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.
The Program
Mercy Corps has been active in the Sahel since 2005, with ongoing programs in Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, and Mauritania. In these countries, Mercy Corps works primarily in the areas of resilience, food security, livelihoods, governance, conflict mitigation, and humanitarian response. Through these programs, Mercy Corps aims to stimulate economic opportunities, catalyze inclusive and accountable governance systems, boost local economies, and break the cycle of food and water insecurity while addressing the immediate, medium, and long-term needs of populations. Mercy Corps' work promotes resilience to shocks and stresses and enables individuals, households and communities to achieve inclusive, equitable and sustainable development. Mercy Corps' vision for change encourages the private sector, government, and civil society to work together to create meaningful and lasting change.
In Mauritania, Mercy Corps is based in Nouakchott and is operating the USAID-funded Nafoore Program, implemented in consortium with Counterpart International and ECODEV. In line with Mercy Corps global strategy and the national strategy in Mauritania, the Nafoore program aims to build the resilience of vulnerable young people to violent extremism, by increasing economic opportunities, empowering youth through civic engagement and participation and developing sustainable support networks for youth. The overall objective of the program is to increase the resilience of vulnerable Mauritanian youth in Nouakchott, Trarza and the southwestern regions of Hodh el Gharbi and Hodh el Chargui.To achieve this, the NAFOORE Program plans to implement three objectives:
1) Increasing the income of vulnerable youth
2) Strengthen youth agency in their lives and communities
3) Expand safe and supportive youth social networks
Nafoore takes a facilitative approach, building the capacity of, and working through a network of local youth centers (hubs), youth serving organizations (YSOs comprised of CBOs and CSOs), and the “Nafoore Network”.
Mercy Corps works in partnership with the government, the communities of Mauritania, and in collaboration with other non-governmental organizations present in the country and youth participants to contribute to sustainable socio-economic development in Mauritania.
The Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Manager is responsible for leading the overall integration of monitoring, evaluation & learning for the program. S/he is responsible for facilitating a participatory process in order to develop Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning strategies and frameworks tailored to the program.
The MEL Manager shall manage the MEL team and work closely with the program’s partners, the Program Implementation Director and program team. The MEL Manager is responsible for ensuring that the program has a robust system in place to measure program results, has a rigorous monitoring system that is regularly collecting performance data, that partners have the skills to collect and report relevant data, and that monitoring, and evaluation data is being used to inform collaboration, learning and adaptation (CLA) priorities and programmatic decision-making. The MEL Manager must ensure a strong safeguarding and data protection approach to participant data. The program locations are distant from each other and in the two far-eastern Hodhs states are remote, leading to additional programmatic complexity, management and MEL.
MEL SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE
MONITORING AND EVALUATION
COLLABORATION, LEARNING AND ADAPTATION
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
STRATEGY AND PLANNING
REGIONAL SYSTEMS AND SUPPORT FUNCTIONS
The successful candidate will have a meticulous eye for data rigor, a commitment to program learning and adaptation, and a curiosity to drive for deeper understanding of the dynamics driving VE recruitment in Mauritania and the Sahel. S/he will be a team player and able to work comfortably in a matrix management structure, where flexibility and collaboration across partners will be essential. The ideal candidate will have a demonstrated ability to think critically across sectors and to understand how complex systems work to drive vulnerabilities. S/he will have strong written and verbal communication skills, and the ability to distill complex ideas into tangible and understandable data points and narratives to effectively tell the story of program impact. Above all, the ideal candidate will demonstrate an exceptional commitment to programmatic excellence, thrive in a team setting and have a good sense of humor to contribute to a dynamic working environment.
Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions
The position is based in Nouakchott, Mauritania and it requires up to 20% travel to the field to support programs, which may include travel to insecure locations where freedom of movement is limited and areas where amenities are limited. Housing for this role is in individual housing and staff will have access to good medical services and the living situation is of a high standard.
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
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.
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 elearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.