MEAL Manager Palestine

Background

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has been present in Palestine since 2009. NRC implements programming directly and in collaboration with partners in five Core Competencies: Shelter & Site Management, Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WaSH), Information Counselling and legal Assistance (ICLA), Protection from Violence (PfV) and Education. NRC Palestine implements programming both directly as well as through a wide network of partners. Last year, NRC served nearly 600,000 unique program participants.

NRC’s programming in Palestine has a strong humanitarian, protection and resilience focus that looks to meet vital needs through sustainable solutions to increase early recovery outcomes through integrated programme responses. In this complex, challenging operating environment in Palestine, NRC is working to strengthen the quality, responsiveness, integration, and sustainability of our programmes. This requires high-quality monitoring, evidence, accountability and learning systems in place in order to ensure the oversight and effectiveness of our programmes for the people we serve.

\\\\Please note for this role, applicants must be legally eligible to work in Palestine. We are unable to provide work permits or visa sponsorships for this position. \\

What we are looking for

An experienced, motivated Monitoring, Evidence, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) Manager who will lead the strategic direction and quality assurance of MEAL in the country office. The role holder will design and implement a strategy, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and budgets for the function, which aims to ensure the Country Office (CO) is meeting and exceeding NRC’s MEAL minimum standards. In close collaboration with programme leadership, the role leads CO learning agenda and evaluation planning required to feed into programme and strategic decision making at key learning moments. As a functional manager this role is part of a technical matrix structure and works collaboratively with both the technical and the operational management structures at country and area offices.

If you are a passionate seasoned humanitarian professional with experience in management, MEAL systems and methodologies, working with partners and capacity building, then this is the role for you!

What you will do

The role will have the following responsibilities:

• Support the design of theories of change, MEAL tools, and indicators with Programme and Advocacy teams; ensure that MEAL plans are developed and implemented.
• Development and sign-off on logframes during program design and proposal development processes.
• Contribute to CO-level procedures, policies, and guidance to institutionalise MEAL across the mission.
• Promote MEAL as a strategic priority by contributing to country strategy processes and supporting programme Specialists in using MEAL data.
• Support NRC Palestine’s implementing partners with best MEL practice, ensuring alignment of systems and accurate reporting
• Ensuring learning moments are institutionalized, with systems in place for analyzing and using data and supporting programmed managers to interpret and use learning for strategic and programmed decision making. This includes contributing to the development, learning and adaptation of multi-year programmed strategies and organizational strategic reviews
• Ensure learning through evaluations, after-action reviews and lessons learned exercises based on the CO learning agenda and integrate findings across the Project Cycle Management (PCM) phases.
• Act as the in-country focal point for programmatic digital systems—supporting system adoption, and overseeing troubleshooting, user feedback, and coordination with global teams—while ensuring compliance with data governance frameworks.
• Ensure harmonization of monitoring approaches across both area offices, to enable analysis and reporting to be consistent across programmes and locations.
• Work with senior Programme staff to increase data literacy and familiarization of use of data and evidence as an approach towards strategic planning. Advocate for programme learning and raise concerns to management when learning seems to be lacking.
• Engage with Global MEAL units to adapt good practices, receive technical support in line with global MEAL procedures, and ensure CO’s experience feeds into global learning.
• Support programme teams to make contextual adaptations to the MEAL framework in line with global guidance, such as MEAL planning and implementation for integrated programmes, Hard to Reach contexts, working with partners, working with development donors or in acute emergencies.
• Carry out any other tasks related to the position or the MEAL function as delegated by the line manager.

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

What you will bring

• Minimum 6 years of MEAL experience, including managerial experience, NGO and/or international organisation, preferably in emergency or post-conflict settings, with experience supporting internally displaced persons (IDPs) and working in camp or remote management environments.
• Bachelor’s degree in Statistics, Information Systems Management, Social Sciences, Development Studies, or a related field.
• Strong understanding of MEAL principles and current approaches in relief and development settings, using both quantitative and qualitative methods.
• Skilled in data analysis, interpretation of trends, and communication of findings to support evidence-based decision-making.
• Experience in mobile and online data collection systems and in data management and analysis platforms.
• Experience handling sensitive community feedback in line with data protection principles.
• Experience coordinating with the UN system, INGOs, donors, and local authorities at field level.
• Technical expertise in programme evaluation methodologies and approaches.
• Proficient in facilitating participatory discussions, learning workshops, and capacity-building activities.
• Advanced in spoken and written English.
• Familiarity with the political and humanitarian context in Palestine.
• Experience implementing MEAL systems in hard-to-reach or remote-managed areas.
• Experience supporting MEAL for one of NRC’s Core Competencies is an asset.
• Experience with local partners capacity building in complex or sensitive environments.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office standard applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) is required; experience with Microsoft 365 collaboration tools (e.g., SharePoint, Teams, OneDrive, Planner) is an advantage

What we offer:

• Duty station: West Bank, Palestine or Gaza
• \\\\Please note for this role, applicants must be legally eligible to work in Palestine. We are unable to provide work permits or visa sponsorships for this position. \\
• Travel: Approximately 30% to areas of operation.
• Salary/benefits: Grade 9 on NRC’s Palestine National salary scale.
• 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

• Internal candidates: To apply as an internal candidate, log in with your official email or click on Opportunity Marketplace.
• For current NRC employees, please use your official email address when applying.
• Submit your application and CV in English, taking care to attach your latest CV.
• We receive many applications for each vacant position and so only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
• 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.
• If you have any questions about this role, please email mero.recruitment@nrc.nowith 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.

NRC currently has over 3,000 staff across the Middle East dedicated to assisting people affected by conflict in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Libya and Palestine. Its humanitarian interventions are based upon its programming expertise in the Core Competencies of Shelter, Education, WASH, Livelihoods and Food Security, and Information Counselling and Legal Assistance (ICLA) to vulnerable displaced people that were forced to flee.

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.

Learn more about NRC's operations in Palestine here.