MONITORING, EVALUATION AND LEARNING OFFICER

Position Description

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.

The Program / Department / Team

Mercy Corps is launching the Advancing School Completion, Education, Nutrition, and Development (ASCEND) project, a five-year USDA McGovern-Dole Food for Education program in Liberia, working across Grand Bassa, Rivercess, Grand Gedeh, and River Gee counties in partnership with international and national organizations. The program aims to improve school meals, literacy outcomes, and the community and government systems that sustain these gains over time, in close coordination with national and local stakeholders.

The Position

The Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Officer will work with the program team as well as local partner organizations to oversee and ensure the collection of quality MEL data for the program. The MEL Officer will be responsible for supporting county-level monitoring and data collection, leading surveys, analyzing data to provide insight to the program team, and contributing to report writing. They will ensure that performance monitoring and results reporting tools and processes are in place, effectively implemented, and well synchronized across program sites.

The MEL Officer will be an integral member of the program team's learning and reflection processes, leading discussions on participant feedback, and will work closely with the MEL Coordinator and MEL Tech Coordinator as members of the same MEL team report to the MEL Coordinator and work closely with the MEL Tech Coordinator as members of the MEL team led by the MEL Lead.

Essential Responsibilities

STRATEGY AND VISION

• Develop MEL Plan components for county-level activities, in coordination with the MEL Coordinator and MEL Lead.
• Develop a system for reporting and validating program data (Excel, CommCare, TolaData, or similar).
• Work closely with the program team and local partners to ensure effective monitoring, evaluation, and reporting of program activities and results.
• Coordinate reporting with local partners, specifically tracking deadlines, ensuring adherence to monitoring formats and requirements, ensuring reporting quality and accuracy, and periodic report writing, editing, and submission.
• Compile progress against indicators and report back to the team according to the monitoring plan.
• Support the Data Quality Assessment (DQA) process at the county level.
• Perform spot checks on data collected and reports each month.
• Actively participate in additional MEL activities, including but not limited to baseline surveys, midterm and endline surveys, evaluations, and household surveys.
• Collect and verify program data through CommCare, and support the documentation of seasonality and shocks that affect program delivery at county level.
• Collaborate with the Ministry of Education (MOE) at school, district, and county levels, and support county education officials to use MEL data.

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

• Contribute to the program's learning and research agenda.
• Build the capacity of relevant team members to implement program monitoring tools, accurately enter program data into relevant databases, and develop high-quality reports and other documents.
• Build the capacity of local partner organizations through ongoing training and support on monitoring tools, data entry, and report development.
• Document lessons learned and success stories from the program, in coordination with the Communications Coordinator.
• Ensure adherence to program management minimum standards in carrying out duties, advising and supporting other staff in the same as required.

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.

SAFEGUARDING RESPONSIBILITIES

• Actively learns about safeguarding and integrates it into their work, including safeguarding risks and mitigations related to their area of work.
• Practices the values of Mercy Corps, including respecting the dignity and well-being of participants and fellow team members.
• Encourages openness and communication in their team; encourages team members to submit reports if they have any concerns using reporting mechanisms, e.g., Integrity Hotline and other options.

Supervisory Responsibility

None.

Accountability

Reports Directly To: MEL Coordinator

Works Directly With: MEL Tech Coordinator, the other MEL officer, and county-level program staff

Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills

• BA/S degree or equivalent, preferably in statistics, monitoring and evaluation, business administration, public administration, international development, or a related field.
• At least 2 years of MEL experience.
• Fluent in spoken and written English.
• Previous experience working on institutional donor-funded programs preferred.
• Experience in school feeding projects is an added advantage.
• Relevant experience in field survey/data collection techniques, data entry, data verification, and analysis.
• Good understanding of and skills in data management.
• Strong computer literacy with a full knowledge of MS Office applications.
• Familiarity with CommCare and TolaData is preferred.
• Strong team coordination, listening, and consensus-building skills.
• A valid motorcycle license is an added advantage, as field travel within the county may be by motorcycle.

Success Factors

A strong team member will be conscientious, with excellent judgement, capable of multi-tasking, prioritizing, problem-solving, and attention to detail with strategic vision. They 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. They must be sensitive to political and cultural nuance and able to consistently apply excellent judgment to a variety of demanding and fast-changing situations, as well as the ability to foster solid working relationships with Mercy Corps staff, local NGOs, and community-based organizations. Working as part of a team and coordinating with program personnel, as well as strong organizational skills, are essential to this position.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position is based in Grand Bassa County or Rivercess County, Liberia (depending on the position), and requires regular travel within the county of assignment, including to areas with limited amenities. Team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours when deployed in a field posting. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs, and organizational policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

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.

As an applicant, if you witness or experience any form of sexual misconduct during the recruitment process, please report this to Mercy Corps Integrity Hotline (integrityhotline@mercycorps.org).