Vacancy: WARO Technical Advisor I – MEAL and Data Systems

Company Profile

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has been working in Ghana since 1958 in Health, Agriculture, Peacebuilding, Water and Sanitation, Microfinance, and Education programs.

Job Description

• Job Title: Technical Advisor I – MEAL and Data Systems


• Department: WARO Regional Office


• Grade: 9


• Reports To: Program Manager II-LSFF


• Country/Location: Telecommuter

• Technical lead on design of MEAL strategy for the LSFF project, grounded in standards, tools and best practices focused on public sector capacity-strengthening efforts to implement Large-Scale Food Fortification. 


• Provide technical solutions to public sector teams, remotely and on-site, for the planning and implementation of best practices, tools (digital and standard), and M&E, helping to ensure high-quality implementation and accountability.


• Contribute to, and in some cases lead, the development of the technical design for proposals.  Support the process of preparation, design, submission and approval of project concepts and full-fledged proposals. As needed, act as a technical writer on proposal development teams. Advise project teams on integrating donor strategies, priorities, and technical requirements into CRS’ approach.


• Support capacity strengthening initiatives in LSFF programming for staff and partners by helping to develop learning and training strategies and agendas/curriculums, conducting trainings and workshops, and coaching.


• Collect and analyze program data, capture and share lessons learned and best practices for specific projects to facilitate improvements in decision-making and contribute to the LSFF learning agenda.


• Contribute to maintaining relationships with donors, peer organizations, research, and other institutions, participate in forums in LSFF to collect and share best practices and promote CRS’ work.


• Technical lead for analysis of MEAL data, ensuring the quality of both qualitative and quantitative data collected by the project.


• Integrates data analysis, reflection and interpretation and use with ongoing project activities ensuring feedback from key stakeholders.


• Ensures compliance with donor and agency MEAL requirements


• Shares MEAL learning and experiences in broader regional and agency discussions.

• Internal: CRS country program leadership across the 15 country ECOWAS region; CRS WARO regional leadership; HQ Nutrition STAs; IDEA donor engagement and BD teams, as relevant; CRS CARO Health regional, PQ and BD staff with respect to ECOWAS countries that fall within the CRS Central Africa region.


• External: WAHO; ECOWAS member country Ministries of Health and other government entities relevant to regional and country-level LSFF standards and strategies; peer NGOs active in the LSFF/Nutrition space

Required Skills or Experience

Education and Experience:

• Master's Degree in Data Science, M&E, or relevant field required.


• Minimum of three years relevant work experience with progressive responsibilities, ideally with an international NGO, social marketing firm, or governmental entity with minimum of two years relevant field-based experience in fortified food standards compliance systems or enabling environment strengthening on related policy areas.


• Knowledge of technical principles and concepts in Nutrition or Food Quality testing. General knowledge of other related disciplines to ensure proper cross-sectoral approach.


• Experience in project design and proposal development. Experience in writing content for proposals.


• Knowledge of digital tools and approaches to support MEAL and Food Testing/Compliance systems.


• Experience with program monitoring and evaluation and analysis.


• Experience and skills in networking and relations with donors, peer organizations, and faith-based and civil society partners. Understanding of partnership principles.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Strong relationship management skills with ability to influence and get buy-in from people not under direct supervision and to work with individuals in diverse geographical and cultural settings


• Good strategic, analytical, problem-solving and systems thinking skills with capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgment


• Good technical writing skills


• Presentation, facilitation, training, mentoring, and coaching skills


• Proactive, resourceful and results-oriented


• Monitoring and evaluation of health and nutrition programs across multiple countries

Required/Desired Foreign Language: English and French Preferred

Travel Required: Must be willing and able to travel up to 30%.  

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff):

These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.

• Trusting Relationships


• Professional Growth


• Partnership


• Accountability