About CRS

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, nutrition, health, agriculture, education, environment, microfinance and peacebuilding.

Project Overview

“ECE-PLAY – Play, Learn, Achieve Yearlong” is a collaborative initiative in partnership with MOES, led by CRS and NCA, with funding from the European Union (EU), to strengthen the technical capacity of Lao CSOs in delivering cost-effective, inclusive Early Childhood Education models focusing on rural areas and vulnerable groups. The initiative directly contributes to Laos’ Education Sector Development Plan (ESSDP) 2025–2030. ECE-PLAY enhances service delivery in vulnerable communities by elevating CSO leadership in ECE.

Job Summary

The MEAL Officer is responsible for supporting the implementation of high-quality MEAL activities for ECE-PLAY from project start-up, through project close-out. Under the supervision of the ECE-PLAY Project Manager, and with support from the Country Program MEAL Manager, the MEAL Officer’s role will include contributing to the development of standardized data collection tools, weekly to quarterly data collection in collaboration with other project and partner staff, monthly data quality inspections, and implementation of project feedback and complaints response mechanisms.

The MEAL Officer will ensure that systems are in place to measure project progress and impact, and that data is readily available to inform programmatic adjustments and evidence-based decision-making. In collaboration with project staff, partner staff, and government partners, the MEAL Officer will support initiatives to ensure that learning is incorporated in all stages of the project cycle and that the project consistently applies best practices and works towards improving the lives of the people CRS serves.

Roles and Key Responsibilities

• Support the coordination and implementation of all assigned project MEAL activities as outlined in the Detailed Implementation Plan in line with CRS program quality principles, standards and MEAL policies, procedures, and practices; donor MEAL requirements; and industry best practices.
• Support the creation of a comprehensive MEAL system for the project utilizing CRS’ SMILER+ methodology.
• Support the implementation of project assessments and evaluations, including coordinating field activities, data collection, quality assurance and reporting.
• Monitor and report any MEAL-related challenges and gaps identified to inform adjustments to plans and implementation schedules. Assist project and partner staff in their efforts to reflect on project experiences.
• Support actively seeking and responding to feedback from all members of targeted communities and other stakeholders.
• Support field-level project MEAL activities (including digital data collection) and assist partners in their efforts to collect and ensure timely analysis of project data per specified mechanisms and tools.
• Collaborate with partners to prepare MEAL-related aspects of reports per established reporting schedule.
• Support the capacity building of government, and NGO partners and provide technical support activities to ensure effective impact.
• Support program learning and decision through Partner Quarterly Reflection Meeting (PQRM), engaging with project data, reflecting upon and sharing with project management the information gathered from local partner.
• Support MEAL administrative tasks such as, but not limited to, raising requisition forms and advance requests, and preparing materials for data collection activities, workshops, trainings, and learning events.
• Support the integration of GEDSI considerations into project MEAL activities by ensuring inclusive monitoring, data collection, analysis, and reporting, with appropriate disaggregation of data by sex, age, disability, and other relevant social inclusion factors.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree preferred. Degree in statistics, development studies, population studies, social sciences, or a related field would be a plus.
• Minimum of 3 years of work experience in project support. Experience in the field of MEAL and for an NGO would be a plus.
• Additional experience may substitute for some education.
• Proficiency in MS Windows and MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) required

Required Languages

Fluency in written and spoken Lao is required. Excellent proficiency in reading and writing English is required.

Travel

Must be willing and able to travel up to 30% in Savannakhet and Bokeo Province.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Observation, active listening and analysis skills with ability to make sound judgment
• Good relationship management skills and the ability to work closely with field staff, partner and local government partners
• Attention to details, accuracy and timeliness in executing assigned responsibilities
• Proactive, results-oriented and service-oriented
• Excellent organizational skills and ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in working with local NGO
• Experience in training and capacity strengthening local partner and government partner
• Proficiency in data management systems preferred

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff)

• Integrity
• Continuous Improvement & Innovation
• Builds Relationships
• Develops Talent
• Strategic Mindset
• Accountability & Stewardship

Supervisory Responsibilities

No supervisory responsibilities.

Key Working Relationships

Internal: Project Manager, CSO Project Officer, MEAL Manager, Marketing & Communications team

External: NGO Partner, Government partners

MEAL Competencies (for CRS MEAL Program Staff)

• Monitoring
• Evaluation
• Accountability
• Learning

APPLICATION INFORMATION: To apply for this position, please submit an application letter stating your expression of interest along with your most current CV by email to LA HR@crs.org