M & E Manager, Alive and Thrive at Save The Children

Reports to: Programme Manager Alive and Thrive (direct), Head of MEAL (matrix)

Role Purpose

• This role provides professional technical and managerial support to the Alive and Thrive team on Monitoring and Evaluation.
• The post will involve coordination with project management unit in Abuja and A&T implementing state in line with donor reporting requirements for the A&T programme following SC guidelines and best practices.
• The Post holder will ensure quality implementation of the M&E Strategy and Plan for the Alive & Thrive programme, including the monitoring of progress against activity and critical milestones as well as providing support and guidance to the Programme Manager, State Team Leaders, Senior SBCC officer and Government counterparts in all implementing states.
• He/She will assume a lead technical role in developing, implementing, and maintaining effective and appropriate Monitoring and Evaluation systems for all SCI lead Alive & Thrive activities. 

Scope of Role

• The post holder will work closely with the Project Officers, State Team Leaders, Senior SBCC Officer and Programme Manager.

Key Deliverables
Capacity building of MOH staff on M&E:

• Support identification of requirements for building the capacity of staff at the state and local government level to assess programming outcomes
• Provide training on M&E for  Facility Records department, MOH programme managers (SNO and LGA PHC team: LGA Nutrition Focal Point, M&E Officer, Health Educator etc)
• Support SNO and LGA PHC team to provide training on M&E to programme implementers (communities, facilities staff)
• Coach A&T programme officers to supervise activities, ensuring quality and trustfulness of data at the facility and community level
• Support SNO and LGA PHC department on data compilation, analysis and reporting, ensuring programme data informs strategy and implementation
• In collaboration with SNO and LGA PHC team provide on the job training and coaching for staff in the facilities, assessment of capacity (technical and infrastructure) of SPHCDA and in all implementing LGAs M&E, Development of capacity building plan and implementation of such plans for state and LGA M&E and Training of all State and LGAs on DQA.

M&E technical support to Alive & Thrive Team:

• Identify training needs and train staff according to programme plan or ad-hoc
• Provide day-to-day technical support and advice to STLs and Programme Officers to ensure adherence to common frameworks and validity and accuracy of data collected.

Data monitoring, analysis and reporting at the Field/State level:

• In collaboration with the A&T partners, develop and implement a framework for monitoring the programmes including: rapid assessment and baseline tools, project specific monitoring tools, approaches, staff and team responsibilities and frequency of monitoring and evaluation activities 
• Develop clear, systematic and feasible monitoring plans for the project, based on the expected deliverables and results framework (including data collection-frequency and data management)
• In collaboration with MOH and relevant Alive & Thrive staff ensure timely data compilation and reporting according to programme M&E plan
• Supervise/oversee programme monitoring activities
• Ensure M&E tools are always available at the implementation level
• Support programme feedback meetings to communities, facilities and authorities
• Evaluate regularly the impact of the activities and propose changes for improvement
• Support field managers in conducting regular reviews of each project and ensure there is a clear process for staff/teams to raise concerns over programme progress and quality
• Ensure compliance with SCI MEAL standard operating procedures including: the global quality framework, Global Initiative requirements, total reach and the advocacy measurement tool.
• Ensure that the project is implemented in accordance with international MEAL standards (such as, but not limited to, Accountability Partnership International (HAP-I) Benchmarks, SPHERE, DEC Accountability Framework)
• Work closely with the regional MEAL team and share best experiences through community of practice fora.
• Lead in data quality assurance and compliance related reporting requirements and their timely submission.
• Provide quality reports to the STLs/PM according to the defined M&E plan
• Ensure regular communication and sharing of constraints/successes with States Implementing teams
• In collaboration with the State counterpart, prepare monthly summaries for submission to authorities with validation of the STL.
• Contribute to strategy formulation for progress of the programme in consultation with the State/LGA teams and other stakeholders linked to M&E.
• Participate and collaborate for effective coordination within the programme (i.e. with state and other targeted LGAs).
• Participate in meetings, training and other assessment/events as required by the State STLs

Technical assistance/advice to other SCI programmes:

• Support the Deputy PDQ Director bringing together data and findings from across projects and operational regions to form a coherent basis for analysis of impact which promotes learning and strategy development.
• In collaboration with other technical staff, provide support and advise to other projects or activities of the country programme such as advised
• Support  data quality assessment for the programme
• Ensure that the project’s M&E system is well linked and/or integrated with overall M&E systems for the SC Nigeria Country Program.
• Sharing of information obtained with communities, children, and Government stakeholders through a regular feedback mechanism.

Accountability
Work closely with the Accountability Advisor to:

• Ensure that staff at all levels, fully understand and promote accountability in general and to children in particular, through training and coaching.
• Ensure that accountability to beneficiaries becomes a core element and success indicator for all program activities.
• Build on progress to date on integrating accountability to beneficiaries (and particularly children) within programmes through supporting the establishment of feedback mechanisms and producing information materials in a way which mainstreams accountability across all programmes.
• Contribute to improvements in existing policies and procedures to enhance effective accountability mechanisms.
• Assess how beneficiaries can best be involved at every stage of the programme cycle.

Learning
Work closely with the Knowledge Management Advisor to:

• Develop programme learning drives for programme reports and documentations
• Keep record of information obtained during research (database of information, hard files, etc.)
• Conduct literature research and support process and impact evaluations as required
• Analyse information about the programme and make recommendations for improvement
• Promote learning throughout the organisation, particularly on issues of programme quality, policy analysis and advocacy. Ensure new analysis and information is constantly available.
• Communicate program learning (through document sharing, presentations, etc) internally to provide guidance and technical input on strategic direction and programme design, and externally with key stakeholders (NGOs, government partners, working groups, etc).
• Ensure that lessons learned are properly documented and are incorporated into programme implementation and design.
• Regularly produce and report on best practices and case studies.
• Participate in designing and implementation of studies, assessments and learning in coordination and cooperation with PDQ teams and programme staff.

Additional job responsibilities:

• The job duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the Post holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.

Qualifications  Experience and Skills
Essential:

• Professional qualification at Postgraduate level or equivalent in Economics or related discipline
• Advanced training in quantitative methodologies, including database management.
• 5 years of direct experience of monitoring and evaluation related to one or more of these fields: health, nutrition and/ or economics. Strong analytical skills, and an understanding of a range of methods for monitoring, evaluation and assessment to promote evidence-based learning.  Demonstrated ability to design, commission, and manage assessment methodologies and evaluation.
• Experience of cost benefit analysis, economic appraisal or other value for money methodologies.
• Computer literate.
• Ability to build support from staff across teams and across members, and to build the capacity of others.
• Proven ability to coordinate effective resource allocation to ensure quality programmes.
• Sound strategic thinking and planning skills, including ability to think creatively and innovate and to set priorities, manageable workplans and evaluate progress.
• Strong communications skills (both written and verbal). The ability to analyse complex data and summarise it for a range of different audiences.
• Experience of working within budget constraints.
• Commitment to SC’s mission, values and approach (includes child protection, equal opportunities and health and safety).
• Commitment to support cross organisational initiatives.
• Commitment to team working and understanding of how to contribute.
• Ability to operate within a predominantly administratively self-servicing environment.

Desirable:

• Experience working with Nutrition or Health programmes, qualitative research techniques and international development.