Monitoring, Evaluation And Learning Officer at Mercy Corps

The Position

The Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Officer plays a critical role within Mercy Corps’ quality assurance, accountability and learning functions. The position supports the program in planning and execution of monitoring and evaluation activities, ensuring program quality in accordance with accepted standards, providing essential feedback for learning, accountability and decision-making. S/he will be responsible for providing internal capacity building for program staff on monitoring and evaluation activities as well as review and development of necessary tools that feed into the needs of Mercy Corps and donor reporting requirements.

Essential Responsibilities

1. Lead the design, testing and implementation of all MEL system components for the program
2. Support the refining of the program logic and approaches, including developing intervention designs, sector strategies and MEL frameworks to adequately incorporate MEL considerations into the program
3. In conjunction with the Country MEL Coordinator, he/she will plan, coordinate and supervise all assessments and evaluations for the program. This will entail development of Scopes of Work, development of survey tools, trainings and management of data collectors, report write and facilitating results discussion (Or recruit and supervise evaluation consultants where necessary)
4. Regularly document and share all learnings from program implementation;
5. Provide relevant inputs into Monthly, quarterly, annual and other program reports.
6. Validating and verifying core indicators against the different sources of information, including review, validation and analysis of incoming results and data
7. Maintain an up to date database that reflects program progress against all indicators;
8. Visit sites and partners to collect supplementary data, stories and conduct qualitative research both independently and
9. Facilitate regular reflection and analysis of program monitoring information that feeds into programming and learning, for adaptive management
10. Participate in on-going MEL advisory and support for all program staff and partners;
11. Advise and support the process of testing and adopting relevant technologies for improving the efficiency of the program’s MEL function. This will include supporting rollout of Mobile Data Collection (Ona), GIS/GPS technologies for Mapping, and managing MCK’s internal data management platforms.
12. Work with the Program Manager and other staff to ensure that activities are implemented on plan, through regular planning and review meetings
13. Maintain an active advisory role with the program team to help guide them towards robust and relevant data collection.
14. Actively participate in all implementation, providing advice and feedback for quality results at any point.
15. Conduct himself/herself both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and to not jeopardize its humanitarian mission;
16. Other duties as assigned.

Supervisory Responsibility

1. None.

Accountability

1. Reports Directly To: Program Manager
2. Works Directly With: All Program Staff, Director of Programs and Implementing Partner Staff.

Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders

1. 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

1. Must hold at least a bachelor’s degree in Economics, Agricultural Economics; Demography, Statistics, Business administration, Computer Science / IT or any other relevant field;
2. At least 4 years of leading MEL activities in a development program setting.
3. Should understand general MEL concepts and demonstrate skills in MEL system design (I.e. Development of Theories of Change, Results Frameworks/Logical Frameworks, Developing of MEL Plans and Data Collection tools)
4. Should have demonstrable experience in Designing, Planning, Implementing and/or Supervising MEL Assessments and Evaluations.
5. Should have demonstrable experience in Designing and/or Managing simple databases (Whether in Excel, Access or SQL-based)
6. Should have demonstrable experience in using Mobile Data Collection for routine and specific monitoring work.
7. Must have good writing and analytical skills
8. In addition to Microsoft Excel, the incumbent should demonstrate fluency in the use of at least one other data analysis and visualization tool, e.g. SPSS, STATA, POWER BI, TABLEAU etc.
9. Must be fluent both spoken and written English

Success Factors

1. The ideal candidate will have the ability and curiosity to work comfortably and effectively. S/he will be an excellent communicator, have a strong sense of humor, multi-tasker, and able to work difficult and often stressful environments.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

1. The position is based in Nairobi, Kenya and may require some travel to other counties, which may include travel to insecure locations where freedom of movement is limited and areas where amenities are limited. Staff will have access to good medical services.

Ongoing Learning

1. In support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

1. Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.
2. We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity

1. Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact.
2. We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics

1. Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC and have signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct elearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.