Technical Advisor II - MEAL

Position duration: 18 months (tentative July 1, 2026 – December 31, 2027)

Project Overview

Catholic Relief Services is implementing a global emergency response initiative designed to deliver timely, life‑saving humanitarian assistance in rapidly evolving crises worldwide. Over 18 months, the program enables fast, flexible action to address urgent needs arising from sudden shocks and protracted emergencies. It supports critical humanitarian sectors through context‑appropriate assistance while emphasizing operational readiness, rapid response activation, locally led implementation, accountability to affected communities, and safe, dignified programming. The initiative strengthens the organization’s ability to respond at speed and scale in complex and resource‑constrained environments, ensuring help reaches people most in need when it matters most.

Job Summary  

You will provide technical advice, guidance, and support to a wide range of program design and implementation issues with a focus on larger projects in the area of  emergency Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) in line with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) program quality principles and standards, donor guidelines, and industry best practices to regional and Country Program (CP) teams to advance the delivery of high-quality programming to the poor and vulnerable. Your technical knowledge, advice and guidance will contribute to determining how effective, adaptive and innovative CRS’ MEAL programming is across the globe. 

Roles and Key Responsibilities 

• Contribute to the development and implementation of agency-wide strategies, standards, tools, and best practices in emergency MEAL that effectively engage partners, donors and governments. Help ensure a cross-sectoral approach integrating gender, protection mainstreaming, and disaster risk reduction.
• Provide technical solutions to regional and CP teams, remotely and on-site, for strategic planning and how to best apply program design and implementation standards, best practices, partnership principles, tools, and M&E, ensuring high-quality implementation.
• Contribute to regional and CP efforts to pre-position CRS for growth opportunities in emergency responses. Lead or contribute to the development of the technical design for large and/or complex proposals, including defining appropriate monitoring systems and indicators. Advise project teams on integrating donor strategies, priorities and technical requirements into CRS’ approach.
• Contribute to capacity strengthening initiatives in MEAL staff and partner through helping develop learning and training strategies and agendas/curriculums, conducting trainings and workshops, and mentoring and coaching to CP staff.
• Contribute to knowledge management and learning through collecting and analyzing program data, evaluating strategic projects, assisting with measuring program impact, capturing and sharing lessons learned and best practices, and research and internal reports.
• Establish and maintain relationships with donors, peer organizations, research and other institutions. Participate in forums in MEAL to collect and share best practices and promote CRS’ work.
• Contribute to the customization and design of digital forms for data collection and the design of approaches for data visualization that facilitate use of data and quality reporting for development and humanitarian programming.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities  

• Demonstrated application of technical principles and concepts in MEAL. General knowledge of other related disciplines to ensure a proper cross-sectoral approach.
• Proficient in MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), Web Conferencing Applications, information and budget management systems, knowledge-sharing networks.
• Experience in business development, project design and proposal development in MEAL, including technical writing.
• Experience in mentoring, coaching, facilitation and training applying adult learning principles and practices.
• Experience with program monitoring and evaluation, including applying data collection tools and methodologies, data analysis, and data presentation.
• Experience and skills in networking and relations with donors, peer organizations, and faith-based civil society partners. Understanding of partnership principles.
• Excellent relationship management skills with ability to influence and get buy-in from people not under direct supervision and to work with individuals in diverse geographical and cultural settings.
• Strong strategic, analytical, problem-solving and systems thinking skills with capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgment
• Strong written and oral communication skills
• Strong presentation, facilitation, training, mentoring, and coaching skills
• Proactive, resourceful and results-oriented

Preferred Qualifications 

• Master's Degree in statistics, economics, international development or other related field is an advantage.
• Located in or able to cover UTC +0 – UTC +4 time zones.

Required Languages: Fluent in English and French, Portuguese or Arabic would be an added value. 

Travel: Must be willing and able to travel up to 50% (i.e.,  6 months out of the year) ; duration of a deployment will generally be from 1 to 3 months, depending on the needs of the country program/partner. Candidates should have the capacity to live and work in difficult/stressful environments and serve wherever agency needs dictate.

Supervisory Responsibilities: No

Basic Qualifications 

• Bachelor’s Degree in statistics, economics, international development or other related field required.
• Minimum of eight years’ relevant international working experience in an advisory or management role with progressive responsibilities, ideally with an international NGO, with minimum of three years working for programming interventions in emergency MEAL.
• Previous experience providing technical assistance and developing successful proposals for external donor funding is required.

Agency Competencies (for all CRS Staff):

• Personal Accountability – Consistently takes responsibility for one’s own actions. 
• Acts with Integrity - Consistently models values aligned with CRS Guiding Principles and mission.  Is considered honest.
• Builds and Maintains Trust - Shows consistency between words and actions.
• Collaborates with Others – Works effectively in intercultural and diverse teams.
• Open to Learn – Seeks out experiences that may change perspective or provide an opportunity to learn new things.

Agency Leadership Competencies:

• Lead Change – Continually looks for ways to improve the agency through a culture of agility, openness, and innovation.
• Develops and Recognizes Others – Builds the capacity of staff to reach their full potential and enhance team and agency performance.
• Strategic Mindset – Understands role in translating, communicating, and implementing agency strategy and team priorities.

What we offer

CRS offers U.S. based staff a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, life insurance, vision, and a generous retirement savings plan.  Salary and Benefits packages for successful candidates employed outside the U.S. are based on the country of employment/in-country office where the candidate will perform the role.  CRS´ work culture is a collaborative, mission-driven culture committed to improving the lives of the poor throughout the world.