MEAL Manager

Job Description

Title: MEAL Manager

Company Name: The Earth

Vacancy: --

Age: Na

Job Location: Dhaka

Salary: Negotiable

Experience: --

Published: 2026-08-06

Application Deadline: 2026-09-04

Education:

Requirements: --

Skills Required:

Additional Requirements:

Responsibilities & Context:

Position Purpose

The MEAL Manager for the Dhaka Office provides strategic leadership and oversight of MEAL functions across all programs and operational areas. This role is responsible for ensuring high-quality, evidence-based programming, fostering a strong culture of learning and accountability, and leading the integration of data-driven decision-making within program design and implementation. The postholder will lead and manage a team of MEAL professionals, including the MEAL Officer and Research & Learning Consultant, ensuring alignment with The Earth MEAL standards and sector best practices.

The MEAL Manager will also be responsible for developing and implementing a comprehensive MEAL strategy, strengthening internal MEAL systems, ensuring compliance with donor and organizational requirements, and fostering a learning culture across the various projects operated by The Earth. The role requires excellent leadership, analytical, and coordination skills to navigate the complex operating environment and drive impactful change.

Role Dimension

This is a senior leadership role requiring collaboration with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders, including The Earth interdepartmental members, the Head Office, Programme Team, HR, Finance, Hub/Area Offices, Partners & Counterparts, Advisors, donors, and technical working groups. The MEAL Manager will represent The Earth in external MEAL-related forums and lead efforts to enhance the organization’s credibility in research, learning, and evidence-based programming.

Expected End Results

1. Strategic Leadership & MEAL System Strengthening:

• Lead the development and implementation of a comprehensive MEAL strategy for The Earth Country Program, ensuring alignment with The Earth’s country MEAL framework and best practices.

• Provide technical leadership and oversight on all MEAL activities, ensuring strong evidence-based programming across all thematic sectors.

• Ensure MEAL systems and processes are standardized, robust, and user-friendly, enabling effective data collection, analysis, and reporting.

• Ensure a culture of accountability and learning is embedded across all program activities.

• Develop and oversee MEAL mechanisms and frameworks, adapting approaches to the dynamic operational context inside The Earth Country Program.

• Oversee the design and implementation of the project’s MEAL system in coordination with Technical Advisors and the MEAL Team in the Head Office and at Area/Hub Office level, including key performance indicators, targets, tools, and appropriate MEAL responsibilities across the project.

• Oversee responsibilities for needs assessments, baseline and external midterm and final evaluations, including coordination of external processes such as drafting ToR and selection of firms, in alignment with The Earth’s procurement policy.

• Develop and disseminate relevant MEAL tools, ITT, IPTT, DIP, Log-frame, MIS, and relevant reporting formats, and lead the provision of MEAL-specific technical training.

• Oversee data collection, collation, storage, analysis, and reporting, ensuring that data is of high quality and audit-worthy.

• Ensure MEAL teams are compliant with The Earth MEAL system.

• Ensure appropriate training and supportive supervision of all partners in monitoring and evaluation procedures, data-collection tools, and data-management practices in alignment with MEAL best practices.

• Support partners in establishing their internal MEAL systems, M&E plans, and data-quality management.

• Strengthen staff and partners’ capacity in qualitative and quantitative monitoring and evaluation techniques through comprehensive staff training, mentoring, and/or coaching.

• Contribute to climate- and youth-focused programme implementation by promoting environment-friendly qualitative methodologies.

• Contribute to programme updates for the Senior Management Team and internal information sharing.

2. Data Management, Quality Assurance & Evidence Generation:

• Ensure the timely and accurate collection, analysis, and use of MEAL data to inform decision-making, learning, and strategy adaptation.

• Lead efforts across the team to design and strengthen data-collection methodologies, ensuring child- and gender-sensitive and inclusive approaches.

• Manage and oversee The Earth Country Program Database, ensuring accurate and timely storage and analysis of programmatic data.

• Oversee the development and integration of Information Management systems, MIS, IPTT, and ITT that enhance data visualization, real-time monitoring, and reporting.

• Oversee the data analysis, writing, and review of the results and learning sections of project reports in collaboration with program staff before submission to donors, and ensure compliance with internal data-quality requirements and timely reporting submissions.

• Be responsible for compiling and uploading KPI data quarterly.

3. Research, Learning & Knowledge Management:

• Oversee the development and rollout of The Earth Country Program Research and Learning Agenda, ensuring research priorities align with program needs, donor requirements, and sector best practices.

• Support and act as lead for the design and implementation of operational research, evaluations, and impact assessments to inform evidence-based programming.

• Strengthen knowledge-management and learning systems, ensuring insights are captured, shared, and applied across programs and teams.

• Lead efforts to generate, document, and disseminate learning and best practices, both internally and externally.

• Provide guidance to program teams and partners on integrating adaptive-management approaches based on real-time data and learning insights.

• Lead the program team in routine reviews and interpretation of data for learning and adaptation, and package and disseminate timely findings in a meaningful way.

4. Accountability & Participation:

• Ensure that participatory MEAL approaches are developed and reflected in programs, ensuring communities, especially children, youth, and women, are actively engaged in monitoring and evaluation processes.

• Establish close partnerships and ways of working between the Accountability Manager and Technical Advisors to ensure that feedback from children and communities is reflected in all project designs.

• Oversee the design of, and support the Accountability Manager in, the rollout of The Earth’s Accountability Framework.

• Ensure that beneficiary feedback is systematically collected, analyzed, and used to improve program quality and responsiveness.

• In consultation with partners, provide technical support on strengthening and establishing beneficiary and partner accountability systems across all programs in line with The Earth’s policies and Accountability Framework, including the Child Safeguarding Policy.

• Ensure compliance with child-safeguarding and ethical standards in all MEAL and research activities, reflecting Safe Programming principles in all MEAL plans.

5. External Representation and Strategic Engagement:

• Support strategic-planning processes, including strategy development, annual planning and reporting, and response-strategy support for all programming under The Earth Country Program.

• Work closely with The Earth Executive Director of Impact and Influencing to support coordination of The Earth Country Program strategy and ensure monitoring, learning, and improvement of program quality.

• Represent The Earth in MEAL coordination platforms, donor meetings, and research partnerships.

• Lead high-level MEAL advocacy and influencing efforts, ensuring The Earth’s leadership in evidence-based programming.

• Develop and maintain strategic partnerships with academic institutions, research bodies, and MEAL consortia to enhance The Earth’s research and learning capacity.

6. Capacity Building, Team Leadership & Partnerships

• Lead and manage The Earth Country Program MEAL Team, providing technical mentorship, performance management, and professional-development opportunities.

• Strengthen MEAL capacity among program staff and partners through training, coaching, and mentorship.

• Promote a culture of continuous learning, innovation, and data-driven decision-making within the MEAL Team.

• Engage with partners to strengthen their MEAL systems, ensuring effective data collection, reporting, and accountability mechanisms.

7. Others:

• Comply with all relevant The Earth policies and procedures regarding child safeguarding, health and safety, equal opportunities, and other relevant policies.

• Contribute to ensuring that programme delivery happens in strict adherence to security policies and procedures.

• Perform any other task as required.