What we are looking for:

NRC is seeking an experienced Global Lead MEAL Country Support to drive global standards, strengthen Country Offices, and elevate data quality across the organisation.

In this role, you will set the strategic direction for MEAL, operationalise oversight, and ensure the global team provides consistent, high-quality support to Country Offices. You will lead the development and refinement of global MEAL strategies, tools, and guidance, while line-managing Global Partners and Coordinators to deliver on shared priorities. Your core mission is to ensure all Country Offices meet MEAL minimum standards – especially on data quality – and to continuously enhance MEAL system performance across NRC’s global portfolio.

What you will do:

Here are some of your generic responsibilities:

• Line management responsibilities for the Co minimum standards and support team, including global partners/ advisors and coordinators, including: Performance management processes; setting clear goals aligned to country strategy and priorities, and to follow up and support staff’s achievement; Key processes as workforce planning, recruitment, staff induction and development and ensure Duty of Care for own staff.

• Accountable for establishing MEAL processes and routines for hiqh quality, relevant and timely oversight and support to NRC’s country offices. This includes compliance tracking, problem diagnosis, action planning, tailored CO capacity building and deployment support and tracking systems. Coordinates and provides compliance progress to MEL Director (for regional management follow up as well as HO follow up), communicates and follows up with Cos.

• Responsible for developing guidance and tools for the oversight and achievement of MEAL minimum standards, including CO health checks, data quality audits, capacity building strategy and materials for CO staff, MEAL systems guidance and tools (staffing, RACI, budgets, SOPs).

• Ensures a pool of staff are allocated and routines to ensure support and deployments to Cos is prioritised based on set criteria including organisational data quality risks, emergency and start up contexts. Ensures tasks are fairly distributed across the team to ensure that all Cos have oversight and help desk available and that dedicated support is targeted to the Cos who need it most, when they need it. Must include adequate coverage according to language, in particular French and Spanish and considers time zone and proximity considerations.

• Provides direct oversight and support to all focus Cos, including:

  • Oversight: compliance scoring process, including follow up recommendations for further diagnosis of issues and action planning for CO follow up and significant, routineoversight of reporting quality and compliance

  • Strategic input to CO MEAL priorities, SOPs, staffing and resourcing and RACI structures, in line with global guidance

  • Direct regular engagement with CO focus countries MEL staff and HOP, including technical guidance and help desk, identify and address needs for contextual adaptations, and ensure that requests for support related to H2R, emergencies, partners, DS, evaluation, CFM, research, CFM and learning are channeled to the other MEAL teams

  • Roll out and deliver the MEAL capacity building strategy across focus COs to relevant staff and identify CO training needs, developing and providing tailored training on MEAL when required.

  • Technical supervision:, including recruitment, on-boarding and performance management of senior MEAL staff in COs (managers or coordinators) and contributes to recruitments of senior CC staff at the CO level.

  • Responsible for leading and facilitating the roll out and use of global MEAL developments across for allocated Cos (communication, co-ordination, training, technical support and follow up).

• Provides tailored support to prioritised countries, based on set criteria, in line with action plans approved. This include diagnosis of issues, deployment support to Cos, and capacity building

• Provide limited MEAL support to regional offices (one or two to be allocated) including: input to MEAL content for regional proposals, regular oversight of MEAL compliance and action plans, global data analysis of trends relevant to the Cos in the region, on-boarding of regional staff on MEAL systems.

• Leads MEL COP overall approach and structure, including seminar planning and coordination, ensuring addressing language concerns. Leads on translation mapping needs and implementation

• Contribute to global MEAL strategy, policy and development priorities through representing CO MEAL priorities in relevant global discussions and capturing and sharing innovation in MEAL

• All of the above tasks should be developed and implemented in adherence to NRC policies, and a specific responsibility for the NRC MEAL functions policies and procedures

Here are some of your specific responsibilities:

• Establish routines, systems and processes to set up the new global pooled CO facing function in MEAL, including triggers for deployment of staff

• Strengthen compliance scoring processes for better oversight of Cos, ensuring this is fed up to Head of MEAL and clearly communicated to COS for follow up

• Establish tools and guidance for diagnosis of CO challenges including working on a data quality audit function

• Support the on-boarding, coaching and skills of the new global pool team

• Develop approaches to action planning and tracking action plans

• Establish a good referral system to ensure Cos get the expert support that they need

• Strengthen the MEL capacity building strategy, working on key packages for training and onboarding for staff

• Updating RACIs, CO staffing structures and budget guidance in line with new USAID funding cuts and the merge of digital programme systems and CFM into MEAL.

Please download the detailed job description to learn more about the position.

What you will bring:

• Experience of managing teams and excellent people management skills

• 8 years of responsibility for monitoring, evaluation, learning at a senior level (CO MEL Manager or RO MEL manager level), including establishing and reviewing structures for MEL at CO level

• Graduate degree in directly related field, such as research, quantitative analysis, etc; significant work experience in directly related field will be considered in lieu of specific MEAL related education.

• Advanced quantitative methods skills, including planning, data collection, management and analytical skills

• Experience from working in complex and volatile contexts.

• Significant experience in designing and delivering training, coaching and capacity building

• Excellent relationship and trust building approach, facilitation of planning, ideas, challenges and open discussions, engaging and close cooperation with peers at all levels

• Experience of setting up global, regional or country office level support systems and coordinating across multiple teams

• Fluency in English, including strong writing and communication skills.

• Fluency in French or Spanish languages will be an added advantage.

• Ability to strategically advocate for MEAL priorities and address issues and concerns with senior NRC staff at all levels of the organisation.

• Experience of setting up MEL systems in a start-up or emergency setting is an advantage

• Experience in MEL systems is an advantage as well as working to support one or more of NRC’s programme areas

• International experience in and knowledge about one or more NRC’s regions highly desirable.

What we offer:

• Duty station: The preferred location is Oslo. This position can also be hosted in any country where NRC has an operational presence. Candidates must have valid authorization to live and work in their chosen duty station.

• Contract: Permanent.

• Travel: 40%.

• Salary/benefits: Grade 10 on NRC’s Resident salary scale, with accompanying terms and conditions.

• NRC is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to diversity without distinction to age, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, and physical ability.

• We think outside the box, encourage ideas, and give responsibility to all employees at all levels. You will have many opportunities to be heard and take the initiative.

Find out more about the benefits of working for NRC

Important information about the application process

• For Internal candidates: To apply as an internal candidate, log in with your official email or click on Opportunity Market Place.

• When creating your profile, include your full name as given on your passport. Complete all the system-required fields for experience, employment history and education.

• Submit your application and CV in English, taking care to attach your latest CV.

• Applications that do not meet the minimum standards in terms of experience or qualifications will generally not be considered. Unsolicited applications not related to this specific job advertisement will not be considered.

• We receive many applications for each vacant position and so only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

If you have any questions about this role, please email [email protected] with the job title as the subject line.

Why NRC?

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is an independent humanitarian organisation helping people forced to flee. Our 15,000 staff work in crises across 40 countries, providing life-saving and long-term assistance to millions of people every year.

Watch this short video to see NRC in action.

We are looking for people who are passionate about helping refugees and people forced to flee. Are you one of those people? If you are, NRC offers you the opportunity to:

• do demanding and professional work, often in challenging contexts.

• join a work culture that empowers every employee to share ideas and take responsibility.

• be part of a welcoming and supportive community committed to human dignity.

About Norwegian Refugee Council

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is a global humanitarian organisation helping people forced to flee.

Join us in assisting millions of people in areas where others cannot, tackling some of the world”s most dangerous and difficult crises. Bring your skills and dedication to an organisation recognised for providing high quality aid and for defending the rights of refugees and internally displaced people.

At NRC, we give responsibility to employees at all levels and foster professional growth and innovative teams. You can expect a supportive culture and an open dialogue with management. We are committed to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Together, we save lives and rebuild futures.

Safeguarding is central to NRC’s work. We expect all employees to:

• treat everyone with respect and dignity

• contribute to building a safe environment for all

• never engage in any form of exploitation, harassment and specifically sexual exploitation, abuse and sexual harassment (SEAH)

• always report. NRC has a zero-tolerance approach to inaction against exploitation, abuse and SEAH