Position is contingent on 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.

We help people overcome poverty and conflict. Working with communities, we leverage local logic to help people transform their lives. To grow more food, earn higher incomes and ultimately advocate for their needs. We see global challenges as an invitation to pioneer innovative, sustainable solutions. During our 34-year history, our work has improved more than 170 million lives in more than 115 countries around the world. Mercy Corps Ethiopia invites motivated and qualified candidates to apply for the following vacant position.

Position Title:   Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Specialist

Duty Station:  Addis Ababa

Open Position:  1

Program / Department Summary

Mercy Corps has been present in Ethiopia since 2004, and acts on behalf of people who have become disenfranchised and poor. We stand with Ethiopia to find and access opportunities, and to be part of lasting and meaningful transformation in the country. Mercy Corps seeks to be influential with government and development actors towards a more resilient country where poverty is tackled through the eyes of those who understand it best. This translates into ensuring that the population is financially stable, healthy & nourished, educated & unformed, and that natural resources are accessible, shared and utilized sustainably. 

Mercy Corps anticipates a multi-year, multi-million dollar USAID funded initiative focused on: stimulating increased production, productivity and marketing through more competitive livestock and livestock products markets; increasing communities’ resilience; improving alternative livelihood options through essential skills transfer; improving food security and nutrition, and contributing to the wider knowledge on pastoral development.  The program will operate in multiple pastoral regions across Ethiopia.

Mercy Corps is looking for individuals who will have responsibility to support technical teams in targeting, monitoring of activities, performance checking, and outcome monitoring. 

General Position Summary

The general duties and responsibilities of the MEL specialist are to provide oversight of project-level MEL activities within the Program, ensuring the quality of the project’s MEL activities, information management via the programs reporting system (which may be tied with Mercy Corps’ proprietary Tola systems), and geographic information systems (GIS). The MEL specialist’s role is also to oversee and ensure coordination of the various technical areas across the MEL staff of the Project, and other relevant Project staff and components. The MEL specialist is responsible for the capacity building and mentoring strategy for program staff on themes related to monitoring, evaluation, accountability, reporting and learning.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

STRATEGY & VISION

●       Set-up the MEL system, including all tools and data collection processes for program activities (Excel, Tola, Concept Note management system, Access, etc.).

●       Work closely with the program teams 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.

●       Develop and follow up the implementation of Data Quality Assessment Plan.

●       Perform spot checks on the team’s data collected and reports each month.

●       Work closely with the program team and partners ensuring we adhere to humanitarian principles, Mercy Corps’ gender policies, Do No Harm principles and beneficiary accountability standards;

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

●       Build the capacity of all relevant team members to implement program-monitoring tools, accurately enter program data into relevant databases, and enable them to develop excellent reports and other documents.

●       Build the capacity of consortium team and our local partner organizations through ongoing training and support on: monitoring tools, entering program data into databases, the development of reports and other documents.

●       Collect, analyze and validate information and data on the performance indicators

●       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.

●       Take on overall responsibility for project reporting including Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Annual, Final and ad-hoc reports of the program.

●       Other duties as assigned. 

FINANCE & COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT

●       Ensure compliance with donor and Mercy Corps regulations related to emergency programming.

●       Draft and/or review scope of work to hire and manage any technical consultants, including review for technical efficacy and contract budget.

INFLUENCE & REPRESENTATION

●       Identify, build and manage collaborative partnerships with consortium partners, sub-grantees, donors, local governments and other stakeholders.

●       Communicate effectively to ensure overall project targets and donor obligations are met.

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. 

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 five years work experience in implementing practical monitoring and evaluation, knowledge management or database management in pastoral and agro-pastoral systems of Ethiopia;

●       Demonstrated experience in monitoring routine data collection, data analysis and reporting against indicators at all levels.

●       Demonstrated experience in quantitative and qualitative survey implementation and support.

●       Demonstrated skill in training and M&E capacity development of field staff.

●       Proven experience in designing and implementing M&E activities and indicators, as well as analyzing the data collected.

●       Demonstrated skills in analyzing data, both qualitative and quantitative.

●       Experience in the region is required; previous experience in arid and semi-arid parts of Ethiopia is preferred;

Success Factors

●       Fluent in English and Amharic languages.

●       Business minded, entrepreneurial, adaptive, curious, great problem solving skills, unafraid to ask questions, and results motivated.

●       He/She will be a tolerant and flexible individual able to work in difficult and stressful environments and follow procedures

●       Excellent communication, facilitation and networking skills with a wide range of private, partner and NGO-sector actors

●       Computer literate especially in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook)

●       Female candidates are highly encouraged to apply