Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Specialist at John Snow Incorporated (JSI)

John Snow Incorporated (JSI) is a US based not for profit organization that supports Nigeria to strengthen health systems.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Specialist

Location: Abuja
Employment Type: Full-time
Project: USAID Momentum Routine Immunization Transformation and Equity Project / Nigeria

General Information

• The MOMENTUM Routine Immunization Transformation and Equity (M-RITE) project is part of a suite of innovative awards funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to holistically improve family planning and maternal and child health in partner countries around the world.
• The project applies best practices and explores innovations to increase equitable immunization coverage in USAID-supported countries around the globe. It works to build countries’ capacity to identify and overcome barriers to reaching zero-dose and under-immunized children and older populations with life-saving vaccines and other integrated health services.
• M-RITE works at multiple levels and in alignment with global strategies such as the Immunization Agenda 2030 and Gavi 5.0.
• The project also contributes to ongoing global efforts to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on immunization services and support countries to prepare for and introduce vaccines against COVID-19 once they are available. In Nigeria M-RITE works to strengthen routine immunization (RI) services in M-RITE-supported counties and supports COVID-19 vaccine rollout at the national level, with targeted support at the county level.

Summary

• The Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) Specialist under the leadership of Senior MEAL Advisor manages information and reporting processes and products to ensure professional, high-quality communication about M-RITE’s programmatic activities and results.
• The MEAL Specialist will also play an important role in improving information management and data quality, and in strengthening knowledge sharing and learning across the organization and with the international health and development communities.
• The MEAL Specialist will assume responsibility for full-cycle monitoring and evaluation of M-RITE’s programs, developing appropriate methodologies and tools to design evaluations.

Responsibilities

• Bolster assessments and studies with rich, dynamic visualizations and analysis using methods such as story-mapping, proximity analysis, buffering analysis, and cluster analysis.
• Deliver M-RITE with comprehensive GIS support including customized maps, dashboards, and infographics as requested to inform decision making and strengthen the data lifecycle using ICT
• Give additional analytical breadth and depth to geospatial analysis efforts, drawing on rich geospatial data and incorporating GIS-related data into programming at the strategy and activity levels to create prediction models using machine-learning methods.
• Use periodic and rapid data collection to pinpoint disparities in implementation & successes in addressing key gaps within programming.
• Provide GIS training and mentoring and develop targeted workshops to build Mission, IP, and local MEL firm capacity to: incorporate GIS and GPS data for decision making, use GIS software for simple mapping, and analyze real data.
• Manages information and reporting processes and products to ensure professional, high-quality communication about M-RITE’s programmatic activities and results.
• The MEAL Specialist will also play an important role in improving information management and data quality, and in strengthening knowledge sharing and learning across the organization and with the international health and development communities.
• The MEAL Specialist will assume responsibility for full-cycle monitoring and evaluation of M-RITE’s programs, developing appropriate methodologies and tools to design evaluations under the leadership of the Senior MEAL Advisor.
• Develop, implement, and assess monitoring frameworks for the projects.
• Update the overall framework for project M&E systems in collaboration with Senior MEAL Advisor, donor and senior project staff, including requirements, reporting, baseline, and evaluation surveys; develop and monitor project management plan to systematically document performance
• Facilitate design of “SMART” objectives, logic models, monitoring frameworks, and evaluation plans during annual work-planning process; Ensure the alignment of M&E activities with program goals
• Contribute to the development of annual work plans to identify project targets and ensure inclusion of M&E activities
• Maintain existing indicator tracking tools; develop additional databases and tracking tools as needed to demonstrate the effectiveness of project interventions
• Ensure adherence to specific monitoring and reporting requirements for USAID
• Analyze data for accuracy, flag validation or quality issues, and contribute to system fixes
• Aggregate and analyze data from across M-RITE’s information platform to contribute to management decision-making and reporting
• Ensure quality and timely submission of country quarterly progress reports; manage preparation of additional reports for USG as required
• Generate monthly indicator reports for tracking progress against key indicators as needed
• Conduct field visits for data validation and to monitor the quality and completeness of data sets; coordinate data collection at project sites to monitor program development and ensure timely compilation and reporting of data; capture and document lessons learned; and champion the scaling up best practices
• Provide technical leadership and support to project and partner staff in planning and implementing M&E systems and activities, data-based program decision-making, and results reporting; provide training as needed
• Support the development, design, writing and concept notes for related programming information management and reporting
• Create and integrate graphics in reports and information products to help visualize data in a meaningful way
• Edit content and presentation of all reporting and deliverables before submittal to ensure superior quality and professionalism
• Coordinate responses to requests for information
• Contribute to developing and reporting of project reviews, assessments, surveys, and other analytic or evaluation processes and products
• Promote strong data collection techniques and data quality through traditional methods as well as innovative approaches to remote data collection.
• Support development and the implementation of the project learning plan.
• Support report composition for all project deliverables and adhoc requests.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree required, Master's Degree in Statistics, Demographics, Public Health, or International Development preferred
• Minimum of five years of experience working in the field of monitoring and evaluation
• Hands-on knowledge of Esri ArcGIS desktop software, including ArcMap and ArcPro.
• Strong understanding of geodatabases and geodatabase applications.
• Previous experience in developing GIS project deliverables (Attach samples of work to application package)
• Experience in strategic planning and performance management, including indicator selection, target setting, reporting, database management, and developing M&E and performance monitoring plans
• Knowledge of the major evaluation methodologies (qualitative, quantitative, mixed method, and impact) and data collection and analysis methodologies
• Experience in planning and managing surveys, developing and refining data collection tools, and with data quality assessments and oversight
• Ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously in a fast-paced environment, set priorities, and meet deadlines
• Ability to synthesize complex information and communicate it effectively to diverse audiences; ability to design and implement efficient work flows and procedures
• Ability to manage critical relationships with diplomacy and tact and engage a wide range of stakeholders including the USG, institutional partners, host country government officials, potential donors, and peer organizations
• Fluency in English; excellent written and oral communication skills, including facilitation and cross-cultural communication.
• Strong attention to detail, organizational. and time management skills
• Computer proficiency in Windows environment (Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint) and proficiency in online research (e.g., PubMed).
• Experience with NHMIS facility data tools, data quality assessments and oversight; knowledge of data cleaning processes.
• Advanced user of DHIS2, SPSS, Stata, R or Python. Advanced knowledge of MS Office applications (PowerPoint, Excel) and modern communications tools (internet, email, social media, and teleconferencing). Knowledge of multivariate data analysis.
• Excellent knowledge in partnership engagement, data cleaning and preparation, data analysis and exploration, statistical knowledge. Additional advantage if knowledgeable in data science tools such as SQL skills, Excel, Tableau for data visualization.
• Ability to speak any Nigerian language.

Application Closing Date
16th October, 2023.