Ifas M&e Coordinator

PROGRAM/DEPARTMENT SUMMARY: Mercy Corps exists to alleviate suffering, poverty, and oppression by helping people build secure, productive, and just communities. The agency pursues its mission through emergency relief services, sustainable community development, civil society and economic development initiatives. 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 has implemented community development programs focused on promoting economic development and increased opportunity for disadvantaged communities, while responding to emergencies as they emerged in the country. In 2012, the program portfolio shifted in response to the massive refugee influx from Syria and Mercy Corps in Lebanon has solidified its emergency response programming while integrating longer-term development programming by focusing on key sectors: Protection, Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Governance and Conflict, and Livelihoods. Mercy Corps is launching the “Improving Food and Agricultural Systems in the Bekaa (IFAS)” project. The overall objective of the project is providing sustainable stabilization of food consumption for vulnerable households impacted by the Syrian crisis. The project will be implemented in the Beqaa and is funded by the World Food Programme /WFP for a period of 9 months. It will focus on improving access to food and income opportunities and reducing negative coping mechanisms for targeted households during project implementation. Moreover, it will emphasis on collaborating with market actors within value chains—inputs providers, producers, agro-businesses, and end-buyers—in the agriculture sector to protect the incomes of small and medium producers. In addition, the project will strengthen coping mechanisms of both Lebanese and Syrian households through increased household resource management skills nutrition and food security. Lastly, IFAS will help increase the household cash flow of vulnerable Lebanese and Syrian households through cash-for-work activities and also strengthen the agriculture infrastructure in the targeted areas. GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY: He/she is expected to contribute to the quality assurance of program implementation in Bekaa and ensure that Mercy Corps programs/projects bring a significant contribution to reducing poverty, building secure productive and just communities, and playing a leading role in transforming Mercy Corps programs in Lebanon. The IFAS M&E coordinator will conduct IFAS baseline and endline surveys to ensure that the project meets its targets and deliverables. He/she will closely work with IFAS team and under the supervision of the Project manager to ensure accountability to Mercy Corps’ policies and donor rules and regulations. He/she will contribute to the monitoring and evaluation functions related to tracking project progress and quality, collecting useful, timely and actionable information for managers and decision-makers, and contribute to the frequent review, reflection and key learning process to improve performance. The M&E Coordinator will develop, initiate and document M&E plans for all programs and develop the data management systems. He/She will develop review and learning processes (eg. complaints mechanisms, feedback loops, lessons learned documentation and sharing, etc.) ensure that systems and people are in place to ensure proper management of these functions and responsibilities. S/he will work closely with partners involved in program implementation in order to ensure a coherent and comprehensive program is implemented, lessons are learned and experiences shared across the various sectors and program teams. ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS: Monitoring and Evaluation • Enhance monitoring of program outputs and quality, generate quality evidence on program impact and promote and ensure use of data for decision-making processes; • Ability to conduct Baselines, Endlines, KAP Surveys and produce regular and monthly reports • Develop and adapt weekly and monthly quantitative and qualitative reporting tools and provide support to Field Officer • Conduct regular field visits to project sites different stakeholders for monitoring and follow-up • Ability to coordinate monitoring activities with partners • Provide regular updates and analysis of data to the Project Manager to assess progress and suggest adaptations of the project • Respond to donor queries on metrics reached and other quantitative indicators • Oversee the collection, analysis, and utilization of information • Work with Program teams to integrate M&E into ongoing program planning and implementation systems and ensure adherence to Mercy Corps M&E minimum standards; • Contribute to understanding of and support for mobile data collection hardware and software; • Develop a monitoring plan for each program and conduct regular monitoring visits to the different programs; • Develop and manage program databases to facilitate timely information updates, data quality assurance, sharing of information and learning, etc.; • Write up beneficiary stories from the field. Analysis of data and Reporting • Support program teams in data collection and data analysis; • Coordinate with program teams to review indicator updates on a monthly basis. Generate data reports (tables/graphs/reports) from the program databases at regular intervals, ensuring reports/information are available for program implementation staff as required. Facilitate data analysis with program implementation team as requested • Ability to transform data collected from the field into knowledge that translates into actions • 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; • 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 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; • 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. ACCOUNTABILITY: REPORTS DIRECTLY TO: Project Manager KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE: • BS degree in statistics or equivalent • Advanced level of experience in M&E (minimum 5 years) • Communication skills required, with good understanding of relevant cross-cultural issues. • Strong written and oral communication skills in Arabic, including report development, writing and editing. • Positive, respectful attitude and collaborative approach to problem solving. • Demonstrated attention to detail; ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently as well as cooperatively with team members. • Knowledge and understanding of the current political, economic, cultural and historical context of the Beqaa, including prior experience in agriculture development projects. DURATION: • 8 months • For the interested candidates, CV’s submission deadline: April 24, 2016 to the following email: reception@lb.mercycorps.org • Please mention the title " IFAS M&E Coordinator " in the email subject