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.

Program / Department / Summary

Mercy Corps has been operational in Sudan since 2004 and currently has a country office in Khartoum and field offices in South Darfur, South Kordofan, North Kordofan, and Gazera states. We work with Sudanese communities to build resilient, scalable solutions that interrupt the cycle of fragility and crisis due to conflict and climate change by improving food and water security, peace and governance, and enabling economic opportunities in the agricultural sector.

Our programs in Sudan cover the triple nexus approach with a range of projects interlinking the humanitarian, development, and peace sectors. Our humanitarian response focuses on integrated FSL, Cash, WASH, Protection, and Nutrition activities with cross-cutting focuses on youth and gender. These programs have a strong emphasis on increasing self-reliance through the provision of improved livelihood opportunities. Under our peace program, we aim to promote an active role for women in preventing and mitigating violence and conflict, especially in South Darfur and South Kordofan, in collaboration with civil society. Our development program is pioneering a Market System Development (MSD) approach to support the food security and strengthening of agricultural market systems for smallholder farmers in South Kordofan and Blue Nile. The project has a focus on the empowerment of women and promotion of climate agriculture.

Working with a diverse base of donors that includes the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Switzerland Development Cooperation (SDC), Swedish International Development Agency, AICS, Sudan Humanitarian Fund, Centre de Crise et de Soutien (CDCS) and others, Mercy Corps empowers people to recover from crisis, build better lives, and transform their communities for good. We work closely with the private sector, civil society, and governance structures at local, regional and national levels to facilitate change and ensure that opportunities are inclusive of all Sudanese.

Mercy Corps will be implementing a 12-month Centre de Crise et de Soutien (CDCS) funded project scheduled to start in July 2025, proposed by a consortium made up of four partners whose areas of expertise are complementary. The program aims to meet the urgent needs of populations affected by the conflict in Sudan or displaced, as well as host communities. The project adopts an integrated approach, including nutrition, health, water, sanitation and hygiene, shelter and NFI, protection and multi-purpose cash assistance to respond to a complex situation, which corresponds to the most recent crisis to an entrenched regional and national crisis.

General Position Summary 

The MEL Officer position will serve as the focal point for all CDCS monitoring activities and a coordinating role for MEL assessments, monitoring and reporting. Reporting to a MEL Coordinator, this is a technical position working in close collaboration with the CDCS team to ensure that all program needs are being met and that data collection, analysis, storage and reporting is as planned. The MEL Officer will provide leadership, management and technical support in the design and implementation of CDCS MEL system. S/he will support the MEL Coordinator and MEL Manager in training and supervising enumerators for all programs and field offices. S/he will also support the development of MEL plans and conduct research/studies. S/he will ensure that learnings are generated and shared back with CDCS program teams and work closely with the team to liaise with relevant authorities and other organizations to ensure the implementation of quality programs.

Design of MEL Systems

• Work closely with the MEL Coordinator on the design of County and Program-level MEL systems
• Support in design or review of strategic and thematic area-specific results chain and/or Theory of Change (ToC) and identify the assumptions that underpin the expected pathways of change, and subsequently direct data collection efforts to test those assumptions, for CDCS. 

Support the management and implementation of the MEL systems 

• In coordination with the MEL Coordinator and Program Managers, ensure that all program MEL plans are implemented.
• Manage all operations related to MEL according to individual program MEL plans, budgets, and implementation strategies. 
• Monitor program implementation, measure impact, and calibrate program strategies and implementation accordingly. 
• Ensure continued re-evaluation of program activities and that achievements and best practices are captured and disseminated with resulting activity adjustments.
• As part of the learning function, seek to identify learning points across the range of work carried out, and identify opportunities to share this learning with program teams.
• Implement a robust research design to assess the impact of the program on participants’ economic and non-economic outcomes over time. Tracking of outcomes and impact will be conducted via outcomes surveys for both youth and market actors.
• Oversee data management (collection, cleaning, entry, storage, and maintenance of approved databases, etc.), including timeliness and completeness of reporting.
• Collaborate with the CDCS team to provide weekly, monthly, quarterly, and any other reports as required. Analyze and provide summarized reports as requested.
• Coordinate with the CDCS team to ensure regular monitoring is being performed as scheduled, and that data collection is adequately completed.
• Serve as a liaison between Mercy Corps program staff and collaborating research institutions for data-based research projects, as directed by the CDCS Project Lead.

Support MEL Team Management

• Working under the MEL Coordinator, s/he will be responsible for the performance management of enumerators and data collectors in the field.
• Track and advise on MEL staffing needs and manage the recruitment and training of enumerators when necessary to ensure volunteers are of the quality and capacity for successful implementation of activities. 
• Facilitate capacity building and technical assistance for MEL staff from program and implementing partners, to improve the quality of monitoring data and maximize program-wide learning.
• Implement data security measures like access controls and user permissions. 

Security 

• Perform regular backups and disaster recovery planning to safeguard data.
• Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership.
• Proactively ensure that team members operate in a secure environment and are aware of policies.

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. 

Keep up to date with the latest database technologies and best practices. 

Continuously learn new skills and tools to adapt to evolving database management systems.

Accountability to Beneficiaries 

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

SAFEGUARDING RESPONSIBILITIES 

• Actively learns about 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

MEL Assistants and Enumerators

Accountability 

Reports Directly To: Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Coordinator 

Works Directly With: CDCS team, MEL Officers, MEL Coordinators and the PAQ Manager.

A graduate degree in statistics, quantitative Economics, Information Technology, Computer science, Development economics or related field

At least 3 years of relevant experience in M&E

Wide experience in design and execution of monitoring and evaluation systems is essential and experience in working in consortia or partnerships is an added advantage. 

Proven technical experience in monitoring and evaluation of market facilitation, development programs, livelihoods, agriculture and value chain, climate smart, resilience programming is an added advantage.

Practical and theoretical knowledge in program monitoring and data collection methods, including interview techniques.

Experience in building and maintaining effective partnerships with implementing and strategic partner agencies, and government authorities and counterparts.

Strong computer literacy with a full knowledge of statistical packages for data analysis is required.

Experience with mobile data collection, 

Strong English writing and speaking, communication, organization, prioritization and negotiating skills is required.

Success Factors 

Define the specific behavior and attitudes critical to success in the position at the time of hire and as they develop over time in paragraph form (soft skills).

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position is based in Gazira, and it requires up to 40% travel to support country 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. 

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

Team Efficiency and Effectiveness 

Achieving our mission starts with how we build our team and collaborate. By bringing together individuals with a variety of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives, we strengthen our ability to solve complex challenges and drive innovation. We foster a culture of trust and respect, where every team member is valued for their contributions, empowered to reach their full potential, and motivated to do their best work.

We recognize that building a strong and effective team is an ongoing process, and we remain committed to learning, improving, and growing together.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out different backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have a 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 eLearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.

As an applicant, if you witness or experience any form of sexual misconduct during the recruitment process, please report this to Mercy Corps Integrity Hotline (integrityhotline@mercycorps)