DRC: Director of Learning & Analytics

Mar 7, 2022 | Mercy Corps
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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 the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since August 2007, with a staff of around 500 people and programs focused in Eastern Congo in North and South Kivu, with the overall country goal to support vulnerable communities through crises, while fostering programs that build resilience and promote long-term change. Mercy Corps’ key programming areas include a combination of longer-term development and immediate humanitarian response programs in order to:  1) Improve water service delivery and ensuring equitable access to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene services, in urban and rural areas; 2) Improve food security and nutrition; 3) Promote diversified livelihoods, economic recovery and development. All Mercy Corps interventions in DRC are implemented in a conflict and gender sensitive manner.

Mercy Corps is seeking a Director of Learning and Analytics for the five-year USAID-funded Program for Development in the Eastern Congo (P-DEC). The program began in August 2021 and will contribute to stabilization through integrated activities that work with local institutions to promote peace and facilitate a transition from humanitarian to development assistance in key areas of eastern Congo. With a budget of approximately $39.5 million, the program is implemented in Beni (North Kivu) and Mambasa territories (Ituri), in consortium with International Alert, the Wildlife Conservation Society and 9 other international and national partners. By engaging local communities and institutions in both the diagnoses of and solutions to conflict drivers, P-DEC will take a resilience and systems strengthening approach, supporting communities to engage in inclusive multi-stakeholder mobilization and dialogue processes to design local conflict early warning systems, mitigation processes and alternatives to violence (Outcome 1), decision-making processes in governance structures and social accountability mechanisms (Outcome 2) and viable economic activities with a private sector that promotes stability, inter-ethnic cooperation and social cohesion (Outcome 3).

General Position Summary

The Director of Learning and Analytics oversees project level monitoring and evaluation (M&E), learning, and analytics. They provide oversight of program/project-level monitoring and evaluation activities within P-DEC, ensuring the quality of the MEL activities, information management via the programs reporting system and geographic information systems (GIS), where applicable. The Director of Learning and Analytics is responsible for the capacity building and mentoring strategy for program staff and partners on themes related to M&E and learning. In addition to managing the M&E team and M&E systems, the Director of Learning and Analytics plays a critical role in operationalizing P-DEC’s collaborating, learning, and adapting (CLA) approach. Working closely with the COP, the Director of Learning and Analytics guides the program in operationalizing an adaptive, iterative management approach with a culture of evidence-based decision-making. Central to this approach will be the analysis and use of program data within the program for learning and adaptation of program activities.

Essential Job Responsibilities

Technical Leadership

  • Develop, set-up, and oversee the MEL system for P-DEC including M&E Plans, M&E tools, survey design, methodology, data collection processes, and data analysis to assess the impact of the programs.
  • Lead and/or collaborate with external evaluators on the design and roll out of the program baseline and evaluations, while setting up effective systems for learning.
  • Ensure the program uses the necessary M&E systems and tools, to inform and improve, as well as feed into the broader country-level M&E system and country strategy.
  • Take the lead in aligning, collecting, analyzing and reporting on performance indicators to the program’s M&E systems, and other external systems as relevant.
  • Support teams in collecting sex and age disaggregated data and using gender sensitive data collection methods to understand and respond to program results with diverse participants.
  • Lead the P-DEC team to create a plan to operationalize its CLA approaches including creating a culture of learning and systems thinking to stimulate an adaptive, iterative management approach.
  • Design and facilitate strategic planning sessions and learning events, assisting P-DEC in a learning journey as well as development of its annual plans.
  • Lead and provide support to program-wide analysis of information, data, and ongoing analyses to inform program CLA. 

Information Management

  • Provide guidance, recommendations, and leadership to ensure that the M&E systems meet the needs of the program and help address shortfalls in M&E and data management that affect program implementation.
  • Ensure P-DEC adheres to Mercy Corps’ M&E best practices, including the use of standardized indicators, form templates, and documentation methodologies.
  • Develop program and operational reporting templates that facilitate the acquisition, aggregation and flow of information in programs.
  • Maintain a comprehensive schedule and reviews program reports to ensure that reports contain accurate, clear, and high-quality data and presented in the proper format.
  • Assist the program with information management of conflict, political, market systems and other analyses to support learning.

Management, Capacity Building and Mentoring

  • Oversee the P-DEC MEL team.
  • Build the capacity of all relevant team members and partner staff to develop and maintain an excellent M&E system, including regular reflection and analysis of program monitoring data.
  • Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.

Internal and External Coordination and Representation

  • Active contributor and collaborator with regional and global counterparts to promote the use of M&E best practices and lessons learned.
  • Strengthen linkages with other internal resources, including the Digital Library, Hub, and Connect, to enhance organizational learning where relevant to M&E. 
  • Present program M&E and learning to external stakeholders and the program team in a way that influences decision-makers and promotes adaptations from learning.

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 Participants

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

Supervisory Responsibility

P-DEC MEL team.

Accountability

  • Reports Directly To: P-DEC Chief of Party (COP)
  • Works Directly With: P-DEC Team, other DRC M&E staff, DRC finance and operations teams, HQ Regional Program Team, HQ Technical Support Unit

Knowledge and Experience

  • BA/S degree in development studies, research methods, statistics, economics, social sciences, monitoring and evaluation, project management or other relevant field required. Postgraduate degree preferred.
  • 5-7 years of managing M&E work at a program or country level, including supervising staff. Proven use of program technology in an M&E function required.
  • Experience with CLA approaches and promoting a culture of CLA including an understanding of organizational culture, learning, and change management.
  • Experience with theoretical and practical background in M&E and skilled in participatory qualitative and quantitative M&E methodologies and techniques.
  • Excellent quantitative skills and power user with Excel; Experience with CommCare, Access, and statistical packages including Stata, R or SPSS and GIS tools like QGIS, ArcGIS or Google Earth Pro is preferred.
  • Experience with data management including the ability to structure and collate data sets for ease of analysis.
  • Demonstrated understanding of intermediate statistics and ability to summarize and make predictions from multiple data sets.
  • Experience of working on USAID programs preferred.
  • Fluency in spoken and written French and English required.
  • Experience working in Africa required.

Success Factors

An effective Director of Learning and Analytics will be a critical thinker who is confident in the role that monitoring, evaluation and learning play in creating an evidence base to guide program implementation. They will combine strong technical skills with a curiosity regarding DRC culture and dynamics. The Director of Learning and Analytics will both lead research and assessment activities as needed, and collaborate effectively with research partners and stakeholders. They will be able to work closely and effectively with senior program staff and rural populations, and will understand how to put research into action. They will be an excellent communicator with exceptional analytical skills, an adept multi-tasker, and able to work in difficult and often stressful environments with less than ideal resources and data. The most successful Mercy Corps team members have a strong commitment to teamwork and accountability, thrive in evolving and changing environments and make effective written and verbal communication a priority in all situations. They will be able to demonstrate strong interpersonal skills as well as experience with adapting to different cultural settings.