Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Officer at Mercy Corps

Locationn  Benue  Application Link

Location  Kebbi Application Link

Duration of Assignment: 7 Months

Program / Department Summary

Mercy Corps, an international humanitarian NGO and has been operating in Nigeria since 2012 and is looking for M&E Officers to be based in Benue state, covering Benue/Ebonyi to support the implementation of a rapid COVID response program through Mercy Corps’ USAID – funded Feed the Future Nigeria Rural Resilience Activity. The rapid response program will support vulnerable populations and livelihoods through Cash for Work and strengthen supply chains through smart Cash Subsidies.

General Position Summary

The Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL) Officer will support the program teams with technical oversight and direction on all monitoring and evaluation needs across implementing areas. S/he will support the State Manager in ensuring timely and quality reporting. The MEL Officer will support the provision of program staff with the information and training to capture monitoring metrics regularly and efficiently. S/he will coordinate and support data collection and analysis of activities and regularly provide technical oversight, problem-solving, and support. S/he will report to the Rural Resilience Activity MEL Manager. 

The MEL Officer will be responsible for assisting all components of the Rural Resilience Program with their MEL needs. Mercy Corps Nigeria utilizes mobile data collection through a tablet-based application, and the M&E Officer will lead on mobile form authoring and testing. Additionally, the position requires management and analysis of cloud-based datasets for timely, and often real-time, visualization and utilization. Mercy Corps’ MEL team will continue to develop an end-to-end standard for mobile data, which includes building and maintaining dashboards of program progress and performance.

As gender and social inclusion (GESI) of the MC program, the M&E Officer is required to own this component and ensure GESI sensitivity are integrated into his/her work area.

Essential Job Responsibilities

• Contribute to adapting existing M&E systems to monitor and evaluate project activities and impact, in accordance with existing Mercy Corps DM&E guidelines.
• Support data capture across program interventions and analyze data collected during monitoring and evaluation activities.
• Oversee data indicator tracking and analysis, linking it with evidence on a regular basis and ensure that data and metrics in field reports are accurate.
• Maintain an up to date database that reflects progress through Monitor and TolaData (including disaggregated beneficiary counts) and donor indicators
• Remain updated with developments among the USAID and Mercy Corps Nigeria MEL community and agency-wide MEL trends and resources, and ensure that the MEL team are applying MC guidance and policies appropriate and in a timely manner
• Play key role in the development and leading in the review of result chains, sector intervention strategies and M&E frameworks and document changes to generate learnings and ideas for programs
• Write, edit, and summarize field reports to develop quality and informative monthly and quarterly reports for donors and internal teams.
• Work with the program team to identify opportunities to innovate M&E systems (particularly digital enhancement, data visualization).
• Support sector specific market analysis, documenting market system behavior changes, as well as other case studies at the project and program levels - data quality controls as integral of maintaining a systematic MEL process.
• Tracking and documenting key aspects of pilot projects for iterative adaptive learning and scale of proven models.
• Coordinate assessments, evaluations and monitoring surveys in area of operation.
• Provide input on the design and implementation of baseline studies, mid-term evaluations and final evaluations.
• Visit project sites and partners to collect supplementary data, stories and conduct qualitative research both independently and in teams to ensure regular and accurate information.
• Work closely with program teams for filing/archiving documentation both softcopies and hardcopies.

Learning

• Support learning-to-action events, reflection sessions to systematically analyze data for programmatic use and to document and incorporate lessons learned into program design, planning and implementation.
• Leverage lessons learned, best practices, program data, evaluations and provide evidence based information, proposal annexes, success stories, case studies and other high-quality results-based documentation.
• Work closely with central CLA/KM team to identify and document different case stories and communications points and process across programs.

Additional Tasks

• Support with other tasks as needed.

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.

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.
• Report on any problems encountered in the field such as project participant complaints, local authority interference, and security threats to MC staff and activities. Coordinate with MC Security Officer and State Manager on any threats to MC staff and activities; follow up on incidents/security threats in areas of operation.

Supervisory Responsibility

None

Accountability

Reports Directly To: State Manager

Works Directly With: MEL Manager, Program team

Knowledge and Experience

• At least 2 years of experience in development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation or other learning efforts is required.
• Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Agriculture, Demography, Statistics, Business administration or relevant field (Essential).
• Should understand concepts and demonstrate skills in monitoring and evaluation, project cycle, results chain and frameworks, participatory monitoring and or Market facilitation.
• Capacity to produce high-quality briefs and reports.
• Demonstrated ability to train and build capacity of others, including private small/medium micro-enterprises on the essence of data for decision.
• Should be able to design and implement surveys, have knowledge of commonly used probability and purposive sampling techniques.
• Should have knowledge of quantitative and qualitative data collection, reporting techniques. S/he should understand and be able to apply basic measures of central tendency and spread.
• Experience developing and disseminating regular communication materials and updates.
• Experience representing the organization and its interests to a diverse range of local and international government officials, private sector, local civil society organizations, other international organizations, the media and the public.
• Proficiency with digital platforms for MEL (e.g Commcare, Ona/Kobo) – including familiarity with other technology platforms to support programs and MEL related activities.
• Ability to demonstrate innovative and adaptive management skills.
• Demonstrated strengths in analytical skills, monitoring and evaluation, and report writing.
• Demonstrate strong emotional intelligence.
• Excellent oral and written skills and computer skills.
• Fluency in English; fluency in local languages required.

Success Factors

• S/he will be capable of multi-tasking, rapid decision-making, have initiative, drive and a lot of energy, as well as high emotional intelligence, constructive communication skills and proven experience with capacity building. S/he will be committed to long-term program sustainability and the delivery of high-impact activities at the community level. Successful Mercy Corps team members have a strong commitment to teamwork and accountability, thrive in evolving and challenging environments, and make effective written and verbal communication a priority.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

• The position is based in Benue State and requires travel between states.
• 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.

Qualifications

Behaviors

Required

Functional Expert: Considered a thought leader on a subject

Preferred

Detail Oriented: Capable of carrying out a given task with all details necessary to get the task done well

Education

Required

Bachelors or better.

Preferred

Masters or better.