MERL Officer Job - Mercy Corps

Job Title: MERL Officer (Fresher Jobs)

Organisation: Mercy Corps

Duty Station: Kotido/Moroto, Uganda

Reports to: GIRL-H MEL Team Lead

About US:

Mercy Corps is an international non-profit organization which implements high-quality, analytical development programmes in very difficult places. Mercy Corps has been operating in Uganda since 2006. It has and continues to implement programs in Acholi and Karamoja sub regions. Mercy Corps is taking a community-led, market driven approach to address poverty and food insecurity needs through interventions that get to the root causes and contributing factors of economic vulnerability.

Job Summary: The GIRL-H MERL Officer is expected to contribute to the quality assurance of program implementation. S/he will contribute to the monitoring and evaluation functions related to tracking GIRL project progress and quality, collecting useful, timely and actionable information for management, and contribute to the frequent review, reflection and key learning process to improve performance. The MEL Officer will work with GIRL-H program team as well as the local partner organizations to oversee and ensure the collection of quality M&E data for the GIRL-H program, document M&E plans for the program and develop the data management systems. S/he will assist in implementing review and learning processes (e.g., complaints mechanisms, feedback loops, lessons learned documentation and sharing, etc.). S/he will work closely with partners and other stakeholders 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.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning

Actively contribute to development and management of project databases to facilitate timely information updates, data quality assurance, sharing of information and learning, etc.;
Assist in the development of appropriate monitoring, tracking and reporting systems, tools and templates (including a M&E plan) that enhance monitoring of project outputs and quality, generate quality evidence on project impact and promote and ensure use of data for decision-making processes;
Work with the MEL Team Lead (PMU) (Director, Manager and Officers) and Program teams to integrate M&E into the GIRL project planning and implementation systems and ensure adherence to Mercy Corps M&E minimum standards;
Coordinate with partner organizations to ensure data is collected on time and entered in a timely manner;
Lead on data collection for assessments and evaluations;
Support use of digital data collection for M&E needs wherever possible;
Generate quality evidence on program impacts and promote use of data for decision-making processes;
Conduct regular monitoring visits and spot checks to the different project locations;
Support documentation of project progress through tracking attendance sheets, photos, etc.
Share regular written reports on monitoring findings and program participants stories;
Participate in Lessons Learned sessions and disseminate results across the teams.

Data Analysis and Reporting

Support project team in data collection and data analysis;
Liaise with other project teams and M&E staff as required to ensure that the project databases complement and align with each other. This will ensure that data on project outputs and project impacts are aligned and reported together;
Coordinate with Apolou MEL team (Director, Manager and Officers) and the GIRL-H project team to review indicator updates on a monthly basis. Generate data reports (tables/graphs/reports) from the project databases at regular intervals, ensuring reports/information are available for project implementation staff as required. Facilitate data analysis with project implementation team as requested;
Contribute data and analysis to program reports;
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;
Contribute to program achievement reporting on CommCare, DHIS-2, TOLA, Activity Info, and other relevant reporting mechanisms;
Support in the intra-agency referral mechanism;
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 enable them to develop high quality reports.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

The applicant must hold a BA/S or equivalent, preferable in social sciences, business administration, public administration, international development or other relevant disciplines;
One to two years of M&E and/or other relevant experience;
Fluent in both spoken and written English;
Previous experience working with international and/or local NGOs;
Good computer skills and experience developing data management systems including ONA/KoBo/ODK is an asset;
Relevant experience in field survey/data collection techniques, data entry, data verification, and analysis;
Good understanding and skills at data management;
Strong team coordination, listening, and consensus building skills.
The successful MEL Officer will be bright, energetic, hard-working and eager to learn. S/he will take a deep personal interest in humanitarian and development assistance. S/he 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.
S/he 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.
S/he will strictly follow all protocols related to safety and security, and holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Mercy Corps’ values.