Monitoring & Evaluation Coordinator at Mercy Corps

General Position Summary

The Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Coordinator is a key position for program quality assurance, accountability, documentation and learning. The position holder will support the NAWIRI team in planning and execution of monitoring and evaluation activities at the county level while ensuring 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 at County level on monitoring and evaluation activities as well as reviewing the necessary tools that will feed into the needs of the program and government counterparts. Under the overall leadership and direction of NAWIRI’s M&E Manager, and in close collaboration with the M&E Lead, the MEL Coordinator will be developing partner technical team’s and M&E officer’s capacity in M&E and ensuring effective field-level collaboration and promoting a culture of M&E for learning and adaptation.

Essential Job Responsibilities

STRATEGY AND VISION

• Seek the active collaboration of consortium partners in M&E as well as their appropriation of the tools, including integration of M&E in core program management functions.
• Ensure consistent utilization of the NAWIRI MIS database for all M&E data submissions.

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

• Contribute directly to achieving the project’s strategic objectives and components through the implementation of a single integrated/harmonized monitoring system.
• Responsible for managing the data collection and coordination with the County team (and consultants if necessary) ensuring a high quality of data collected and the use of evidence to inform adaptive management.
• Coordinate and supervise all enumeration activities in the County level during the annual surveys commissioned by the project.
• Create and instill an M&E culture that promotes the learning and self-critical skills of program staff in the pursuit of project excellence.
• Ensure alignment of M&E activities with program objectives and contribute to the development of annual work plans.
• Support County Program Directors and other technical leads in the preparation of quarterly/annual activity reports and verification of reported data.
• Coordinate and support the implementation of the main M&E phases of the Project Management Cycle (baseline survey, mid-term evaluation and final evaluation)
• Work closely with consortium partners to track implementation of the research agenda, develop milestones for progress and conduct the evaluation of research agenda.
• Plan and conduct Routine Data Quality Assurance (RDQA) for the reported data at County level to ensure adherence to USAID/ Mercy Corps data quality standards.
• Participate in the planning for and review of the baseline, midterm and final evaluation SOP, data collection tools and reports.
• Ensure that lessons learned throughout the project at County level are captured and communicated to internal and external stakeholders through appropriate channels for decision-making.

TEAM MANAGEMENT

• Create and maintain a work environment where mutual respect among team members prevails and where the pursuit of individual and collective excellence is valued.
• Promote individual accountability and commitment by clearly and regularly communicating expectations and providing constructive feedback.
• Train County program team members on their M&E responsibilities and how to use the tools developed.
• Ensure that team members comply with the Mercy Corps Code of Conduct and the Principles of Humanitarian Accountability and immediately report to their Supervisor and National Director any cases of fraud or conduct not in accordance with Mercy Corps policies within the program.

REPRESENTATION

• Develop the necessary relationships and partnerships with consortium partners.
• Identify, build and manage trusted partnerships with consortium agencies, local government and other stakeholders.
• Maintain good working relationships with donors and other development organizations and represent Mercy Corps at meetings when necessary.
• Effectively communicate the program's best practices to build Mercy Corps' positive image with development stakeholders.
• Conduct themselves in a professional manner at all times.

SECURITY

• Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership.
• Proactively ensure that team members operate in a secure environment and are aware of policies.

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 PARTICIPANTS

• Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts towards 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

• County M&E Officers

Accountability

Reports Directly to:  Monitoring and Evaluation Manager

Works Directly with: MEL officers, Technical Leads & Field Director from Turkana

Knowledge and Experience

• BA/S or equivalent in public health, monitoring and evaluation, development economics, international development, sociology, or business/project management.
• More than 3 years of professional experience in monitoring food security and nutrition focused projects.
• Experience with GIS software use in development programming.
• Strong, documented analytic and statistical skills.
• High degree of computer literacy and typing proficiency; Excel and Word skills.
• Experience in supporting and strengthening government/county nutritional M&E system and clear understanding of government devolution structures.
• Fluency in written and oral English. Must be able to read and interpret documents,
• and communicate with others as necessary to perform job duties effectively.