Country MEL Manager

Location: Palestine (Based in Ramallah)

Position Status: Full-time, Regular

Salary Level: Level 6A

Duration: 1 year, renewable

Department: Quality, Evidence, and Learning (QEL)

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is a leading global, non-profit, non-governmental 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.

Mercy Corps has worked in Palestine since 1986 and currently operates across Gaza, the West

Bank, and East Jerusalem. The war that erupted on October 7, 2023, has sharply exacerbated the

humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the region. Mercy Corps is actively working to respond to the crisis

in Gaza and preparing to significantly ramp up much-needed lifesaving aid as well as ensure continuity of our recovery and development programming.

Program / Department Summary

Mercy Corps just launched its new global ten-year strategy, ‘’Pathway to Possibility,’’ which reflects our ambitions to not only meet basic needs of communities affected by conflict and climate, but to achieve lasting, transformational change at scale. Pathway to Possibility (P2P) includes a three-layer resilience approach at its core and aims to deliver impact through four key outcome areas: Food Security, Water Security, Economic Opportunity, and Peace and Good Governance. P2P is also driven by five organizational commitments on being climate smart; evidence-driven; safe, diverse and inclusive; locally-led; and innovative and creative.

To deliver on P2P, Mercy Corps recently changed its global program department structure into two key teams: A Technical Resources and Quality (TRaQ) Unit which aims to deliver measurable impact, leads agency thinking in key technical and program management areas, and ensures quality programing while maintaining agency visibility with key audiences; The Evidence & Learning (E&L) Unit, which leads Mercy Corps’ efforts to use data, evidence, and analytics to improve programs, scale what works, and influence others. Evidence & Learning at Mercy Corps comprises Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning, Research and Learning, Crisis Analysis, and a developing Knowledge Management/Evidence Use team.

In Mercy Corps Palestine, both TRaQ and E&L roles and responsibilities sit within the Quality, Evidence, and Learning (QEL) Department, including the Country MEL Manager Role.

General Position Summary

The Country MEL Manager plays a senior, leading role in Mercy Corps Palestine’s QEL Department. They provide technical leadership to advance Mercy Corps’ principles, policies, and best practices in monitoring, evaluation, and learning through the provision of guidance, tools, resources, capacity building, and technology.  

They will be responsible for cross-cutting programmatic data and information management, monitoring and evaluation, learning, ensuring that information is collected is reflected upon, used to improve ongoing programs, and is incorporated consistently into high quality reports and proposal development.

The Country MEL Manager will ensure MEL systems are in place for the country office. S/he will ensure robust and clear data, programmatic information and learnings are used in coordination with the Program Leadership and the Senior Advisor for QEL. In coordination with Program Leadership and other team members, they will be responsible for developing, coordinating, maintaining, constantly augmenting, and improving the MEL systems for all programmatic sectors.

They will provide technical oversight and support across all active Palestine programs as well as maintain involvement in the MEL elements of program design and proposal development.

Essential Job Responsibilities

SAFEGUARDING RESPONSIBILITIES

• Actively learns about safeguarding and integrates it into their work, including safeguarding risks and mitigations related to their area of work.
• Practices the values of Mercy Corps including respecting the dignity and well-being of participants and fellow team members.
• Encourages openness and communication in their team; encourages team members to submit reports if they have any concerns using reporting mechanisms e.g., Integrity Hotline and other options.

STRATEGY & VISION

• Develop, lead, and maintain a MEL team and systems in Mercy Corps Palestine that improve the country’s ability to analyze and represent impact to stakeholders as well as internally
• Facilitate a culture of learning and continuous reflection on achievements and challenges – through appropriate, accessible, usable, clear data and learning initiatives – that encourages adaptive management and evidence-driven decision making
• Lead on country-level compliance with Mercy Corps global MEL Minimum Standards; monitor progress across the portfolio, identify gaps, and prioritize capacity development or support needs where necessary
• Prioritize sustainability of MEL systems and processes, developing SOPs, documented data flows, and guidance tools at both program and country level
• Together with the QEL Senior Advisor, support a culture of shared learning and facilitate cross-program conversations and experience sharing
• Actively collaborate with Accountability and Inclusion colleagues for mutual benefit, ensuring comprehensive learning and information sharing, as well as to support a cohesive and unified QEL Department
• Lead on the development and socialization of a country-level Learning Agenda, in alignment with the Middle East Learning Agenda as well as Palestine-specific priorities and realities
• Participate in MEL budget development for new programs and proposals, including related staff and initiative planning

MEL SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT

• Lead or support in designing assessment tools and protocols for specific programs and initiatives, balancing technical rigor with feasibility and contextual realities
• Facilitate portfolio-level continuity in MEL, working with program-specific MEL and program colleagues to encourage consistency and quality across all MC Palestine Programs
• Support Mercy Corps Palestine programs in developing logical frameworks, indicators and targets, selection and verification criteria, and data collection tools, and information management systems
• Lead on ensuring live, accurate, comprehensive databases and dashboards exist for all programs and are accessible to relevant colleagues throughout the program life cycles.
• Lead the development of M&E Plans, Learning Plans, MEL Technology Plans, and other related standards and guiding protocols across programs in collaboration with relevant team members
• Facilitate Data Quality Assessments, Quarterly Review Meetings, Final Review Meetings, and Final Internal Performance Reviews in accordance with global minimum standards
• Lead on aligning, collecting, and reporting on country- and organization-level metrics related to sector and/or Outcome Area achievements
• Supervise data collection processes, ensuring quality of tools, data, systems, and resultant learning; facilitate automation or technical solutions to improve efficiency and effectiveness wherever possible; oversee the collection and archiving of documented consent
• Ensure diversification of data sources and types, employing the use of both qualitative and quantitative approaches and data to facilitate learning
• Ensure rigorous, clear, and timely collection of all monitoring data and provide relevant donor and stakeholder report inputs
• Ensure data collection and use is not limited to donor reporting our output monitoring, but that MEL systems capture higher-level impact and facilitate reflection and adaptive management
• Lead on the oversight of Mercy Corps Palestine’s use of TolaData, supporting relevant colleagues to ensure inputs are accurate, up to date, and linked to appropriate supporting evidence/documentation.
• Lead on Mercy Corps’ Annual Participant Count process, facilitating collation of detailed, accurate information from across programs and timely submission to global colleagues
• Ensure adherence to data protection protocols and Mercy Corps’ Responsible Data Management policy; provide guidance and support to Palestine Program Teams as needed.

TEAM MANAGEMENT

• Lead the Mercy Corps Palestine MEL team, prioritizing capacity building and technical guidance to ensure excellence in monitoring, evaluation, and learning activities, and high programmatic quality across the portfolio.
• Lead and/or support on the development of MEL-related SOWs for consultants, most frequently employed for assessments, evaluations, or other research and learning initiatives; engage in recruitment and management of relevant MEL consultants
• Ensure teams adhere to a consistent MEL filing structure, and that data, tools, protocols, and other files are stored appropriately and accessible to current and future team members
• Promote accountability, communicate expectations clearly and regularly, and provide constructive feedback formally and informally via regular one-on-ones and performance reviews
• Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence
• Participate in organizational structure conversations and expansion and/or realignment of MEL roles, engaging directly in team design and hiring processes

SECURITY

• Ensure that all office or field tasks and activities are implemented with a clear analysis and understanding of security management priorities.

Supervisory Responsibility

   MEL Officers, Assistants, etc.

Accountability

Reports directly to: Senior Advisor for Program Quality, Evidence, and Learning (QEL)

Works directly with: Program teams, CARM team, GESI team, Safeguarding team

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 field projects.

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Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills

• 5 - 10 years of demonstrated professional experience, and a minimum of 3 years of demonstrated professional experience in international development with knowledge of relevant sectoral and/or operational areas.
• Advanced degree and/or professional certification in international development, engineering, IT, computer science, economics, statistics, business administration/systems, social sciences or related fields.
• Excellent communication, organization, and prioritization skills and the ability to multi-task.
• Demonstrated attention to detail and ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines, and work both independently and cooperatively with other team members.
• Excellent skills in development and implementation of information systems and primary data collection tools, including survey design, implementation, and analysis.
• Demonstrated experience developing data collection tools using XLS Forms and case management platforms such as CommCare.
• Solid experience of digital data collection (especially using CommCare and Ona) and data visualization (especially using Power BI)
• Demonstrated experience using MS Office
• Experience facilitating technical training and consultations remotely and/or in-person.
• Proficiency in spoken and written English and Arabic languages required
• Understanding of social, political, and economic context in Palestine strongly preferred.

Success Factors

The preferred candidate will demonstrate a keen interest in understanding and thriving within Palestine's intricate cultural, political, security, and social landscape. They should excel in communication, both written and verbal, and have a knack for presenting complex MEL data and analysis in an accessible, useful way. They should be comfortable multitasking and navigating ambiguous situations. A tolerant and adaptable individual, they should handle challenging and stressful environments while adhering to procedures. Prioritizing team capacity building, they should possess strategic thinking abilities, expertise in designing and evaluating development programs, a desire to learn and facilitate collective learning experiences, and maintain a positive outlook.

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 and have signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. 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.

As an applicant, if you witness or experience any form of sexual misconduct during the recruitment process, please report this to Mercy Corps Integrity Hotline ([email protected]).

Interested candidates are encouraged to apply online HERE no later than 15:00 on Wednesday,09 Oct 2024.  Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.