Consortium Monitoring, Evaluation, Research & Learning (MEL) Manager (Applications will only be accepted if submitted through the URL link provided below)

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within. Now, and for the future.

Mercy Corps has been present in the Middle East since the 1980s and currently works in Yemen, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq. Working in Lebanon since 1993, Mercy Corps is committed to generating positive opportunities for women, men, boys and girls from Lebanese, Syrian, and Palestinian communities, with a strong focus on engaging youth.  Mercy Corps exists to alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression by helping build secure, productive and just communities. Our programs focus on four sectors:  Economic Opportunities, Governance and Social Stability, Youth, and Humanitarian interventions. The Mercy Corps Lebanon team consists of over 150 staff working across four offices throughout Mount Lebanon, South Lebanon, Tripoli and the Bekaa.

Program Summary

The Bolstering Agriculture Systems’ Ability to Invest, Nourish, and Employ (BASATINE) consortium, led by CARE International with Mercy Corps, Al Majmoua, George N. Frem Foundation, Berytech and LOST,  is implementing a 38-month intervention to support farmers and other value chain and associated sector actors in areas of Bekaa and Akkar, focused on the production of wheat and vegetables, seeking a territorial approach and promoting linkages with other value chains. Through complementary interventions designed in alignment with the humanitarian-development-peace nexus, the program will immediately address food insecurity and provide needed income and technical support to farmers to survive this tumultuous time, as well as improve the capacity of food systems to maintain employment and growth in the longer-term via stronger domestic production and system linkages. This will ultimately contribute to greater economic stability, particularly for women, improved rural development, and more positive social cohesion between host/refugee communities at a local level.

Mercy Corps will lead the Market Systems Development as well as the Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning components of the consortium.

General Position Summary

Hosted by Mercy Corps and working closely with the BASATINE Consortium Coordinator (CARE), the MERL Manager will provide leadership of the consortium-level monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning vision and strategy, ensuring the quality of the program’s MERL and information management systems. The MERL Manager’s role is also to oversee and ensure coordination of the various technical areas across the MERL staff of the consortium, and other relevant program staff and components. The MERL Manager will lead the design of the consortium’s overall MERL strategy, ensuring that all partner organizations are consulted and that the consortium operates through a cohesive vision for MERL.

The MERL Manager is responsible for the capacity building and mentoring strategy for consortium staff on themes related to monitoring, evaluation, accountability, reporting, research and learning. The MERL Manager will ensure that the program is able to make effective, evidence-based decisions and use results-based management, providing lessons learned and recommendations based on program data. Working closely with the Research and Knowledge Management Coordinator, the MERL Manager will ensure that evidence and research products produced through the consortium are appropriately and effectively disseminated to external stakeholders, including other humanitarian organizations, local and national government.

Essential Job Responsibilities

Monitoring & Evaluation

• Set up the consortium’s MERL strategy and systems, including all tools and data collection processes for program activities;
• Coordinate MERL processes at the consortium level, ensuring that all partners are able to utilize their resources effectively;
• Develop and frequently review the consortium’s MEL systems, including databases, dashboards, data flows, and tool matrices;
• Support partner organizations to plan and implement all MEL activities and lead major MEL milestones, including baseline, midterm, and final evaluations, and develop standards for data collection;
• Supervise all contractors/consultants involved in data collection activities, including the baseline, midterm and final evaluation teams, and review their standards for data collection, their progress, and their outputs;
• Train consortium team members and partners on their MEL responsibilities;
• Update MEL and program management systems to reflect program progress and needs and ensure      proper usage of these systems by program staff;
• Collect, analyze and validate information and data on the performance indicators;
• Present data analysis and periodic reporting in consultation with technical staff;
• Ensure that lessons learned throughout the program      are captured and communicated to internal and external stakeholders through appropriate channels;
• Take on overall responsibility for MEL contributions to program reporting, including Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Annual, Final and ad-hoc reports;
• Address any other task assigned by the Program Manager.

Research & Learning

• Working with the Research and KM Coordinator, design and oversee consortium’s learning agenda;
• Working with the Research and KM Coordinator, design and oversee programmatic research, contributing to the consortium’s evidence base;
• Working with the Research and KM Coordinator, ensure that research and learning products are appropriately and effectively disseminated to stakeholders;
• Lead regular lessons learned meetings.

Data Analysis, Reporting, and Integration of Data into Decision Making

• With the BASATINE Consortium Coordinator, lead quarterly stock-taking meetings to discuss evidence and findings and to facilitate consortium-level decision making;
• With the BASATINE Consortium Coordinator and Consortium Research and Knowledge Management Coordinator, lead the incorporation of research findings and MEL evidence to produce cohesive collated learning for the consortium;
• Support the BASATINE Consortium Coordinator with donor reporting, consolidating findings;
• Lead and design data collection and analysis systems regular monitoring, data collection and analysis, feedback and reporting;
• Working closely with the Senior Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Coordinator, ensure that the consortium’s digital data collection and management processes, including all program databases, are in place and maintained effectively;
• Ensure generation of consortium-level MEL reports (tables/graphs/reports) at regular intervals, ensuring reports/information are available for program implementation staff as required;
• Facilitate data analysis with different implementation teams as requested;
• Coordinate with field team and partners to implement system corrections and adjustments, solving operational issues and documenting actions taken and next steps;
• Ensure data analysis and reports are integrated into programmatic decision making to improve impact of the program;
• Ensure reporting of program achievements on TOLA, Activity Info, and other relevant reporting mechanisms.

Team Management

• Develop the capacity of the consortium’s MEL teams, deepen understanding of their roles, and assist with career development;
• Assist team members with information, tools and resources to improve performance and 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;
• Hire, orient and lead team members as necessary.

Capacity Building

• Conduct a needs assessment for consortium partners and determine a M&E training plan and tools to support staff;
• Develop training materials 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;
• Adapt existing protocols and plans to mentor and coach colleagues to build their capacity to enable them to develop high quality reports.

Accountability

• Lead the implementation of a community accountability reporting mechanism within the consortium;
• Coordinate with the team to build systems that promote community accountability by ensuring that communities participate in initial assessments and program design;
• Coordinate with consortium partners to ensure that communities are informed about the program 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 all activities are gender sensitive and follow Mercy Corps’ Gender Equity Policy;
• Apply Do No Harm standards to ensure activities do not have detrimental effects on vulnerable communities;
• Conduct themselves both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and the consortium and not jeopardize its mission;
• Other assigned tasks, as necessary.

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

Research and Knowledge Management Coordinator

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Mercy Corps Program Performance and Quality Manager

Works Directly With: BASATINE Consortium Coordinator, Organizational MEL Leads (Partners), Consortium Implementation Teams, Mercy Corps Headquarters and Technical Support Units

Knowledge and Experience

• • BA/S or equivalent, preferable in social sciences, business administration, public administration or international development or other relevant disciplines required. MA/S in similar relevant fields strongly preferred;
  • At least 6 years of experience in M&E and/or other relevant fields (research, program/project management, etc.);
  • Previous experience in management and coordination roles is essential. Experience working with consortia is highly desirable;
  • Previous experience working with international and/or local NGOs;
  • Advanced computer skills and experience developing data management systems including ONA/KoBo/ODK are required. Experience with Commcare is highly desirable;
  • Extensive experience with field survey/data collection techniques, data entry, data verification, and analysis;
  • Strong team capacity building, coordination, listening, and consensus building skills;
  • Ability to prepare clear and concise reports;
  • Ability to manage and meet deadlines and to work independently on multi-task load;
  • Excellent communication and organizational skills;
  • Fluency in written and oral English and Arabic required;
  • Experience in quantitative and qualitative research is an advantage;
  • Experience in statistics and statistical software is an advantage.

Success Factors

The successful MERL Manager will be bright, energetic, hard-working and eager to learn.  They will take a deep personal interest in humanitarian and development assistance.  They will be attentive to detail and able to carry out assigned tasks in a timely manner and according to a very high standard of quality. They will be creative and flexible, contributing to developing and encouraging new and innovative solutions, but at the same time will not have any difficulty in adhering to systems and procedures. They will strictly follow all protocols related to safety and security, and hold self accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Mercy Corps’ values.

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. 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.