Jobs at Mercy Corps

The Position

Mercy Corps is seeking candidates for a Strategic Communications and Knowledge Manager (SCKM) which will support the implementation of the anticipated five-year USAID/Feed the Future-funded Food Basket Activity. The Food Basket Activity will increase the productivity and competitiveness of selected value chains (rice, maize, and horticulture) and market systems in targeted areas of Kano, Kaduna, Nasarawa, and Plateau states of Nigeria.

Essential Responsibilities

• Provide leadership in the development of a communications and knowledge management strategy and operationally plan and oversee the implementation of the communications and knowledge management plan.
• Establish and strengthen program systems and team and partner capacity to achieve knowledge management and communication objectives.
• Effectively identify and use program evidence to represent program learning in strategic communications and collaborate with MEL staff to identify and address evidence needs.  
• Strengthen collaboration and cross-learning within the Activity team and within Mercy Corps Nigeria, as well as with local partners, private sector, government counterparts, and other programs/organizations to contribute to the knowledge sharing and community of practice.
• Lead the development of and author program reports and updates including overseeing quarterly donor reports. 
• Proactively identify stories and communications to share Activity results with various audiences.
• Manage and share relevant Activity reports and publications.
• Lead or actively contribute to the organization of external events and fora focused on enhancing program visibility, cross-partner collaboration, and peer learning. 
• Play a central role in program facilitating a culture of collaboration, learning, and adaptation within the Activity Team and Mercy Corps Nigeria through documenting and sharing Activity learning.
• Manage internal document storage, adhering to Mercy Corps’ policies and data security standards.
• Collect and disseminate learnings from the Activity internally and externally.
• Train, mentor, and build the capacity of others on the Activity team in communications and knowledge management practices.

Supervisory Responsibility

• TBD
• Accountability
• Reports Directly To: COP, Food Basket Activity
• Works Directly With The Activity Team

Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills

• BA/S degree in communication, public relations, development studies, or relevant field, master’s degree preferred.
• 5+ years of progressive work experience in communications and knowledge management for donor-funded development programs.
• Exceptional writing, editing, and public speaking skills in English are required.
• Ability to summarize and simplify complex information and communicate it to targeted groups.
• Graphic design, photo editing, and video editing experience strongly preferred. [NG1]
• Experience in agriculture or economic development donor-funded programming preferred.
• Demonstrated experience in training and capacity building across diverse teams and partners.
• Excellent stakeholder and relationship management skills.
• Previous experience in Nigeria or similar contexts is essential.
• Familiarity with USAID is required.

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General Position Summary

Mercy Corps is seeking a Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Director to support the implementation of the anticipated five-year USAID/Feed the Future-funded Food Basket Activity. The Food Basket Activity will increase the productivity and competitiveness of selected value chains (rice, maize, and horticulture) and market systems in targeted areas of Kano, Kaduna, Nasarawa, and Plateau states of Nigeria.

The MEL Director will be responsible for oversight of Activity-level monitoring and evaluation—including qualitative inquiry—ensuring that a robust MEL system provides evidence needed for learning and adapting throughout the program life-cycle. The MEL system should be robust enough that data can be used as part of an impact evaluation.

The MEL Director’s role is to also 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 Director is responsible for the capacity building and mentoring strategy for program staff on themes related to monitoring, evaluation, accountability, reporting, and learning.

Essential Job Responsibilities

MEL STRATEGY AND PLANNING

• Set up and oversee the timely implementation of MEL systems, including the Activity Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Plan (AMELP), M&E Technology Plan, and Learning Plan.
• Oversee data collection, analysis, management, visualization, mapping, and reporting on quantitative and qualitative indicators related to the program’s overall operational context and performance.
• Harmonize the MEL system across consortium partner systems and other external systems, as relevant.
• Maximize the use of participatory methods in MEL data collection.
• Ensure the quality of MEL implementation for the Activity, consistently reviewing and adapting the MEL systems and tools to the needs of the changing programmatic context.
• Ensure systems are established and maintained to collect sex- and age-disaggregated data to ensure that the project team can design gender-sensitive, and socially inclusive.
• Ensure that personal protection is included in data collection (direct and remote), storage, and presentation of those data.
• Tailor evidence-based learning to diverse audiences, decision-makers, and stakeholders.

INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

• Ensure data management processes (collection, cleaning, analysis, storage, reporting, and visualization) are functioning in all Activity locations to provide quality data within deadlines.
• Ensure data quality through routine internal Data Quality Assessments (DQAs) as required by the Mercy Corps MEL Policy and adjust as needed.
• Ensure the Activity adheres to Mercy Corps’ MEL and Program Record Retention and Responsible Data Policies.
• Develop reporting templates that facilitate the acquisition, aggregation, and flow of information and learning within the program, as well as externally.
• Maintain a comprehensive reporting and accountability schedule and review program reports to ensure reports contain accurate, clear, and high-quality data presented in the proper format.

TEAM MANAGEMENT

• Oversee the Activity MEL team and sub-contractors, such as external evaluators and enumerators.
• Use competency-based approaches to build the capacity of all relevant Activity and partner team members to develop and maintain a high-quality MEL system, which integrates regular reflection, learning, and adaption through analysis of quantitative and qualitative data and other knowledge gained through implementation of the AMELP.
• Promote staff accountability, communicate expectations, and provide constructive feedback informally and formally via regular one-on-one meetings and performance reviews.
• Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.

INFLUENCE & REPRESENTATION

• Collaborate with technical leads across the consortium and build processes for regular feedback to ensure effective and adaptive management.
• Present program MEL to external MEL and research stakeholders to influence decision-makers and promote collaboration and shared learning.
• Actively collaborate with regional and global counterparts to promote the use of MEL best practices and lessons learned.

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.

Supervisory Responsibility

• MEL Managers, MEL officers and MEL assistants on the MEL Team

Accountability

• Reports Directly To: Chief of Party, Food Basket Activity
• Works Directly With: The Activity Team; MEL leads within Mercy Corps Nigeria.

Knowledge and Experience

• Minimum of 7 years of relevant experience, including proven experience managing MEL staff.
• MA/MS in research methods, statistics, economics, monitoring and evaluation, or other relevant field preferred.
• Experience managing MEL and activities under USAID-funded programs.
• Proven success in designing, implementing, and overseeing program MEL systems from startup to closeout.
• Experience with and commitment to adaptive management and collaborative, learn, adapt (CLA) processes.
• Research skills, including participatory qualitative and quantitative methodologies and techniques, planning and managing surveys, and developing and refining data collection tools.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, and a proven ability to network and maintain effective working relationships with diverse actors.
• Experience and understanding of market-system development interventions and how these are monitored and evaluated
• Previous experience in Nigeria or similar context is essential.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English.