Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Officer at Mercy Corps

General Position Summary 

The Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Officer will work with the Mercy Corps program team as well as partner organizations to oversee and ensure the collection of quality MEL data for the program. The MEL Officer will be responsible for supporting the Senior MEL Officer to oversee the monitoring and data collection of programs, lead baseline, midterm, and end-line surveys, analyze data to provide insight to the project team and contribute to report writing. S/he will ensure that performance monitoring and results reporting tools and processes across the entire program are in place, effectively implemented, and well synchronized between the two program sites. The MEL officer will be an integral member of the program team’s learning and reflection processes, leading discussions on participant feedback. 

Essential Job Responsibilities 

STRATEGY & VISION

• Develop MEL Plan(s) for programs and proposals.
• Develop a system for reporting and validating program data (Excel, Tola, Access, etc.)
• Work closely with the program teams and local partners, to ensure effective monitoring, evaluation, and reporting of program activities and results.
• Coordinate reporting with partners, specifically tracking deadlines, ensuring adherence to monitoring formats and requirements, ensuring reporting quality and accuracy, and periodic report writing, editing, and submission.
• Compile progress against indicators and report back to the team according to the monitoring plan.
• Develop a Data Quality Assessment Plan.
• Perform spot checks on the team’s data collected and reports each month.
• Actively participate in any additional evaluation MEL activities including but not limited to baseline surveys, mid-term, end-line surveys, evaluations, and household surveys

 PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

• Contribute to learning/research agenda.
• Build the capacity of all relevant team members to implement program monitoring tools, accurately enter program data into relevant databases, and enable them to develop excellent reports and other documents.
• Build the capacity of our local partner organizations through ongoing training and support on monitoring tools, entering program data into databases, and the development of reports and other documents.
• Document lessons learned and success stories on the project.
• Ensure adherence to program management minimum standards in carrying out his/her duties, advising, and supporting other staff in the same as required.
• Other duties as assigned.

 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 

• BA/S or equivalent, preferably in economics, statistics, business administration, public administration, international development, or a similar field.
• 1-3 years of MEL experience.
• Fluent in both spoken and written English with good knowledge of Hausa.
• Previous experience working on USAID-funded programs is preferred.
• Relevant experience in field survey/data collection techniques, data entry, data verification, analysis, and reporting.
• Good understanding and skills at data management.
• Strong computer literacy with full knowledge of MS Office applications; knowledge of data science and programming is a plus but not required.
• Strong team coordination, listening, and consensus-building skills.