Senior Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Officer - PEARL Program at Mercy Corps

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Job Description

Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Senior Officer-PEARL PROGRAMME.

Position Description

Location: Kampala, Uganda

Position Status Full-time

Salary Level: Level 6

Minimum Salary: 3,373,553/=

Current Team Member: New Position

This position is contingent upon grant approval, contract signature and availability of funds

Safeguarding Risk Level : 3 - Frequent contacts with participants, direct contact with children, access to sensitive data, and/or high level of accountability.

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 operating since 2006 in Karamoja specifically in Kotido,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 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.


Programme / Department Summary

The Preventing Extremism through Advocacy, Resilience, and Local Action (PEARL) Programme is a strategic initiative aimed at preventing and countering violent extremism (VE) in Uganda through institutional reform approaches.

Preventing Extremism through Advocacy, Resilience and Local Action (PEARL) programme seeks to ensure a stronger enabling environment for whole-of-society and whole-of-government approaches to Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (PCVE), addressing the identified relational, capacity, and resource-related barriers to effective PCVE implementation, as identified through consultations, assessments and previous engagement.  

Mercy Corps and its partner(s) will adopt a range of approaches to support sustainable change from the Action, leveraging past experience of PCVE programmeming across the East Africa region. This Action adopts an institutional strengthening approach rather than direct delivery, to build awareness and capacities in WoS-WoG approaches to PCVE across a broad spectrum or State and non-state actors, whilst also enabling the key actors responsible for leading and coordinating PCVE action in Uganda to more effectively play this role. Institutional strengthening and reform approaches focus on identifying and overcoming the barriers that often prevent institutions and the people within them from adopting new attitudes, behaviours and ways of working.

General Position Summary

 

The Senior MEL Officer will contribute to the quality assurance of programme implementation and ensure that the programme is meeting its deliverables, as well as developing tools and reports to demonstrate the impact and results of programme implementation.  S/he will develop and maintain data management systems. The Senior MEL Officer is also responsible for supporting Mercy Corps staff to regularly collect (assessments, evaluation and research), enter, verify, analyze data and work with the MEL team to make timely adjustments to measure the impact of Mercy Corps’ programmes and to ensure M&E data is accurately incorporated into all organizational reports, information products, and that feeds into programmeming. S/he will ensure the collection and analysis of useful, timely and actionable information for managers and decision-makers, and contribute to the frequent review, reflection, and key learning processes to improve performance.

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

Job Industry

Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning

Job Salary Currency

Job Salary Fixed

No

Key Deliverables

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 programme teams, partners, and M&E focal points to integrate M&E into ongoing project planning and implementation and ensure adherence to Mercy Corps M&E minimum standards and systems.
  • Assist with the development of appropriate monitoring, tracking, and reporting systems, tools and templates that enhance monitoring of project outputs and quality, generate evidence on project impact, promote and ensure data driven decision-making processes.
  • Assist the programme team to develop and promote the use of standard indicators, tools, and forms (as appropriate) and M&E practices across the project and coordinate the collection of information required for country-level management.
  • Coordinate assessments, research, and evaluations.
  • Ensure that monitoring plans are developed for the programme and that regular monitoring visits are conducted by MEL staff to the different project locations in adherence to minimum standards, and that reports are shared with the programme teams.
  • Work with partners and programme team to gather success stories and anecdotal evidence of programme impact to share for outreach and with donors.
  • Document and disseminate best practices, creating a comprehensive 'toolkit' of methodologies and tools to strengthen national government capacity for implementing WoS - WoG approaches to PCVE, ensuring sustainability and impact in the short and long term.

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, analysis, feedback, and reporting.
  • Generate MEL reports (tables/graphs/reports) from the database at regular intervals, ensuring reports/information are available for programme implementation staff as required.
  • Facilitate data analysis with programme implementation team as required.
  • Conduct regular field visits to ensure all elements of the data system are being utilized effectively, assessing, and identifying gaps 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 programme teams to ensure data analysis and reports are integrated into programmematic decision making to improve impact of the programme.
  • Contribute to monthly reports and other ad hoc reports to meet donor and internal requirements.
  • Report programme achievements on TOLA, Activity Info, and other relevant reporting mechanisms.

Capacity Building

  • Conduct internal needs assessment and for the partners to determine M&E training plan and tools to support staff and ensure that information feeds into the programme.
  • Develop training materials and implement training plan based on needs assessment 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 develop high quality reports.

Database Management

  • Develop and manage a programme database that improves Mercy Corps’ ability to inform programme implementation, data analyzes, and represent impact to key stakeholders.
  • Contribute to understanding of and support for mobile data collection hardware and software, including tools such as Comcare, Tableau, PowerBI etc.
  • Ensure all relevant programme staff can utilize the database to analyze programme information and results.
  • Design, adapt and maintain the database in conjunction with the MEL team to match strategic programme 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 beneficiary accountability by ensuring that communities participate in initial assessments and programme design.
  • Coordinate with programme teams to ensure that communities are informed about our programmes 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 programmes.
  • 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 programme.
  • 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 in a professionally manner both while at work and outside as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and not jeopardize its humanitarian mission.
  • Other assigned tasks, as necessary.

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 

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.

Essential Qualities

Essential Qualities
  • BA/S or equivalent, preferably in Social Sciences, Business Administration, Public Administration, International Development, or other relevant disciplines.
  • A minimum of 5 (Years) relevant M&E work and/or Data Management experience.
  • Experience in monitoring and evaluation of market systems development programmes is preferred.
  • Fluent in both spoken and written English; Fluency in local Languages in programme target areas is an added advantage.
  • Previous experience working with international and/or local NGOs on both humanitarian and development.
  • Advanced computer skills and experience developing data management systems including ONA/KoBo/ODK are required.
  • Extensive experience in field survey/data collection techniques, data entry, data verification, management, and analysis.
  • Strong team coordination, listening, and consensus building skills.

Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders

  • Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our programme 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.
  • 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.


Application Process

Close Date

16/05/2025