MONITORING, EVALUATION AND LEARNING (MEL) MANAGER – CASH CONSORTIUM OF SUDAN (CCS)

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps’ Sudan crisis response seeks to meet the humanitarian needs of vulnerable Sudanese and other conflict-affected people across the country. Mercy Corps Sudan is recognized as a leader in market systems, agricultural, and food security and building on this experience, the MC Sudan humanitarian program will layer in resilience and other program activities where appropriate and feasible to do so. Assistance is delivered with a focus on needs, in partnership with local actors and civil society.

The Cash Consortium of Sudan (CCS) is a collaborative platform to advance a progressive vision of the potential of cash assistance to transform humanitarian response and recovery in partnership with vulnerable conflict-affected populations. CCS is led by Mercy Corps, building on its global experience and learning on leading cash consortia in multiple country contexts, as well as general expertise in cash coordination and breadth of technical resources. International partners include Acted, CARE, the International Rescue Committee (IRC), and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), each of which bring strong cash and complementary technical competencies, as well as expansive operational coverage in Sudan. The CCS also includes nine Sudanese NGOs as partners in alignment with global aid sector commitments to enhance the prominence of local actors in driving humanitarian response and recovery. IMPACT is a non-implementing partner dedicated to Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning. IMPACT will support quality data systems and an objective evidence base that will be essential to CCS’ accountability and adaptive management to refine programming approaches to enhance impact as the Sudan crisis context evolves. The CCS will work closely with other consortia and actors in Sudan to deliver an effective CVA response for communities affected by the crisis.

The core pillars of the CCS response include: 1) basic needs through cash assistance both at the community level through Group Cash Transfers (GCTs) delivered to Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), as well as at the household-level through Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance (MPCA); 2) strengthening market systems to ensure resilience of key market actors and supply chains as well as strengthening the availability and affordability of key commodities; 3) strengthening capacity of local partner organizations with an emphasis on accompaniment and mentorship; and 4) generation of learning and evidence to inform broader response efforts.

General Position Summary

The MEL Manager is a core member of the CCS Secretariat team. The MEL Manager will manage the CCS MEL technical team and lead the national MEL focal points from each partner organization. They will support the implementation of the monitoring, evaluation and learning plan of CCS’ activities, cultivating a strong learning culture, and providing leadership and strategic direction to the MEL staff of the consortium’s partner INGOs and NGOs. They will be a hands-on manager that leads the design, management, and adaptation of the Consortium’s MEL system based on the needs of the context, collective learning, adaptability and security of implementation, capacity building of local staff and the imperative to serve the communities most affected by the crisis.

The MEL Manager is responsible for ensuring compliance with the minimum standards of the consortium’s donors and partners regarding data quality through ongoing training, supervision of regular monitoring activities, conducting periodic Data Quality Assessments (DQAs), and constantly updating and improving the entire Data Management System and data collection tools for all CCS activities. They should collaborate with HQ Data Automation Team, CCS MEL Technology Coordinator, and partners’ programmatic/MEL teams to ensure that data needs are clearly addressed in the MEL system, and MEL reports articulate the need for data for the various stakeholders.

They will initiate, design, lead and co-lead program learning activities, including pause and reflection, performance and progress reviews, peer to peer learning and others, to promote use of data for program adaptation and decision making. They will identify opportunities for deeper learning, and working closely with the program team, initiate evaluations, documentation, case studies and other forms of documentation to support knowledge generation and sharing. They will be responsible for ensuring timely internal and external reporting of the program data, including Mercy Corps’ annual participant count, Strategy Results Measurement requirements, TolaData and donor reports.

The MEL Manager will directly supervise the CCS MEL Technology Coordinator and MEL Officer, also supporting the team and local partner MEL staff with adequate professional development opportunities such as training on MEL and MEL technologies, onboarding, performance management.

Essential Job Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Provide strategic leadership in the technical and analytical aspects of the program.
• Lead technical MEL cooperation and coordination with key program partners and counterparts.
• Lead implementation of the MEL plan, Learning Plan, MEL Technologies plan and ensure that key program deliverables are adequately reflected in the program implementation plan.
• Set a strategic direction for the MEL component of the program within CCS’ partner teams, clarify the direction and priorities.
• Implement and lead the MEL system and analysis plan to produce statistics and tables to ensure that results are meaningfully incorporated into the design of implementation plans, promoting evidence-based programming.
• Develop, roll out and monitor the implementation of the CCS Learning Agenda aligned with the partners learning priorities.
• Work closely with the Research Coordinator during program-related research procurement, development of research SoWs and other steps as necessary.
• Participate as a member of the consortium’s Secretariat Team in strategy and planning meetings with partners and donors.
• Lead periodic meetings with partner MEL focal points to review progress, needs and strategies for the consortium and to interpret and present performance to program management.
• Participate in inter-agency meetings to ensure coordination, including the Cash Working Group, JMMI and other key stakeholders to share best practices and harmonize tools.
• Lead and support fit-for-purpose data visualizations and reporting.
• Coordinate consortium level MEL and Learning events and deliverables throughout the life of the program.
• Provide support to program managers to review MEL budgets, BVAs and ensure appropriate levels of resourcing for MEL Deliverables, if needed.

MEL Data Systems

• Lead the maintenance and adjustment of the MEL system and support donor and internal reporting efforts (such as participant counts, TolaData, Strategy Outcome Measurement and others).
• Develop, streamline and standardize consortium level MEL systems, tools, and data collection processes – using the MEL technologies suite to guide the selection of the tools, data storage and data visualization best practices.
• Lead information management and quality control of program data, with the objective of ensuring the technical quality of all consortium’s MEL activities. Including conducting periodic Data Quality Audits to ensure that the MEL system meets the data privacy and quality requirements of Mercy Corps, partners, and donors.
• Supervise and coordinate data quality, indicator management and compliance with the program’s technical standards, as well as the management of verification sources and other monitoring resources to produce reports for CCS donor and other management reports to headquarters and partner organizations. In addition, to provide accountability to program participants.
• Develop and ensure that the Consortium is using Standard Operating Procedures for mobile technologies, CommCare, Azure and TolaData.
• Deliver and support the delivery of training and coaching for program and MEL staff on how to use those tools effectively.
• Ensure that MC internal reporting system TolaData is routinely updated and check the quality of program evidence linked to the system.
• Coordinate the deduplication process within the Cash Working Group, as the CCS technical focal point and decision-maker.
• Ensure information sharing practices on a monthly basis and on behalf of the Consortium to humanitarian coordination groups for sector-wide monitoring (e.g., 4Ws, JMMI rounds conducted by REACH, Food Security Analysis Conducted by FEWS NET, among others).
• Request and procure access to technologies for data analysis as needed, for example R, STATA, MAXQDA, GIS and others, working closely with the country, regional and HQ MEL leads.
• Ensure that program data is accessible to all Mercy Corps and partners’ staff members at the time when they need, in formats that are usable, useful, and understandable to the end users.
• Ensure quality remote monitoring practices are used in instances where in-person monitoring is not possible for MC teammates or enumerators.
• Oversee all CCS monitoring and evaluation activities, including, but not limited to, monitoring program quality and impact, providing technical support for the development of multidisciplinary monitoring and evaluation tools and systems, strategic capacity building, and ensuring that information collected is accurate and communicated to internal and external audiences. Present the program performance and progress during the program leadership meetings, report on progress, challenges, gaps and guide the discussions on necessary adaptations within the program.
• Where possible, conduct follow-up, verification, and accountability visits to program activities to provide technical advice and training.

Program Learning

• Facilitate and conduct periodic pause and reflection sessions on program progress at individual partner and consortium levels, synthesize program learning, disseminate to intended stakeholders within and outside Mercy Corps.
• Develop knowledge products that allow triangulation and deeper analysis of the data collected, such as vulnerability analysis, post-distribution monitoring, indicator reports, goals, results, and objectives, to inform the donors, to influence political and cooperation scenarios and to make programmatic decisions.
• Facilitate the documentation of best practices, work with the CCS and MEL teams to ensure they are appropriately documented and disseminated within Mercy Corps and across partners.
• Where able to, regularly conduct project site visits to provide hands-on training on how to capture and organize information for accurate documentation and use of data for decision making, report and dissemination.
• Support the efforts to implement Final Internal Performance Reviews (FIPR), evaluate and strengthen analytic capacity within the programs, identify and capture learning and best practice, share across programs and partners as necessary.

Team Management

• In strong collaboration with the Consortium Director, create a work environment that fosters professional growth and the development of excellent staff at all levels.
• Supervise assigned CCS MEL team members, clarify roles and responsibilities and the expected levels of coordination across various partners and teams. Manage the team to ensure a healthy work environment.
• Contribute to team building efforts and ensure the integration of all team members in relevant decision-making processes.
• Develop coordination and collaborative learning strategies between the MEL teams of the consortium partners and other relevant agencies for program implementation and capacity building related to CVA.
• Work with the country MEL Manager to ensure that the MEL team members are engaged in ongoing capacity building efforts, including MEL tech training, monthly MEL learning events and others. Conduct staff performance management, laying out the development and career growth for each individual staff member.
• 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.
• Play an active role in hiring, orienting and leading team members as necessary.

Internal and External Coordination

• Identify, build, and manage collaborative partnerships with consortium partners, sub-grantees, donors, local governments, and other relevant stakeholders.
• Maintain close working relationships with MEL counterparts in other relevant international NGOs, and local NGOs and associations in Sudan.
• Maintain regular contact, and participate in internal CoPs and other MEL communities, sharing Consortium’s best practices, and identifying opportunities for relevant pilots to be conducted.
• Communicate effectively to ensure that overall project objectives and donor obligations are met.

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 Participants

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our participants and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring, and evaluation of our projects.

Supervisory Responsibility

CCS MEL Technology Coordinator and CCS MEL Officer with strong collaboration with the CCS Research Coordinator and direct support to the MEL focal points of the CCS partners.

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.

Accountability

Reports Directly To: CCS Director

Works Directly With: HQ PAQ/MEL team, CCS Director, CCS partner MEL and Program national/local teams (including Mercy Corps Sudan MEL team), and CCS operations areas to coordinate logistics or contracting services for MEL activities and products.

Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring, and evaluation of our projects.

Knowledge and Experience

• Education: BA/S or equivalent, degree or equivalent in development studies, computer science, business administration, statistics, economics, social sciences, monitoring and evaluation, project management or other relevant field required.
• In-Country Experience: A minimum of five (5) years of work experience, at least three (3) years of specific experience in the areas of program development and monitoring and evaluation in emergency, transition, and development programs with international cooperation, including relevant experience building and managing complex MEL systems and teams. Relevant experience supervising data collection and data validation exercises and building staff capacity.
• Knowledge of key donors: A minimum of three (3) years of experience in monitoring and evaluation management for international development programs; ECHO, USAID/BHA, SDC, FCDO or other donors, preferred.
• Knowledge of thematic areas: Experience in conducting MEL activities for CVA programs and diverse sectors including food security, water security, economic empowerment and peace and governance is required. Please consult our website for more details and review our P2P strategy for definitions of those outcome areas.
• Knowledge of mobile technologies: A high degree of computer literacy is required. Knowledge and prior significant experience of using MEL technologies: CommCare for data collection, PowerBI for data visualization and reporting. Strong qualitative and quantitative data analysis skills and knowledge. Demonstrated understanding of intermediate statistics and ability to summarize and make predictions from multiple data sets: power user with Excel; experience with statistical packages including STATA, R, or SPSS; prior experience of using a qualitative analysis package, Atlas.ti and MAXQDA is preferred.
• Knowledge of data analysis: The candidate needs to demonstrate knowledge of statistical analysis methods, as well as qualitative methods in order to succeed in this role.
• Knowledge of evaluation: Demonstrated academic and practical knowledge of various evaluation and study methodologies, including quantitative, mixed methods and qualitative methods. Prior experience with leading, commissioning and conducting complex studies will be a strong benefit to the applicant of this position.
• Emergencies: Experience in conducting MEL for emergency response, early recovery, and development programs is highly appreciated. Knowledge of the SPHERE and Core Humanitarian standards is preferred. Knowledge of cash transfer programming is essential
• Writing and presentation skills: Ability to prepare clear and concise reports. Ability to communicate clearly in a multicultural environment.
• Planning and organization skills: Ability to manage and meet deadlines. Ability to work independently on multi-task load.
• Language skills: Fluency in written and oral English, Arabic is highly desirable.Must be able to read and interpret documents and communicate with others as necessary to perform job duties effectively.

Success Factors

A successful candidate must have a strong curiosity for understanding and working effectively within the complex cultural, political, security and social environment of Sudan and Kenya. The candidate must be a hands-on manager, ready to respond to a diverse portfolio of needs, an excellent communicator, and skilled at maintaining good relationships with the HQ and country teams involved in program implementation. They must have strategic leadership skills to coordinate diverse teams based on trust, cooperation, learning, effectiveness, and efficiency.

The candidate must demonstrate strong experience and understanding of large-scale humanitarian programs implemented under consortium coordination models as well as of the best practices, standards and technologies for data collection and storage. They must be a rigorous and multitasker person, committed to data quality and accountability processes. They should demonstrate independence, creativity and flexibility to solve problems given by changing contexts and needs.

They will coordinate with the CCS Director and MEL team across the partners, as well as the HQ PAQ/MEL team on work plans and priorities.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position is based in Nairobi, Kenya and it requires up to 30% travel to support consortium programming and operations in Sudan and neighboring countries such as Chad, South Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia. This may include travel to insecure locations where freedom of movement is limited and areas where amenities are limited. Housing for this role is in individual housing.

Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours when deployed in operational countries or on a visit to a program site. 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.

Fostering a diverse and open workplace is an important part of Mercy Corps’ vision. Mercy Corps is an Equal Opportunity Employer regardless of background. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment.

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 e-learning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.