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.
Program / Department Summary
Mercy Corps has been operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since August 2007, with a staff of over 200 people working in North and South Kivu, with the overall country goal to support vulnerable communities through crises, while fostering programs that build resilience and promote long-term change. Mercy Corps’ national office is in Goma with field offices in North Kivu, South Kivu, and Ituri Provinces. Mercy Corps’ key programming areas include a combination of longer-term development and immediate humanitarian response programs in order to: 1) Improve water service delivery and ensuring equitable access to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene services, in urban and rural areas; 2) Improve food security and nutrition; 3) Promote diversified livelihoods, economic recovery and development.
General Position Summary
The Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting (MER) officer will work closely with all M&E staff under the direct supervision of the Emergency MEL Manager. S/He will be the focal person in charge of data management, information collection and dissemination, analysis, reporting and ensuring that data is safely stored and accessible to appropriate staff member for programming purposes.
Essential Job Responsibilities
Strategy & Vision
- Develop M&E Plan(s) for programs and proposals.
- Develop a system for reporting and validating program data (Excel, Tola, Access, etc.)
- Develop Data Quality Assessment Plan.
Program Management
- Work closely with the program teams and partners to ensure effective monitoring, evaluation and reporting of program activities and results.
- Coordinate reporting with partners, specifically tracking deadlines, ensuring adherence to monitoring formats and requirements, ensuring reporting quality and accuracy, and periodic report writing, editing, and submission.
- Compile progress against indicators and report back to the team according to the monitoring plan.
- Perform spot checks on the team’s data collected and reports each month.
- Actively participate in any additional evaluation M&E activities including but not limited to baseline surveys, mid-term, endline surveys, evaluations, household surveys
- Read, edit and ensure consistency and formatting of all M&E reports, including Baseline, Satisfaction Survey, PDM and Endline reports.
- Actively participate, in collaboration with Grant department, in the writing of donor and program reports.
- Ensure that all indicator tracking tables (ITT) are up to date.
- Build the capacity of all relevant team members to implement program monitoring tools, accurately enter program data into relevant databases, and enable them to develop excellent reports and other documents.
- Document lessons learned and success stories on the project.
- Ensure adherence to program management minimum standards in carrying out his/her duties, advising and supporting other staff in the same as required.
- Other duties as assigned.
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.
Supervisory Responsibility
None (possibility to add supervisory responsibilities in future restructuring)
Accountability
Reports Directly To: Emergency MEL Manager
Works Directly With: Team Leaders, M&E officers, Database officers, Grants manager
Knowledge and Experience
- BA/S or equivalent, preferable in international relations, international development, public relations
- 1-3 years M&E experience
- French and English fluency is required, knowledge in Swahili is a plus
- Demonstrates good writing and analytical skills both in English and French
- Previous experience working on ECHO, USAID, DFID funded programs preferred
- Relevant experience in field survey/data collection techniques, data entry, data verification
- Good understanding and skills in data analysis and report writing
- Strong computer literacy with a full knowledge of MS Office applications; experience with SPSS, CommCare, ODK, Tableau (or similar programs/platforms) strongly preferred.
- Strong team coordination, listening, and consensus building skills.
Success Factors
Successful candidate will have a demonstrated ability to work and communicate effectively with colleagues of varied work styles and cultures, follow procedures, and meet deadlines with flexibility and creativity in planning and problem solving. S/he will have a proven ability to learn quickly, multi-task, prioritize, take initiative, and be accountable for results, understand the larger picture while remaining focused on the details, problem solving, work within a complex and sensitive setting and to follow laws and security protocols. The most successful Mercy Corps team members have a strong commitment to teamwork and accountability, thrive in evolving and changing environments and make effective written and verbal communication a priority in all situations. In DRC, patience, diplomacy, tenacity, compassion, determination and a sense of humor are all success factors.
Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions
This is an unaccompanied post based in Goma, DRC with travel throughout Eastern DRC.
Given the nature of the context, working hours require flexibility and working through weekends/evenings might be necessary.
Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/TDY to a field posting. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC’s policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.
Ongoing Learning
In support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development
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.