MEL Officer 89 views

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is powered by the belief that a better world is possible. To do this, we know our teams do their best work when they are diverse and every team member feels that they belong. We welcome diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be stronger and have long term impact.

Program / Department Summary

Mercy Corps has been present in Ethiopia since 2004 working to drive bold and transformative ideas, working closely with government, the private sector and civil society actors to build a more resilient country, ensuring that programs are responsive to and influenced by participants and stakeholders. Our vision is to enhance the resilience of climate and conflict-affected communities through market systems development for improved livelihoods, access to food, and safe and clean water to thrive in the face of crises. Our strategy focuses on the four outcome areas of: 1) Economically marginalized populations have improved and diversified livelihoods, income, and assets; 2) Pastoralists, farmers, and households have access to sustainably produced, safe, nutritious food; 3) Social cohesion and inclusive governance processes are built in crisis-affected communities; and 4) People have equitable, sustained access to clean water and sanitation for domestic and productive use. Currently we operate in the regional states of Afar, Amhara, Gambella, Oromia, Somali, Sidama, Southern Ethiopia, Tigray and Addis Ababa city administration working with a diverse base of donors that includes United States Agency for International Development (USAID), European Union, GAC, Hilton Foundation, United Nations (UN), JOA, Sweden, EKN, and other foundations.

The USAID-funded Highland Resilience Activity (HRA) will contribute to the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) 5’s “Big Push” initiative and has the overarching goal of strengthening resilience among vulnerable households in Ethiopia’s Highlands, resulting in 120,000 PSNP households reaching the graduation threshold. HRA will support these households in moving above the graduation threshold and to where they no longer require social safety net programming for household food security and have the capabilities and assets to withstand regular and predictable shocks. The Activity will achieve this goal by directly supporting households in increasing their on-farm, off-farm, and employment incomes while facilitating improvements in the market systems required to increase demand for goods and services in PSNP communities. HRA is a five-year program that started during October 2023.

General Position Summary

The Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Officer will work with the Mercy Corps MEL team specially the MEL specialist with respective region and MEL manger who will based in Addis as well as our local partner organizations to oversee and ensure the collection of quality M&E data for the program.  The M&E Officer will be responsible for supporting the HRA Program to oversee the routine monitoring data collection, lead surveys, analyze data to provide insight to the project team, and contribute to report writing. The MEL officer will be an integral member of the project team learning and reflection processes, leading discussion on beneficiary feedback.

Essential Job Responsibilities

Monitoring Evaluation and Learning:

• Support the registration and verification of PSNP beneficiaries in respective woredas who the HRA program targets will be.
• The position holder is responsible to update the Tola data (MC indicator database) in a timely manner and with all supporting monitoring data and evidence, stored on the system (TolaData) and ensure other databases like the institutional database are updated regularly.
• Ensure all necessary documents for program management are properly filed and kept both in hard and soft copy as per the requirement by Mercy Corps project management standards (PM@MC).
• Involved in the development and implementation of Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning systems, including indicators, data collection, data management, analysis and reports as required by Mercy Corps, donor, and government.
• Compile presentations and updates on progress, success factors and challenges as required by the managers, donors, and government.
• Ensure appropriate regular monitoring and timely submission of all necessary reports in line with donor, Mercy Corps and government reporting schedules and deadlines.
• Document and disseminate best practices and lessons learnt.
• Develop and maintain effective information database for the project in the operational areas
• Contribute to learning/research agenda.
• Document lessons learned and success stories on the project.
• Ensure adherence to program management minimum standards in carrying out his/her duties, advising and supporting other staff in the same as required.
• Review or edit data in reports as requested and required
• Produce analytical summaries: graphs, charts, and tables as requested to fulfill reporting requirements

 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

None.

Accountability

Reports Directly To: MEL specialist in Dire Dawa

Works Directly With: MEL/CLA team in the field and Addis and all HRA program staff and partner organizations.

Knowledge and Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree in social sciences, statistics, monitoring and evaluation, or related field is required or demonstrated equivalent work experience in the field.
• At least three years’ experience in monitoring
• Demonstrated experience in reviewing data for quality and accuracy.
• Experience writing short technical reports
• Previous experience working other international NGOs are strongly preferred
• Proficient in tablet-based data collection
• Effective English oral and written communication, multi-tasking, organizational, and prioritization skills are necessary
• Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively with team members is required
• Strong communication with local languages

 Success Factors:

• Ability to work as part of a team and coordinate with personnel.
• Conscientious, with excellent judgment
• Display an entrepreneurial spirit that is both creative and flexible. S/he will combine strong communication skills, creativity, initiative, participatory leadership and tactful decisiveness to assist in the development and implementation of Mercy Corps’ M&E strategy
• Multi-tasking, prioritizing, problem solving and simultaneous attention to detail and strategic vision are essential.
• S/he must have the confidence, and humility, to work effectively with a large variety of people who will be diverse culturally, economically and in social status
• S/he must be sensitive to political and cultural nuance and able to consistently apply excellent judgment to a variety of demanding and fast-changing situations
• Ability to foster solid working relationships with host Government, beneficiary communities, and partner organizations
• Strong organizational skills.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position is based in DireDawa Ethiopia and it requires travel to support country programs, which may include travel to insecure locations where freedom of movement is limited and areas where amenities are limited.

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 and have signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. 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.