Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Director

Job Description

About the job

Overview

Jhpiego seeks a Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Director to provide technical leadership, oversight and strategic direction for monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) activities for an upcoming USAID-funded malaria project in Zambia. The $50+ million project aims to increase access to quality malaria control interventions in high-burden areas in alignment with Zambia’s National Malaria Elimination Strategic Plan. The project will operate over a 5-year period.

The Director will provide technical leadership to development of a project MEL framework and systems that and will facilitate the capture and analysis of quantitative and qualitative information about project performance and contextual factors that affect achievement of results. The MEL Director will oversee the collection, management, analysis and use of project data, ensuring that collaboration and learning are facilitated and integrated into project implementation to continuously improve implementation and outcomes.

This position is contingent upon award from USAID. Zambian nationals are strongly encouraged to apply.

Responsibilities

• Work in collaboration with the Project Director, Technical Advisors and Program staff to ensure that MEL systems support strategic planning and adaptation to ensure the project achieves its goals, corresponding objectives and targets
• Oversee the development and implementation of the Performance Monitoring Plan (PMP) to efficiently track, use and disseminate performance indicators and results over the life of the project, including routine service delivery data reporting, baseline and end line assessments, and all monitoring for process and outcome evaluations
• Supervise a team of M&E professionals, ensuring high-quality implementation of all monitoring, evaluation and learning activities
• Lead results reporting to USAID by providing written documentation on M&E activities and indicator results for progress and annual reports, as appropriate
• Cultivate strategic M&E relationships and alliances with other USAID projects national institutions, and key stakeholders, leading initiatives to learn from project data and adapt intervention strategies as appropriate
• Ensure that data and learning contributes to strategic decision-making and project planning with project leadership
• Support project leadership to champion complexity-aware approaches to collaboration, learning and adapting (CLA), including design and implementation of an action-oriented project research and learning agenda, routine analysis of available contextual data sources, and application of best practices in knowledge management
• Oversee and/or conduct targeted assessment, evaluations and operations research
• Ensure quality of data through data verification procedures including routine data quality audits and that these are routinely carried out during the project lifecycle
• Represent M&E activities in public and professional circles through meetings, conferences, and presentations
• Ensure relevant data is entered into Jhpiego’s organization-wide performance management system designed to capture, analyze, and disseminate project data
• Support the project to provide Ministry of Health technical assistance to strengthen the country’s HMIS for the optimal use of routine HMIS data
• Ensure project compliance with national, donor, and institutional policies related to data collection, data use, storage and sharing
• Work with project and financial staff to prepare and track progress of project and activity budgets
• Train and mentor project staff and implementing partners in monitoring and evaluation methods, tools, and systems
• Identify and lead activities to improve data collection, reporting, analysis, presentation and use within the NMEP at all levels, including the use of DHIS2 for malaria data. Design and lead capacity strengthening efforts for NMEP and MOH stakeholders in data analysis, data quality assurance approaches, data visualization, and data use.
• Provide technical leadership to identify strategies to institutionalize a culture of data use for malaria programmatic decision making in Zambia Support NMEP in reviewing and packaging data to better inform decision making, including distribution and dissemination of information among key stakeholders.
  

Required Qualifications

• Masters degree in public health, demography, statistics, social sciences or related field or equivalent experience
• Minimum 9- 10 years of work experience in monitoring and evaluating large, multi-year international health sector development projects (approximately $5 -10M per year)
• Proven expertise in quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis methodologies, implementation research approaches, health management information systems, data visualization and reporting
• Demonstrated strong management, coordination, teamwork and planning skills with proven ability to function effectively with multiple host-country counterparts in both the public, NGO and private sectors
• M&E experience in malaria
• Familiarity with Zambia health management information system and other national M&E systems
• Experience and understanding of the USAID/PMI framework and reporting system
• Strong technical skills, including ability to process and analyze data using DHIS2 and one or more statistical software packages, including at least one of the following: SPSS, Epi-Info, Stata, MS Excel
• Experience hiring and supervising personnel and ensuring they acquire the necessary training and skills to meet evolving project needs
• Excellent diplomacy skills and a proven ability to establish and maintain interpersonal and professional relationships with USAID, host-country counterparts and representatives from other key stakeholders such as NGOs, CSOs, and the private sector
• Demonstrated outstanding leadership, strategic thinking, organizational, team-building, and representational skills
• Expertise in research to practice—identifying and adapting best practices to specific project contexts
• Excellent skills in facilitation, team building, and coordination
• Excellent verbal, written interpersonal and presentation skills in English
• Ability to coach, mentor and develop technical capacity in regional and national projects and technical staff
• Proficiency in word processing, Microsoft Office
• Ability to travel nationally and internationally
  

Jhpiego offers competitive salaries and a comprehensive employee benefits package.

Please apply at www.jobs-jhpiego.icims.com

Applicants must submit a single document for upload to include: cover letter, resume and references.

For further information about Jhpiego, visit our website at www.jhpiego.org

Note: The successful candidate selected for this position will be subject to a pre-employment background investigation.

Jhpiego is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer