staff Development ·       Lead and mentor MEAL teams, ensuring alignment with RI’s global MEAL strategy. ·       Build the capacity of RI staff and partners on MEAL best practices, including accountability, participation, and digital data collection tools. ·       Develop and implement MEAL training programs for RI and partner staff, ensuring continuous professional development. ·       Conduct field visits to provide hands-on training, coaching, and technical support.   Management and Leadership ·       Oversee the recruitment, onboarding, and professional development of MEAL staff. ·       Ensure the MEAL system operates effectively with strong linkages between field and country-level teams. ·       Provide leadership and technical oversight to MEAL staff. ·       Represent the Country Office in RI’s internal technical working groups and represent RI in inter-agency coordination bodies and MEAL working groups.   Behavior and Conduct

·       Will ensure the highest standards of behavior inside and outside of work promotes the values in RI’s code of conduct and safeguarding policies

·       Will be a model for ethical conduct standards for other team members

·       Will ensure own actions and the actions of the teams members they manage do not impact the safety of the RI team and the vulnerable communities we serve

·       Will ensure external stakeholders are aware of RI conduct and reporting mechanisms

·       Report any concerns

5.        Person Specification Skills, knowledge and expertise required for the role.  

Essential Criteria

• Master’s degree in social sciences, statistics, international development, or a related field.
• Minimum of five years of experience in MEAL within humanitarian or development organizations.
• Proven experience designing MEAL frameworks, logframes, and performance monitoring plans.
• Strong experience in quantitative and qualitative research methods, including survey design and data analysis.
• Knowledge of MEAL requirements for major donors (e.g., USAID, OFDA, ECHO, DFID, BPRM).
• Advanced proficiency in Excel, Power BI, and statistical software (SPSS, STATA, EPI-Info).
• Demonstrated ability to manage teams and build MEAL capacity in complex environments.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills.
• Arabic is essential, as well as fluency in English.

Desirable Criteria

• Experience in humanitarian MEAL systems, including emergency response and resilience programming.
• Expertise in harnessing data visualization tools such as PowerBI to provide real-time data visualization, enhanced automated and customizable reports, and to improve RI’s capacity for evidence-based decision-making through data-driven insights and predictive analytics.
• Familiarity with digital data collection tools (Kobo Toolbox, ODK, CommCare) and GIS mapping.
• Experience in program learning and adaptive management approaches.

RI Values

Guided by the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, as well as “Do No Harm,” Relief International Values:

·       Integrity

·       Adaptability

·       Collaboration

·       Inclusivity

·       Sustainability