Role is Open to Liberians ONLY

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.

The Program / Department / Team (Program / Department Summary)

Mercy Corps Liberia began operations in 2002 in response to the humanitarian crisis brought about by the two Liberian civil wars that ended in 2003. Mercy Corps’ interventions have evolved based on the context and needs of the Liberian people. With funding from the European Commission, French Development Agency, Irish Aid, the Embassy of Sweden and US Department of Agriculture, among others, Mercy Corps Liberia focuses on Food Security, Peace and Good Governance and Economic Opportunity. Mercy Corps Liberia works closely with the Government of Liberia (especially the Ministries of Youth and Sports, Health, Labor and Education), the private sector, civil society, international and local NGOs to implement its programs from three offices/sub-offices (Monrovia, Buchanan, and Rivercess). Mercy Corps is one of the foremost development actors in Liberia, implementing strategic and systems-driven programming in youth employment and entrepreneurship, market systems development, and good governance

The Position (General Position Summary)
The MEL for MSD Manager will lead all Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) activities under the PROSPECTS V Program and oversee program quality performance processes for Mercy Corps Liberia. This role is responsible for designing and managing MEL systems for results measurement and data aggregation, ensuring accurate and timely collection, cleaning, validation, and uploading of program data. The Manager will coordinate cross-cutting information management, monitoring, and evaluation to ensure high-quality data informs program decisions, reporting, and proposal development. Working closely with an external MEL consultant for technical oversight, the MEL for MSD Manager will also supervise surveys, lead program MEL portfolio management, and promote learning and adaptive programming across the team.

Essential Responsibilities
TECHNICAL LEADERSHIP
•Provide leadership, training, and mentoring in the development of MEL Plans, MEL Technology Plans, MEL tools, survey design, methodology, data analysis, and other skills required for assessing the impact of programs.
•Lead and/or collaborate with external evaluators on the design and roll-out of the program market assessment, baseline, and final evaluations, while setting up effective systems for learning.
•Ensures programs use the necessary MEL systems and tools to inform and improve each program, as well as feed into the broader country-level MEL system and country strategy.
•Ensures key MEL activities are coordinated with program leadership and integrated into the Program Interventions Plan.
•Take the lead in aligning, collecting, and reporting on relevant indicators to the organizational-wide MEL systems, and other external systems as relevant.
•Support teams in collecting gender and age disaggregated data and using gender sensitive data collection methods to understand and respond to program results with diverse participants.
•Responsible for ensuring adherence to Mercy Corps’ Responsible Data Policy.
•Supports the planning and implementation of quarterly reflection meetings.

STRATEGY AND PLANNING
•Support the setup of the program’s CommCare digital data collection platform, data flow matrix, tool updates and requests, mobile worker assignment tracker, mobile worker reports, data pipelines, and analysis syntax (led by the MEL System Startup Coordinator)
•Support the setup of the program’s PowerBI dashboard.
•Conduct MEL/program performance gap assessments covering specific M&E activities, processes, and tools in Liberia. Based on assessment findings, begin development of a long-term rollout/training plan and strategy in coordination with country leadership.
•Lead the Tola Data rollout and adoption in Liberia, which includes program identification and selection; program readiness assessment and support; training and capacity building; and post-training user support and adoption/institutionalization.
•Ensure that appropriate and adequate reporting and accountability mechanisms are in place at all levels within the country to ensure long-term, sustainable adoption and usage of Tola Data.

MONITORING AND EVALUATION
•Oversee the collection of data, ensuring quality and relevant data is collected and adequately reported on.
•Work with field-based MEL Officers to strengthen links and coordination between Monrovia and field-based MEL teams, working to ensure that all MEL team members understand the roles and responsibilities of M&E and can carry out their duties effectively.
•Coordinate and lead assessments as needed, including coordination of the internal baseline or surveys as required.
•Lead the compliance with Mercy Corps Global MEL Policy across the two programs, tracking adherence and ensuring processes are fully executed.

TEAM MANAGEMENT
•Orient, mentor, and supervise a high-performing MEL team within the country’s programs.
•Develop the capacity of the team, deepen understanding of their roles, and assist with career development.
•Lead and develop a country M&E team and also assist the M&E officers assigned to each program in developing and maintaining a system that improves the country’s ability to analyze and represent impact to donors, government, colleague agencies, and communities themselves.
•Assist team members with information, tools, and resources to improve performance & reach objectives.
•Work with all MEL Officers/Assistants to develop and implement individualized Professional Development Plans to ensure more systematic data collection, management, and analysis.
•Conduct field-based training and capacity assessments in the individual sub-offices alongside the field-based MEL Officers, working to strengthen the implementation of sound M&E systems across all areas of intervention.
•Develop the capacity of team members to conduct internal evaluations, including data quality assessments and final internal performance reviews.
Promote accountability, communicate expectations, and provide constructive feedback informally and formally via regular one-on-ones and performance reviews.

Supervisory Responsibility
TBD
Accountability
Reports Directly To: Program Director
Works Directly With: Program Manager, People and Culture Team, Operations Team, and Finance 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.
Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills
•Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field; advanced degree preferred.
•Strong background in designing and developing intervention guide for MSD results measurement
•Strong expertise in conducting research, surveys, and market intelligence for MSD programs.
•At least 7 years’ progressive experience in monitoring and evaluation; education, food security, and USAID experience are preferred.
•Experience using CommCare, ODK, AZURE, and Power Bi are essential; formal training in this software is strongly desired.
•Excellent and demonstrated data management, analysis, and visualization skills using MS Excel required.
•Demonstrated competencies in effective data communication, critical thinking, training, and coaching required. Strong team coordination, listening, and consensus-building competencies are required.
•Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines, and work independently and cooperatively with team members.
•Fluent in both spoken and written English.

Success Factors
The ideal candidate will have an intense curiosity for understanding and working effectively within complex operating environments. They will be excellent communicators, multi-taskers, and able to work in ambiguous situations. They will be tolerant and flexible individuals able to work in difficult and stressful environments and follow procedures. The successful candidate will be focused on team building and capacity-building of their team; be a strategic thinker, have strong skills in design, monitoring, and evaluation of development programs, and have excellent writing skills.

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

Team Engagement and Effectiveness
Achieving our mission starts with how we build our team and collaborate. By bringing together individuals with a variety of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives, we strengthen our ability to solve complex challenges and drive innovation. We foster a culture of trust and respect, where every team member is valued for their contributions, empowered to reach their full potential, and motivated to do their best work.
We recognize that building a strong and effective team is an ongoing process, and we remain committed to learning, improving, and growing together.

Equal Employment Opportunity
Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristics protected under applicable law.

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 e-learning 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 (integrityhotline@mercycorps.org).