MEAL Director at Catholic Relief Services (CRS)

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is an International non-governmental organization supporting relief and development work in over 99 countries around the world. CRS programs assist persons on the basis of need, regardless of creed, ethnicity or nationality. CRS works through local church and nonchurch partners to implement its programs, therefore, strengthening and building the capacity of these partner organizations is fundamental to programs in every country in which CRS operates. CRS re-established presence in Nigeria in 2000 and currently focuses on agriculture, HIV and health extractives and governance, and peace building programming.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: MEAL Director

Application Ref. Code: MDF7119
Location: Abuja, F.C.T
Department: Programs/FASTER
Job Band: 10
Reports To: Project Director

Project Summary

• FASTER (Faith-based Action for Scaling up Testing and Treatment for the Epidemic Response) project is designed as a new component of the global FOCUS (Faith-based Organization Capacity Strengthening for Universal HIV Services) project. Funded by the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), FOCUS was developed with the intent of building FBO network capacity, assisting FBOs to contribute to HIV multi-sector planning for expanded service delivery, and documenting successful approaches. Led by CRS, FOCUS builds understanding of how to leverage the faith-based community’s contributions at sub-national and national levels, reinforcing mutual responsibility and country-driven leadership.
• FASTER takes FOCUS’ objectives to the next level by creating an enabling environment in Nigeria where government, civil society, the private sector, and FBOs can accelerate normative pediatric HIV case finding, testing, linkage to care and treatment, and adherence support by strengthening and streamlining joint coordination and provision of pediatric HIV service delivery.

Job Summary

• The Monitoring and Evaluation Director (MED) will provide leadership in ensuring high quality monitoring and evaluation of the FASTER Project while liaising with the technical programming staff of the project, sub-recipients and PEPFAR implementing partners. The MED reports to the FASTER Project Director and is accountable for all the monitoring and evaluation, accountability, learning and documentation of technical project related activities, results and program quality.
• The MED will provide specific monitoring and evaluation leadership to the project to ensure that the project is able to document progress on her priority actions, achieve its stated objectives and report to the donor and relevant entities of the Government of Nigeria (GON) in an accurate and timely manner. The MED takes the lead on project internal evaluation processes such as annual surveys, mid-term and final evaluations. The MED leads in developing and managing an effective monitoring system with training, mentoring and on-the-job support to project M&E staff and CSO implementing partners.

Specific Job Responsibilities
MEAL Coordination:

• Leads all MEAL quality assurance aspects of FASTER in Nigeria with respect to strategies and activities designed to respond to the program priority actions to address HIV/AIDS pandemic in country.
• Coordination capacity building to ensure standardization of FASTER MEAL approaches in relation to project goals and objectives for the FASTER project in Nigeria.
• Ensures successful startup of FASTER in Nigeria in relation to MEAL. Provides oversight to ensure the achievement of project objectives.
• Facilitate learning and Knowledge Management:
• In close collaboration with the project Technical Program Director and M&E staff, promotes the identification, documentation and exchange of lessons learned and best practices among the project consortium partners and sub-recipients
• Identify other international and local programs with similar interventions and assist the Project Director to facilitate linkages and exchange of experience with such programs to enhance adoption of innovative approaches among project consortium partners, sub-recipients and PEPFAR implementing partners.

Representation and Learning:

• In consultation with the Project Director, represent the consortium on relevant technical forums including high level representation, advocacy and donor engagement as required
• Ensure necessary technical assistance and training is provided to partners to develop capacity to implement HIV/AIDS support activities as per the project requirement.
• Provide high level technical support for program innovation and learning; foster regular discussions with key stakeholders as appropriate; to facilitate cross sector learning on HIV, OVC and adolescent programs.
• Development an M&E plan (or Performance Monitoring Plan (PMP)) for Faster:
• In consultation and collaboration with the PEPFAR/CDC Strategic Information (SI) team, Government of Nigeria (GON) and CRS Global FASTER technical team, develop an M&E plan (Performance Monitoring Plan) to guide FASTER project data management processes including indicators’ definition and performance measurement, monitoring, evaluation, operations research studies, data quality assurance, data use and reporting.
• Provide technical leadership and specific directions for the design and implementation of a streamlined MEAL system that enables the project and sub-grantees to track project performance and report accurate results to donor, GON and stakeholders in a standard and required format and on schedule.
• Support and develop guidelines to accompany the data collection and analysis tools for reports in consultation with the project M&E staff and respective technical and program staff
• Analyze and interpret data from surveys and sub-recipient reports
• Provide leadership support to all donor's reporting requirements (including quarterly, semi-annual and annual technical reports) in a timely manner in coordination with Technical Program Director

Qualifications and Skills

• MSc in Biostatistics, Health or related technical field with a minimum of 7 years of experience on technical and managerial positions.
• At least (8) years of practical experience in using monitoring, evaluation and learning activities to inform activity implementation and results.
• Experience working in PEPFAR pediatric HIV, OVC and adolescent programming.
• 3 to 5 years of supervisory experience, excellent partnership and interpersonal skills to work in a team environment with dependable ability to dialogue, network, and work effectively with senior managers of local and international institutions
• Strong background in PEPFAR program implementation; experience in supervising and providing MEAL technical assistance for PEPFAR HIV, OVC and Adolescent programs
• Ability to work both in a team and independently and ability to transfer knowledge through formal and informal training
• Strong strategic, analytical, systems thinking, and problem-solving skills, with capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgment and decisions.
• Team leadership abilities with diverse/multi-disciplinary teams. Coaching skills.
• Strong communications and presentation skills; able to develop tailored and persuasive messaging for varied audiences.
• Experience managing teams and building partnerships in complex situations
• Proven leadership qualities, depth and breadth of technical expertise and experience, and strong interpersonal skills.
• Required Travel: Ability to travel up to 50% of time

Key Working Relationships:

• Internal: Global FASTER team, Project Director and team, Deputy Country Representative (Health and Livelihood), RTAs for Health and OVC, Country Representatives, Heads of Operations, and Security Managers/Focal Points.
• External: NASCP, NACA, CDC LAM, other donors, HIV and OVC Program Implementing Partners

Agency Wide Competencies:
These are rooted in the mission, values, and principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and to achieve the desired results:

• Integrity
• Strategic Mindset
• Continuous Improvement & Innovation
• Develops Talent
• Builds Relationships
• Accountability & Stewardship

Application Closing Date
14th July, 2019.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should download the Application Form, fill and send with a detailed Resume in a single file in PDF format using the Job Reference Code as the subject of the mail to: ng.recruitment_health@crs.org

Click here to download Application Form (MS Word)

Click here for more information (PDF)

Disclaimer: This job description is not exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.