mercy cops
Job Description
Position Title: MEL Manager
Duty Station: Dollo Ado, Somali Region
Open Position: 1
Program / Department Summary
Mercy Corps is implementing a Climate-Proofing Food Security in Ethiopia’s Drought-Prone Lowland Areas (IFTIIN), a project to improve the livelihood, resilience, and food security of vulnerable communities in Dollo Ado and Dollo Bay woredas of the Somali region of Ethiopia. The project is funded by WFP and will run from 2023 to 2026 with a budget of $10.6 million. The project will help the communities to adapt to climate change and become more self-reliant. The first year is the inception period and the next three years are the implementation period. The project targeted 50,000 individuals and will work with the regional and woreda-level bureaus of Agriculture, Cooperatives, Livestock, and the communities themselves.
General Position Summary
The Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Manager is a key position at Mercy Corps, responsible for program information management, monitoring and evaluation, and ensuring collected information is used to improve the IFTIIN Project. The general duties and responsibilities of the MEL Manager are to provide oversight of project-level MEL activities within the Program, ensure the quality of the project’s MEL activities, and information management via the program reporting system (which may be tied with Mercy Corps’ proprietary Tola systems), and geographic information systems (GIS). The MEL Manager’s role is also to oversee and ensure coordination of the various technical areas across the MEL staff of the Project, and other relevant Project staff and components. The MEL Manager is responsible for the capacity building and mentoring strategy for program staff on themes related to monitoring, evaluation, accountability, reporting, and learning.
Strategy & Design
- Set up and strengthen the MEL system of the project, including all tools and data collection processes for program activities such as Tola, Concept Note Management System, commcare, powerBI, etc.
- Provide strategic leadership to the MEL specialist and IFTIIN program team in developing program-level MEL plan and strategies that promote learning, and improve program quality and performance,
- Contribute to the implementation of the strategic MEL plan and detailed implementation plan for the IFTIIN project, with an emphasis on user-centered approaches for engaging with and building buy-in among key program stakeholders.
- Provide strategic leadership on activities for building data literacy skills important for interpreting and acting on intervention and overall program-level data.
- Contributing to the development of decision support tools and analytical products to integrate evidence into program design, monitoring, evaluation, and management.
- Collaborate with technical leads across the program and build processes for regular feedback loops to ensure integrated program delivery and adaptive management.
Technical Support
- Implement MEL systems with utility and program quality in mind, providing program team real-time information that can steer program implementation as well as informing regional level stakeholders and strategic program direction and that helps strategize future program interventions.
- Build the capacity of all relevant team members to develop and maintain an excellent M&E system, including training on TolaData (a digital tool developed by MC) and CommCare and the periodic reflection and analysis of program monitoring data to disseminate learning.
- Plan inclusive of IPTT with indicators, pivot log, measurement details, and annual targets.
- Update indicator performance tracking in Mercy Corps’ TolaData platform and submit quarterly indicator data to the donor.
- Facilitating learning events and bilateral sessions with key program stakeholders using evidence to draw insights on and estimate individual contributions to collective resilience outcomes.
- Manage the Learning and Research Plan to track and document evidence around critical learning questions and coordinate learning activities toward answering them.
- Support with quality documentation through comprehensive quality writing, and synthesizing evidence to generate knowledge and learning product
Team Management
- Develop the capacity of the team, deepen understanding of their roles, and assist with career development.
- Assist team members with information, tools, and resources to improve performance & reach objectives.
- Promote accountability, communicate expectations, and provide constructive feedback informally and formally via regular one one-on-ones and performance reviews.
- Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.
- Play an active role in hiring, orienting, and leading team members, as necessary.
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 professionally and respect local laws, customs, and MC’s policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.
- Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership.
- Proactively ensure that team members operate in a secure environment.
Supervisory Responsibility: IFTIIN Program MEL SpecialistAccountability
Reports Directly To: IFTIIN Program Manager
Technical reporting: Country MEL Manager
Works Directly with the FIN program team, PaQ director, Data Analytics Manager, Country CARM advisor, Technical Sector Advisors, and other support functions (Operations and Finance), Regional MEL Advisor, HQ PaQ.
Skills and Qualifications
Knowledge and Experience
- BA or master’s degree or equivalent in economics, statistics, monitoring and evaluation, project management, or other relevant field required.
- Minimum 5 years of experience in the areas of program development and monitoring and evaluation in development and/or emergency contexts, including relevant advisory/leadership experience building and managing an M&E system and team, supervising data collection and data validation exercises, and building staff capacity.
- Experience working with quantitative data analysis software like SPSS/STATA/R/Python and qualitative software like MaxQDA or equivalent preferred.
- Experience in developing logical frameworks and proposals.
- Must have extensive training skills and experience working with a variety of donors, such as UN/WFP etc.
- Ability to manage and meet deadlines, work independently, and innovate.
- Excellent communication and organizational skills.
Success Factors
The ideal candidate will have a strong curiosity for understanding and working effectively within the complex cultural, political, security, and social environment of Ethiopia. He/she will be an excellent communicator, multi-tasker, and able to work in ambiguous situations. He/she will be a tolerant and flexible individual able to work in difficult and stressful environments and follow procedures. He/she will have a good understanding of the roles that different data technologies play in high-quality MEL and how different datasets should be leveraged to provide information specifically needed for decision-making in different Ethiopian contexts. The successful candidate will be focused on team building and capacity-building of national staff, be a strategic thinker, have strong skills in design monitoring and evaluation of development programs, and maintain a sense of humor.
Influence and Representation
- Identify, build, and manage collaborative partnerships with consortium partners, sub-grantees, donors, local governments, and other stakeholders.
- Communicate effectively to ensure overall project targets and donor obligations are met.
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.
Ongoing Learning
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
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.
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
- 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.
- 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
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.
Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions
The position holder will be based at Dollo ado, Somali Region, Ethiopia, and will require frequent travel to Dollo ado and Dollo Bay woredas.
Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/TDY to a field posting. 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.
How to apply
All interested candidates are encouraged to apply for the position advertised. All applications must be submitted electronically including a CV, three references, and all relevant official documents.
Only candidates that are short-listed will be acknowledged and called for interviews.
“Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer promoting gender, equity and diversity. Qualified female and young candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. We are committed to empower women and youth.”
DEADLINE FOR ALL APPLICATIONS: 04 October 2023/ 4:00 PM
Applicants Must fill out their Information through the link:
https://recruiting2.ultipro.com/MER1024MERCY/JobBoard/7de55979-49d4-4f59-b61b-9c7d0e38d500/Opportunity/OpportunityDetail?opportunityId=778cc03e-780d-41dd-b421-5c44919df2f5