THE ORGANISATION

Yamba Malawi transforms children’s lives by empowering communities to break the cycle of poverty. We acknowledge that strained resources, poor safety nets, and limited caregiver capacity lead to poor childhood development outcomes, particularly during children’s first five years, and have lifelong effects. Limited financial literacy and insufficient access to formal financial services hinder community and caregivers’ efforts to invest in their children’s futures. A lack of economic opportunity creates a cycle of extreme poverty that increases childhood vulnerability and has lifelong effects on children’s growth, development, and happiness.

Yamba Malawi’s signature Childhoods and Livelihoods program uses a holistic 3-pronged approach to addressing these complex and interrelated sets of challenges: 1. improving nurturing care and support for children through the strengthening of community safety nets and services, and increasing caregiver knowledge and skills in best practices for childhood wellbeing and early childhood development (ECD), 2. increasing access to financial knowledge and services, including training, savings and credit, and budgeting to improve the use of income on children’s existing and future needs, and 3. improving economic resilience through diverse income generating activities that provide increased income to meet children’s basic needs.

Working at the household and community level, the Program includes a planned, time-bound sequence of activities that pairs the transfer of business assets with training, savings promotion, short-term income stabilisation, and critical ECD and childhood wellbeing coaching that enables caregivers to plan beyond immediate needs and build foundations to improve their children’s futures.

POSITION DESCRIPTION

We are seeking a highly motivated and enthusiastic MEAL Manager for provides both strategic and operational leadership for Yamba Malawi’s Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) system. The role ensures that high-quality data systems generate credible evidence on programme performance, strengthen accountability to communities, and enable adaptive, evidence-based decision-making across all levels of

the organisation.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Design, strengthen, and lead MEAL systems to support both rigorous impact measurement and cost-effectiveness analysis as the programme evolves toward scale.
• Ensure MEAL systems generate insights that inform programme adaptation, efficiency improvements, and scaling decisions.
• Maintain and strengthen the Theory of Change, results frameworks, and performance indicators aligned to the child focus graduation model.
• Develop and manage tools, systems, and dashboards for routine monitoring and performance tracking.
• Ensure strong data architecture, standardisation, and quality assurance across all programmes.
• Design and oversee baseline, midline, and endline evaluations to measure programme impact.
• Provide technical input into programme guide development led by Programme Teams by ensuring interventions are measurable, evidence-based, and aligned with the Theory of Change and MEAL systems.

2. Data Management, Quality and Integrity

• Lead high-frequency and routine data collection across all programme activities.
• Ensure robust Data Quality Assurance (DQA) systems including verification, audits, and field validation.
• Maintain secure, structured, and accessible databases for analysis and reporting.
• Ensure all MEAL systems comply with ethical standards, safeguarding policies, and data protection requirements.

3.Monitoring, Evaluation and Performance Analysis

• Define, benchmark, collect, and analyze SMART indicators across household outcomes, community outcomes, and child-focused outcomes, including income, resilience, nutrition, education, health and protection
• Use data to assess how programme adaptations impact outcomes, supporting evidence-based refinement of the model.
• Analyse quantitative and qualitative data to generate actionable insights for programme improvement.
• Conduct comparative analysis across projects, cohorts, and programme cycles to identify trends, performance patterns, and learning insights.

4. Reporting, Organisational Learning and Knowledge Management

• Ensure that insights generated through MEAL systems are actively used to inform programme design, implementation, and strategic decision-making.
• Lead production of internal MEAL outputs, including monthly dashboards, quarterly performance reports, and annual results reports.
• Ensure consistency between programme data, MEAL frameworks, and organisational reporting systems.
• Identify patterns in performance, outcomes, and implementation effectiveness across programmes and cohorts.
• Lead organisational learning processes, including reflection sessions, after-action reviews, and knowledge documentation.
• Produce learning briefs, internal knowledge products, and evidence summaries.
• Share insights across teams to strengthen organisational learning, programme improvement, and scaling decisions.

5. Accountability to Communities and Safeguarding

• Lead and strengthen Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) systems across all programmes.
• Oversee the Feedback and Complaints Response Mechanism (FCRM), ensuring timely, safe, and transparent responses.
• Ensure all MEAL systems uphold safeguarding, child protection, and ethical data use standards.
• Promote community voice and participation in monitoring and evaluation processes.

6. Capacity Building and Team Development

• Supervise and mentor MEAL staff (where applicable), while directly leading core MEAL functions.
• Build staff and partner capacity in data collection, analysis, and evidence-based decision-making.
• Conduct training on MEAL systems, tools, data quality, and reporting standards.
• Strengthen organisational culture of learning, accountability, and performance use.

7. Programme Development and Donor Reporting

• Provide technical input into donor reports (monthly summaries, quarterly reports, annual reports, and evaluations).
• Ensure MEAL data is accurately reflected in all external reporting.
• Collaborate with Programme Teams to integrate MEAL systems into programme cycles.
• Support evidence generation for impact reporting and donor communications.

8. Resource Mobilisation and Proposal Development

• Provide technical input into concept notes, expressions of interest, and full proposals.
• Contribute evidence, indicators, and results frameworks to strengthen funding applications.
• Lead development of logframes,, and measurement strategies.
• Collaborate with the Fundraising Team, Executive Director, and Programme Teams to ensure all proposals are evidence-based, results-driven, and aligned with organisational strategy.

9. Annual Planning and Organisational Alignment

• Provide technical input into annual planning and budgeting processes to ensure coherence between programme design, results frameworks, and organisational priorities.
• Collaborate with the Director of Finance, Head of Advancement and External Affairs, and Programme Teams during annual planning processes.
• Ensure coherence between programme plans, results frameworks and indicators, budgeting assumptions, and resource mobilisation priorities.
• Support alignment of annual plans and budgets with organisational strategy and
• MEAL systems.

10. Coordination and External Representation

• Collaborate with government counterparts, implementing partners, and technical networks to strengthen MEAL systems.
• Represent Yamba Malawi in MEAL forums, technical working groups, and learning platforms.
• Support harmonisation of MEAL approaches across partners and programmes.
• Collaborate with Programme Teams and leadership to support coordination of donor visits, including preparation of field visits, data briefings, and presentation of programme results.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS, RELEVANT EXPERIENCE PROFESSIONAL/TECHNICAL INOWLEDGE/SKILL AND COMPETENCIES

• Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences, Development Studies, Statistics, Economics, or related field.
• Postgraduate training or certification in MEAL, RBM, or Project Management is an advantage.
• Minimum of 4 years of relevant experience, with at least 2 years at managerial or system administration level.
• Proven expertise in MEAL system design, data management, and performance monitoring.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Power Bl, or other data visualization software.
• Experience with statistical tools such as SPSS, STATA, Kobo Toolbox, or ODK.
• Excellent facilitation, organizational, and communication skills.
• Strong integrity, accountability, and commitment to evidence-based programming.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

Please click the following link to apply: https://forms.gle/7D9Bs4DX4dgoRiZJ9.