Vacancy at Mercy Corps - Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Advisor (ENGINE) Program

Mercy Corps is an international development organization that helps people around the world survive and thrive during crisis and natural disaster. Mercy Corps works in more than 40 countries to alleviate suffering and poverty by helping people build secure, productive and just communities. Since 1979, mercy Corps has been helping people in the world's toughest places to turn crises into opportunities to thrive

Mercy Corps seeks interested and qualified candidate for the position of: Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Advisor ENGINE. The Monitoring, Evaluation &Learning (MEL) Advisor will provide leadership in all aspects of monitoring, evaluation, learning, research, and information management
 
Position Title: Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Advisor  Empowering Nigerian Girls in New Enterprises (ENGINE) program      

Primary Location: Abuja, Nigeria with an estimated 50% travel to project locations       
Position Status:
Position Level: Field-based, full-time, regular, exempt
Level: 4       

Program/Department Summary: 

Contingent upon award, Mercy Corps anticipates implementation of a proposed three-year project to reduce financial and education barriers for marginalized Nigerian adolescent girls and young women. The goals of the ENGINE program are to increase girls’ and young women’s access to (1) financial education and life skills; (2) peer to peer networks and mentors; and (3) direct assets (materials and savings). ENGINE will integrate young women into value chains as well as conduct other market-driven employment opportunities. ENGINE will also work with girls in formal and informal education to increase their learning opportunities and outcomes to prepare them for future economic activities. ENGINE will be implemented in the Federal Capital Territory/Abuja as well as in Kano and Kaduna States and at least one additional state in the North. Mercy Corps will serve as a sub-awardee to a large international company and will collaborate with other stakeholders for the implementation of the ENGINE program, including the Nigerian Ministry of Education and Central Bank, as well as private sector actors.

General Position Summary: 

The Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL) Advisor will provide leadership in all aspects of monitoring, evaluation, learning, research, and information management. The MEL Advisor will coordinate closely with the Program Manager and the Country Representative to plan and implement activities that ensure adherence to Mercy Corps’ and DFID standards, including the use of standardized indicators and documentation methodologies. Throughout the life of the program, s/he will be the senior leader responsible for a) cross-cutting programmatic information management within the framework of the program; b) monitoring and evaluation; c) ensuring that information is shared and used for continuous improvement of ongoing programs, and d) is incorporated into reports. S/he will have responsibility for leading research efforts, networking with research agencies, documenting project impacts, and overseeing field-based M&E staff.

Essential job functions:

Technical Leadership –Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning

• Ensure that the ENGINE program captures and reports upon high-quality, verifiable data using valid and appropriate qualitative and quantitative tools that meet the requirements of both DFID and Mercy Corps.
• Adapt existing Mercy Corps and DFID monitoring tools, as well as propose new ways of measuring change through the use of both quantitative and qualitative data collection tools, analysis of secondary data, and, where appropriate, remote monitoring techniques.
• Establish and manage a database to track progress towards meeting project goals and objectives.
• Participate in the preparation of high-quality quarterly and annual reports.
• Coordinate internal and external reviews of information collected and lead the analysis of findings, with a strong emphasis on learning.
• Make performance results available to relevant program teams so that they can be used for continuous improvement.
• Lead on collecting, aligning, and reporting relevant program indicators as part of Mercy Corps’ global Mission Metrics initiative. 

Communication and Capacity-Building

• Actively participate in meetings and processes to promote effective program management (through strong MEL practices) across the entire country portfolio.
• Strengthen staff capacity in qualitative and quantitative monitoring and evaluation tools through comprehensive training and coaching.
• Problem-solve with others to address shortfalls in monitoring, evaluation and information management that affect program implementation. 
• Utilize internal Mercy Corps global online information-sharing resources to enhance organizational learning.
• Participate in M&E-related working groups and maintain close working relationships with MEL counterparts in other relevant international NGOs, local NGOs, and associations in Nigeria.

Research Coordination

• Develop and manage effective longitudinal research methods to accurately track beneficiaries over the life of the project.
• Maintain regular contact with relevant research agencies, including through relevant research partnerships, and help to increase the skills and product quality of these organizations.
• Coordinate with Mercy Corps’ HQ-based Technical Support Unit (TSU) to guide process of ex-ante, ex-post and midterm evaluation from the design, implementation and documentation phases.
• Liaise with other research organizations to ensure coordination of efforts. 

Organizational Learning:

 As part of Mercy Corps' agency-wide Organizational Learning Initiative, all team members are responsible for spending 5% of their work time in formal and/or non-formal professional learning activities.

Accountability to Beneficiaries: 

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts towards accountability, specifically to our participants 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: ENGINE MEL Team (est. approximately 1-3 people) 

Accountability: Reports Directly To:  ENGINE Project Manager  

WORKS DIRECTLY WITH: MC Country Representative, Finance Manager, and other relevant MC staff based in Abuja. Members of MC’s global TSU and MEL staff, including Mission Metrics manager in Portland. Members of MC’s HQ teams in Scotland and Portland

Knowledge and Experience:

• Graduate degree in development studies, social sciences, or relevant field, with a strong foundation in research methods, statistics, measurement, and evaluation.
• Minimum 5-7 years of M&E work experience in international development required; ideal candidate will have both theoretical and practical background in M&E and skilled in qualitative and quantitative M&E methodologies and techniques.
• Knowledge of program development, implementation, evaluation, and reporting.
• Experience supervising M&E teams and building team capacity to deliver high-quality results.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills. 
• Excellent computer skills, including experience with: Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, Epi-Info, Epi-Data, SPSS, Access, SQL, and any other statistical packages.
• Demonstrated understanding of intermediate and advanced statistics and the ability to summarize, generalize, and make predictions from large data sets.
• Ability to conceptualize, plan and implement program activities creatively, as well as possess the ability to analyze data and utilize lessons learned for the continuous improvement of program implementation and to promote a culture of learning.
• Familiarity and experience large-scale secondary education or school to work and especially targeting marginalized girls or young women programs preferred. 
• Experience working in the Middle Belt and Northern States of Nigeria.
• Fluency in written and verbal English required. Hausa language skills desired.

Success Factors:

The successful MEL Advisor will have the ability to multi-task, set priorities, and work under tight deadlines within a complex team. S/he will demonstrate strong interpersonal and cross-cultural communication skills and be committed to the values and mission of Mercy Corps. S/he will take initiative and contribute to team efforts, as well as demonstrate an ability to communicate, assume leadership, and make solid decisions while working remotely from country leadership.

Living /Environmental Conditions: 

This position will be based in Abuja with up to 50% travel primarily to locations within the Middle Belt and Northern States, where security is at times high-risk. Security in Abuja is generally good, although petty crime is a problem. Housing, health care, water, electricity and consumer goods are all reasonably accessible and there are good international and domestic travel options from Abuja Airport.

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. Team members 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.

Application Closing Date

23rd January, 2014

Method of Application 

Please submit a cover letter highlighting your relevant experience, as well as a CV, to:mercycorpshr@gmail.com  with mail subject ENGINE MEL ADVISOR by 23rd January, 2014

Disclaimer: 

The Manager of this blog does not Recruit or Process job applications on behalf of any organization/ candidate.