Consultant - SMART Survey at International Medical Corps

Job Ref: 17-355
Location: Nigeria
Department: Nutrition and Food Security

Essential Job Duties/Scope of Work

• International Medical Corps is a global, humanitarian, nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives and relieving suffering through health care training and relief and development programs.
• Established in 1984 by volunteer doctors and nurses, International Medical Corps is a private, voluntary, nonpolitical, nonsectarian organization. Its mission is to improve the quality of life through health interventions and related activities that build local capacity in underserved communities worldwide. By offering training and health care to local populations and medical assistance to people at highest risk, and with the flexibility to respond rapidly to emergency situations, International Medical Corps rehabilitates devastated health care systems and helps bring them back to self-reliance.

Program Background

• Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) remains a major cause of child mortality worldwide. Of the 7.6 million deaths annually among children who are under 5 years of age in developing nations, approximately 50% are due to nutrition-related factors and 4.4% of these deaths have been shown to be specifically attributable to severe wasting.
• International Medical Corps has been operating in Nigeria since November 2013, and currently has projects in three States (Sokoto, Kano and Borno). IMC UK in Nigeria started a nutrition program with both curative and preventive interventions to address the poor nutrition status of children, pregnant and lactating women.
• In Sokoto, International Medical Corps has been implementing an Integrated Nutrition and WASH’Nut action supported by ECHO since November 2013. The nutrition program in Northern Nigeria, Sokoto state started in response to the need to scale up the CMAM program in alleviating the suffering of children under five suffering from malnutrition, and currently includes two LGA (Binji and Wamako) 10 OTP health facility , 2 SC in general hospital Binji and Wamakko  and  IYCF promotion, as well as community outreach activities.  This action is focused to treat and prevent acute malnutrition in Sokoto State and improve and promote WASH services.  According to the 2015 National Nutrition and Health Survey (NNHS, 2015) published in 2016 indicate that a Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) rate of 10.5% and SAM rate of 2.4% when measured by weight for height (WHZ) and 14.2% and 2.7% respectively when measured by MUAC among children

Job Summary

• The consultancy will last for 1 month The Consultant will work in close partnership with the ECHO budget holder and lead the SMART survey in Sokoto with the following specific objectives
• The consultant will work in collaboration with the international Medical Corps- Nutrition Technical advisor, Nutrition Coordinator, logistic coordinator, program director and all necessary staff.

The consultant will carry out the following tasks:

• Designing the survey protocol based on the information provided; including review of population statistics, calculating the sample size, selecting the survey clusters and developing an efficient work plan for the survey.
• Developing comprehensive data collection tools in line with standard SMART guidelines.
• Training the survey teams
• Organize supervision of survey teams and daily data quality assurance
• Supervising data entry and data cleaning and analysis using industry accepted software.
• Prepare a draft survey report and present preliminary findings to International Medical Corps and key stakeholders
• Prepare and submit a final survey database and report based on feedback received on the draft report and during the presentation including recommendations.
• The applicant shall submit copies of previous SMART survey reports
• The applicant shall submit copies of a financial proposal which should include: a work plan along with detailed CV in a single folder.
• CV must contain the experience of similar work, computer skills especially competency in Microsoft excel, Microsoft access, Microsoft power point and analytical software relevant to SMART methodology.
• The financial proposal should be inclusive covering professional fees, travel expenses, and other related costs and should include name of bidder and contact details.
• Costs should be quoted in USD and will remain valid up to 30 days from the day of proposal submission

Expected Deliverables and Objectives

• To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential function with or without reasonable accommodation.
• To determine prevalence of acute malnutrition and chronic malnutrition among children 6-59 months to generate LGA level estimate of acute malnutrition for Sokoto in Nigeria.
• To assess retrospective morbidity among children under 5 in Sokoto.
• To assess retrospective mortality (Crude Mortality and U5 Mortality rates) over 3 months recall period among populations in Sokoto
• To assess other contextual factors contributing to malnutrition such as Food Security and WASH
• To assess the coverage of measles vaccine
• To establish recommendations on actions to address identified gaps to support planning, advocacy, decision making and monitoring.
• To determine prevalence of acute malnutrition and chronic malnutrition among children 6-59 months to generate LGA level estimate of acute malnutrition for Sokoto in Nigeria.
• To assess retrospective morbidity among children under 5 in Sokoto.
• To assess retrospective mortality (Crude Mortality and U5 Mortality rates) over 3 months recall period among populations in Sokoto
• To assess other contextual factors contributing to malnutrition such as Food Security and WASH
• To assess the coverage of measles vaccine
• To establish recommendations on actions to address identified gaps to support planning, advocacy, decision making and monitoring.

Compliance & Ethics:

• Promotes and encourages a culture of compliance and ethics throughout International Medical Corps.
• As applicable to the position, maintains a clear understanding of International Medical Corps’ and donor compliance and ethics standards and adheres to those standards. 
• Conducts work with the highest level of integrity. Communicates these values to staff and to partners and requires them to adhere to these values.

Qualifications

• A Master's Degree in Nutrition or relevant field
• Minimum of 5 years' experience in SMART methodology and conducted SMART surveys.
• At least 3 year of international and national experience in nutrition responses, including experience in CMAM and IYCF.
• Proficiency in data analysis packages specifically ENA for SMART; EPI/INFO, SPSS or other package relevant to the task.
• Strong analytical and communication skills
• Fluency in English
• Excellent reporting and presentation skills
• Familiar with North Nigerian context is an asset
• 7-10 yrs of project management experience (management, planning, staff development and training skills) in emergency / development programs; or equivalent combination of education and experience
• Significant experience in development programs, mainly in the health field (Health policy, health reforms)
• Comprehensive knowledge and working experience with USAID, World Bank, EU, DfID and other donors;
• Minimum financial management including preparing and managing budgets, banking activities, contracts and negotiations
• Experience in developing and managing procurement and logistical procedures and policies
• Skills and knowledge in program sustainability and capacity building, public-private partnerships and project monitoring and evaluation (both quantitative and qualitative methods)
• Strong writing, presentation and program development skills;
• Extensive fundraising and representational experience
• Strong negotiation, interpersonal and organization skills
• Advanced degree in public health preferred, will consider candidates with applicable field experience
• Experience applying for and in managing grants
• Must have experience in effectively and successfully leading a country team in complex emergency and humanitarian settings
• Proven capabilities in leadership, strategic planning, programme development and management including: M&E; organisational management, particularly human resources and financial management; and partnership building and resource mobilization.