School Meals Accelerator Evidence, Monitoring & Reporting Consultant

Purpose of this role:

This role is part of the Engagement Teamof the Accelerator whichisresponsible forensuring that the Acceleratorsengagementat the political levelcontinues to enable andfacilitateits work generating more supporttapping into diverse networksand deepening relationshipsthat cancontinue to create afavourableauthorizing environmentfor the initiative.The Evidence Monitoring & Reporting Consultant strengthens SMAs results reporting and adaptivelearning functions.The postholder leadsday-to-daymonitoring andend-to-endreporting workflowsincluding donor reporting periodic management reporting annual and midterm reviewsand ensures information isaccuratetimely and aligned with SMAs systemiclearning-orientedapproachrather than a traditional monitoring and evaluation role.

A core part of the role is to leadvalue captureprocesses by systematicallyidentifying documenting and synthesizing emerging patterns system shifts and learning from Accelerator country engagements. By curating evidence and translating it into cleardecision-readysystem narratives the consultant supports adaptivedecision-making strengthens collective sensemaking and ensures that SMAs work reflects real system change.

The role promotes disciplined monitoringof key performance indicatorssystems-oriented measurementhigh-qualityreporting and continuous learning across countries and workstreams contributing to SMAs mission of delivering credible insights accountability andsystem levelinfluence.The postholder is also expected to coordinateclosely 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

2) Reporting

3) Value Capture & SystemsLearning

4) People Leadership Ways of Working & Culture

• Model SMAs systemic leadership mindsetsby 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 awarenessin 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 cyclesbyidentifyingemerging 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 sensemakingby supporting afteraction reviews reflection sessions and leadership discussions;maintainlearning 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 roleoperateswithin the School Meals Accelerators systemic leadership approach. All SMA roles are expected to be enacted in line with theSMA Systemic Leadership Framework which sets out six shared leadership mindsets core leadershippracticesand more systemically demanding practices that guide how we work in complex fast-changing environments. The Framework also describes ways of engaging with complexitywhich reflect how individuals make sense of and act in uncertain interdependence situations.

While developmental maturity and role seniority are independent the SMA setsminimum developmental expectations by gradeto support clarity and fairness in recruitment and early employment.

For thisConsultant Level IIrole the minimum expectation is:

Reflective engagement with complexity: Staff membersare 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 representfloors not ceilings. Ways of engaging with complexity aredescriptive rather than evaluative arenot tied mechanically to seniority or performance managementand are used to supportreflection 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

Knowledge & Skills

Fluency in English (Level C) is required. Working knowledge (Level B) of another official UN language (Arabic Chinese French Russian Spanish).

Annex: Overview of the SMA Systemic Leadership Framework:

The School Meals Accelerator (SMA) works in conditions of high complexity spanning multiple countriesorganisationsand institutional logics andseeksto supportsystem-level changerather than the delivery of predefined solutions.

To support effective leadership in this context the SMA has articulated aSystemic Leadership Framework. The Framework provides a shared language and reference point for how leadership is understood and enacted across the organisation and is used across recruitment onboarding feedback and learning.

This annex provides a high-level overview of the content of the Framework.

Leadership mindsets:

At the heart of the SMA Systemic Leadership Framework are sixleadership mindsets.
These mindsets describe shared orientations that shape how situations are interpretedand what kinds of action feel legitimate or possible in system-level change work.

They are not competencies or values statements but shared ways of making sense of complex situations that shape leadership practice particularly under pressure or uncertainty.

The six SMA leadership mindsets are:

• We see systems change as starting with us: We notice and work with how our roles assumptions and responses shape what becomes possible in the system.

• We experiment our way forward: We use disciplined experimentation and learning to make progress in conditions of uncertainty.

• We put countries needs first: We orient our work around the priorities contexts and capacities of countries rather than organisational convenience or external agendas.

• We value different perspectives even when they clash: We work productively with difference tension and disagreement to support learning and systemic change.

• We teach and learn from one another: We treat learning as a shared ongoing responsibility and useeverydaywork as a source of individual and collective development.

• We are intentional about how and when we act not simply defaulting to urgency: We treat pace and timing as deliberate leadership choices choosing actions that support learning and lasting change rather than activity for its own sake.
  

The mindsets are mutually reinforcing rather than sequential. Effective systemic leadership involves working across all of them rather than privileging one at the expense of others.

Within each mindset the Framework identifies leadership practices that describeobservable ways of working how leadership shows up in action.The Accelerator has 30core leadership practices(5 per mindset)whichare foundational practices expected of everyone working in the Accelerator regardless of role or grade. They support effective participation in complex multi-stakeholder environments.

Ways of engaging with complexity:

The Framework also describes differentways of engaging with complexity drawing on adult development theory.Ways of engaging with complexity describehow leadership practices are enactednot which practices are permitted. They are descriptive rather than evaluative are not tied mechanically to seniority or role and arecontext-sensitive.

The Framework describes four broad ways of engaging with complexity:

• Habitual engagement
  People tend to respond to situations through familiar roles routines and immediate reactions. What is felt or thought in the moment tends to drive action with limited separation between observation interpretation and response especially under pressure.

• Reflective engagement
  People 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.

• Intentional engagement
  People actively work with their assumptions emotions and roles as part of ongoing practice. They are better able to pause make deliberate choices about how to respond and adapt their actions in real time under conditions of uncertainty.

• Systemic engagement
  People understand their actions as part of wider system dynamics shaped by relationships power history and context. They act with awareness of timing ripple effects and shared responsibility andare able tosupport learning and capacity beyond their own role.
  

These ways of engaging with complexity do not represent a linear progression or a single ideal endpoint. Individuals may operate in different ways in different situations.To support clarity and fairness the SMA setsminimum developmental expectations by gradewhich representfloors not ceilings.

What the Framework is used for:

The SMA Systemic Leadership Framework is:

• a shared developmental reference for leadershippractice;

• a basis for reflection feedback andlearning;

• a way of embedding systemic leadership expectations into everyday work.

It isnot:

• a competencyframework;

• a performance ratingsystem;

• a leadershippipeline;

• a tool for ranking or scoring individuals.