Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, Research and Learning (MEAL) Unit Manager (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.

Program/ Department Summary

Mercy Corps seeks to alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression by helping build secure, productive and just communities. Working in Lebanon since 1993, Mercy Corps has been working towards generating positive opportunities for Lebanese people, Syrian and Palestine refugees and other vulnerable groups, with a strong focus on engaging women and youth. We do this through:

Building the resilience of vulnerable individuals, by enhancing their human, social and political capital, to enable them to better adapt to shocks and stresses;

Strengthening participatory governance and social cohesion to encourage diverse groups to work together to solve public challenges and provide equitable service delivery;

Promoting economic growth and creating employment opportunities and revenue for vulnerable population groups;

Carrying out research and developing an evidence-base to influence the adoption of effective and equitable humanitarian and development initiatives in Lebanon;

Adapting to the changing context in providing both humanitarian life-saving assistance and supporting markets in crisis when and where needed,

The Mercy Corps Lebanon team consists of over 125 staff working across three offices throughout Beirut/Mount Lebanon, North Lebanon and the Bekka Valley. Current funders of Mercy Corps in Lebanon include the government of the Netherlands, the US Government, Agence Française de Développement, and ECHO. Mercy Corps’ programs aim to sustain Mercy Corps’ reputation as a key and reliable partner for various donors, INGOs, government authorities and civil society actors, to be part of the process of positive changes along the humanitarian, development and peace spectrum.

Primary program interventions include market systems development, support to employment, good governance, capacity building, economic development, livelihood support, and humanitarian assistance through cash-based response and support to markets in crisis, along with a growing research portfolio. In addition to the current work with micro, medium and small enterprises, the team is also looking at ways to help communities maintain a degree of stability through these challenging times, through support to local governance and access to renewable energy. 

General Position Summary 

The monitoring, evaluation, accountability, research and learning (MEAL) Unit Manager role is to lead program, performance and quality (PAQ) by providing significant programmatic quality support and enabling evidence systems to Mercy Corps Lebanon Programs; leading on Monitoring, Evaluation; Research and Learning (MERL) activities for the organization, ensure Accountability systems are in place and provide strong, consolidated support across the Program Department to ensure the development of efficient and effective program management processes. This includes strong support for the design and development of sound program concept or proposal designs, development of effective monitoring, learning and evaluation processes, coordination of key functions such as program kick-off/initiation process, program reporting, providing support to programs during key implementation moments with Program Managers, directly managing MERL program staff on program quality and impact through a variety of different techniques, working with MERL teams for capacity building and ongoing support, and coordinating program close out activities with the program team, while leading and coordinating on evidence generation and learning across programs and practice areas and its usage across the region for internal decision-making.

The MEAL Unit Manager also oversees the management of the Community Accountability Reporting Mechanism (CARM), to ensure accountability to beneficiaries and to flag any potential fraud or protection issues, and provide, where possible, effective referral of protection issues. The MEAL Unit Manager plays a key role for ensuring capacity building for program staff on program management techniques and providing support to other departments in MC Lebanon to ensure a culture of providing training, coaching and integrating effective tools and techniques to improve program quality. The MEAL Unit Manager will champion and provide tangible technical support and guidance around Mercy Corps’ Program Management Policy and its associated minimum standards and the agency’s quality standards to ensure that the teams are driving transformational impact through executing programs that are of the highest quality. The MEAL Unit Manager will have an important role in contributing to global and regional conversations and initiatives around program performance and quality, to build and sustain a cohesive regional program performance, quality and evidence team ensuring the MC Lebanon portfolio is positioned for excellence in all programmatic functions across country teams.

Essential Job Responsibilities 

MEAL Unit Leadership

• Lead MC Lebanon Performance and Quality (PAQ) in coordination with MCL program teams as well as global and regional PAQ teams
• Provide supervision to the Accountability and MERL team members, ensure their work is aligned and contributing effectively to the work of the Lebanon PAQ and MCL country strategy priorities, that they have access to training and support and that effective workflows and coordination are set up between the different unit members
• In collaboration with the Director of Programs, support the development of cross-team coordination mechanisms to ensure effective collaboration and integration across key program areas and functions, and within and across programs portfolios
• Ensure that members have a deep understanding of their roles, coordinate closely in their work, actively engage with and support program teams, are connected to relevant stakeholders across the agency to inform and promote agency strategies and best practices related to performance and program quality. 

PROGRAM PERFORMANCE & QUALITY (Program Management Support, CARM, and MERL) 

Program Management Support:

• Work closely with Regional PaQ unit to ensure continuous quality improvement of field programs, and that teams are working towards achieving excellence, especially during rapid growth and sudden changes and expected operational challenges (such as large program start-up and planning phases). 
• Promote tools, guidance and the necessary organizational culture to encourage learning across programs on adaptive management best practices in each country in the region. 
• Support with the implementation of the PM@MC Policy, procedures and standards (inclusive of PM, CARM, MEL, GESI in Program Management, Cash Transfer Program/ GDP, and Infrastructure), overseeing efforts to conduct gap analysis, develop action plans, contextualize and continuously improve implementation, and coordinate and track participation in associated global or regional training programs.
• Contribute to the global and regional conversation around program performance and quality, PAQ strategies and functioning, as well as global program quality initiatives such as PM@MC minimum standards, gender and social integration inclusion, and adaptive management, etc.
• Support the Director of Programs to ensure compliance and documentation of programs meeting Mercy Corps Minimum Standards and donor audit requirements and ensure there are effective guidance and systems in place for electronic and hard copy filing. 
• Provide support to program teams at key programmatic moments, such as program start-up, kick-off meetings, 90-day inception meeting check-ins, organization of BVA meetings, quality audits and spot checks, collecting lessons learned, 90-day end of program transition meetings, and other support as requested by program managers or the Director of Programs
• Ensure MC Lebanon staff meet PM@MC certification requirements (both PMD Pro Level 1 and Higher-Level Certification).
• Work with program teams to ensure the adoption of efficient, effective and compliant program management processes and workflows, identify strategies and build or strengthen systems to facilitate greater efficiency in program management processes.
• Support the development and maintenance of appropriate trackers, such as reporting tracker, and grant tracker (that details current and future/pipeline programming) etc. and the use of online tools, such as Google Calendars and Google Drive, to increase coordination and visibility of activities in MC Lebanon
• Ensure the unit carries out effective reviews of program reports, make sure these are consistent with data from our information management systems, include well documented success stories and infographics to highlight program impact, and include information on lessons learned to inform on required adaptation of activities and future program design.

Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning: 

• Ensure strong Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) support to program teams in all steps of the project lifecycle (design, start-up, implementation, evaluation, close-out) which includes the use of MERL Tech tools and resources.
• Contribute to the MC Lebanon’s research and learning agenda and ensure support to the development of appropriate partnerships and strategy for research and learning.
• Responsible to build a community of practice for MERL staff to provide them with technical advice and a support network, develops efficient MERL systems (including information management systems, efficient staffing, and workflow).
• Ensure and contribute to regular training and other capacity building events for MC Lebanon staff on related to MERL, data collection and information management, knowledge management, results chain design, MERL technology tools to improve program quality, and support other departments to take the lead in developing and implementing capacity building activities to improve program management processes
• Lead the development of processes to support programs team in integrating cross-programmatic learning and ensure that lessons learned are used to inform adaptation of activities and future program design.
• Ensure the team effectively supports proposal design and development processes, ensuring sound MERL thinking and use of logic models are integrated from the outset, following agency best practices and donor compliance, in coordination with MC Lebanon technical, finance and operational staff, as well as HQ and regional teams
• Lead the drafting of results frameworks, logframes and MEL plans associated with potential new programs
• Participate in new business development processes from the kickoff to submission stages – providing input not only on MEL but also on program design, feasibility, logic, etc.
• In coordination with Regional PaQ Unit, promote an evidence-driven culture at the country level that supports the increasing systematic use of data and evidence for both decision-making and showcasing our impact; and lead on Mercy Corps Lebanon Evidence-Driven framework by promoting the use of evidence to improve our programs, scale what works, find innovative solutions and influence others. 
• Lead, promote and adapt as needed the Lebanon Evidence and Learning Agenda and ensure that regional, country and program-level learning and research priorities feed into each other while aligning with MC Global priorities in this domain. 
• Coordinate with Crisis Analytics Teams, ensure they’re integrated into the broader Evidence and Learning Agenda when relevant and applicable. 
• In coordination with Regional PaQ Unit, develop an information and knowledge management and use system in Lebanon to ensure convergence across different practice areas in evidence generation and easy access and reference to our learning, research and broader evidence depository in the region.
• Represent Mercy Corps Lebanon in external coordination meetings related to MERL, program performance, assessments and research. Represent Mercy Corps Lebanon in external coordination meetings related to MERL, program performance, assessments and research.

Community Accountability and Reporting Mechanism (CARM):

• Support CARM team to ensure the MC Lebanon adopt and adhere to Mercy Corps’ program accountability and CARM policies.
• Supervise the work of the CARM Coordinator and their team for the effective roll-out and maintenance of the 3assama3 Community Accountability Reporting Mechanism (CARM), as well as management of the investigation of cases in coordination with MC HQ and set up of inter-agency referral pathways.
• 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. 

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

Supervisory Responsibility

MERL leads (Coordinators or Managers) of all MCL programs; Community Accountability and Reporting Coordinator

Accountability 

• Reports Directly To: Director of Programs
• Works Directly With: Program Managers; Support Departments; Headquarters and Regional PAQ; CARM and MERL teams
• Knowledge and Experience 
• Bachelor's degree required. Master’s or equivalent in a field related to Humanitarian or International Development or relevant fields is preferred.
• 7+ years of experience providing coordination or management support to program implementation and evaluation, including extensive experience with monitoring and evaluation, information management, and other learning efforts required.
• Solid technical expertise with data collection, analysis and management.
• Experience with leading program design and evaluation is required,
• Proven ability to work cooperatively with internal and external stakeholders, and to play a leadership role in convening groups. Astute skills in relationship building and coordination.
• Excellent English writing and communication skills required.
• Experience in proposal and donor report writing preferred.
• Fluency in written and spoken English is required. 

Success Factors 

The successful MEAL unit Manager will be self-motivated; innovative in finding solutions to daily and more systemic challenges; able to build, motivate, lead and build capacities of a high functioning team; able to navigate and work effectively with a multi-cultural, multi-lingual team; and be able to see function at and see both the details required for quality and the bigger picture of how all the pieces come together.  They will take a deep personal interest in humanitarian and development assistance.  They 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. They will be creative and flexible, able to work under tight deadlines and often high levels of stress, contributing to developing and encouraging new and innovative solutions, but at the same time will be a leader in ensuring adherence to compliant systems and procedures. They will strictly follow all protocols related to safety and security, and hold self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modeling Mercy Corps’ values.

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 By applying for this role an applicant confirms that they have not previously violated an employer’s sexual misconduct, sexual exploitation and abuse, child safeguarding or trafficking policy. 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 ([email protected]).