Management Information System (MIS) Manager - Liberia

Location: Monrovia, Liberia
Position Status: Full-time Salary
Level: 6
Safeguarding Risk Level: 2

About Mercy Corps

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 and its’ consortium partners are implementing the Incentivize Learning Activity (ILA). This Activity is a five- year program which started on July 3rd, 2023, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The program aims to address food security needs and incentivize school enrollment and attendance ensuring access to education for vulnerable and underserved school age children. The program will provide school meals, targeted financial incentives, engage communities and parents and conduct social, and behavior change communication. The program is being implemented in Six Counties in Grand Bassa, Bong, Nimba, Margibi, Montserrado and Lofa counties targeting a total population of 50,000 plus learners in 215 schools across the 6 Counties.

The Position

The Management Information System (MIS) Manager will manage technology solutions throughout the MEL cycle, manage all data pipelines to ensure effective adaptive management and information sharing, and support advanced data analyses and synthesis to help the Incentivize Learning Activity (ILA) improves and proves the effectiveness of its interventions and approaches.

The MIS Manager will work directly with the ILA CLA/MEL to oversee and ensure quality data is collected, analyzed, and visualized for ILA. S/he will support the MEL Manager in overseeing the monitoring and data collection on the program, lead regular training for staff and enumerators, analyze data to provide insights to the program team, and contribute to quarterly and annual reports. S/he will ensure that performance monitoring and results reporting tools and processes across the entire program are in place, effectively implemented, and well synchronized between the five counties of implementation. The MIS Coordinator will be an integral member of the CLA/MEL team learning and reflection processes.

Essential Responsibilities

DATA CYCLE MANAGEMENT

• Maintain a program database and ensure that the databases are updated regularly.
• Support the MEL Manager and MEL officers in the development of tools and guidelines for data collection, collation and reporting.
• Support the MEL/CLA Lead in updating the ILA Monitoring and data systems.
• Developing systems to monitor data quality, routinely analyzing it, and addressing issues that arise with the support of MEL/CLA Lead
• Configuring the MIS and data dictionary in consultation with key stakeholders and MEL/CLA Lead
• Produce regular reports on the engagement of mobile users and program participants in CommCare
• Establish data validation pre-collection (in digital data collection tools) and post-collection (validate incoming data for completeness, duplications and missing and data quality).

DATA PIPELINE MANAGEMENT

• Build and run a quarterly and annual data pipeline to facilitate the automatic or semi-automatic cleaning of incoming data, including the calculation of all routine monitoring indicators and other variables as requested.
• Prepare MIS reports on an annual basis or as relevant including case studies as appropriate working with the MEL/CLA Lead and project lead as well as program teams through proper channels
• Conduct data analysis, present, and disseminate information to inform programme management. Seek solutions for more complex data management requirements by working with IT colleagues.
• Analysis against the performance indicators and targets on periodic basis
  Update and share monthly reports from the programme database.
• Analyze existing GIS and other map-based technologies to improve the visual display of data in ILA programming.
• Contribute to communications and media work as required.
• Ensure program compliance with all applicable data protection principles and guidelines and observe data confidentiality and anonymity regulations.

ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT AND CAPACITY BUILDING

• Capture lessons learnt from various programs and share resources with another partner and donor where possible.
• Facilitate analysis results, and adaptive management planning with program teams, in coordination with the CLA/MEL Lead and the MEL Manager
• Train program staff on data collection and use processes and tools, and train MEL Officers and MEL Assistants as trainers for enumerators.
• Provide one-on-one support to program staff to improve their data literacy and problem-solving capacity for evidence-driven management.
• Conduct regular field visits to ensure that all processes and tools are being used effectively by all MEL and program team members across the consortium.
• Act as thought leader on the use of IT to provide marginalized men, women and youth with opportunities to prosper, promote skills development and have a voice in the development of their communities.

Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in information technology, Statistics, Economics, Bio statistics, Social Science, Computer Science or Project Management.
• Certificate in M&E is a plus.
• Proven experience of undertaking analysis of both qualitative and quantitative research using relevant software such as STATA or SPSS, Tableau and ATLAS.
• Excellent skills in data visualization using different software including, ONA, Power BI etc
• Knowledge of case management using COMMCARE is an added advantage
• Good communication skills.

Supervisory Responsibility
None

Accountability
Reports Directly To: CLA/MEL Lead
Works Directly With: MEL and Program Teams

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.

Success Factors

The MIS Coordinator will combine excellent technical skills in information management and quantitative analysis with outstanding problem solving and facilitation skills. They will be able to simultaneously pay attention to detail while keeping a strategic vision. They will be able to identify, communicate, document and implement rigorous solutions to complex problems. They will have proven experience in capacity building and enabling non-technical teams to improve their analytical thinking. The most successful Mercy Corps staff 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.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions
The position is based in Monrovia, Liberia and it requires up to 20% travel to field locations.

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.