Consultant – MEL Technical Support – Remote

Background:

Mercy Corps works to alleviate poverty, suffering, and oppression by helping people build secure, productive, and just communities. The agency operates programs in over 40 countries around the world. The Program Performance and Quality Unit (PaQ), which sits in the Programs Department, supports effective, efficient, and equitable program performance through a culture of quality management, to achieve results for those who matter most – our program participants. PaQ consists of the following teams and functions: Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL); Strategic Leadership; Program Standards; and Infrastructure. These teams are grouped together under PaQ because they focus on improving cross-cutting program and portfolio performance in a manner that is applicable to all or most programs/ portfolios, regardless of technical sector, desired program outcomes, or context, and because they are central to Mercy Corps’ desire to improve program performance and quality through Standards, Service, and Evidence.

The MEL Team of Mercy Corps supports both foundational and cutting-edge adaptive management approaches with design, monitoring, evaluation and learning functions as key processes and benchmarks to ensure evidence-based decision making for quality program implementation. The MEL Team’s work ranges from provision of technical MEL support to programs, integration of MEL technologies, implementation of learning mechanisms and platforms, implementation and support with data quality assessments, support with agency-level reporting and others. A major focus area of the MEL team is the implementation of Mercy Corps’ MEL and Program Management policies. The team works across a wide spectrum of stakeholders both internal and external to Mercy Corps, as well as diverse technical program approaches and sectors.

In order to achieve its set objectives, the MEL team is looking for a consultant who is familiar with may aspects of the MEL work to provide a surge capacity to the MEL for 30 days between mod-April – end of June, 2022, to help advance aspects of MEL work within the MEL team, as outlined below.

Purpose / Project Description:

The consultant will help to provide technical support to country programs on specific MEL aspects, including MEL plans, Learning and CLA plans, technical support to program MEL leads in core M&E aspects, as well as help develop core resources on the Mercy Corps MEL Policy Standards.

Consultant Activities:

The Consultant will:

• Work together with the MEL team and manage development of the Qualitative Indicators Manual
• Develop resources on MEL Policy Standards
• Consolidate and package the MEL Competencies and other relevant resources developed by Mercy Corps teams into a toolkit that can be published and used both internally within Mercy Corps and externally.
• Provide technical support to programs on essential aspects of MEL and Program Learning, gap filling and providing MEL leadership and deep technical support
• Support with MEL team Senior level advisor recruitments as needed
• Facilitate learning sessions with regional and country leadership on adaptive management and use of data for decision making, using Mercy Corps’ TolaData system

Consultant Deliverables:

The Consultant will:

• Organized and packaged MEL Competencies
• Tools, templates, and resources for implementing the MEL Policy
• Technical support to country offices and programs on
• Technical advice and support with developing and packaging Qualitative Indicators Manual with possible travel to country offices
• Sessions enhancing adaptive management practices

Timeframe / Schedule:

April 20-June 30, 2022 for 50 days

The Consultant will report to:

Senior Director/MEL

The Consultant will work closely with:

MEL team of the Mercy Corps HQ and regional offices, as well as relevant PAQ leads.

Required Experience & Skills:

• **5-10 years of experience in relevant technical field (required)
• A deep understanding and knowledge of the Mercy Corps’ MEL Policy,
• Strong familiarity with MEL Competencies and Qualitative indicators for monitoring
• Skills to organize/identify and map relevant content and ability to organize knowledge and resources in a way that it is easy to find by its potential users.
• Prior experience and knowledge of large scale DFSA, RFSA as well as emergency programs.
• Familiarity with USAID, BHA, FCDO, EU and other European donor requirements for MEL

Interested applicants should submit:

• A detailed CV outlining the necessary experience and skills, as well as competencies
• A detailed Cover letter outlining prior experience in the above mentioned deliverable areas

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 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 team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our stakeholders and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging 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.