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 implementing multi-sectoral life-saving humanitarian programming across several Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Northeast Nigeria, particularly in Borno State, reaching vulnerable host communities and internally displaced persons (IDPs). Our interventions span Nutrition, WASH, Food Security, Cash Assistance, shelter & settlements, Protection, and early recovery, delivered through coordinated, community-centered approaches.

Mercy Corps is now anticipating additional humanitarian funding, which will require rapid start-up and immediate scale-up of quality life-saving interventions. This funding will demand strong systems for program performance, accountability, learning, and coordination to ensure timely, effective, and high-quality delivery in a complex and high-risk operational environment.

The anticipated program will build on Mercy Corps’ established presence, partnerships, and technical expertise in Northeast Nigeria, strengthening community resilience while ensuring principled, accountable, and impactful humanitarian action.

General Position Summary

The Program Quality, Evidence & Learning Director position is proposed in anticipation of potential funding from UNOCHA to support life-saving humanitarian programming in Northeast Nigeria, particularly in Borno State. This role will be critical in strengthening systems and ensuring high standards of program quality, community accountability, learning, and strategic communication across the portfolio.

He/she will oversee the PaQ unit in Nigeria, ensuring the establishment and implementation of organization-wide systems that promote consistent standards, processes, and best practices in program management. The position will play a central role in fostering evidence-based programming and adaptive management, while building a strong culture of training, coaching, and technical rigor to improve program effectiveness and efficiency.

A key expectation of the role is to institutionalize strong Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) systems, including robust Community Accountability and Response Mechanisms (CARM). The PaQ Director will ensure that program data, research, assessments, and field learning are systematically captured, analyzed, and integrated into ongoing and future program design.

In addition, the position holder will be responsible for producing high-quality learning documents, reflection briefs, case studies, and best-practice notes. These outputs will be strategically communicated to donors, state stakeholders, and partners to showcase Mercy Corps’ approaches, achievements, innovations, and impact in humanitarian response. The PaQ Director will strengthen program visibility and external positioning by translating field-level results into clear, evidence-driven narratives that support donor engagement and future resource mobilization.

Essential Job Responsibilities

STRATEGY & SYSTEMS STRENGTHENING

• Provide strategic leadership to ensure clearly defined roles, accountability structures, and alignment with life-saving humanitarian priorities in Borno State.

• Lead the integration of program data, context analysis, and evidence into country and sector strategies to ensure evidence-based, adaptive programming.

• Establish and institutionalize systems that strengthen program quality, monitoring, learning, reporting, and community accountability mechanisms across the portfolio.

• Develop processes that ensure cross-program learning is systematically captured and integrated into program adaptation and future design.

• In collaboration with other departments, strengthen cross-team coordination to ensure coherence, technical rigor, and operational efficiency across all sectors.

PROGRAM QUALITY, PERFORMANCE & ACCOUNTABILITY

• Lead the design and oversight of robust MEL, research, reporting, and Community Accountability and Response Mechanisms (CARM) systems aligned with humanitarian standards and donor expectations.

• Ensure technical excellence and quality assurance across all sectors (WASH, Nutrition, Food Security, Cash, Protection, Shelter, etc.), including participation in start-up reviews, quality audits, field spot checks, and program close-outs.

• Promote adaptive management by ensuring real-time data informs operational decisions in rapidly evolving humanitarian contexts.

• Ensure efficient and transparent data capture systems that support evidence-based decision-making and timely internal and external reporting.

• Support proposal development processes by integrating lessons learned, sector evidence, and strong accountability frameworks into program design.

LEARNING, KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT & STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION

• Lead the production of high-quality learning products, including evaluation briefs, lessons learned reports, case studies, reflection notes, and best-practice documentation.

• Translate field-level evidence and results into clear, compelling narratives that showcase Mercy Corps’ approaches, innovations, and impact to donors, government stakeholders, and coordination platforms.

• Ensure timely, high-quality internal and external reporting that demonstrates accountability, results, and value for money.

• Institutionalize mechanisms for capturing impact stories, evidence, and operational insights to strengthen donor engagement and future resource mobilization.

• Ensure high-quality evaluations and internal data quality assessments to demonstrate measurable outcomes and accountability.

GENDER, SOCIAL INCLUSION & COMMUNITY ACCOUNTABILITY

• Strengthen and institutionalize Community Accountability and Response Mechanisms (CARM), ensuring communities can safely and effectively provide feedback.

• Ensure compliance with Gender and Social Inclusion (GESI) standards, including SADD data minimum requirements and protection mainstreaming.

• Promote inclusive, gender-sensitive, and protection-aware programming across all life-saving interventions.

• Support the integration of Do No Harm and safeguarding principles throughout the program lifecycle.

LEADERSHIP & TEAM MANAGEMENT

• Build and lead a high-performing PaQ team with a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

• Provide supervision, coaching, and performance management to ensure technical excellence and alignment with strategic objectives.

• Ensure effective internal communication and coordination between field offices, sectors, and support departments.

• Recruit, orient, and develop team members to strengthen mission-wide program quality and learning capacity.

REPRESENTATION & EXTERNAL ENGAGEMENT

• Represent Mercy Corps in donor engagements, coordination forums, and technical working groups related to program quality, learning, and accountability.

• Share best practices and contribute to sector-wide learning at state, and national levels.

• Engage with regional and global PaQ team to ensure Nigeria contributes to and benefits from organizational learning and innovation.

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:

MEL Manager, CARM Coordinator, and Senior Learning and Communication Officer

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Programs Director - OCHA

Works Directly With: Senior Programs Manager, Sector Program managers, Finance Department, Human Resources Department, Operations Department, and the Regional and Global team, and TSU teams.

Knowledge and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree required, master’s degree in Humanitarian Studies, International Development, or a related field preferred.

• Minimum 12 years of progressive experience in humanitarian or development programming, including 4 years of leadership and coordination in complex, high-risk contexts (Africa experience preferred).

• Strong expertise in Program Quality, Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL), including remote monitoring, mobile data collection, evaluations, and data quality assurance.

• Strong knowledge of statistical packages and software

• Demonstrated ability to institutionalize systems for program quality, community accountability, adaptive management, and evidence-based decision-making.

• Proven experience in producing high-quality reports, learning documents, and donor-facing communications that showcase program impact and best practices.

• Strong analytical, facilitation, and capacity-building skills, with the ability to work independently and meet tight deadlines.

• Willingness and ability to travel frequently to field locations, including insecure environments.

• Fluent written and spoken English required.

Success Factors

The successful candidate is a strategic and fast-thinking leader with strong team-building skills and experience delivering high-impact programs in complex environments. S/he is an excellent communicator who can inspire diverse teams, foster accountability and innovation, and drive adaptive programming.

The role requires strong analytical and problem-solving abilities, sound organizational skills, and the ability to work independently while promoting collaboration. A strong commitment to monitoring, evaluation, and learning is essential, along with the ability to design and manage innovative programs that respond to immediate humanitarian needs while strengthening Mercy Corps’ long-term program quality in Nigeria.

LIVING /ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS:

This is an unaccompanied position based in Maiduguri, Borno State. The position holder will reside in shared staff housing in accordance with Mercy Corps policies. Living conditions are basic but functional, with access to essential amenities, health services (including medical evacuation options), internet, and mobile connectivity.

Maiduguri is a high-risk operational environment. Travel to operational areas is required and is conducted primarily via UNHAS scheduled flights in line with security protocols. All movements are closely coordinated and monitored by the country security team, and strict adherence to security procedures is mandatory.

Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside of work hours and are expected to conduct themselves professionally, respecting local laws, customs, and Mercy Corps policies always. Mercy Corps is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace and is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

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 Engagement 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 committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristics protected under applicable law.

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 ([email protected]).