The MEAL Officer plays a central operational role within the Programme Management Unit. He/she is responsible for ensuring the continuity, quality and reliability of monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning (MEAL) processes across the programme.

The Officer ensures that indicators are regularly tracked, data is consolidated across all partners, and evidence is generated to support informed decision-making, adaptive management and donor reporting (including EU OPSYS requirements). The position is responsible for the overall design, deployment, and continuous improvement of the programme’s MEAL system; the harmonisation of MEAL practices and indicators across the consortium; the coordination of evidence-based reporting; the functioning of accountability mechanisms; the strengthening of MEAL capacities; and the provision of high-quality analytical inputs to programme governance, learning, and risk monitoring.

The position works in close coordination with technical experts involved in waste monitoring systems, digital tools and institutional strengthening, consortium partners (FIAP, Camões, IFC), and national and municipal authorities. During the inception phase, the project may benefit from dedicated MEAL support to revise the project’s Theory of Change, define indicators, and develop the MEAL framework and implementation plan. The MEAL Officer will contribute to these tasks and ensure continuity through the effective uptake of methodologies and tools developed during inception. Throughout the project’s duration, the MEAL Officer will be responsible for deploying, maintaining, and continuously improving the MEAL system, while also supporting—together with technical experts—the development and strengthening of national and municipal monitoring tools.

These responsibilities are detailed below :

Operationalisation and management of the MEAL system 

• Implement and maintain the MEAL framework and monitoring plan developed during the inception phase with support from the MEAL Specialist;
• Support the organisation of baseline studies and needs assessments to establish reference values for indicators (at output, outcome and activity levels);
• Contribute to the design and implementation of follow-up, outcome, and endline surveys to measure changes at different levels;
• Ensure that inception-phase evidence (e.g., prioritisation process, waste typology and mapping, municipal governance diagnostics) is structured, documented and transformed into actionable MEAL data;
• Ensure that the MEAL system is compliant with EU monitoring and reporting requirements;
• Use and adapt data collection tools for regular monitoring of activities and results;
• Consolidate and track indicators from EF and consortium partners, ensuring data consistency and completeness;
• Provide basic methodological support to staff and partners involved in data collection and reporting;
• Conduct data quality checks to ensure consistency and reliability;
• Produce dashboards (Power BI, basic GIS visualisations where relevant) and progress reports to summarise progress in a timely and user-friendly manner for project management and donor reporting purposes;
• Identify challenges and propose practical improvements to data collection and management systems.

Contribution to national and municipal monitoring systems 

• Support institutional capacity assessments and translate findings into tailored MEAL capacity-building plans for ANR and municipalities;
• Support the translation of these assessments into tailored capacity-building plans.
• Work alongside technical experts in designing and testing of national waste management monitoring system (digital platform) for the Agência Nacional de Resíduos (ANR) and relevant Ministries.
• Support the harmonisation of monitoring protocols between ANR, municipalities and consortium partners.
• Work alongside technical experts with municipalities to strengthen local monitoring systems, including reporting templates, operational dashboards, and performance indicators.
• Support the integration data from waste collection, sorting, recycling and pilot initiatives into programme-level MEAL tools.
• Support the definition of data governance principles for the Circular Economy Dialogue Platform, ensuring transparent, participatory and sustainable use of monitoring information.

Accountability and reporting

• Coordinate the preparation of MEAL inputs for internal and external reports ;
• Provide up-to-date data and analysis for decision-making, communication and donor reporting;
• Ensure alignment with EU requirements, including OPSYS compliance;
• Ensure that MEAL data feeds into EF corporate reporting systems and complies with quality standards;
• Ensure methodological consistency in reporting between EF, FIAP, CAMÕES and IFC during the inception phase and beyond.
• Set up and maintain simple feedback and satisfaction mechanisms for project beneficiaries and stakeholders to strengthen accountability;
• Document and share success stories, case studies and lessons learned to demonstrate results and promote good practices;
• Provide evidence-based inputs, visuals and analysis for visibility and communication activities.

Knowledge sharing and learning

• Analyse monitoring data and findings to identify trends, lessons and areas for improvement;
• Support the interpretation and communication of outcome-level results, ensuring that evidence from surveys and monitoring activities clearly demonstrates progress and impact;
• Actively participate in review meetings and planning sessions, helping the team interpret MEAL data for decision-making;
• Support the organisation of yearly “pause and reflect” exercises and ensure follow-up on recommendations;
• Facilitate knowledge-sharing workshops within the project team and partners;
• Contribute to mid-term and final external evaluations by providing relevant data and documentation;
• Support follow-up on evaluation recommendations and integration of lessons into ongoing work.

Capacity building and partner support

• Organise and deliver training sessions on MEAL principles, indicator tracking, data collection and reporting tools, when relevant;
• Provide coaching and mentoring to implementing partners, municipal actors and other stakeholders as needed;
• Promote a learning-oriented culture within the project by encouraging staff to use MEAL data for decision-making;
• Support the development of user-friendly guidance materials, templates and checklists for MEAL tasks;
• Contribute to strengthening MEAL coordination within the consortium, ensuring consistency and mutual learning between partners.

Risk monitoring and early warning

• Maintain a risk monitoring matrix for MEAL-related issues;
• Alert the PMU when activities are off-track and support design of corrective actions.

This job description is not exhaustive.

Note: The TOR is also provided in Portuguese in the attached PDF.