Management Sciences for Health (MSH) saves lives and improves health by helping public and private organizations throughout the world to effectively manage people, medicines, money, and information. Working from more than 30 country offices and our Arlington, Virginia and Medford, Massachusetts US headquarters, our staff from 65 nations is highly regarded for its technical expertise, integrity, and commitment to making a lasting difference in health. We live our mission to save lives and improve the health of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people by closing the gap between knowledge and action in public health.

Management Sciences for Health (MSH) is seeking a Collaborating Learning & Adapting (CLA)/Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Lead for a potential five-year USAID/Public Health Emergency Management (PHEM) project in Ethiopia, that aims to improve PHEM, mitigate the impact of disasters on the health system and primary care, and strengthen the capacity of Ethiopia’s institutions and communities to effectively manage disaster risks.

This position is subject to project award and funding.

OVERALL RESPONSIBILITIES:

The CLA/MEL Lead will be in charge of the project’s collaborating, learning, and adapting (CLA) component which will involve monitoring, evaluation, learning, and research activities. She/he will ensure that CLA in integrated into the project cycle and processes and develop monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) systems and research design and implementation. The MEL system will include designing and adapting appropriate indicators, collecting baseline data, and adapting implementation results. The position will be responsible for designing the M&E system in alignment with the FMoH HMIS system, leading the project data collection and data analysis to inform the project implementation, and managing learning activities to produce timely, accurate and complete reporting and dissemination. Essential to these workstreams is S ensuring that all staff are involved with the project CLA activities and that learning is disseminated broadly.

S/he will ensure the smooth operation and quality performance of technical efforts and field activities by coordinating and overseeing quality programmatic reporting, quality of data management, and strategic information. S/he is responsible for leading the development and implementation of a plan to monitor progress, evaluate effectiveness, and disseminate results, as well as overseeing operations research and other data analysis to facilitate evidence-based improvements in project performance and expand understanding and lessons learned. S /he will ensure adherence to monitoring of project activities using developed tools and indicators.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Provide in-country technical leadership and support for project collaborating, learning, and adapting strategies and implementation.
• Design, implement, and oversee the project’s M&E system including the development of processes, tools, and indicators/targets, monitoring project progress, ensuring timely data collection, writing quarterly and annual reports in compliance with USAID systems.
• Develop CLA and MEL plans consistent with the USAID results framework; coordinate data collection; monitor quality and completeness of data sets; provide evidence based strategic technical guidance to the project, and document project performance against established outputs and indicators.
• Work closely with the project team, subcontractors, other partners and stakeholders in achieving high CLA/MEL standards and the collection, analysis, utilization, dissemination of data and learning.
• Collaborate with the project team in identifying project lessons, processes, tools, and/or outcomes for documentation, and design a system for capturing lessons learned, adaptations, and best practices and sharing that learning broadly through articles, events, conference, and other means.
• Develop project research strategy/agenda and oversee research initiatives in areas where there are gaps in knowledge or data; lead the design and implementation of the learning agenda and operational research.
• Assist the project director with decision-making on resource allocation based on project priorities and performance.
• Participate on behalf of the project in appropriate technical meetings and conferences.
• Provide support to institutional and human capacity building activities at the national, regional, zonal, woreda, and community levels.
• Carry out other duties as may be requested or assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Degree in epidemiology, biostatistics, research methods or related field; Master’s degree highly preferred.
• Must have extensive knowledge in collaboration, learning, and adapting concepts to health projects. Prior experience engaging and/or leading theory of change reviews, stakeholder mapping, and outcome harvesting and utilizing USAID tools including the Maturity Model Assessment and Adaptive Management Self-Assessment is a plus.
• At least 7 years of relevant work experience and strong performance in monitoring and evaluation and research in large health projects preferably in PHEM.
• Demonstrated progressively increasing level of responsibility.
• Excellent analytic skills coupled with proven ability in using visuals like graphs, chart, maps, and GIS.
• Excellent ability in using data systems like EPI-Info, SPSS, SAS, DHIS2 or other software for reporting or analysis.
• Experience working in USG supported projects a plus.
• Proven experience in training and capacity building of teams and project staff.
• Experience establishing data quality assurance systems.
• Published articles as primary author in well recognized peer reviewed journal is a plus.
• Fluency in written and spoken English and demonstrated capacity to effectively communicate and document, including the writing of quality reports and detailed analysis of strategic information.