Senior Advisor Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning at Jhpiego - John Hopkins University

• As a member of the AMPLI-PPHI Nigeria’s senior management team and the multi-country MER team, the MERL advisor will be responsible for providing technical leadership to capture project performance results and provide effective, accurate and timely monitoring, evaluation and reporting of all project activities in Nigeria.
• In addition, they will guide research and learning activities in Nigeria responding to national-level evidence needs and contributing to the learning objectives of this multi-country award.
• The MERL advisor will work closely with the MER and technical teams to design, implement and supervise project MER activities, ensuring that lessons learned are integrated into program implementation to continuously improve quality of interventions and outcomes.
• The [MERL Advisor] is also responsible for documenting and disseminating program successes and challenges to project leadership and UNITAID and supervising the Data Analyst.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical and financial leadership on MERL activities to achieve program goal and objectives. Develop and oversee the implementation of the monitoring and evaluation plan to document project performance and outcomes.
• Coordinate routine reporting of service delivery in collaboration with the Jhpiego home office and AMPLI-PPHI project teams in other countries.
• Ensure quality of data through data verification procedures, including routine data quality audits and precise standard operating procedures
• Facilitate and contribute to design of context-appropriate implementation research, aligned with the global project learning agenda and standards for evidence generation.
• Ensure rigor and quality of research embedded in program implementation
• Collaborate with the project-wide principal investigator to obtain required approvals and ensure compliance with policies of state, national and international (WHO and Johns Hopkins University) ethical and scientific review committees
• Foster a culture of data-use for decision-making both internally for the AMPLI-PPHI team and project stakeholders
• Ensure compliance with Jhpiego,, Unitaid, and WHO policies and standards for data quality and protection
• Support the development of workplan and budgets.
• Track project performance against budget.
• Coordinate all MERL capacity-building activities with project staff, implementing partners and facility staff
• Supervise and mentor Data Analysts and program data officers at the LGA levels
• Develop and maintain strong working relationships with government and private sector partners, PPH/MNH implementing partners, and other key stakeholders to maximize resources and avoid duplication of effort
• S/he will Utilize meetings, conferences, and presentations to showcase project's accomplishments and lessons learnt to donor and stakeholders.
• Work closely with Jhpiego home office staff to ensure effective, timely and coordinated implementation of MERL activities
• Provide written documentation to UNITAID on MERL activities, progress and lessons learnt.
• Support periodic data entry into Jhpiego’s organization-wide performance management system.

Required Qualifications

• Advanced degree in international public health, demography, statistics, social sciences or related field or equivalent experience
• Implementation research study data collection, analysis and/or management experience
• 9-10 years' experience in monitoring and evaluation for large, multi-year health sector development programs, and at least 5 years experience on MERL position.
• Excellent diplomacy skills and a proven ability to establish and maintain interpersonal and professional relationships with senior government officials, donors, and other implementing partners
• Ability to coach, mentor and develop technical capacity in programs and technical staff and government counterparts
• Strong technical skills, including ability to process and analyze data using one or more statistical software packages, such as R, Stata, or SPSS
• Proficiency in Office 365, including advanced excel skills,
• Excellent technical writing, problem solving, communication and presentation skills
• Ability to work in a complex environment with multiple projects/tasks, short deadlines, competing deadlines and intense pressure to perform
• Awareness of, sensitivity to, and experience effectively working in diverse socioeconomic settings and with multi-cultural staff and groups
• Ability and willingness to travel domestically/internationally

Preferred Qualifications

• Good technical report writing, abstract and manuscript development and publications
• Experience as a research study principal investigator
• Expertise in quantitative, qualitative and/or mixed methods implementation research methodologies
• Familiarity with implementation research theories and frameworks
• Valid human subjects research and good clinical practice training certifications
• Experience leading or contributing to peer-reviewed research publications
• Previous direct supervisory experience of professional and support staff
• M&E and/or research experience in maternal health, especially postpartum hemorrhage
• Knowledge of DHIS2 and Microsoft PowerBI
• Proficiency in one or more qualitative analysis software packages
• Familiarity with national HMIS indicators, especially for maternal health