County Learning Coordinator - Lodwar at Mercy Corps

General Position Summary

A core member of the Program Performance and Learning (PPL) Team, the County Learning Coordinator (CLC) for Turkana is pivotal in promoting a culture of continuous learning, critical analysis, and systems thinking within the USAID Nawiri program. By facilitating knowledge sharing, evidence-based decision-making, and best practices, the CLC plays a crucial role in ensuring program practices are reflective and adaptive, significantly contributing to the program's effectiveness and impact on nutrition resilience.

Essential Roles and Responsibilities

Strategic Learning and Adaptation

• Collaborate with the CLC in Samburu and the Strategic Learning Lead (SLL) to refine and implement the program's strategic learning agenda, tailored to both local and program-wide objectives.
• Coordinate research and evaluation activities within the county, aligning with the program's strategic learning priorities and contributing to its adaptive management.
• Operationalize the CLA framework at the county level, ensuring the progressive integration of CLA principles and practices into all activities to foster a culture of innovation and learning and improve program performance.
• Work with the program quality and  program teams in meeting updated minimum standards for activity planning and reporting, ensuring concept notes feature learning plans and indicators, after-action reviews are conducted for each activity, and activity reports are aligned with the adaptive learning cycl

Capacity Building and Technical Support

• As a core member of the CIAAP Task Force, work with the ILSS, SBC, and GYSD teams to develop and execute a comprehensive plan for participatory community-led development, focusing on building internal and external capacities for adaptive learning and participatory facilitation techniques.
• Directly supervise and mentor Adaptive Learning and Communication Officers, fostering a culture of curiosity, learning, and adaptive implementation among program teams.
• Work with the SLL to design and implement capacity-building initiatives that boost program staff and partners’ abilities, motivation, and confidence in gathering, analyzing, interpreting, contextualizing and using a wide range of data sources to learn and adapt program interventions and strategies. This entails crafting and providing guidance, workshops, and experiential learning experiences that promote a culture of continuous learning, improvement, and innovation.

Data Utilization and Learning Integration

• Work closely with the M&E team to ensure that data collected is relevant, timely, and supports decision-making. Support the integration of qualitative and quantitative data analysis methods to deepen understanding of program impacts, challenges, and opportunities for improvement.
• Collaborate with the M&E team in the development and utilization of data visualization tools, dashboards, reports, and infographics that improve the utility and accessibility of program data for learning and decision-making among program staff and stakeholders, including frontline workers and program participants.
• Organize, prepare for, and facilitate regular review and reflection sessions with program staff and partners including Local Implementing Partners (LIPs) to guide teams in examining program data, discussing findings, and interpreting their implications for program implementation and strategy.
• Work with relevant colleagues (e.g. IT, PAQ, and MEL) to identify opportunities to incorporate ICT tools such as use of digital data collection, GIS-mapping using mobile devices, and on-line data management platforms to improve data collection, learning, and community accountability.

Learning Documentation and Dissemination

• Guide and oversee the systematic documentation, management, and sharing of insights, lessons learned, and best practices.
• Collaborate with the Strategic Learning Lead to contribute insights to wider program learning initiatives and external knowledge sharing platforms.
• Identify and document case studies as tools for team reflection and learning.
• Package significant learning for dissemination to diverse audiences in collaboration with the communications team.
• Synthesize feedback from various sources such as issues logs, the CARM database, donor feedback, and others. Analyze trends, identify emerging risks and opportunities, and consolidate actionable insights for adaptive management and program improvement.
• Work with Reporting and PAQ Officers to ensure key insights, lessons learned, and adaptations are included in donor reports and other relevant fora.

Stakeholder Engagement, External Collaboration, and Community Learning

• Support the SBC, ILSS, and GYSD teams to design, execute, learn from and iterate a strategy for catalyzing community-led development for nutrition resilience.
• Collaborate with ILSS, GYSD, and SBC teams to establish learning networks among village councils and community resource persons. Coordinate exchange visits and learning forums for communities to share best practices and innovative solutions in community-led development.
• Assist the DFD and ILSS team in developing stakeholder analysis tools and adaptable collaboration frameworks. Guide program teams in identifying, prioritizing, and managing partnerships across diverse communities.
• Develop protocols and tools for documenting collaborative efforts, successes, and lessons learned. Create templates and guidelines for capturing collaboration outcomes and sharing insights with internal and external stakeholders.
• Supervise the program team's use of collaboration tools and processes, providing support and feedback for improvement. Collaborate with the M&E team to design evaluation metrics for continuous refinement of collaboration strategies
• Facilitate participation in donor-led forums and visits, assisting program teams in showcasing successes and facilitating transparent discussions on progress and learning.
• Support the DFD in identifying and utilizing county platforms to enhance program visibility, share learnings, and foster partnerships.
• Ensure that actionable learning and adaptation processes are integrated into all program-related events. Optimize stakeholder engagement, partnership development, and collective learning through these processes.

Monitoring and Evaluating CLA Effectiveness

• Assess the impact of CLA practices on program outcomes, collaborating with the M&E team to provide feedback to the SLL for continuous improvement of the CLA framework.

OTHER

• Other duties as assigned. The CLC Turkana must remain flexible and open to taking on new responsibilities as requested and guided by the Strategic Learning Lead and the Deputy Field Director.

SECURITY

• Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position is based in USAID Nawiri’s Turkana County office in Lodwar town with frequent travel to sub-county offices and program implementation sites.

PERSONAL GROWTH & LEARNING

• USAID Nawiri team members are committed to personal growth and learning. All staff are expected to commit 5% of their time to activities that help them broaden their perspectives, build their skill sets, or otherwise help them progressively improve their contribution to the program.

ACCOUNTABILITY TO PARTICIPANTS

• Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

Supervisory Responsibility:

The CLC Turkana supervises USAID Nawiri’s Adaptive Learning and Communication Officers, Research  Coordinators/Officers, and CARM Officers.

Accountability

The CLC Turkana reports directly to the DFD Turkana with a technical reporting line to the Strategic Learning Lead (SLL) based in Nairobi for strategic guidance and alignment.

Works Directly With

Field Director for Turkana; Sub-County Coordinators; M&E Team; PAQ Team; ILSS, SBC, and GYSD teams; all technical advisors and leads; county government, communities, private sector, CBOs, PREG, other implementing partners.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in the Social Sciences; Demography, Sociology, Statistics or another MEAL-related field. Master’s degree is an added advantage.
• Minimum of five years of relevant work experience in M&E and learning, participatory development, or adult learning, ideally with an international NGO working with county governments.
• Experience setting up and implementing systems for adaptive learning
• Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to follow instructions, meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively with team members is required.
• Demonstrated ability to facilitate and moderate dialogue and discussion among diverse groups
• Demonstrated ability to communicate complex thoughts and ideas clearly and concisely in writing; keen attention to detail.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, with an ability to deeply connect and empathize with a range of individuals with broad backgrounds and expertise.
• Experience using MS Windows and MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), Web Conferencing Applications, information management systems, knowledge-sharing networks is required.
• Experience in participatory action planning and community engagement is a strong advantage
• Experience in using mobile-data collection and management software is a strong advantage.