ECS-HUB- MEL AND CARM SPECIALIST (Internal)

Location: Addis Ababa

Organization: Mercy Corps

Deadline: Feb 17, 2025

Job Description

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 operating in Ethiopia since 2004. In partnership with civil society organizations, academic institutions, private sector, and the government, Mercy Corps Ethiopia has reached more than five million Ethiopians with interventions to save lives and build secure livelihoods. Our programs emphasize market-driven solutions, reinforce social bonds, and help communities build resilience to the impacts of climate change. Currently in six regional states – Afar, Amhara, Gambella, Oromia, Somali, and South Nations, Nationalities and People’s Region (SNNPR), and in Dire Dawa Administration and the capital city of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa – Mercy Corps Ethiopia is driven by the mission to contribute the emergence of a peaceful, resilient, and prosperous Ethiopia which is inclusive of youth and women. Our strategic directions focus in promoting inclusive and dynamic markets; promoting peace and social cohesion through strengthening formal/informal governance structures and citizen engagement; improved natural resource governance; and integrated humanitarian response.

Program / Department Summary

The Ethiopia Conflict Sensitivity Hub (ECSH) is a platform designed to support humanitarian, peacebuilding, and development (HDP) actors in Ethiopia to adopt conflict-sensitive approaches and contribute to peacebuilding outcomes. By improving awareness of existing conflict dynamics and conflict risks while enhancing HDP contributions to peacebuilding outcomes through better policies and operations, the Hub aims to play a critical role in supporting sustainable peace and development in the country. Building on best practices from other conflict sensitivity hubs globally while adapting to the Ethiopian context, the ECSH will focus on three foundational pillars: generating high-quality research and analysis to inform programming, building capacity among stakeholders to integrate conflict sensitivity into organizational practices, and convening diverse actors to enhance collaboration and coherence.

The CSH is an impartial entity that will be hosted by Mercy Corps with support from a consortium of partners, including Rift Valley Institute. Its work will be guided by a collaborative governance structure and multi-donor funding to ensure inclusivity and alignment with Ethiopia’s peacebuilding needs.

Joining this team is an exciting opportunity to be part of the setup of an innovative initiative that will address conflict risks and strengthen peacebuilding efforts across Ethiopia.

General Position Summary

The MEL specialist will collaborate closely with the consortium partner lead on MEL, Adapt Peacebuilding (AP). The Specialist will oversee the monitoring and data collection of the project, co-lead outcome harvest exercises, design and implement surveys, research, analyze data to provide insight to the project team, and contribute to lead on report writing. S/he will ensure that performance monitoring and results reporting tools and processes across the entire project are in place, effectively implemented, and well synchronized among consortium/partner members. They will also be responsible for information management via the project reporting system including Tola data (Mercy Corps’ proprietary indicators tracking system). The MEL Specialist will be an integral member of the project teams learning and reflection processes, leading discussions on members; and participant’s feedback.
The Specialist in collaboration with AP will also be responsible for the capacity building and mentoring strategy for program staff on themes related to monitoring, evaluation, accountability, reporting, and learning.

The MEL Specialist is expected to collaborate with Adapt Peace building especially regarding complex-aware, adaptive MEL approaches aimed at capturing emergent changes and interrogating causal linkages between activities and outcomes, with the aim to review and adapt the project theory of change and workplan.

Position Description

Location: Addis Ababa
Position Status: Full-time
Salary Level: (Refer to Country Salary Guidelines)
Current Team Member: List the name of the Staff members currently in this position
Safeguarding Risk Level: Low

Essential Job Responsibilities

STRATEGY AND VISION

• WORK CLOSELY WITH AP MEL SPECIALIST ONLINE AND WHILE IN THE COUNTRY TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT MEL PLAN(S) FOR THE PROGRAM AND UPCOMING PROPOSALS.
• COLLABORATE WITH THE PROGRAM TEAMS, CONSORTIUM MEMBERS, AND PARTNERS, TO ENSURE AN EFFECTIVE MEL SYSTEM.
• DEVELOP DATA QUALITY ASSESSMENT PLAN.
• LEAD AND UPDATE LEARNING AGENDA AND PROVIDE TECHNICAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO RESEARCH AND OUTCOME MEASUREMENT.
• LEAD ON THE BI-ANNUAL NARRATIVE REPORTING TO DONORS BASED ON COLLECTED DATA AND SENSE-MAKING PROCESSES: COORDINATE REPORTING WITH LOCAL PARTNERS, SPECIFICALLY TRACKING DEADLINES, ENSURING ADHERENCE TO MONITORING FORMATS AND REQUIREMENTS, ENSURING REPORTING QUALITY AND ACCURACY, AND WRITING, EDITING, AND SUBMITTING REPORTS.
• DEVELOP AND MAINTAIN STRATEGIC LEARNING PARTNERSHIPS WITH KEY RELEVANT ACADEMIC AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS TO ENHANCE THE LEARNING AND ADVOCACY EFFORTS OF THE PROGRAM

TECHNICAL LEADERSHIP AND PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

• ENSURE PROPER DOCUMENTATION IS IN PLACE INCLUDING FILING PROJECT DOCUMENTS, AND INDICATORS DATA SETS, INCLUDING SURVEYS, RESEARCH, STUDIES, ASSESSMENTS AND REGULAR REPORTS.
• DESIGN HOW TO INTEGRATE CONTEXT INDICATORS INTO THE MEL SYSTEM BASED ON THE RESULT OF REGULAR CONTEXT ANALYSIS TO STRENGTHEN HOW THE PROGRAM INTERACTS WITH THE CONTEXT AND CONFLICT DYNAMICS.
• DEVELOP CONFLICT SENSITIVITY MONITORING TOOLS AND IMPLEMENT REGULAR MONITORING USING AN EVIDENCE-BASED APPROACH TO ENSURE CONFLICT-SENSITIVE PRACTICES
• PARTICIPATE IN AND ORGANIZE REGULAR MONITORING, EVALUATION, RESEARCH AND STUDIES BEING CONDUCTED AND REVIEW THE DELIVERABLES WITH QUALITY STANDARDS.
• ENSURE APPROPRIATE MECHANISMS THAT ENHANCE LEARNING AMONG PARTNERS FOR CONFLICT SENSITIVITY HUB IN ETHIOPIA
• ENSURE ADHERENCE TO PROGRAM MANAGEMENT MINIMUM STANDARDS IN CARRYING OUT HIS/HER DUTIES, ADVISING AND SUPPORTING OTHER STAFF IN THE SAME AS REQUIRED.
• COMPILE PROGRESS AGAINST INDICATORS AND REPORT BACK TO THE TEAM ACCORDING TO THE MEL PLAN.

ADAPTIVE M&E SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION (WITH AP MEL COUNTERPART)

• CO-LEAD THE PARTICIPATORY DEVELOPMENT OF THEORIES OF CHANGE, OUTCOME MAPPING ASSUMPTIONS, AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT EXPECTATIONS FOR EACH OF THE THREE WORKSTREAMS,
• SUPPORT AND LEAD THE BI-ANNUAL OUTCOME HARVESTING SESSIONS IN WHICH THE HUB’S ACHIEVEMENTS ARE EXAMINED, WITH VALIDATED SIGNIFICANCE AND CONTRIBUTION ANALYSIS,
• ACCOMPANYING STRATEGY TESTING SESSIONS TO VALIDATE THE THEORY OF CHANGE AND ASSUMPTIONS AND PROPOSE AMENDMENTS TO THE WORK PLAN OR PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORKS.
• SUPPORT THE BI-ANNUAL NARRATIVE REPORTING TO DONORS BASED ON THE DATA AND SENSE-MAKING FROM THESE PROCESSES
• COORDINATE REPORTING WITH LOCAL PARTNERS, SPECIFICALLY TRACKING DEADLINES, ENSURING ADHERENCE TO MONITORING FORMATS AND REQUIREMENTS, ENSURING REPORTING QUALITY AND ACCURACY, AND WRITING, EDITING, AND SUBMITTING PERIODIC REPORTS.
• DESIGN AND ESTABLISH COMPLEXITY-AWARE APPROACHES TO MEL AS A KEY MEL FUNCTION FOR THE CONFLICT SENSITIVITY HUB.
• PROVIDE TECHNICAL GUIDANCE FOR HDP ACTORS ON EMBEDDING CONFLICT SENSITIVITY INTO PROGRAM DESIGN, IMPLEMENTATION, AND EVALUATION PROCESSES.
• DEVELOP TOOLS AND FRAMEWORKS TO GUIDE THE OPERATIONALIZATION OF CONFLICT-SENSITIVE PRACTICES FOR HDP ACTORS.

GENDER INTEGRATION

• DESIGN AND IMPLEMENT STRATEGIES TO ENSURE GENDER EQUALITY IS A CORE COMPONENT OF CONFLICT-SENSITIVE PROGRAMMING.
• DEVELOP, ADAPT, AND DELIVER GENDER-SENSITIVE TRAINING MODULES TAILORED TO LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL STAKEHOLDERS THAT ARE INTEGRATED IN THE CS TRAINING.
• CONDUCT IN-DEPTH GENDER AND CONFLICT ANALYSES TO IDENTIFY RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTERVENTIONS, ENSURING INCLUSIVE PROGRAMMING.

CAPACITY BUILDING

• IN COLLABORATION WITH CONSORTIUM PARTNER AND CAPACITY BUILDING ADVISER FACILITATE TRAINING AND WORKSHOPS ON CONFLICT SENSITIVITY WHICH INTEGRATES GENDER.
• MENTOR HUB STAFF AND PARTNERS TO OPERATIONALIZE GENDER-SENSITIVE AND CONFLICT-RESPONSIVE APPROACHES.
• SUPPORT THE ORGANIZATIONAL ACCOMPANIMENT PROCESS, HELPING PARTNERS INTEGRATE THESE PRACTICES INTO THEIR OPERATIONAL CYCLES.

RESEARCH AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

• CONTRIBUTE TO THEMATIC RESEARCH ON THE GENDERED DIMENSIONS OF CONFLICT AND PEACEBUILDING.
• ANALYZE LESSONS LEARNED FROM HUB ACTIVITIES AND DISSEMINATE FINDINGS THROUGH WORKSHOPS, REPORTS, AND FORUMS.

CONVENING AND PARTNERSHIPS

• ORGANIZE AND FACILITATE WORKSHOPS AND DIALOGUES TO IMPROVE COORDINATION AND LEARNING AMONG HDP ACTORS ON GENDER AND CONFLICT-SENSITIVE PROGRAMMING.
• STRENGTHEN PARTNERSHIPS WITH INGOS, CSOS, AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS FOCUSED ON GENDER EQUALITY AND CONFLICT SENSITIVITY.
• ADVOCATE FOR GENDER-SENSITIVE CONFLICT APPROACHES AT NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL FORUMS TO INFLUENCE POLICY AND PRACTICE.

GEDSI (GENDER, EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND SOCIAL INCLUSION)

● Adherence of gender minimum standards
● Allocate budget for GESI related activities and staff capacity building on GESI
● Make sure GESI issues are properly reflected during program management
● Support the organization’s commitment to age and gender inclusive team building process
● Promote an inclusive and equitable workplace culture
● Support Staff Capacity Building on Increase staff knowledge of GEDSI
● Coordinate with GEDSI Technical Team Improve gender-responsiveness of program /Project MEAL system
● Increased commitment to Gender Equality Diversity and Social inclusion

Supervisory Responsibility

No Supervisory Responsibility
Accountability
Reports Directly To: The Hub Director
Technical Line Report To: The Hub Director
Works Directly With: The Hub Team

Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

Knowledge and Experience

• BA or master’s degree in economics, statistics, monitoring and evaluation, project management or another relevant field required.
• 5-7 years of experience in the areas of program development and monitoring, evaluation and learning in Humanitarian, Development, and Peacebuilding program contexts.
• Proven capacity to effectively collaborate with colleagues online and offline
• Demonstrated experience in program implementation, research, analysis, and capacity building related to conflict analysis, conflict sensitivity, and peacebuilding.
• Demonstrated expertise in managing consortium-based programs, ensuring effective collaboration, coordination, and alignment among diverse partners.
• Demonstrated experience in facilitation and training and mentoring of others
• Proven ability to lead politically sensitive initiatives, leveraging strong diplomatic skills and strategic relationship management to navigate complex stakeholder landscapes.
• Having strong networking experience across the country and with relevant HDP actors.
• Strong understanding of conflict analysis tools and methodologies
• Strong knowledge and understanding of Ethiopia and donor-led humanitarian, peacebuilding and development initiatives
• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to work effectively with consortium partners and donors.
• Fluency in written and oral communication in English and at least one local language.

Success Factors

The ETCSH-MEL Specialist should demonstrate strong communication, adaptability, and cultural sensitivity at the time of hire. Over time, success will depend on fostering a learning culture, guiding partners through conflict-sensitive monitoring, and promoting collaboration. Key soft skills include resilience, empathy, active listening, and the ability to navigate politically sensitive situations while achieving measurable outcomes.

Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

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 and have signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. 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.

HOW TO APPLY

All qualified individuals are invited to apply for the advertised position. All applications, including a CV, three references, and all applicable official papers, must be sent electronically through this: LINK.

Only candidates that are short-listed will be acknowledged and called for interviews.

“Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer promoting gender, equity, and diversity. Qualified female and young candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. We are committed to empowering women and youth.”

DEADLINE FOR ALL APPLICATIONS:  17 February 2025/ 4:00 PM