Two Vacancies - Monitoring, Evaluation And Learning Officer

DISCLAIMERIt is mandatory to mention "MEL Officer" in the subject of your application email.Applicants who do not use the proposed title above for will be disregarded. DISCLAIMERIt is mandatory to mention "MEL Officer" in the subject of your application email.Applicants who do not use the proposed title above for will be disregarded. GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY:   The MEL Officer is expected to contribute to the quality assurance of program implementation across our MicroMentor and Youth for Tomorrow programs implemented in Lebanon. S/he will contribute to the monitoring and evaluation functions related to tracking project progress and quality, collecting useful, timely and actionable information for the Manager and decision-makers, and contribute to the frequent review, reflection and key learning process to improve performance. The MEL Officer will work closely with the M&E Advisor to develop and document M&E plans for the MicroMentor project and develop the data management systems.  The MEL officer will also be responsible for ensuring quality collection and analysis of data for the Youth for Tomorrow program. He/She will assist in developing review and learning processes (eg. feedback loops, lessons learned documentation and sharing, etc.) S/he will work closely with Program/Sector Manager, Project Officers, other MEL Officers, Area Managers, project assistants and partners involved in project implementation in order to ensure a coherent and comprehensive project is implemented, lessons are learned and experiences shared across the various sectors and program teams.   PROGRAM/DEPARTMENT SUMMARY: Working in Lebanon since 1993, Mercy Corps has been running community development programs focused on promoting economic development and increased opportunity for disadvantaged communities, while responding to emergencies as they have emerged. The program portfolio has expanded in response to the massive refugee influx from Syria.  To date, more than one and a half million refugees have fled to Lebanon.  As numbers have continued to increase, humanitarian conditions are deteriorating.  The burden on host communities and the financial and emotional stress on refugees and their hosts are tremendous. Mercy Corps is responding to these needs by addressing urgent basic needs, child protection as well as the psychosocial impact of the conflict and displacement.  At the same time, Mercy Corps’ programmatic focus is on mitigating social tensions between hosts and refugees, particularly over economic resources, by addressing both livelihood opportunities, conflict mitigation capacity and local government capacity.    The Mercy Corps Lebanon team consists of over 180 staff working across five offices throughout Mount Lebanon, South Lebanon, Tripoli and the Bekaa Valley.   With the support of the Government of Canada, Mercy Corps has launched the Youth for Tomorrow program, which is being implemented in Saida, Mt. Lebanon, and Tripoli. Mercy Corps will support Syrian and Lebanese adolescent boys and girls, between the ages of 13 – 17 who are not currently enrolled in school or are at high risk of dropping out of school as a means of providing them with life skills, drawing adolescents away from their segregation, and encouraging greater interaction between host communities and refugees. Furthermore, project will reach out to young adults between the ages of 20 – 24 from among refugee and host communities, seeking their involvement and building their skills to act as mentors and facilitators within the project.  The program is designed to provide psychosocial support and market-driven skill-building opportunities for youth as well as promoting community responsiveness to their needs and enhancing the quality of services provided to adolescents in the community.   With additional funding from UNICEF, Mercy Corps will also be running the MicroMentor project in coordination with the Youth for Tomorrow youth friendly centers.  MicroMentor is a mentoring program with an online platform that connects entrepreneurs and experienced professionals in one-to-one mentoring relationships.   MicroMentor’s objective in Lebanon is to create a mentorship model that is locally relevant and scalable, while increasing awareness of mentoring among young entrepreneurs from diverse regions in Lebanon.   Funded by UNICEF, the MicroMentor program in Lebanon aims to: (a)    Pilot online-based business mentorship platform for 20 youth under the age of 24, as well as with businesses engaged in our INTAJ and FORSA programs as appropriate; (b)    Implement a 3-month business coaching and mentorship programme for 600 youth graduating from vocational training and receiving start-up kits in coordination; (c)    Provide technical guidance and capacity building to 25 representatives of local partners in the area of business mentorship (10-14 partner organisations).   ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:   Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Develop and manage  project database to facilitate timely information updates, data quality assurance, sharing of information and learning, etc.; Work with Project team to integrate M&E into ongoing project planning and implementation systems and ensure adherence to Mercy Corps M&E minimum standards; Ensure 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; Coordinate with members of the Project Team in the Office and MEL Officers 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; Assist in conducting assessments and evaluations; Contribute to understanding of and support for mobile data collection hardware and software; Develop a monitoring plan for project and conduct regular monitoring visits to the different project locations; Write up beneficiary stories from the field; Organize Lessons Learned sessions and disseminate results across the teams.   Analysis of data and Reporting Support project team in data collection and data analysis; Liaise with other project teams and M&E staff as required to ensure that the project databases complement and align with each other.  This will ensure that data on project outputs and project impacts are aligned and reported together; Coordinate with project team to review indicator updates on a monthly basis.  Generate data reports (tables/graphs/reports) from the project databases at regular intervals, ensuring reports/information are available for project implementation staff as required. Facilitate data analysis with project implementation team as requested Maintain a comprehensive list and schedule of private and institutional funding reports, including the detailed requirements necessary for the donor/project; Update the project reporting schedule and share among project team; Develop project operational reporting templates that facilitate the acquisition and aggregation of information in projects; Review or edit data in reports as requested and required; Produce analytical summaries: graphs, charts, tables, narratives and appealing visuals, as requested, to fulfill internal and external reporting requirements; Support in the intra-agency referral mechanism; Other tasks as required.   Capacity Building Build the capacity of all relevant team members to develop and maintain a robust M&E system; Build the capacity of local partners in the area of M&E and reporting; Adapt existing protocols and  plans to mentor and coach colleagues to build their capacity to enable them to develop high quality reports.   Accountability Coordinate with the team in the office to build systems that promote beneficiary accountability by ensuring that communities participate in initial assessments and project design; Coordinate with project team to ensure that communities are informed about our project 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 projects; 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 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.   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.   SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY: None   ACCOUNTABILITY REPORTS DIRECTLY TO: M&E Advisor WORKS DIRECTLY WITH: Information and Accountability Manager; MicroMentor team, Youth for Tomorrow Team, MicroMentor and Youth for Tomorrow partner organisations   KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE: At least 4 years of experience in program development, M&E and reporting; Training skills and experience building national staff capacity; Experience working with a variety of donors; Advanced computer skills and experience developing data management systems; Experience with qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis methodologies required; Team player who takes initiative, is a problem-solver and able to multi-task; Effective verbal and written communication skills; Written and oral communication skills in Arabic and English. Detail-oriented and highly organized.