Monitoring And Evaluation Officer-Forsa (2 Vacancies)

PROGRAM SUMMARY Mercy Corps exists to alleviate suffering, poverty, and oppression by helping people build secure, productive, and just communities. The agency pursues its mission through emergency relief services, sustainable community development, civil society and economic development initiatives. Mercy Corps has been present in the Middle East since the 1980s and currently has offices in Yemen, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Libya. Working in Lebanon since 1993, Mercy Corps is running community development programs focused on promoting economic development and increased opportunity for disadvantaged communities, while responding to emergencies as they have emerged. Until recently Mercy Corps’ focus had been on programs aiming to bolster civil society and give voice to under-represented groups through the empowerment of young leaders. Recently, the program portfolio has expanded in response to the massive refugee influx from Syria. The emergency response component of the portfolio will be an increasing focus and driver of programming in Lebanon. The conflict in Syria has resulted in a steady increase in Syrian refugees to Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey. All refugees who have entered Lebanon are staying with host families or in rented accommodation. As numbers rapidly increase, humanitarian conditions are deteriorating. The burden on host communities and the financial and emotional stress on refugees and their hosts is tremendous. Mercy Corps is responding to these needs by addressing urgent basic needs, protection as well as the psychosocial impact of the conflict and displacement. A growing programmatic focus is on mitigating the emerging tensions between hosts and refugees, particularly over economic resources, by addressing both livelihood opportunities and conflict mitigation capacity. GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY Working under the direction of the M&E Manager, the M&E Officer is expected to contribute to the quality assurance of program implementation in Beirut covering the South and Bekaa (Zahle) and ensure that Mercy Corps programs/projects bring a significant contribution to reducing poverty, building secure productive and just communities, and playing a leading role in transforming Mercy Corps programs in Lebanon. S/he will contribute to the monitoring and evaluation functions related to tracking program/project progress and quality, collecting useful, timely and actionable information for managers and decision-makers, and contribute to the frequent review, reflection and key learning process to improve performance. He/She will assist in developing review and learning processes (eg. complaints mechanisms, feedback loops, lessons learned documentation and sharing, etc.) ensure that systems and people are in place to ensure proper management of these functions and responsibilities. S/he will work closely with partners 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. ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS Monitoring and Evaluation • Conduct timely data collection, entry, analysis, quality assurance, sharing of information and learning; • Lead enumerator teams in population-based survey exercises (such as large-scale baselines and endlines); • Lead Focus Group Discussions and Key Informant Interviews; • Conduct regular monitoring visits to program activities and sites; • Coordinate monitoring activities with program team; • Prepare accurate and quality weekly and monthly quantitative and qualitative reports in a timely manner; • Provide regular updates and analysis of data to the Project Manager and M&E Manager to assess progress and suggest adaptations of the project; • Contribute to understanding of and support for mobile data collection hardware and software. Data Analysis and Reporting • Provide data and reports as outlined in the Program Measurement Plan (PMP); • Participate in team data analysis processes jointly with other M&E and Program colleagues; • Liaise with other program/ project teams and M&E staff as required to ensure that program/ project databases complement and align with each other as relevant ; • Review or edit data in reports as requested and required; • Perform other tasks as required. Accountability • Coordinate with the team in the office to build systems that promote beneficiary accountability by ensuring that communities participate in initial assessments and program design; • Coordinate with program teams to ensure that communities are informed about our programs and what we do, are aware of their entitlements, are comfortable to give feedback and that feedback is used to improve the quality of our programs; • Conduct himself/herself both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and to not jeopardize its humanitarian mission. 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. SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY: None REPORTS DIRECTLY TO: FORSA MEL Manager KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE • Bachelor’s degree required; • At least 2-3 years of experience in Monitoring and Evaluation with international and/or local NGOs or other relevant institutions; • Experience with qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis methodologies required; • Excellent skills in MS Word and Excel, knowledge of data management systems and analysis tools; • Previous experience or knowledge with mobile data collection tools preferred; • Fluency in written and spoken English and Arabic, excellent writing and reporting skills. SUCCESS FACTORS • Conscientious, highly organized with excellent judgment; • Able to manage several priorities simultaneously under pressure of deadlines; • Demonstrates initiative, excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, as well as attention to detail; • Strong communication skills; • Confidence, and humility, to work effectively and foster solid working relationships with a large variety of people who will be diverse culturally, economically and in social status; • Sensitivity to political and cultural nuance and able to consistently apply excellent judgment to a variety of demanding and fast-changing situations; • Ability to comfortably adapt to a quickly changing environment with a sense of urgency, humor, and curiosity; • Able to work remotely with a geographically dispersed team. The most successful Mercy Corps staff members have a strong commitment to teamwork and accountability; thrive in evolving and changing environments; make effective written and verbal communication a priority in all situations.