Senior Manager, Knowledge Management at Mercy Corps

Program / Department Summary

• The Educating Nigerian Girls in New Enterprises (ENGINE) Programme is an initiative to improve learning outcomes and the economic status of marginalized adolescent girls aged 16-19 in the Northern Nigerian states of Kano and Kaduna, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the metropolis of Lagos, Nigeria.
• ENGINE through funding from the UK Department for International Development’s Girls Education Challenge, the Coca-Cola Company and other stakeholders supported over 18,000 marginalized girls to reduce education and financial barriers in its first implementation phase.
• In its second phase, ENGINE 2 will facilitate transition of these girls into functional literacy, numeracy and scale up their business opportunities and linkages.
• ENGINE 2 will further increase girls’ and young women’s access to (1) financial education and life skills; (2) peer to peer networks and mentoring; and (3) direct assets (materials and savings). Beneficiaries will be integrated into value chains as well as conduct other market-driven employment opportunities.
• ENGINE 2 will also work with girls in formal and informal education to increase their learning opportunities and outcomes to prepare them for future economic activities and work in the policy environment to provide an enabling environment for girls to flourish in their chosen pathways.

General Position Summary

• The Senior Manager, Knowledge Management will provide leadership in all aspects of knowledge, research, and information management.
• The Senior Manager, Knowledge Management will coordinate closely with the Project Director, Deputy Project Director and other team members to plan and evaluate activities that ensure adherence to Mercy Corps’ and DFID standards, including the use of standardized indicators and documentation methodologies.
• Throughout the life of the program, s/he will be the senior leader responsible for a) cross-cutting programmatic information management within the framework of the program; b) monitoring and evaluation; c) ensuring that information is shared and used for continuous improvement of ongoing programs, and d) is incorporated into reports.
• S/he will have responsibility for leading research efforts, networking with research agencies, documenting project impacts, and overseeing field-based M&E staff.

Essential Job Responsibilities
Strategy & Vision:

• Recognize opportunities for innovative action and create an environment where alternative viewpoints are welcome.
• Set direction by prioritizing and organizing actions & resources to achieve objectives and contribute to countrywide strategy development.
• Develop and organize activities to secure resources for programs and convince stakeholders to provide support. 

Technical Leadership - Knowledge Management:

• Ensure that the ENGINE project captures and reports upon high quality, verifiable data using valid and appropriate qualitative and quantitative tools that meet the requirements of both DFID and Mercy Corps.
• Work with external evaluator to ensure ENGINE evaluations are routinely conducted in line with donor requirements
• Manage the dissemination of information to different stakeholders
• Adapt existing Mercy Corps and DFID monitoring tools, as well as propose new ways of measuring change through the use of both quantitative and qualitative data collection tools, analysis of secondary data, and, where appropriate, remote monitoring techniques.
• Establish and manage a database to track progress towards meeting project goals and objectives.
• Preparation of high-quality quarterly and annual donor reports, communication briefs, documentaries, fact sheets
• Coordinate internal and external reviews of information collected and lead the analysis of findings, with a strong emphasis on learning.
• Make performance results available to relevant program teams so that they can be used for continuous improvement.
• Lead on collecting, aligning, and reporting relevant program indicators as part of Mercy Corps’ global Mission Metrics initiative. 

Communication and Capacity Building:

• Actively participate in meetings and processes to promote effective program management (through strong MEL practices) across the entire country portfolio.
• Strengthen staff capacity in qualitative and quantitative monitoring and evaluation tools through comprehensive training and coaching.
• Problem-solve with others to address shortfalls in monitoring, evaluation and information management that affect program implementation. 
• Utilize internal Mercy Corps global online information-sharing resources to enhance organizational learning.
• Participate in M&E-related working groups and maintain close working relationships with MEL counterparts in other relevant international NGOs, local NGOs, and associations in Nigeria.

Research Coordination:

• Develop and manage effective longitudinal research methods to accurately track beneficiaries over the life of the project.
• Maintain regular contact with relevant research agencies, including through relevant research partnerships, and help to increase the skills and product quality of these organizations.
• Coordinate with Mercy Corps’ HQ-based Technical Support Unit (TSU) to guide process of ex-ante, ex-post and midterm evaluation from the design, implementation and documentation phases.
• Liaise with other research organizations to ensure coordination of efforts. 

Team Management:

• Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.
• Promote accountability, communicate expectations and provide constructive feedback via regular performance reviews.
• Supervise, hire and orient new team members as necessary.
• Provide team members with information, tools and other resources to improve performance and reach objectives.
• Contribute to country team-building efforts, help team members identify problem-solving options and ensure the integration of all team members into relevant decision-making processes.

Finance & Compliance Management:

• Ensure compliance with donor and Mercy Corps regulations related to emergency programming.
• Draft and/or review scope of work to hire and manage any technical consultants, including review for technical efficacy and contract budget.

Influence & 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.

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.

Knowledge and Experience

• Master’s degree in Development Studies, Statistics, Social Sciences, or relevant field, with a strong foundation in research methods, statistics, measurement, and evaluation.
• Minimum of progressive 8 years  Knowledge Management and Research work experience in international development required; ideal candidate will have both theoretical and practical background in M&E, communication experience and skilled in qualitative and quantitative M&E methodologies and techniques. Experience managing RCTs a plus.
• Knowledge of program development, implementation, evaluation, and reporting.
• Experience supervising M&E and communication teams and building team capacity to deliver high-quality results.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills. 
• Excellent computer skills, including experience with: Excel, PowerPoint, Epi-Info, SPSS, Access, and any other statistical packages.
• Demonstrated understanding of intermediate and advanced statistics and the ability to summarize, generalize, and make predictions from large data sets.
• Ability to conceptualize, plan and implement program activities creatively, as well as possess the ability to analyze data and utilize lessons learned for the continuous improvement of program implementation and to promote a culture of learning.
• Familiarity and experience large-scale secondary education or school to work and especially targeting marginalized girls or young women programs preferred. 
• Experience working in Northern States of Nigeria.
• Fluency in written and verbal English required.
• Use of ICT4D in monitoring and reporting

Success Factors

• The successful candidate will combine exceptional leadership, management and technical skills with a focus on innovative interventions to engage adolescent girls in informal education and skills building linked with private sector entrepreneurship and employment opportunities in a culturally and religiously conservative environment.
• S/he will have an outstanding ability to develop, implement and manage innovative and complex programs within the current and future program structure of Mercy Corps in the region. Multi-tasking, prioritizing, problem solving and simultaneous attention to detail and strategic vision are essential. 
• The most successful Mercy Corps staff members have a strong commitment to teamwork and accountability, thrive in evolving and changing environments and make effective written and verbal communication a priority in all situations.
• Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours. 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.