School Meals Accelerator Evaluation, Monitoring & Reporting Consultant

About the School Meals Accelerator:

School Meals Accelerator (the Accelerator) is the fifth and newest initiative under the School Meals Coalition designed to support governments to scale and strengthen their national school meal programmes and turn their ambitions into real impact. Acting as a network catalyst and convenor the Accelerator mobilizes resources and expertise from the right partners to deliver strategic technical assistance where it matters most.

The Accelerators mission: unlock the full potential of national school meal programs by improving design scaling investment and fostering collaboration across education health and food systems. It embraces a systems-thinking approach adapts to country priorities and thrives in deep collaboration among global regional and local actors. The Accelerators ambition: to help low- and lower-middle-income countries reach an additional 100 million children by 2030 making school meals a cornerstone of human capital development and a global standard of care.

The Accelerator operates in conditions of high complexity. Because it operates as a network facilitator rather than a traditional organization its work spans multiple countries organisations and institutional logics and seeks to support system-level change rather than the delivery of predefined solutions.

For this reason the Accelerator has adopted a systemic leadership approach which accepts that pathways to change are non-linear and progress depends on learning adaptation and collaboration across boundaries. Working in this way places ongoing demands on those involved and requires leaders who are able to work productively with uncertainty difference and incomplete authority while maintaining accountability for results. Joining the Accelerator team therefore means being part of a first-of-its-kind development enterprise: a systems-focused effort to drive lasting country-led change that requires a willingness to learn adapt and be shaped by the work as it evolves.

Purpose of this role:

This role is part of the Engagement Team of the Accelerator which isresponsible forensuring that the Acceleratorsengagementat the political levelcontinues to enable andfacilitateits work generating more supporttapping into diverse networksand deepening relationshipsthat cancontinue to create a favourable authorizing environmentfor the initiative. The Evidence Monitoring & Reporting Consultant strengthens SMAs results reporting and adaptive learning functions. The postholder leads day-to-day monitoring and end-to-end reporting workflowsincluding donor reporting periodic management reporting annual and midterm reviewsand ensures information is accurate timely and aligned with SMAs systemic learning-oriented approach rather than a traditional monitoring and evaluation role.

A core part of the role is to lead value capture processes by systematically identifying documenting and synthesizing emerging patterns system shifts and learning from Accelerator country engagements. By curating evidence and translating it into clear decision-ready system narratives the consultant supports adaptive decision-making strengthens collective sensemaking and ensures that SMAs work reflects real system change.

The role promotes disciplined monitoring of key performance indicators systems-oriented measurement high-quality reporting and continuous learning across countries and workstreams contributing to SMAs mission of delivering credible insights accountability and system level influence. The postholder is also expected to coordinate closely with the School Meals Coalition Secretariat and other global initiatives to ensure aligned approaches shared messaging and coherent support to countries.

Responsibilities

1) Evidence & Results Management

• Operationalize and evolve the measurement framework (indicators baselines targets milestones) including systemsoriented indicators that capture emergent change (patterns norms incentives relationships) and maintaining reference sheets and datacollection schedules with the SMC Data & Monitoring Initiative.

• Collect validate and synthesize quantitative and qualitative data from SMA teams governments and partners; integrate stakeholder perspectives to surface weak signals and contextual factors that inform adaptation.

• Maintain trackers dashboards and evidence files for timely sensemaking; run routine monitoring cycles (monthly/quarterly/biannual) follow up on data calls and conduct descriptive analyses to identify emerging patterns and anomalies.

• Produce short evidence products (summaries visuals tables) for reviews and briefings; document limitations assumptions and improvement actions to reinforce data quality responsible evidence of use and alignment with SMAs systemsinformed narrative.

2) Reporting

• Lead the preparation of major reporting products (Annual Report Annual Plan midyear and endofyear updates) ensuring accuracy coherence and alignment with SMAs measurement framework and systemic narrative.

• Manage endtoend reporting workflows coordinating contributions across units conducting quality assurance maintaining version control and stewarding internal review and clearance processes.

• Draft and integrate clear compelling narrative content linking evidence country examples system behaviours and partner contributions generating a single coherent story across all reporting products.

• Produce and validate data annexes indicator tables visuals and methodological notes ensuring compliance with donor expectations internal standards and SMAs visual and narrative identity.

3) Value Capture & Systems Learning

• Identify and track emerging system shiftsincluding changes in norms incentives collaboration patterns resource flows and decisionmaking processespaying attention to weak signals and early indicators of change.

• Develop lighttouch analytical and sensemaking products that synthesize what is changing in the system and why translating insights into actionable guidance for leadership and country teams.

• Document emergent learning from country engagement surfacing positive deviances and leverage points and supporting adaptive decisions and realtime adjustments across workstreams.

• Curate continuous learning flows into reporting leadership briefings and strategy processes strengthening collective sensemaking and embedding systemsinformed adaptation across SMA.

4) People Leadership Ways of Working & Culture

• Model SMAs systemic leadership mindsets by practicing inclusive engagement constructive feedback transparency and crossteam collaboration; reinforce shared standards disciplined documentation and coherent communication flows across dispersed teams and workstreams.

• Demonstrate strong political and cultural awareness in interactions with governments partners and colleagues while upholding data protection safeguarding and donoharm principles across all evidence and reporting activities.
  

5) Learning Continuous Improvement & Knowledge

• Lead valuecapture and learning cycles by identifying emerging system shifts patterns and weak signals; synthesizing insights from monitoring data and qualitative inputs into accessible products (e.g. briefs snapshots learning notes) that inform strategic decisions and adaptation.

• Facilitate and embed collective sensemaking by supporting afteraction reviews reflection sessions and leadership discussions; maintain learning repositories update tools and guidance and translate complex systemlevel learning into clear narratives and visuals for internal planning reporting and strategy processes.

Individual developmental expectations within the SMA Systemic Leadership Framework

This role operates within the School Meals Accelerators systemic leadership approach. All SMA roles are expected to be enacted in line with the SMA Systemic Leadership Framework which sets out six shared leadership mindsets core leadership practices and more systemically demanding practices that guide how we work in complex fast-changing environments. The Framework also describes ways of engaging with complexity which reflect how individuals make sense of and act in uncertain interdependence situations.

While developmental maturity and role seniority are independent the SMA sets minimum developmental expectations by grade to support clarity and fairness in recruitment and early employment.

For this Consultant Level II role the minimum expectation is:

Reflective engagement with complexity: Staff members are increasingly able to step back from experience and notice their assumptions and reactions often after the event. Reflection supports learning and adjustment over time though it is not yet consistently available in the moment.

As set out in the Framework these expectations represent floors not ceilings. Ways of engaging with complexity are descriptive rather than evaluative are not tied mechanically to seniority or performance management and are used to support reflection learning and development over time rather than ranking or judgement.

What the Systemic Leadership Framework Means for Your Recruitment and Role

All roles in the School Meals Accelerator are expected to be enacted in line with the Systemic Leadership recruitment and selection the Framework supports informed conversations about how candidates make sense of complexity uncertainty and systemic change alongside assessment of technical expertise and role fit.

In ongoing work the Framework provides a shared orientation to how we work here and supports individual and collective learning over time.

Qualifications:

Education

Advanced University degree in social sciences statistics development economics performance management monitoring and evaluation or other related fields; or First University degree with additional years of relevant work experience and/or training/courses.

Experience

• At least five years of progressively responsible experience in evidence learning monitoring reporting analytics or research in international development humanitarian or publicsector settings.

• Demonstrated international experience collaborating with diverse partners (governments International Financial Institutions UN agencies civil society private sector academia) across regions and organizational levels.

• Experience applying systemsinformed evaluation or adaptivemanagement approaches including synthesizing qualitative and quantitative insights (patterns themes weak signals) to inform programme learning and adaptation.

• Handson experience with data collection validation and basic descriptive analysis maintaining trackers/dashboards and producing evidence summaries visuals or briefs for decisionmakers and nontechnical audiences.

• Experience managing or coordinating endtoend reporting processes including planning calendars consolidating inputs QA visualization drafting narrative sections and ensuring coherent donor or corporate reporting outputs.

Knowledge & Skills

• Strong dataorganization and qualitymanagement skills including clean datasets consistent definitions clear documentation and basic descriptive analysis.

• Excellent written communication with the ability to translate data and system insights into concise narratives tables visuals and evidence products for leadership and donors.

• Ability to capture system dynamicsincluding behavioural shifts collaboration patterns incentives weak signalsand synthesize them into decisionuseful insights.

• Facilitation and sensemaking skills including supporting reflection sessions afteraction reviews and learning discussions with diverse teams.

• Solid planning and coordination abilities including workflow management calendars QA steps version control and timely followup across multiple stakeholders.

• Familiarity with monitoring frameworks and practical datacollection methods (indicators baselines targets milestones; surveys templates routine reporting) and proficiency with tools such as Excel/Sheets PowerPoint and collaboration platforms (e.g. SharePoint); awareness of data protection safeguarding and donoharm principles.