About Mercy Corps
Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions
into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within. Now, and for the future.
Program / Department Summary
Mercy Corps has been present in Somalia since 2005, responding to emergency needs stemming from conflict and displacement, while continuing work to build more resilient, peaceful, and productive communities in Puntland, Somaliland, and the South-Central region. The current drought situation is seeing an increase of emergency activities around life-saving food, water, hygiene programs coupled with ongoing humanitarian programs around economic opportunity and development, youth & education, and reintegration of returnees.
General Position Summary
The Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Manager is an important position in the Mercy Corps Somalia program responsible for providing oversight of country-level monitoring and evaluation (M&E) department staff, ensuring the quality of the portfolio’s M&E, and the timely delivery of M&E reporting to donors, as well as information management via Mercy Corps’ proprietary TolaData software , geographic information systems (GIS), and other such systems as the MEL Manager may design and implement. The MEL Manager’s role is to oversee and ensure coordination of these technical areas across the M&E staff and programs. The MEL Manager is also responsible for the capacity building and mentoring strategy for Mercy Corps Somalia staff on themes related to monitoring, evaluation, accountability, learning and adaptive management.
Essential Job Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership
● Ensure individual programs comply with the standards set out in Mercy Corps’ MEL Policy
● Assist in the recruitment of skilled M&E program staff and organize the program teams to perform M&E activities.
● Participate in internal and external MEL-related working groups and maintain close working relationships with MEL counterparts in other relevant international NGOs, local NGOs and associations in Somalia.
● Be an active contributor and collaborator with regional and global counterparts to promote and learn the use of M&E and IT best practices.
● Define and execute an office-wide learning agenda, with prioritized subjects to ensure that learning is consistent with country-level strategic objectives
● Lead the intentional learning of programs by promoting and facilitating programmatic and country-level learning events.
Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning design
● Lead the MEL design of proposals ensuring that MEL is compliant with donor requirements, sector best practices and approaches, and Mercy Corps’ MEL Policy.
● Act as technical lead in drafting documents during the set-up and implementation phase, such as program M&E plans and learning agenda
● Lead and support TolaData utilization and learning across all Mercy Corps Somalia country programs.
● Establish a data-visualization agenda that prioritizes and schedules the release of paper and digital products reflecting program activities and impact.
● Provide leadership in the area of MEL tech to boost the country’s capacity around mobile data collection, visualization and analysis and ensure that programs align with the MEL tech suite
Capacity building and mentoring
● Develop and oversee implementation of the M&E staff and partner capacity-building strategy that promotes a culture of learning and adaption through systematic analysis of program data.
● Provide training and monitoring in the development of M&E plans, M&E tools as well as survey design, methodology, data collection and analysis
● Under the direction of the Deputy Country Director and in coordination with the Team Leader and Reporting & Program Support Officer, support efforts to promote and share internal learning.
● Work closely with Program Managers and Human Resources to ensure that M&E and ICT skills are incorporated in all program position descriptions
● Contribute to the knowledge management repository with best practices in M&E and ICT and ensure that is tis accessible to all staff and partners.
● Actively provide mentorship for all M&E staff including transparency and flexibility.
knowledge Management
● Establish and maintain effective and pro-active communication to facilitate knowledge management and sharing between all stakeholders. This will include reviewing current mechanisms and guidelines and addressing any issues that arise.
● Assist in maintaining proper and standardized MEL filing system for storing MEL documents according to the MEL Policy
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.
Supervisory Responsibility
The MEL Manager will be overall responsible for supervising the program and project-level M&E staff.
Accountability
Reports Directly To: Director of Programs (DOP)
Works Directly With: Program Team Leaders, Project teams, Somalia SMT, Regional Program Team, HQ/RO Technical Support Unit, ESA Program Officers, and additional headquarters-based support departments as needed.
Knowledge and Experience
● BA/S or equivalent in development studies, research methods, statistics, economics, social sciences, monitoring and evaluation, project management or other relevant field required. Post-graduate degree preferred.
● 7-10 years’ experience in monitoring and evaluation with proven use of database, data-visualization, project management, and other relevant IT platforms.
● Proven ability to produce documents (such as learning agenda, M&E Plan) for donor consumption – required
● Preference given to candidates with.
● Successful experience with the adoption of mobile data collection tools like Open Data Kit (ODK) and ability to use data visualization software (e.g., PowerBI) – required
● Experience with theoretical and practical background in MEL and knowledge of qualitative and quantitative methodologies and techniques used – required
● Knowledge of major aspects of program development, implementation and documentation and excellent verbal and written English communication skills – required.
● Possess the ability to analyze data and utilize lessons learned for the continuous improvement of program implementation and to promote a culture of learning – required
● Excellent quantitative skills and experience with statistical packages including Stata and/or SPSS, and GIS tools like QGIS, ArcGIS. – preferable
● Experience with data management including the ability to structure and collate data sets for ease of analysis – preferable
● Prior management experience, particularly in design and execution of adaptive management strategies and protocols – preferable.
Additional skills
● Proven ability to work productively with a variety of stakeholders to run participatory processes and meet tight deadlines with an emphasis on producing quality products.
● Commitment to capacity building.
● Actively promote communication, learning and accountability.
● Ability to work effectively with an ethnically diverse team in a sensitive environment.
● Ability to work in a sometimes-solitary environment with moderate to high levels of insecurity and significant restrictions on personal movement.
● Demonstrated ability to work in complex programming and volatile environments
Success Factors
The successful candidate will have proven experience working with a cross-cultural team and possess strong capacity building and mentoring skills that promotes a culture of learning. 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. S/he will be able to live and work closely with a diverse team of individuals in a highly intense and fluid work and security environment with demonstrated sensitivity to the people and issues in Somalia and the region. A sense of humor, team mentality and positive nature is highly desirable.
Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions
The position is based in Mercy Corps Somali field offices (Mogadishu, Galkacyo, Kismayu, Baidoa, Garowe and Hargeisa). Accommodation is provided in group housing. The MEAL Manager will support activities throughout Somalia. Mobility in Somalia is restricted and must first be cleared with the Security Advisor. This is an unaccompanied post and eligible for Hardship and R&R. Standard Somali workweek is Sunday – Thursday.
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. Notably all Somalia staff are expected to comply with all country security protocols as guided by the country management.
Fostering a diverse and open workplace is an important part of Mercy Corps’ vision. Mercy Corps is an Equal Opportunity Employer regardless of background. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment.
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. 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 e-learning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.
More Information
- Job City Mogadishu
