Strategic Learning Lead at Mercy Corps

STRATEGY & VISION

• The Strategic Learning Lead works closely with the PPL Director to build a culture of learning and adaptive management at every level within Nawiri, from the leadership through to partners and the implementation teams.
• The SLL will oversee the finalisation and operationalisation of the Evidence and Learning Agenda and is responsible for ensuring the deliverables are incorporated into annual workplans, successfully resourced and completed and the strategy is regularly updated.
• Participate in the Nawiri Management Team meetings, working closely with the M&E Lead to prepare and package evidence to lead discussions around Evidence and Learning priorities and in reviewing the program’s progress towards high level results. S/he should ensure close collaboration with the county teams to ensure that contextual challenges and realities are reflected through evidence collected.
• Provide thought leadership to how learning can be integrated throughout program activities and supporting a team culture which is evidence driven and values learning and adaptive management
• Identify and share creative, efficient, and effective ways to document and disseminate learnings and information, engage audiences, and facilitate collaboration.
• Promote Nawiri as a respected generator and consumer of research and other forms of evidence, as a program that implements evidence based programming, and producer of credible and actionable research on persistent acute malnutrition in northern Kenya

EVIDENCE GENERATION

• Lead the implementation of high-quality learning and evidence briefs, case studies, white papers or other reports, aligned with the Evidence and Learning Agenda priorities, that showcase key insights from the program’s research and learning initiatives, as well as recommendations for the program, mission, agency and/or donors and other implementing partners.
• Identify opportunities and oversee/conduct mixed methods learning efforts (e.g. qualitative inquiry or research) that complement existing data, to answer the Evidence and Learning Agenda priorities, facilitating sensemaking workshops on the findings.
• Manage and coordinate the work of external researchers and consultants to execute and communicate studies in alignment with the Evidence and Learning Agenda

LEARNING AND ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT

• Set the vision for program Quarterly Review Meetings (QRM), leading the county learning teams to plan for effective reviews, which facilitate learning and improved quality implementation. QRMs are focused on key performance indicators, progress against workplan and deep dives into technical strategy where relevant. They should also include context monitoring, and ensure that this is considered periodically throughout. Oversee the write up of the activity report after each QRM.
• Partner with the M&E team throughout evaluations to identify learning opportunities and to facilitate and ensure that teams are regularly sense-making data, capturing recommendations and adapting their workplans accordingly, and that learning efforts and products are data-driven.
• Lead staff and partners in regular Pause and Reflect reviews of program activities to reflect on programmatic learning based on implementation experience and monitoring data, to review and revise results chains and theories of change, and suggest programmatic changes in collaboration with the M&E Lead.
• Capture and document changes made to program design as a result of formative and operational research findings.

REPRESENTATION AND PROMOTION OF EVIDENCE USE

• Aligning with the Evidence and Learning Agenda, work with the communications teams, technical leads, regional and global technical support teams to identify opportunities, such as speaking at conferences or on panels, to actively translate and promote awareness and use of research and findings from other evidence sources externally within Kenya and globally.
• Work with the communications team to identify internal learning opportunities, such as lunchtime learning sessions and webinars, to share learnings with other team members and consortium partners.
• Lead the organization of high level joint learning events with other BHA Implementing Partners, including overseeing the development of shared learning briefs.
• Ensure strong collaboration with the Kenya Country Program Quality Team, so that learnings from Nawiri are shared and utilized across the Kenya portfolio and feed into country wide and regional and global learning and influence strategies.

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

• Ensure systematic documentation of program files, ensuring they are consistently saved and following a uniform file storage approach, with key evidence pieces made available through the organisation’s knowledge management mechanisms (e.g. the Digital Library).
• Work with team members to document lessons learned from implementing key program interventions, and ensure these are used to adapt and inform program strategy and the annual USAID Pipeline and Resource Estimate Proposal (PREP).
• Engage with other Mercy Corps Kenya colleagues on sharing lessons learned across the program portfolio.