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) Manager is pivotal to the implementation of the HRA MEL approaches, with a specific focus on resilience measurement and resilience learning. The Senior MEL Manager will work across component teams and with partners to ensure resilience building efforts and their impact are effectively measured as well as support the resilience learning agenda. In coordination with the CLA/MEL director, They will be responsible for developing, coordinating, maintaining, and constantly improving the program wide CLA and M&E systems using relevant knowledge and evidence to guide program strategy, support adaptive management and continuous improvement, and advance learning as well as implementing an internal CLA capacity building strategy that trains and mentors staff and promotes a culture of learning.

Essential Job Responsibilities

Strategy & Design

• Provide strategic leadership to field MEL/CLA team in developing individual program level CLA strategies that promotes learning, and improve program quality and performance, as well as feed into the broader HRA CLA/M&E system and approaches, in close coordination with regional program coordinators and sector specialists.

• Contribute to implementation of the strategic CLA vision and detailed implementation plan for the HRA Activity, with an emphasis on user-centered approaches for engaging with and building buy-in among key program stakeholders on resilience measurement and learning.

• Designing and providing leadership on activities for building data literacy skills important for interpreting and acting on intervention and overall program-level data

• Contributing to the development of decision support tools and analytical products to integrate evidence into program design, monitoring, evaluation, and management

• Collaborate with the CLA Lead and technical component leads to refine the program Theory of Change based on learning from literature review and ongoing program assessments.

• The MEL Manager will play a strategic role in resilience monitoring and documentation – such as Market Systems Resilience (MSR) impacts, tracking and documenting crowding-in of market systems actors, annual Recurrent Monitoring Survey (RMS)/participants-based survey, annual sector focused analyses, intervention learning briefs, quantifying resilience storytelling (scale, and depth), quantifying the program integration approach Qualitative monitoring to supplement the routine monitoring data reporting.

• Collaborate with technical leads across the program and build processes for regular feedback loops to ensure integrated program delivery and adaptive management.

Technical Support

• Implement CLA/M&E systems with utility and program quality in mind, providing program team real time information that can steer program implementation as well as informing regional level stakeholders and strategic program direction and that helps strategize future program interventions.

• Build the capacity of all relevant team members to develop and maintain an excellent M&E system, including training on TolaData (digital tool developed by MC) and CommCare (ODK-based mobile data collection tool) and the periodic reflection and analysis of program monitoring data to disseminate learning

• Update and implement the Activity Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Plan (A-MELP) inclusive of IPTT with indicators, pivot log, measurement details and annual targets.

• Update indicator performance tracking in Mercy Corps’ TolaData platform and submitting annual indicator data on USAID DIS system.

• Facilitating learning events and bilateral sessions with key program stakeholders (particularly at regional level) using evidence to draw insights on and estimate individual contribution to collective resilience outcomes

• Manage the Learning and Research Plan to track and document evidence around critical learning questions and coordinate learning activities toward answering them.

• Work with CLA Lead and Technical component Leads to track learning questions emerging from assessments and other learning activities

• Support with quality documentation through comprehensive quality writing, and synthesizing evidence to generate knowledge and learning products

• Work with the CLA Lead to support on all program reporting needs including, consolidating program data for the automated IPTS system, reviewing, and writing quarterly and annual reports

Team Management

• Develop the capacity of the team, deepen understanding of their roles and assist with career development.

• Assist team members with information, tools and resources to improve performance & reach objectives.

• Promote accountability, communicate expectations and provide constructive feedback informally and formally via regular one on ones and performance reviews.

• Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.

• Play an active role in hiring, orienting and leading team members as necessary.

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

Program MEL Specialists

Reports Directly To: MEL/CLA DIRECTOR

Works Directly With: MEL/CLA Team, COPs, DCOP, team leaders, Technical Advisors, field teams, consortium partners, local government, USAID and other stakeholders.

Job Requirements

Knowledge and Experience

• BA/S degree in development studies, research methods, statistics, economics, social sciences, project management or other relevant field required

• Five (5) years of active work experience in emergency and development programming required with the proven use of program technology

• Experience with theoretical and practical background in M&E and skilled in participatory qualitative and quantitative M&E methodologies and techniques preferred

• Experience with data management including the ability to structure and collate data sets for ease of analysis preferred

• Proven experience with systems thinking or systems approaches to programming

• Proven experience developing iterative learning systems or ‘feedback loops’ within development programs or organizational learning contexts

• Knowledge of resilience in development programs a plus

• Excellent computer skills (especially Microsoft office applications) and ability to use information technology as a tool and resource

• Demonstrated experience in training and capacity building across diverse teams and partners

• Excellent project management, time management, and organizational skills. Multi-tasking skills and ability to work under pressure

• Strong writing, editing, public speaking skill and good leadership skills

• Ability to summarize and simplify complex information and communicate it to the targeted groups

• Excellent stakeholder management skills

• Experience of working on USAID programs preferred.

• Previous experience living and working in challenging or insecure

• Strong command of English verbal and written skills

• Knowledge of local dialects is preferred.

Success Factors

The ideal candidate will work as an integral part of the CLA/M&E technical assistance team to ensure that all CLA technical support to program for adaptive learning is properly integrated throughout the course of program implementation. They will be a self-starter who can work independently or in a team setting, take initiative in tasks and self-learning, and be proactive in communication while forging productive relationships with colleagues throughout the agency. They must have a deep interest in Mercy Corps’ programs and a commitment to the goals of the organization. They needs to be able to prioritize, multi-task and organize many urgent tasks, often under intense deadline pressure. S/he will demonstrate creativity and flexibility, as well as a proven ability to learn quickly and be accountable for results. Even temperament and a good sense of humor appreciated.

Living /Environmental Conditions:

The position will be based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with regular travels to the field. This position requires up to 50% of travel by air and road to field offices in relatively secure environments. 

Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside 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 MC's policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

Fostering a diverse and open workplace is an important part of Mercy Corps’ vision. Mercy Corps is an Equal Opportunity Employer regardless of background. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment.

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 elearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.

How to Apply

All qualified individuals are invited to apply for the advertised position. All applications, including a CV, three references, and all applicable official papers, must be sent electronically.

Only candidates that are short-listed will be acknowledged and called for interviews.

“Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer promoting gender, equity and diversity. Qualified female and young candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. We are committed to empowering women and youth.”

DEADLINE FOR ALL APPLICATIONS: 10 November 2023/ 4:00 PM

Register using this LINK