The Regional MEL (Senior) Advisor provides strategic
MEL support and guidance to the countries in the region, assures the quality of
MEL systems, provides oversight and support to the implementation of MEL
standards, and fosters use of data for decision making and evidence generation.
Enhancing MEL capacity of the country teams is a major focus for this position,
linking country MEL teams through an effective community of practice and
driving learning across the region, leveraging knowledge from the rest of the
organization.
Essential Responsibilities
Strategy and Vision
Work with the regional team to develop and implement
an ambitious and compelling regional MEL Plan, in alignment with P2P framework,
with the highest level of quality, reflecting both short term and long-term
priorities.
Lead regional analyses and the development and
tracking of indicators and other metrics to inform and assess progress against
the regional strategy, coordinating closely with global data sources and models
to maximize efficiencies.
Support country counterparts in determining the need
for, and conducting, analyses as needed to inform country strategy development.
Support country counterparts in determining and
developing systems to track indicators and other metrics to assess progress
against country strategies.
Support the roll out of the global Mercy Corps MEL Policy in the region by working closely with the country teams to assess their MEL structure and practices and recommend improvements in alignment with Mercy Corps Global MEL standards.
Work closely with global counterparts – and in
coordination with counterparts from other regions – as well as regional and
country teams, to develop or elaborate regional research priorities, evidence
products and program learning plans and agendas.
Team Management and Guidance
Supervise regional evidence & learning personnel
(where applicable), which may also include firms, consultants, or regional
project/ program teams engaged to advance these practice areas. Manage team
member performance and monitor team member work plans.
Advise country and program teams regarding the
structure and areas of expertise of evidence and learning functions within
country portfolios and programs, in line with global recommended evidence and
learning staffing and tailored to the needs and dynamics of each program/
portfolio. Support recruitment and onboarding for the new MEL team members.
Support country leadership in adhering to Mercy Corps
and donor policies and procedures.
Contribute to efforts to build a culture of adaptive
management, and evidence and learning in each country in the region, along with
strong MEL capacity and practices.
Work with global counterparts to make training and
professional development opportunities available to MEL team members at the
country and program levels.
Where surge support is needed for strategically
important programs, program design efforts, or portfolios, directly step in to
fill these needs or mobilize support from the global E&L team to meet these
needs, ensuring that lessons learned from these assignments are used to improve
regional support.
MEL Practice, Project and Systems Support
Implement processes to assess the status of programs
and portfolios in the region as compared to MEL requirements, best practices
and standards, and work with team members to develop and implement action and
improvement plans as a result of these diagnostics.
Oversee the integration of strong MEL principles and
resourcing into program design, based on sound logic models and available
internal and external evidence and learning. To this end, work closely with the
BD teams. Where needed, Lead the MEL sections of large proposals, by writing
MEL narrative, MEL plan, indicator performance tracking, and other sections as
required
Coordinate closely with global counterparts to field,
vet, and address support requests from programs and countries within the
region, ensuring that support is provided in a timely, accurate, and
customer-oriented manner. To this end, work closely with the country leadership
and the regional team to identify and elevate challenges, and engage support in
a timely manner to address those.
Ensure that new programs in the region quickly adopt
and utilize recommended data, evidence, and program learning systems and tools
(for example, MEL plans and data systems).
Participate in the conceptualization and development
of standalone evidence projects or programs in the region (for example,
regional research projects) with support from the global E&L team.
Oversee or coordinate regional MEL Communities of
Practice to share knowledge across the region.
Adaptive management and program learning
Develop regional dashboards on program performance,
and make those visible to country and regional leadership, identifying areas
where additional support and oversight might be required.
Working closely with the country teams, ensure uptake
and use of MEL and mobile technologies, and identify training needs on those.
Encourage documentation and facilitate evidence-based
learning across the region on MEL best practices and linking the region to the
global learning initiatives.
Organize and manage a regional MEL Community of
Practice (CoP) and regional learning events (virtual and in person). Promote
documentation and dissemination of learning and best practices sharing across
the countries within the region.
Support knowledge management efforts and encourage
the effective utilization of evidence and learning for adaptive management
practices and designing resource mobilization efforts.
Support country teams as needed in the identification
and recruitment of external consultants and/or firms (via the Global Monitoring
Evaluation and Research Master Service Agreements or other channels) with
relevant experience and expertise in the region. Support technical review and
feedback on consultants’ deliverables.
Conduct and provide technical inputs and oversight on
program reviews, evaluations, studies to ensure quality products by reviewing
methodologies, tools of evaluations and studies’ products.
Influence & Representation
Support the presentation of evidence from various
sources to contribute to donor and host government-facing representation
opportunities, ensuring timely and targeted communication to highlight Mercy
Corps’ global and regional impact and learning.
Represent Mercy Corps, and the region’s evidence and
learning functions, in internal and external events.
Connect teams to regionally based evidence-related
partners.
Develop and maintain strong relationships with the
global Evidence & Learning Unit, functioning as an extended member of the
Unit.
Participate actively in the evidence-driven
commitment workstreams by contributing to the regional, global, and
country-level evidence and learning agendas.
Required Knowledge, Skills And Abilities
Demonstrated ability to think strategically, and to
solve complex problems.
Strong analytical, organizational, and communication
skills.
Proven ability to design and facilitate training,
workshops, and learning events.
Required Education And Experience
BA/BS or equivalent in a field related to MEL,
economics, statistics, data science, research methods, political science, or a
similarly relevant field.
At least 7 years’ field experience in MEL-related
roles, including in both humanitarian and development contexts.
At least 5 years’ field experience in management
roles.
Experience in writing MEL sections of the proposals
including MEL narrative sections, MEL plans, MEL budgeting and staffing
Strong knowledge of and prior experience in
participating or leading program evaluations, including designing Scopes of
Work, commissioning evaluations with partners and consultants, and conducting
evaluations with program teams. Knowledge of program evaluation, design, and
methodologies (quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods), and data
collection and analysis tools and approaches.
Experience designing practical and effective
monitoring systems, including data and database management systems.
Experience in training and capacity-building (in
person and remotely) and fostering a collaborative relationship across
multidisciplinary field teams and management
Experience with data management, analysis and
visualization
Demonstrated proficiency and experience with US, UK,
EU, UN and other public and private donors, government grant and financial
management requirements.
Demonstrated understanding of the critical
humanitarian and development issues in the East and Southern Africa region, and
significant experience with the challenges of operating in the region.
Fluency in written and spoken English is required.
Fluency in an additional language relevant to the portfolio is considered
advantageous.
How To Apply