Action Against Hunger-USA seeks a MEL Manager/ Senior Technical Advisor (STA) for the USAID/Promoting Results and Outcomes through Policy and Economic Levers (PROPEL) Adapt project. PROPEL Adapt is a centrally managed, 5-year, $40 million USAID-funded project focused on strengthening the enabling environment for family planning/ reproductive health (FP/RH) services, and FP/RH integration with HIV/AIDS and maternal and child health (MCH) in the context of shocks and stressors and in fragile settings. Specifically, the project strengthens the enabling environment for more equitable and sustainable health services, supplies, and delivery systems through policy development and implementation; adequate, predictable and sustainable financing; enhanced government stewardship, transparency, and accountability; and the use of evidence-based advocacy approaches to promote best practices. PROPEL Adapt focuses on the humanitarian-development-peace nexus, evaluating those factors that facilitate successful transitions between meeting crisis needs and the routine primary health care needs of populations, particularly in the areas of voluntary FP/RH. The project is scheduled to run through September 2027.
Purpose: The MEL Manager/ STA will have primary responsibility for the design, management, and implementation of systems and tools necessary to ensure quality monitoring and reporting of the approved PROPEL Adapt MEL Plan for both core-funded and field-funded activities, and for development and oversight of the project’s learning agenda (including strategic inputs and documentation of collaborating, learning and adapting [CLA] activities).
Engagement: The MEL Manager/ STA will work closely with the Project Director, activity technical leads, the project monitoring and evaluation (M&E) staff, external stakeholders, relevant country teams, and USAID.
Delivery: The position demands great communication skills, flexibility, proactivity, and efficiency, with demands and expectations prone to changing on a day-to-day basis.
Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning
· Lead and manage all research, learning, M&E tasks and deliverables for the project. This includes development of all output and outcome indicators used for baselines, mid-term, and final project evaluations.
· Oversee data collection, as required, within the project’s parameters
· Collaborate with the Action Against Hunger DHIS2 implementation team to support the PROPEL Adapt DHIS2 configuration; DHIS2 is being rolled out across Action Against Hunger USA as its electronic M&E system
· Develop documentation of best practices, lessons learned, case studies, and facilitate the use of data to drive program design and decision making
· Develop and lead the project’s learning agenda
· Provide review and oversight of all research undertaken by the project
· Provide primary support to country teams for the quality, timeliness, completeness and reporting of all monitoring, evaluation, and research data from their activities
· Participate in global knowledge sharing, learning forums and working groups to ensure a feedback loop between country learning and global policy conversations
· Work closely with the project Technical Leads to coordinate the MEL agenda and strategy across all project activities
· Oversee all project M&E and Knowledge Management staff, whether centrally based or in-country.
Project Reporting
· Monitor and report on activities, communicate program results to USAID, and use results to influence policies and improve implementation
· Report monthly, quarterly, and annually on the status of project implementation
· Contribute to other project reports such as annual work plans, and review and update the project’s M&E plan as situations dictate and on an on-going basis
Other duties as required
Required Qualifications
• Master’s degree or higher in social science, public health, or clinical-related field with a concentration on monitoring and evaluation, statistics, research or related field.
• Between ten (10) and fifteen (15) years of experience designing, managing and/or implementing health systems monitoring systems, data quality assurance, database management, data visualization, data analysis and use, and reporting, with at least five (5) years designing and managing/implementing evaluations, and analyzing qualitative and/or quantitative data internationally under USAID-funded projects.
Required Skills & Experience
· Demonstrated experience with M&E in family planning/reproductive health, maternal, newborn, and child health, or a related field in a humanitarian context or fragile setting
· Demonstrated experience in using research and monitoring information for decision making and program adaptations, especially in health-related programs
· Demonstrated experience using digital technologies to support monitoring, evaluation, and analytics; in depth experience with DHIS2 is a distinct advantage
· Demonstrated experience in effectively engaging with global health program teams to select indicators for monitoring the project’s performance, outputs, and outcomes related to policy, advocacy, financing and governance
· Demonstrated experience building the capacity of host country counterparts in improving data quality, data management and analysis, and use of data for understanding program performance and solving problems
· Demonstrated experience managing a team, with the ability to work both independently and as a member of a larger team
· Experience in implementing M&E for policy, advocacy, health financing, and/or governance projects
· Experience living and/or working in low- or middle-income countries for at least 5 years, particularly in fragile settings
· Experience using and knowledge of M&E principles relevant to fragile settings and nexus contexts
· Ability and willingness to travel internationally up to 25% of their work time.
· Excellent oral and written communication skills, with fluency in English required. Fluency in an additional language is preferred, particularly French
· Must be authorized to work in the US if not a US citizen
