MEL Officer - Zahle (Applications will only be accepted if submitted through the URL link provided below)

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.

Mercy Corps has been present in the Middle East since the 1980s and currently works in Yemen, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq. Working in Lebanon since 1993, Mercy Corps is committed to generating positive opportunities for women, men, boys and girls from Lebanese, Syrian, and Palestinian communities, with a strong focus on engaging youth.  Mercy Corps exists to alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression by helping build secure, productive and just communities. Our programs focus on four sectors:  Economic Opportunities, Governance and Social Stability, Youth and Humanitarian interventions.

The Mercy Corps Lebanon team consists of over 180 staff working across six offices throughout Mount Lebanon, South Lebanon, Tripoli and the Bekaa Valley.

Program Summary

Under the ECHO-funded “Services and Assistance For Enabling Recovery (SAFER)” project, Mercy Corps will provide multi-purpose cash transfers to some of Lebanon’s most vulnerable households affected by the multiple crises in Lebanon, and that are not served by other cash actors to help them meet their basic needs. Building on analysis from our in-house Lebanon Crisis Analytics Team (LCAT) to identify targeted areas in Bekaa and Baalbek El-Hermel, Mercy Corps will employ vulnerability-based targeting to select households for assistance. To facilitate an exit strategy from cash assistance, Mercy Corps will also apply a referral mechanism with other key actors in targeted areas, particularly livelihoods programming for those eligible as well as social safety nets. (Result 1) In addition, Mercy Corps will pair the cash assistance and provide referrals with relevant analysis from LCAT to inform both the action and the broader humanitarian community (Result 2). Together this will achieve the principal objective of reducing economic suffering and protection risks.

General Position Summary

The MEL Officer assists the MEL Manager in the daily  running of the household resource management of the project. The position will be responsible for targeting basic needs of vulnerable HHs through multipurpose cash assistance in Baalbeck Hermel and Bekaa.

Essential Job Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of Mercy Corps Lebanon’s Mel Manager  and working closely with the SAFER MEL team, the MEL Officer will be providing efficient and effective support to the SAFER program, including:

Conduct of data collection activities - specifically the Household Assessment through working with the Program Team on field.

Conduct all MEL related activities for the program including Baselines, Endlines, Spot Checks, and any relevant studies necessary for reviewing programmatic implementation.

Carry out data collection for Post-Distribution Monitoring exercises to households receiving cash grants

Support on data revision, cleaning, and scoring of applicant households through contributing to the maintenance and update of program activity and MEL databases

Provide technical support to program staff on data collection tools and MEL technology utilized for program activities.

Contribute to the deduplication exercises through working with program data and external resources received to identify HHs for assistance

Conduct verification exercise to verify accurate data for household selection

Support the MEL Manager with data analysis through contributing to the program’s data analysis plans

Contribute to visualization of program and MEL data necessary for informed and adaptive decision making, through supporting the maintenance and update of program dashboards

Lead on Referral data received from partner organizations through managing the data flow between program staff.

Support LCAT in data provision, and collection of miscellaneous data relevant for studies conducted in focal areas.

Contribute to programmatic learning through feeding back to the MEL manager and program team on activity observations, conducting data reviews, and participating in data review sessions; this also includes supporting the synthesization of MEL recommendations to inform improved program activities

Reporting

Support in reporting program achievement data through multiple reporting channels including Donor Reports, ActivityInfo,Tola Data etc.

Support in Narrative reporting for donor reports.

Other

In addition to the above, the MEL Officer may be asked to: 

Support the Carm and accountability officer in referrals 

Ensure all activities are gender sensitive and follow Mercy Corps’ Gender Equity Policy

Apply Do No Harm standards to ensure activities do not have detrimental effects on vulnerable communities

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

Accountability

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our project participants guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging participating communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC's policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

Reports Directly to: MEL Manager

Works Directly with: Project Manager,Cash Coordinator,Humanitarian Program Manager, PAQ Manager, Field Staff and other programs. 

Knowledge and Experience

BA/S or equivalent, preferable in social sciences, business administration, public administration, international development or other relevant disciplines

 2-4 years M&E and/or other relevant experience;

 Experience in developing M&E tools 

 Experience in field work and community mobilization 

 Good interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate and negotiate clearly and effectively at all levels, taking into account cultural and language difficulties

 Demonstrable knowledge of key areas of programme operations, logistics and grant management relevant to delivering quality cash and vouchers programming

Flexibility and willingness to change work practices and hours, and capability to work in insecure environment

Fluency in written and spoken English

Computer skills

 Commitment to and understanding of Mercy Corps aims, values and principles.

 Spoken and/or written Arabic

Success Factors

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 modeling Mercy Corps’ values.

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. 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.