Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Manager – USAID Youth Grow: Amman, Jordan
Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Manager – USAID Youth Grow: Amman, Jordan
Position is contingent on funding.
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 has been operating in Jordan since 2003. In partnership with civil society organizations, the private sector, and the government, Mercy Corps Jordan has reached more than 3.4 million Jordanians and displaced populations in the country. Working throughout Jordan Mercy Corps is driven by the mission to contribute to the emergence of a peaceful, resilient and prosperous Jordan which is inclusive of youth and women. We seek to build a future for Jordan in which all people feel secure, believe in the goodness of communities and institutions around them, and are on a sustainable path toward economic self-reliance. Our strategic directions focus on promoting strong communities and governance, peace and social cohesion and environmentally sustainable and inclusive economic growth. With today’s youth becoming the leaders of tomorrow, we see countless opportunities for transformational change.
Mercy Corps is seeking a Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Manager to lead the implementation of the expected five-year USAID-funded Youth Grow Activity. This activity will aim to: 1) increase youth access to high-quality career planning information and livelihood opportunities; 2) strengthen youth leadership through targeted support of local youth-led and youth-serving organizations in order to promote youth participation as decision makers and key contributors to individual, household, community, and national well-being; and 3) strengthen Government of Jordan (GOJ) systems, in partnership with youth, to provide more coordinated and effective services, practices, and policies that embody the principles of Positive Youth Development (PYD).
General Position Summary
The MEL Manager will be responsible for ensuring robust performance monitoring and evaluation that supports the achievement of the program objectives. The MEL Manager will provide oversight and ensure the quality of all project-level monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning activities within the Youth Grow program.
The MEL Manager’s role is to also ensure coordination of relevant program team members and partners. The MEL Manager is responsible for the capacity building and mentoring strategy/ToC for program staff on themes related to monitoring, evaluation, accountability, learning, and adaptive management. The MEL Manager will work closely with the Chief of Party (COP) to guide the program in operationalizing an adaptive, iterative management approach with a culture of evidence-based decision-making.
Essential Job Responsibilities
MEL STRATEGY AND AMELP
● Set-up and oversee the timely implementation of the monitoring and evaluation system, including the Activity Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Plan (AMELP), M&E Technology, Learning and Research Plans.
● Align and integrate collection, analysis and reporting on indicators related to the program’s overall operational context and performance and community accountability and response mechanisms (CARM) within the program’s AMELP.
● Harmonize the MEL system across consortium partner systems, and other external systems as relevant.
● Ensure the quality of implementation of MEL for the Youth Grow program, consistently reviewing and adapting the MEL systems and tools, to the needs of the changing context, use the learning to inform program and country-level systems and strategy.
● Lead the design of high quality qualitative and quantitative M&E indicators,tools, participatory and inclusive processes and protocols for data management, including data collection, analysis, reporting, storing, visualization; identify and set up relevant MEL technology and information management platforms in line with Mercy Corps guidance.
● Ensure systems are established and maintained to collect sex and age disaggregated data and use gender sensitive, socially inclusive, and remote data collection methods to understand and respond to program results with diverse audiences, decision makers, and stakeholders
COLLABORATION, LEARNING AND ADAPTING
● Work closely with Mercy Corps’ Senior MEL Manager and HQ-based MEL, Research and Learning departments to develop and implement the Youth Grow program’s CLA plan and learning agenda.
● Lead and/or collaborate with external researchers and evaluators on the design and roll out of the program assessments, formative research and RCTs, baseline study, and evaluations, while setting up effective systems for continuous learning, reflection, and adaptive management.
● Lead the team to create a plan to operationalize and capacity build CLA practice, including creating a culture of learning and systems thinking to stimulate an adaptive, iterative management approach;
● Design and facilitate regular, strategic planning sessions and learning events, assisting Youth Grow in its learning journey as well as development and implementation of its annual plans.
● Provide guidance, recommendations, and leadership to ensure that the MEL systems meet the data, evidence, and learning needs of the program, including the sharing of information internally and externally, are met, and help address shortfalls in MEL, Research, CLA, and data management that affect program implementation.
● Develop and oversee implementation of appropriate learning products to promote routine sharing and learning within the program, including consortium partners. This will include identification, documentation and sharing of learning from process, output, outcome and context indicators.
● Facilitate inclusive and gender-sensitive MEL and research processes and approaches, engaging local organizations, institutions, and youth, to design and implement national- and community-level data collection tools and contribute to data analysis
INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
● Ensure data management processes (collection, cleaning, analysis, storage, reporting, visualization, etc.) are functioning in all activity locations (including partner activities) to provide quality data within deadlines.
● Ensure data quality through routine internal Data Quality Assessments (DQAs) as required by Mercy Corps MEL Policy, and make adjustments as needed.
● Ensure Youth Grow adheres to Mercy Corps’ MEL and, Program Record Retention and Data Protection Policies.
● Develop program and operational reporting templates that facilitate the acquisition, aggregation and flow of information and learning within the program as well as externally.
TEAM MANAGEMENT
● Oversee the Youth Grow MEL team and sub-contractors, like external evaluators and enumerators.
● Build the capacity of all relevant program and partner team members to develop and maintain an excellent MEL system, including regular reflection, learning and adaptation, by using the analysis of program quantitative and qualitative data, as well as other knowledge gained through the program’s implementation of CLA..
● Promote accountability, communicate expectations and provide constructive feedback informally and formally via regular one on ones and performance reviews.
● Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.
COLLABORATION AND REPRESENTATION
● Collaborate with technical leads across the coalition and build processes for regular feedback loops in order to ensure functioning adaptive management
● Actively contribute and collaborate with country, regional and global counterparts to promote the use of MEL best practices and lessons learned.
● Strengthen linkages with other internal resources, throللتقدم على الوظيفة
