Monitoring and Evaluation Officer at Mercy Corps

Program/ Department Summary:

The Sustainable Conflict Management in Arid Land Ecosystems (SCALE) program is funded by the European Commission to strengthen local civil society to work with communities and government authorities to prevent conflict and build sustainable peace within Samburu County, specifically the border areas of Samburu North and Samburu Central. The program specific objective is to improve the capacity of local civil society and community groups to prevent and manage conflicts related to land and natural resources. These objectives are in line with the European Commission’s call for proposals to address three objectives: 1) to strengthen the capacity of Kenyan Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to address conflict dynamics related to land tenure and natural resource; 2) Advance engagement between national and country authorities, private sector and CSOs to enhance governance and management of natural resources to prevent conflict; and 3) promote the role of CSOs in alternative dispute management and resolution systems. The program office is based in Maralal town (Samburu County) and implementation is by two CSOs in and around; i) Samburu North- Turkana East and ii) Samburu Central-Laikipia North-Baringo East

General Position Summary

The Monitoring and Evaluation Officer will work with the Mercy Corps program team as well as our local partner organizations to ensure the collection of quality M&E data for the program. The M&E Officer will be responsible for supporting the SCALE program with monitoring and data collection, lead in design of surveys, analyze data to provide insight to program team and contribute to report writing. S/he will ensure that performance monitoring and results reporting tools and processes across the entire program are in place, effectively implemented and well synchronized between the program sites. The M & E Officer will be an integral member of the program team’s learning, reflection processes, and promoting accountability to program participants and the donor.

Essential Job Responsibilities

STRATEGIC INPUT AND OVERSIGHT

• Support development and implement monitoring and evaluation tools.
• Play key role in the development of intervention designs, sector strategies and M&E frameworks.
• Support inputs into program review documents.
• Set up and manage internal Indicator tracking database, TOLA

RESULTS-BASED MONITORING & EVALUATION

• Validating and verifying core indicators against the different sources of information.
• Review, validation, and analysis of incoming results data from partners
• Visit sites and partners to collect supplementary data, stories and conduct qualitative research both independently and in teams.
• Work with Program Manager to ensure that activities are implemented on plan and progress towards targets is not compromised.

CAPACITY BUILDING

• Build the capacity of local partners to develop and maintain an excellent M&E system;
• Facilitate local partners in periodic reflection and analysis of project monitoring information that feeds into SCALE’s programming and learning.
• Support timely production of monthly, quarterly and annual donor reports based on agreed performance indicator.

PROGRAM ADVISORY

• Maintain an active advisory role with the program team to help guide them towards robust and relevant data for decision making.
• Actively participate in all implementation, providing advice and feedback for quality results at any point.
• Establish and maintain strong working relationships with partners and government departments.

RESEARCH AND LEARNING

• Take part in participatory research and learning.
• Conduct research and prepare practical reports for dissemination based on experiences from program implementation.
• Together with the program implementation team, generate key learnings about the program’s implementation and approaches.
• Regularly document and share all learnings from program implementation.
• Maintain an up to date database that reflects progress and program indicators.

ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING

• As part of our commitment to organizational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities they serve, we expect all team members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy Corps as well as themselves.

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: Program Manager

Works Directly with: Partner organizations and program officers, Program & Quality Manager

Knowledge and Experience

• BA/Sc or equivalent, preferable in Monitoring and Evaluation, business administration, Economics, Statistics, Population Studies, Demography, Development studies or IT/computing.
• 3 - 4 years’ program monitoring and evaluation experience.
• Must have good writing, analytical and communication skills.
• Previous experience working with European Union donor funded programs is preferred.
• Relevant experience in field survey/data collection (qualitative and quantitative) techniques, data entry, data verification, and analysis.
• Good understanding and skills at database management with specific emphasis on beneficiary tracking.
• Strong computer literacy with a full knowledge of MS Office applications. In addition to Microsoft Excel, the incumbent should demonstrate fluency in use of at least one data management software including MS Access, SPSS, STATA.
• Experience working in the region and conversant with local languages also preferred.

Success Factors

A successful team member will be conscientious, with excellent judgement, capable of multi-tasking, prioritizing, problem-solving and attention to detail with strategic vision. S/he must have the confidence, and humility, to work effectively with a large variety of people who will be diverse culturally, economically and in social status. S/he must be sensitive to political and cultural nuances and be able to consistently apply excellent judgment to a variety of demanding and fast-changing situations.