Monitoring, Reporting, Evaluation, Learning and Adaptation (MRELA) Officer at Mercy Corps

Program / Department Summary

Mercy Corps is seeking a Monitoring, Reporting, Evaluation, Learning and Adaptation (MRELA) Officer for the FCDO-funded Border Security Programme (BSP). Irregular migration and associated criminal activity in East Africa remain a complex and escalating challenge which leads to significant exploitation of vulnerable people on the move. The planned Border Security Programme will take a multifaceted approach - integrating 'prevention', 'prepare/protect' and 'pursue'. An important purpose of this programme is to support the pursuit of human traffickers and smugglers who are exploiting vulnerable populations on the move. Initial interventions will take place in the Kenya border regions, with planned and phased expansion to Uganda, Ethiopia and possibly Somalia border areas.

General Position Summary

The MRELA Officer plays a key role in Mercy Corps' programme quality assurance, accountability, documentation, and learning function, providing direct support to the BSP programme. Reporting to the Programme MRELA Manager, the position holder supports the design and implementation of monitoring, reporting, evaluation, learning, and adaptation activities, including ensuring data quality, generating evidence for adaptive management, and supporting accountability to participants, partners, and the donor.

The role combines hands-on data collection, facilitation of learning processes, and capacity strengthening of programme staff and implementing partners. Given the sensitivity of the programme's context and the vulnerability of its target population, the MRELA Officer is expected to demonstrate a strong commitment to ethical and responsible data practices throughout all aspects of their work.

Essential Job Responsibilities

STRATEGY SUPPORT AND MRELA SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION


Support the development, testing, and roll-out of MRELA tools and system components for the BSP programme, including data collection instruments, indicator tracking tools, and data management systems.
Contribute to the development of intervention designs, sector strategies, and the MRELA framework.
Support inputs into programme logic, theories of change, and review documents, helping to refine approaches to reflect monitoring evidence and learning.
Support the program in ensuring adherence to Mercy Corps' MEL Minimum standards.


MONITORING & DATA MANAGEMENT


Maintain an accurate and up-to-date indicator performance tracking table.
Validate and verify results data received from implementing partners and grantees against primary source documents while applying systematic data quality checks.
Implement a Data Quality Assessment (DQA) plan; conduct periodic DQAs and document findings, tracking corrective actions through to resolution.
Conduct monitoring visits to programme sites and partner locations, collecting supplementary data and qualitative information, both independently and as part of programme teams.
Maintain a secure, well-organized data management system that enables timely retrieval, analysis, and aggregation of programme data, in compliance with Mercy Corps' data protection and responsible data policies.
Ensure monitoring approaches are protection-sensitive and responsive to the confidentiality and safety needs of beneficiaries in a trafficking and irregular migration context.
Work with the MRELA Manager and programme staff to ensure activities are on track against targets, surfacing data-driven concerns through regular planning and review meetings.


EVALUATIONS AND ASSESSMENTS


Support the planning, coordination, and supervision of programme assessments, evaluations and thematic research.
Contribute to the development of Scopes of Work (SoWs), survey instruments, sampling methodologies, data collection protocols, and analysis frameworks for evaluations and assessments.
Assist in the recruitment and training of data collection teams and enumerators.
Supervise data collectors, and ensure they adhere to ethical and data protection standards.
Support or manage the recruitment and day-to-day supervision of external evaluation consultants where required, ensuring deliverables meet quality standards and timelines.
Contribute to and review evaluation reports, ensuring findings are evidence-based, clearly presented, and accompanied by actionable recommendations.


REPORTING


Coordinate results reporting with consortium partners, tracking deadlines and ensuring adherence to reporting formats, indicator definitions, and quality standards.
Support the timely production of donor reports, compiling, analyzing, and synthesizing quantitative and qualitative results data and contributing clear evidence-based narrative against agreed performance indicators.
Review partner reports for data accuracy, completeness, internal consistency, and alignment with the programme's monitoring framework before consolidation and submission.
Maintain well-organized documentation of all monitoring data, evaluation reports, and supporting evidence, ensuring all reported results are traceable to source documentation.


LEARNING, ADAPTATION, AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT


Maintain an up-to-date database that accurately reflects progress against programme indicators and learning outcomes, ensuring data is accessible to the programme team.
Support facilitation of regular programme reflection and learning events to enable the team to analyse monitoring data and translate findings into adaptive management decisions.
Document and support dissemination of programme lessons, good practices, and emerging insights in accessible formats for internal and external audiences.
Contribute to the programme's learning and research agenda, supporting the identification of priority learning questions and the design of activities to address them.


CAPACITY BUILDING


Assess MEL capacity gaps among grantees and provide targeted training and coaching to build their ability to implement programme monitoring tools, manage data accurately, and produce quality reports.
Support grantees in developing and maintaining effective MEL systems that meet programme standard.
Build the capacity of all relevant team members to implement program-monitoring tools, accurately enter program data into relevant databases, and use monitoring evidence in programme planning and decision-making.
Advise on and support the testing and adoption of appropriate digital technologies to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and security of MRELA functions.


STAKEHOLDER COORDINATION


Maintain an active advisory relationship with the programme team, guiding staff toward robust, relevant, and ethical data collection practices at all stages of programme implementation.
Establish and maintain strong working relationships with partner MRELA focal points to support coordinated MRELA activities.
Participate in ongoing MRELA advisory and support activities for BSP programme staff and local partners, providing feedback on data quality and results at key programme milestones.
Represent the MRELA function in programme planning and review meetings, presenting data-driven insights to support evidence-informed decision-making.


OTHER


Conduct himself/herself both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and to not jeopardize its humanitarian mission or programming activities.
Perform other relevant duties as assigned.


Safeguarding responsibilities


Actively learns safeguarding and integrates it into their work, including safeguarding risks and mitigations related to their area of work.
Practices the values of Mercy Corps including respecting the dignity and well-being of participants and fellow team members.
Encourages openness and communication in their team; encourages team members to submit reports if they have any concerns using reporting mechanisms e.g., Integrity Hotline and other options.


Supervisory Responsibility

Enumerators from time to time.

Accountability


Reports Directly To: Programme MRELA Manager.
Works Directly With: MRELA Manager, Programme leads; Programme partners and sub-awardees; programme leadership


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.

Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills


Bachelor's degree in social science, statistics, business administration, or a relevant field.
Minimum 5 years of professional experience in programme monitoring and evaluation in an international development, humanitarian, or related context.
Solid understanding of MEL concepts and frameworks, including programme logic, results chains, logframes, theories of change, and participatory monitoring approaches.
Demonstrated ability to implement quantitative and qualitative data collection tools and working knowledge of sampling techniques.
Strong data analysis skills; ability to work with both quantitative and qualitative datasets.
Demonstrate knowledge of at least one data statistical analysis package (SPSS, STATA, Python, etc.)
Experience with digital data collection platforms (preferably CommCare)
Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English; ability to present complex data clearly and accessibly for diverse audiences.
Experience working in counter-trafficking, migration, protection, or security-related programming is desirable.