MEAL Officer - Karachi

CRS is a global organization dedicated to saving, protecting, and transforming lives in over 100 countries through programs in emergency response, health, agriculture, education, microfinance, and peacebuilding. Committed to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults, CRS ensures all its processes uphold the highest standards of protection and accountability. The Project Officer - MEAL role based in Karachi supports CRS Pakistan’s portfolio by providing operational Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) functions at the project level. This position collaborates closely with project managers, MEAL teams, technical staff, partners, and the MEAL Manager to ensure data accuracy, completeness, and timely use for decision-making and reporting. Responsibilities include tracking indicators and activities, managing data collection tools and digital systems, conducting field monitoring and data quality assessments, supporting feedback and complaint response mechanisms, and facilitating learning for adaptive management.

Key Responsibilities

Project MEAL Systems and Progress Tracking: Assist project teams in establishing and maintaining MEAL systems aligned with donor and CRS requirements. Update indicator tracking tools, beneficiary databases, and action plans while monitoring progress and identifying gaps or delays.

Data Quality Assurance and Verification: Perform routine data quality checks to ensure accuracy, completeness, and consistency. Clean and validate datasets by identifying missing data, duplicates, outliers, and errors. Cross-verify reported data against source documents and maintain data quality assessment logs.

Data Collection Tools and Digital Systems: Support the development, review, and digitization of data collection tools using platforms such as Kobo and CommCare. Provide guidance on proper tool usage and address common data quality challenges.

Data Management, Analysis, Dashboards, and Reporting: Maintain organized and secure data repositories with version control. Prepare clean datasets, summary tables, charts, and dashboards to support reporting and management reviews.

Field Monitoring and Evidence Verification: Conduct monitoring visits to project sites to verify implementation progress, beneficiary reach, and data quality. Document findings and follow-up actions through detailed reports.

Accountability and Feedback Complaint Response Mechanism (FCRM): Support the implementation and quality assurance of FCRM systems. Review feedback and complaints for completeness and confidentiality, and assist in analyzing community feedback to improve programs.

Learning and Adaptive Management: Prepare data summaries and evidence for project reviews and reflection sessions. Document lessons learned, good practices, and challenges to support timely corrective actions and program improvements.

Required Qualifications

A Bachelor’s degree in social sciences, computer science, IT, or a related field is required, with a postgraduate qualification considered an advantage. Candidates should have a minimum of three years’ experience in MEAL, data quality assurance, data management, or reporting within humanitarian or development contexts. Proven skills in data cleaning, validation, field verification, indicator tracking, and database management are essential. Strong written and spoken English, Urdu, and Sindhi are required, with knowledge of additional local languages considered a plus.

Preferred Qualifications and Skills

Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and experience with Power BI or similar visualization tools are highly desirable. Practical experience with digital data collection platforms such as Kobo or CommCare is important. Familiarity with GIS-linked datasets, GPS verification, and spatial data is an advantage. Candidates should understand data protection, confidentiality, safeguarding, and responsible data management principles. Strong analytical, organizational, communication, and problem-solving skills are essential. Experience conducting formal Data Quality Assessments and managing dashboards or centralized databases is preferred. Knowledge of CRS MEAL policies and accountability standards will be beneficial.

This position requires frequent travel across Pakistan’s program areas, including Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Punjab. While no direct supervisory responsibilities exist, the role may provide technical guidance to staff and partners during MEAL activities.

CRS encourages applications from qualified nationals of the countries where it operates, prioritizing local leadership and sustainability. The organization is committed to safeguarding all program participants and staff and expects adherence to its Code of Conduct. CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer dedicated to protecting the rights and dignity of all individuals.