MEAL and Partnership Specialist

MEAL and Partnership Specialist Role 

Under the supervision and direct line management of the Programme Development and Quality Advisor, the MEAL and Partnership Specialist ensure effective MEAL management and strengthening of partnerships by supporting the design and implementation of MEAL and partnership strategies, coordinating contractual and operational follow-up with partners, and ensuring high-quality, compliant reporting and communication in line with donor requirements.  

War Child is recruiting qualified MEAL and Partnership Specialist to support our programs in Yemen. We are seeking experienced individuals with a solid background in MEAL and Partnership within humanitarian and emergency contexts, particularly in Yemen and in response to child protection, PSS, education, FSL and economic empowerment of youth and young women programs. 

The MEAL and Partnership Specialist is responsible for supporting the implementation of MEAL and Partnership framework and will have non-sector-specific, area-level responsibilities. 

Key Responsibilities 

1. Partnership Framework: Support the operationalization of War Child Partnership Framework;adaptation, design and rollout of the partnership and localization strategy, including partner mapping, tools development, and internal alignment.
2. Partnership Mutual Accountability:Coordinate due diligence,self-assessment,draft and manage partnership agreements.

1. Partner Coordination & Capacity Building:Contribute to partner coordination, support deliverables validation, and implement capacity-building initiatives to strengthen partner performance.
2. Lead the design and implementation of the MEAL systemwithMEALteamto ensure effective monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning across allprogrammes, in line withWar Child global MEAL systemand donor requirements. 
3. Overseedata quality, analysis, and reporting, ensuringtimelygeneration of evidence and insights to supportprogrammeperformance, decision-making, and donor compliance. 
4. Strengthen accountability and learning mechanisms, including community feedback systems, evaluations, lessons learned, and knowledge management processes to improveprogrammequality and impact.

Detailed Tasks / Main Activities 

Partnership Framework: 

• Support the mapping and analysis of potential partners based onprogrammeand operational needs, in coordination withthe relevantSMT members.
• Support the adaptation and implementation of partnershipframework, SOPs, and aligning them with War Child Global Partnership Framework.
• Contribute to the development, testing, and updating of partnership tools,includingDue diligence tools, assessment tools, Partnership Funding Agreement template, Reporting templates and annexes, Capacity assessmenttoolor Mapping and tracking tools
• Support the development and updating of internal partnership-related procedures, including roles and responsibilities matrices
• Ensure proper documentation, archiving, and accessibility of partnership-related tools and resources

Partnership Mutual Accountability: 

• Under the lead of thePDQA,facilitatethe integration ofpartnersinputs in proposals and act as a focal point for gathering partner documentation for proposals.
• Coordinate due diligence processes with partners and withWar Child’sdifferent departmentsbefore final validation of the analysis by thePDQA.
• Support the organization of contractual kick-off meetings with partners. 
• Coordinate the drafting, review, and finalization of partnership agreements (MoUs,PFA, annexes)
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• Ensure proper documentation, filing, and achieving all partnership-related information.

Partner Coordination & Capacity Building: 

• Jointly with the partners,identifycapacity gaps and support the design, implementation, and follow-up of partner capacity building plans.
• Support the validation of partner deliverables across relevant departments.
• Organize and follow-up on coordination meetings with partners and internal departments (programme, MEAL, finance,logistics).
• Organize or contribute to partnership reviews, coordination mechanisms, and lessons learned exercises.
• Flag challenges, risks, and issues related to partnerships to thePDQAand contribute to their resolution.

Lead the design and implementation of the MEAL system: 

• Oversee the implementation of the WCAmonitoring and evaluation system in Yemen, including the migration of projectsdata into the Management Information System (MIS) database.
• Work with MEAL team to design tools for data collection responsive toEducation,ChildProtection,PSSandLivelihoodsprogrammes, which are consistent with the project log frames.
• Support MEAL team andproject staff including implementing partner staff tomaintainquality assurances of data collected.
• Ensure that project MEAL tools andSoPsare applied andproperly usedby partners.
• Supervise independent externally funded final evaluations and liaise, negotiate and commission work as necessary with external evaluators;

Oversee data quality, analysis, and reporting: 

• Work with MEAL team to ensure that output and outcome data are collected,analyzedand documented fortimelyreporting and Indicator Performance Tracking Tableto make sure monthly progress data/ documentsare uploaded.
• Maintain and regularlyreport against LF and update, ensuring progress and achievements for each indicator are accurately documented and work with program teams to collect justifications for any over- or under-achievements and integrate them into the LF.
• Compile,validate, and report on monitoringand evaluationdata from Yemen on a quarterly and annual basis for senior management and Global MEAL team.

• Conduct routine checks on the accuracy of figures reportedbyMEAL team andpartner, cross-verifying them with data inLFand other reporting formsand documents.Identifydiscrepancies and address them promptly tomaintainconsistency and accuracy across reporting platforms.

Strengthen accountability and learning mechanisms: 

• Ensure that accountability mechanisms are safe, accessible, andappropriate forallprojects andsegments of the population.
• Support the establishment and maintenance of multiple channels for feedback (e.g., help desks, suggestion boxes, hotlines, surveys).
• Support the development and dissemination of communication materialson the project information, Safeguarding communication channels and BCRM channelsinappropriate languagesand formats.
• Ensure the learning from internal and external evaluations isdisseminatedand incorporated into the development of future projects. 
• Support infacilitatingreflection and learning sessions with program staffand partnersto ensure insights from MEAL data are effectivelyutilizedto enhance project design and implementation.

These duties provide a framework for the role and should not be regarded as a definitive list. Other reasonable duties may be required consistent with the grade of the post.