** Duration for 6 months with potential extension pending funding
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 operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since August 2007, with a staff of around 250 people working in North and South Kivu. Mercy Corps’ national office is in Goma with sub-field offices in Katwe, Mweso, Butembo (North Kivu), Bukavu (South Kivu). Current Mercy Corps activities focus on the provision of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services in camps of internally displaced people, but also large-scale WASH infrastructure and service delivery development in urban centers. Mercy Corps also has Food Security, Economic Recovery/Development and Governance programs, with an increasing shift towards transitional and integrated development programming. The DRC team has a strong commitment to providing entrepreneurial and innovative solutions to development challenges, and is actively seeking and facilitating market-based solutions.
The Food Security and Inclusive Access to Resources for Conflict-Sensitive Market Development (FARM) program is anticipated to work to improve access to, control over and utilization of land for 25,000 households in North Kivu and improve target market systems through increased cooperation between market actors in selected value chains, contributing to food security. FARM will put emphasis on improving access to land through improved service delivery and dialogue platforms for the benefit of the target population. In parallel, FARM will facilitate linkages between farmers, agri-businesses, private sectors actors, cooperatives and government in order to strengthen and diversify the target market systems.
General Position Summary
The Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL) Officer is a key position in the FARM program, responsible for supporting the installation of systems for cross-cutting programmatic monitoring, evaluation, and information management. She/he will play a key role in coordinating program quality monitoring and evaluation among Mercy Corps’ and its partners.
Together with Country MEL Manager and in coordination with the Program Director, she/he will define how programmatic information will be collected, analyzed and utilized for continuous improvement of ongoing programing, and incorporating information into consistently high quality reports.
S/he will be responsible for supporting the rollout – along with the Country MEL Manager, project staff and technical support staff – of the fully integrated Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) system and strategy for the FARM program. In addition, s/he will be responsible for ensuring that organized and actionable MEL information is provided to program managers and field offices in order to assist them to generate reports that are timely and of a high quality.
Essential Job Responsibilities
MEL Strategy and Information Management
- Support study design, data collection, data analysis, and ongoing review of lessons learned during the FARM program inception phase.
- Oversee the set-up and roll-out and any necessary adaptations of the FARM program M&E framework, under the supervision and support from the Country MEL Manager and the Program Director.
- Ensure the development of a robust FARM M&E Plan, including regular program monitoring exercises, annual monitoring and reporting on key impact indicators, in alignment with the mission-level MEL Strategy and Information Management Strategy.
- Support the Strategic Objective Managers and Grants Manager in the design and roll-out of FARM’s operational and formative research framework.
- Ensure operationalization and monitoring of Mercy Corp’s Accountability Mechanism in all program activities.
- Design and roll-out the capture and documentation of best practices and lessons learnt though regularly coordinated moments of self-reflection and adaption with program teams, in accordance with the mission-level Lessons Learned Strategy.
M&E System Development and Technical Oversight
- Design data collection tools that align with external and internal program indicators.
- Lead quantitative data collection exercises using the integrated Google Drive-Excel-CommCare information management system elected by the mission.
- Conduct routine and adhoc data analyses according to program’s needs in the areas of: adaptive management, external and internal reporting, and ongoing learning.
- Responsible for continuing to explore possibilities for use of alternative qualitative or quantitative data collection software or methodologies and applying them in ways that can best promote program learning.
- Ensure that FARM MEL data is stored according to Mercy Corps and donor standards.
- Ensure that gender, age, ethnicity and other relevant considerations are effectively integrated at design, implementation, analysis and report writing stages for all M&E products.
- Ensure that data collected is sex and age disaggregated in line with Mercy Corps minimum standards.
Teamwork and coordination
- Manage a team of one M&E Coordinator and one M&E Assistant, identifying and proactively addressing capacity building opportunities within the team.
- Coordinate, guide and support M&E activities and information management within both Mercy Corps and its implementing partners as appropriate.
- Supports performance management activities as needed for planning, monitoring, and annual performance appraisals.
Reporting
- Conduct project site visits to provide hands-on training to field staff on how to capture and organize information for accurate and appropriate documentation and reporting.
- Coordinate with program managers to ensure that program teams have the necessary capacity and resources to produce timely and high quality reports that are responsive to donors.
- Build team capacity through information-sharing and mentorship, coaching in report writing, and quality control of final written products.
- Support the Program Director by monitoring and reporting on potential partners’ MEL data and planning.
- Produce all required MEL reports for the FARM program.
Coordination and Representation
- Manage information sharing and coordination with I4S MEL teams, including site visits and key indicator reporting.
- Provide support as needed to ensure successful donor and third-party monitoring visits.
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
Directly supervises: FARM MEL Coordinator
Accountability
Reports Directly To: Mercy Corps MEL Manager, with secondary link to FARM Program Director
Works Directly With: FARM Managers and staff, MEL specialists from other programs
Knowledge and Experience
- MA/S or equivalent in social science, public health, management, or equivalent international development preferred.
- 1-3 years’ experience in Monitoring & Evaluation functions
- Previous experience coordinating MEL activities in francophone Africa preferred
- Demonstrated understanding of what gender sensitive programming is and why it is important.
- Experience with GPS and mobile-based MEL systems are required.
- Prior experience in staff development and participatory training;
- Excellent computer skills, including required experience with Excel, Google Drive, and electronic data collection applications (ODK Collect, CommCare, Kobo Toolbox, etc).
- Experience using other statistical or data management packages an advantage (R, Epi-info, Publisher, SPSS, QGIS/ArcGIS, etc).
- Demonstrated understanding of how GIS can help support better programming.
- Strong knowledge and experience of the context in eastern DRC is an advantage.
- Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively with team members is required;
- Fluent written and oral communication in both French and English is required;
Success Factors
A successful candidate will have a demonstrated ability to lead and communicate effectively with team members of varied work styles and cultures, follow procedures, and meet deadlines with flexibility and creativity in planning and problem solving. S/he will have a proven ability to learn quickly, multi-task, prioritize, take initiative, and be accountable for results, understand the larger picture while remaining focused on the details, problem solving, work within a complex and sensitive setting and to follow laws, security and gender integration protocols. As a key technical position, this person should have a strong understanding of program logic and should be able to express and document his/her ideas clearly and convincingly. The most successful Mercy Corps team 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. In DRC, patience, diplomacy, tenacity, compassion, determination and a sense of humor are all success factors.
Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions
This position is an unaccompanied post based in Goma (DRC). This position is expected to travel in country up to 30%.
While conditions in the country are improving, and security is quite stable in Goma, there are still pockets of violence and insecurity. Mercy Corps’ sub-offices experience variable levels of insecurity, with the situation closely monitored by UN peacekeepers. Air travel is necessary to get from one end of the country to the other. Mobile phones and cellular service are widely available. Internet is available in all Mercy Corps offices. Travel to field sites will be required where living conditions are clean and secure, but basic. There are a number of health services available with evacuation options for serious illnesses. There’s reasonable access to most consumer goods, although they can be expensive.
Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside of work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/TDY to a field posting. Staff are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and Mercy Corps’ policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.
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More Information
- Job City Goma
