Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor at Mercy Corps

General Position Summary

The primary function of the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Advisor is to carry out assessment and monitoring activities to determine the benefits of the program and how they influence the lives of targeted communities. The Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor will help conduct a baseline survey and train staff, as well as conduct survey and monitoring missions.  These surveys will be used to assess community needs, design the MC program, monitor the program's progress, and assess the longer-term impacts of MC projects against program objectives. The M&E Advisor will also encourage the use of participatory methods for conducting assessment and monitoring surveys.

Essential Job Responsibilities

TECHNICAL LEADERSHIP

• Provide leadership, training and mentoring in the development of M&E Plans, M&E tools, survey design, methodology, data analysis, and other skills required for assessing the impact of the program.
• Lead and/or collaborate with external evaluators on the design and roll-out of the program baseline, midline, and end-line evaluations, while setting up effective systems for learning.
• Ensures the program uses the necessary M&E systems and tools, to inform and improve the program, as well as feed into the broader country-level M&E.
• Support teams in collecting sex and age-disaggregated data and using gender-sensitive data collection methods to understand and respond to program results with diverse participants.
• Participates in the facilitation of country and sector-level strategic planning sessions, assisting the program in the development of its annual plans.

 INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

•  Works with the program and M&E teams to adopt a holistic program-level M&E system that harnesses open-source software and flexible cloud solutions to more accurately collect, monitor, and verify program activities and ensure they are aligned with the country's strategic and annual plan.
• Provides guidance, recommendations, and leadership to ensure that the M&E systems meet the needs of the program.
• Maintain a comprehensive schedule of reports for the program and review the program reports to ensure that reports contain accurate, clear, and high-quality data and are presented in the proper format.
• Develop program and operational reporting templates that facilitate the acquisition, aggregation, and flow of information in programs.

 CAPACITY BUILDING AND MENTORING

• Develops and oversees the implementation of the M&E staff and partner capacity-building strategy that promotes a culture of learning through systematic analysis and reflection of program data.
• Build the capacity of all relevant team members to develop and maintain an excellent M&E system, including regular reflection and analysis of program monitoring data.
• Contributes to knowledge management with best practices in M&E and ensures that it is accessible to all staff and partners.
•  Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.

 INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL COORDINATION

• Active contributor and collaborator with regional and global counterparts to promote the use of M&E best practices.
• Strengthen linkages with other internal resources, including the LMS, Digital Library, Hub, and Connect, to enhance organizational learning where relevant to M&E.
• Maintain close working relationships with M&E counterparts in other relevant actors and counterparts in Nigeria.

REPORTING

• Will assist CoP in all reporting requirements and contribute feedback to the overall improvement of program management, reporting to stakeholders and assisting in implementing corrective actions.
• Track, compile, and ensure alignment of annual, quarterly, and monthly reports with donor reporting templates. Additionally, support the Chief of Party (CoP) and the PaQ (Program Quality) team in enhancing the quality and accuracy of these reports.
• Develop learning reports by tracking improvements through program interventions in the BAY states.

SAFEGUARDING RESPONSIBILITY

• Actively engage in learning about safeguarding and integrate 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.

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.
• Team members are expected to conduct themselves professionally and respect local laws, customs, and MC's policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Chief of Party, ST WASH

Works Directly With: Small Town WASH DCOP, Snr. M&E Officer/M&E Officer, and other Small Town WASH staff. Coordinates with the Program Performance and Quality team and the Technical Support Unit in Nigeria.

Knowledge and Experience

• University degree in Social Science or Social Studies, or equivalent experience in monitoring and evaluating program activities and outputs, in comparison to program objectives.
• Minimum five years of work experience in project monitoring and evaluation, preference for M&E for large WASH infrastructure programs.
• Prior experience of carrying out surveys, conducting interviews, and undertaking assessments are essential.
• Understanding of qualitative and quantitative indicators.
• Creative and ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking.
• Analytical and report writing skills are necessary.
• Proficiency in written and spoken English is required.
• Computer skills – word-processing and spreadsheet experience required.
• Computer database experience preferred.
• Experience in the development of Logical Framework Analyses and in the conducting of Participatory Rural Appraisal is extremely desirable