Senior Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Officer

Senior Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Officer-SUSTAINED

Position Description

Location Yumbe, Uganda

Position Status Full-time

Salary Level: Level 6

Current Team Member: New Position

Minimum Salary: Ugx 3,373,553/=

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is an international development organization that works in over 40 countries to promote community-led and market-driven development. With a strategic focus on countries in transition, Mercy Corps takes a progressive approach to supporting communities, entrepreneurs, governments and the private sector from relief to long-term economic growth. With a network of over 3,700 experienced professionals around the world, we are uniquely positioned to respond to complex environments and the needs of local communities.

In Uganda, Mercy Corps has been in operation since 2006 in Karamoja specifically in Kotido, Abim, Amudat, Kaabong and Moroto; in Northern Region in Gulu; West Nile in Yumbe and Central region specifically Kampala district. Mercy Corps offers technical expertise in Market Development, Gender, Peace and Conflict Management, Economic Empowerment, Food Security Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning, Agriculture and Agribusiness.

Mercy Corps has implemented and still implements multiple donor-funded projects within and outside the West Nile region with her major donors including but not limited to DANIDA (Danish Government Overseas Aid), Austrian Development Agency, Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and Private foundations among others.

Program Summary

The SUSTAINED consortium (Mercy Corps, CARE, and Oxfam) is a gender integrated intervention to increase access and use of quality, reliable, affordable, and clean energy sources for refugees and surrounding host communities. The SUSTAINED programme will adopt a Market Systems Development (MSD) approach, responding to the clear need for linkages to facilitate the entry of quality private sector actors into displacement settings, whilst ensuring that vulnerable populations can access quality products and services, in a safe, supportive environment. In this context, SUSTAINED will work with energy service companies (ESCOs), Financial Service Providers (FSPs), refugee and host communities, to address both demand and supply side barriers. The SUSTAINED programme will also take an ecosystem approach, supporting the development of an enabling environment required for a clean energy marketplace for refugees in Uganda. 

General Position Summary

The Senior Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Officer will work with the Mercy Corps SUSTAINED program team to oversee and ensure the collection of quality M&E data throughout the duration of the program.  The MEL Officer will be responsible for supporting the Program Manager to oversee the monitoring and data collection of the project, lead regular and annual field-based household and group interviews, analyze data to provide insight to the activities and program outcomes, and contribute to report writing. S/He will ensure that performance monitoring and results reporting tools and processes across the entire program are in place, effectively implemented and well synchronized between the Activity sites. The Senior MEL Officer will be an integral member of the project team learning and reflection processes, leading discussion on participant feedback.

Essential Job Responsibilities

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.

Technical Responsibilities

Monitoring and Evaluation

  • Work with program teams, partners, and M&E focal points to integrate M&E into ongoing project/program planning and implementation systems and ensure adherence to Mercy Corps M&E minimum standards.
  • Lead the development of appropriate monitoring, tracking, and reporting systems, tools and templates that enhance monitoring of project outputs and quality, generate quality evidence on project impact and promote and ensure use of data for decision-making processes.
  • Support the program in developing and promoting the use of standard indicators, tools, and forms (as appropriate) and M&E practices across the project/program and coordinate the collection of information required for country-level management.
  • Coordinate assessments and evaluations.
  • Ensure that monitoring plans are developed for the program and ensure that regular monitoring visits are conducted by MEL staff to the different project locations, ensure that minimum standards are being met, and that reports are shared with the program teams.
  • Work with partners and program team to gather success stories and anecdotal evidence of program impact to share for outreach and with donors.

Data Analysis and Reporting

  • Work as part of a broader team to design, facilitate and support data collection and analysis systems including baseline, annual, and end line surveys, regular monitoring, data collection and analysis, feedback, and reporting.
  • Generate data reports (tables/graphs/reports) from the database at regular intervals, ensuring reports/information are available for program implementation staff as required.
  • Facilitate data analysis with program implementation team as required.
  • Conduct regular field visits to ensure all elements of the data system are being utilized effectively, assessing, and identifying breakdowns and areas that require clarifications and improvements.
  • Coordinate with field team and partners to implement system corrections and adjustments, solving operational issues and documenting actions taken and next steps.
  • Work with program teams to ensure data analysis and reports are integrated into programmatic decision making to improve impact of the program.
  • Contribute to monthly reports and other ad hoc reports to meet donor and internal requirements.
  • Report program achievements on TOLA, Activity Info, and other relevant reporting mechanisms.

 

Capacity Building

  • Conduct needs assessment for the partners, MEL team and partners and determine a M&E training plan and tools to support staff.
  • Conduct needs assessment to implement an induction on M&E and a training plan to inform the importance of M&E and how information feeds into the program.
  • Develop training material and implement training plan based on the assessment needs and gaps of partners and M&E focal persons.
  • Build the capacity of all relevant team members to develop and maintain a robust M&E system.
  • Review partner reports and provide feedback and comments to improve reporting quality.
  • Adapt existing protocols and plans to mentor and coach colleagues to build their capacity to enable them to develop high quality reports.

 

Database Management

  • Develop and manage a program database that improves Mercy Corps’ ability to inform program implementation, analyze data, and represent impact to key stakeholders.
  • Contribute to understanding of and support for mobile data collection hardware and software, including tools such as ONA/ODK, Commcare, Tableau, PowerBI etc.
  • Ensure all relevant program staff can utilize the database to analyze program information and results.
  • Design, adapt and maintain the database in conjunction with the MEL team to match strategic program or implementation changes.
  • Review data being collected to locate and fix problems with data entry or integrity.
  • Document database contents, protocols, and update manuals for smooth functioning of the data management system.
  • Manage regular synchronizations of data.
  • Troubleshoot front and back-end issues with the database, including any synchronization issues with field-level data entry.

Accountability

  • Coordinate with the team to build systems that promote participant accountability by ensuring that communities participate in initial assessments and program design.
  • Coordinate with program teams to ensure that communities are informed about our programs and what we do, are aware of their entitlements, are comfortable to give feedback and that feedback is used to improve the quality of our programs.
  • Ensure that Mercy Corps’ Community Feedback and Accountability Mechanism is clearly communicated to project beneficiaries, and that the hotline numbers are visible to end beneficiaries throughout the program.
  • Ensure all activities are gender sensitive and follow Mercy Corps’ Gender Equality Policy.
  • Apply Do No Harm standards to ensure activities do not have detrimental effects on vulnerable communities.
  • Conduct himself/herself both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and not jeopardize its humanitarian mission.
  • Other assigned tasks, as necessary.

 

Knowledge and Experience

  • Bachelor’s degree in Social Studies, Development Studies, Energy, Environmental Science, Engineering, Business Administration, Economics, Statistics or related degree
  • Post-graduate qualification in Monitoring & Evaluation preferred
  • At least 5 years’ experience in monitoring and evaluation of humanitarian or development programs or in the fields of research. Work experience with NGOs with focus on market facilitation or private sector led approaches or interventions preferred.
  • Good understanding and skills in data management.
  • Experience authoring forms for remote mobile data collection.
  • Experience managing different aspects of assessments as a lead, right from tools design, data collection, processing, analysis, and report writing.
  • Strong computer literacy with a full knowledge of MS Office applications and G Suite.
  • Proficiency in at least one statistical software (Stata, R, SPSS, Power BI) in handling large data sets (Stata will be preferred)
  • Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively with team members.
  • Demonstrated flexibility, creativity, and enthusiasm as well as a willingness to learn and to be continually adaptive within a dynamic and often self-directed working environment.

 

Supervisory Responsibility:

N/A

 

Accountability

  • Reports Directly To: Program Manager
  • Works Directly With: Program Manager, PaQ Department,Finance, Operations and P&C team,

 

Accountability to Participants & Stakeholders

  • 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 participant communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects. Sensitize communities on SUSTAINED’s CARM system and encourage them to share feedback through the promoted channels.
  • All Mercy Corps staff are expected to behave ethically and demonstrate the highest level of integrity in their professional and personal life. Mercy Corps has zero tolerance to any form of fraud, corruption, abuse, harassment or exploitation. Any breach of our policies or misconduct will lead to disciplinary action or may lead to termination.
  • Conduct himself/herself both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and to not jeopardize its humanitarian mission.

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