About Mercy Corps
Mercy Corps is powered by the belief that a better world is possible. To do this, we know our teams do their best work when they are diverse and every team member feels that they belong. We welcome diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be stronger and have long term impact.
Program / Department Summary
Mercy Corps was awarded with another USDA McGovern-Dole Food for Education program in Kyrgyzstan and this program will target primary -school students across the country. The objectives of the program are to:
· Improve literacy of school-age children by supplying literacy materials and school supplies to schools and increasing the skills and knowledge of teachers and school administrators on quality literacy assurances through professional training and mentoring;
· Increase knowledge of health, nutrition, and hygiene practices through safe food preparation, better commodity storage practices, and increased access to clean water and sanitation facilities in schools through infrastructure improvement;
· Increase student attendance and reduce short term hunger through the provision of daily school meals and increase dietary diversity through establishing school gardens and procuring locally produced commodities;
· Strengthen local market system through procuring locally produced commodities and linking program schools to local producers;
· Improve policy and regulatory framework through trainings of government officials and school administrators on key issues of nutrition, school feeding, literacy, and health.
Mercy Corps has been present in Kyrgyzstan since 1994, focusing its interventions on food security & child nutrition, WASH, community mobilization, and others. With funding from USDA and some private foundations bringing benefit to more than 100,000 primary grade students and their families across the country
General Position Summary
The M&E Manager is responsible for oversight of the full M&E department, ensuring the quality of M&E, information management (TOLA) and support CARM efforts of Mercy Corps Kyrgyzstan. The M&E Manager is responsible for all aspects of leadership and management of the M&E unit. The M&E Manager is responsible to provide M&E services to programs in line with donor requirements and Mercy Corps’ standards. The M&E Manager is responsible for training and mentoring national staff across MC Kyrgyzstan. The M&E Manager will be responsible for developing, coordinating, maintaining and constantly improving the nation-wide M&E system, as well as training M&E staff in each office.
Essential Job Responsibilities
STRATEGY AND VISION
● Work with program teams to develop explanatory and analytical M&E systems, which go beyond descriptive reporting and indicator-centric processes.
● Support programs to create creative and innovative M&E learning systems with build-in feedback loops which directly inform program managers and enable iterative improvements to program implementation, as well as feed into the broader nation- wide M&E system and country strategy.
● Actively participate in SMT meetings and countrywide strategy sessions and provides the MEL perspective and any implications to the country-level MEL strategy.
● Contribute and collaborate with regional and global counterparts to promote the use of M&E and ICT best practices.
● Supervise effective CARM and TOLA mechanisms and working with program team to ensure these are utilized for accountability to beneficiaries and partners.
● Follow up country MEL strategy, provide leadership to field offices in developing individual program level M&E systems that inform and improve each program, as well as feed into the broader nation-wide M&E system and country strategy.
● Lead and develop an M&E team country team and also the M&E Managers 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.
● Participate in country management meetings and countrywide strategy sessions.
TECHNICAL MANAGEMENT
● Be responsible of and accountable for all MEL budget lines across programs
● Be responsible of MEL deliverables to donors and programs
● Use existing MC resources train M&E and program teams in the area of monitoring and evaluation and report writing.
● Coordinate and play a role in assessments as requested. Provide input as to M&E systems and act as a link to HQ M&E technical staff.
DATA AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
● Develop high-impact data visualizations to promote analysis and organizational learning, using examples to build replicable prototypes that can be used by other programs.
● Works with the program and M&E teams to ensure a holistic country-level M&E system is operational in order to more accurately collect, monitor and verify program activities.
● Provides guidance, recommendations, and leadership to ensure that the M&E systems meet the needs of Programs Managers and Country Leadership and help address shortfalls in M&E and data management that affect program implementation.
● Contributes to program design to ensure adherence to Mercy Corps’ standards, including the use of standardized indicators and documentation methodologies but also quality indicators that support program management.
M&E SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT
● Lead efforts to establish an M&E unit working out of Bishkek that will facilitate M&E for all programs and collaborate closely with Program Managers in developing and establishing of the M&E system, one that serves the needs of the other field offices and project teams.
● Support all country programs independent M&E efforts to ensure high quality M&E at the program level as well as build a nationwide system that captures and presents results at a national level.
● Design and maintain an M&E system with utility and program quality in mind, providing managers and their teams real time information that can steer program implementation as well as informing donors and strategic program direction and that helps strategize future program interventions.
● Work with senior management to address shortfalls in M&E that affect program implementation and conduct internal DQAs.
TEAM MANAGEMENT
● Build the capacity of all relevant team members to develop and maintain an excellent M&E system, including training on TOLA and the periodic reflection and analysis of program monitoring data to disseminate learning.
● Develop the capacity of the team, deepen understanding of their roles and assist with career development.
● Assist team members with information, tools and resources to improve performance & reach objectives.
● 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.
● Play an active role in hiring, orienting and leading team members as necessary.
SECURITY
● Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership.
● Proactively ensure that team members operate in a secure environment and are aware of policies.
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.
ACCOUNTABILITY TO BENEFICIARIES
Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts towards accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.
Supervisory Responsibility: MEL team of 3 people
Accountability
Reports Directly To: Chief of Party/CD
Works Directly With: Chief of Party, Country Director, Director of Programs and other Program teams.
Knowledge and Experience
- BA/S or equivalent, preferable in business administration, public administration or international development. MA/S in a relevant field is strongly preferred.
- 5-7 years of experience in the areas of program development and monitoring and evaluation, including relevant experience building and managing an M&E system and team, relevant experience supervising data collection and data validation exercises, and building staff capacity.
- Successful experience with the adoption of mobile data collections tools like Open Data Kit, CommCare and Ona, including XLS Form authoring.
- Experience with complex data visualization using Power BI and/or Tableau.
- Experience with theoretical and practical background in research or DM&E and knowledge of qualitative and quantitative methodologies and techniques required.
- Successful experience with designing and operationalizing data-driven decision-making practices to facilitate adaptive program management.
- Must have extensive training skills and experience working with a variety of donors, including USDA and/or USAID.
- High degree of computer literacy; Excel and Word skills are essential, as well as Microsoft Teams.
- Ability to manage and meet deadlines.
- Ability to work independently on multi-task load.
- Excellent communication and organizational skills.
- Internationally recognized qualification in project or program management or a commitment to obtain the qualification in the early months of work.
- Previous experience working in the Central Asia region.
- Fluency in spoken and written English. Russian and/or Kyrgyz language skills are desired.
Success Factors:
The successful candidate will combine exceptional verbal and written communication skills with strong analytical skills and an interest in education and child nutrition. S/he will be an excellent thinker, communicator, multi-tasker and able to work in ambiguous situations and will also be tolerant and flexible, able to work in stressful environments and follow procedures. The successful candidate will be focused on team-building and capacity building of national staff and, as a team member, ensure the team produces top quality work. S/he will have or be prepared to rapidly develop a strong understanding of the cultural, political and religious environment in the region, and the ability to live and work successfully in those environments are essential.
Living /Environmental Conditions:
This position will be based in Bishkek. The location is accompanied and secure. Housing is individual accommodation with complete freedom of movement in Bishkek and other locations in the country for which no travel restrictions exist. There are several international schools in Bishkek. Staff have access to reasonable quality healthcare services in Bishkek and access to reliable water services. Access to electricity during the hot season can be less reliable, with the occasional power cut. This position requires at least 35% travel by plane and vehicle to field offices in environments that for the most part are secure. This position is not eligible for hardship and/or R&R benefits.
Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/TDY to a field posting. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and Mercy Corps’ policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.
Fostering a diverse and open workplace is an important part of Mercy Corps’ vision. Mercy Corps is an Equal Opportunity Employer regardless of background. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment.
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.