Monitoring and Evaluation Assistant -Wamba, Samburu County (6 months Maternity Cover) at Mercy Corps

The Program / Department Summary

USAID’s Office of Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) awarded funding to a Mercy Corps-led consortium of Kenyan and international partners for an 8-year Resilience Food Security Activity (RFSA) in Turkana and Samburu Counties of Kenya.Through a phased approach that emphasizes evidence gap analysis, as well as partnership, learning, and co-creation with government, civil society, communities, and the private sector, the USAID Nawiri program aims to drive sustained reductions in acute malnutrition in both counties.

Mercy Corps’ consortium brings together the global leadership, research capacity, technical expertise, and implementation experience necessary to partner with local institutions to test, adapt, and scale evidence-based solutions. The program requires a robust county-centered design with government leadership, active engagement from communities, the private sector, and civil society. Together we will sustainably reduce persistent acute malnutrition for vulnerable populations in Turkana and Samburu counties.

General Position Summary

The Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Assistant will work as part of the county M&E team responsible for program quality assurance, accountability, documentation and learning. They will be involved in day-to-day implementation of the M & E system sub-county level including data collection, collation, entry, analysis and use for decision-making. The Monitoring and Evaluation Assistant will conduct quality assurance activities of field-based data collection mechanisms, program implementation and community accountability process. In addition, they will supervise enumerators during annual household surveys, Post Distribution Monitoring and Qualitative Inquiry Assessments at county level. The assistant will support M&E systems strengthening at sub-county level including, training and mentoring Community Health Workers (CHV), Ward Development Committees (WDC) and other field-based data processes to produce reliable/quality data and support platforms for data use platforms for decision-making at sub-county and ward level.

Essential Responsibilities

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT: MONITORING AND EVALUATION

•  Support in roll-out of USAID Nawiri monitoring and evaluation strategy and tools at the Sub County level.
•  Collect program routine monitoring data and follow-up with the program team on data collection and reporting.
•  Support roll-out and supervision of data collection through Annual Surveys, Post Distribution Monitoring (PDM) and Quality Inquiry Surveys.
•  Timely entry of monitoring data into mobile and computer-based data collection systems and working with MIS officers to resolve data quality issues observed.
•  Support Monitoring and Evaluation activities to ensure that program-based monitoring activities are being performed according to schedule.
•  Support and collaborate with the M&E Officer to provide timely reports and data summaries.
•  Assist to maintaining a clear and transparent filing system at the Sub County level office.
•  Support the process of testing and adopting relevant technologies for improving the efficiency of the program’s MEL function at the Sub- County level.
•  Strengthen Sub-County Government M&E and Data Use Platforms including Review Meeting, Data Quality Assurance, Mentoring and Supportive Supervision.
•  Other duties as assigned from time to time by supervisor.

SAFEGUARDING

• Actively learns about safeguarding and integrates it into their work, including safeguarding risks and mitigations related to their area of work
• Practices the values of Mercy Corps including respecting the dignity and well-being of participants and fellow team members
• Encourages openness and communication in their team; encourages team members to submit reports if they have any concerns using reporting mechanisms e.g., Integrity Hotline and other options

Accountability to Beneficiaries

•  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.
•  Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC’s policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

Supervisory Responsibility

 None

Accountability

Reports Directly to: M&E Officer at the Sub County level, with technical oversight from the MEL Coordinator and administrative oversight from the Sub County Lead

Works Directly with: USAID Nawiri Program Quality and Learning team, all program staff and implementing partners at sub-county level.

Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills

• Must hold at least a diploma in Social Science, Statistics, International development, Health, Agriculture or relevant field (with coursework in M&E, research and evaluation methodologies, statistical analysis or organizational development) or similar field of study.
• At least 1 year of program monitoring and evaluation experience (Entry Level Fresh Graduate)
• Experience working with USAID funded project and familiarity with USAID/BHA M&E guidance and requirement is an added advantage.
• Should understand general MEL concepts and demonstrate skills in MEL system (i.e. Theories of Change, Results Frameworks/Logical Frameworks, MEL Plans and Data Collection tools).
• Must have good writing and analytical skills.
• Should have knowledge of quantitative and qualitative data collection, reporting techniques. In addition to Microsoft Excel, the incumbent should demonstrate fluency in use of at least one data management software including SPSS, Power Bi, Tableau and STATA.
• Must be fluent in both spoken and written English. Understanding of local language will be an added advantage.