Consultant, SMART Survey at International Medical Corps

Principal Objective

• The principal objective of the survey is to measure the extent and severity of acute malnutrition in children aged 6 to 59 months, assess IYCF practices and additional nutrition and health related indicators as per the ECHO Funded Program results framework.

Specific Objectives

• To determine prevalence of acute malnutrition, chronic malnutrition, underweight and overweight among children 6-59 months
• To assess retrospective morbidity among children under 5
• To assess retrospective mortality (Crude Mortality and U5 Mortality rates) over 3 months’ recall period among populations.
• Assess community IYCF practices particularly among the households with children under two years of age
• To establish recommendations on actions to address identified gaps to support planning, advocacy, decision making and monitoring.

Consultant will serve as the Survey Manager on the SMART & IYCF survey program in Borno State, Nigeria.  Specifically, Consultant will complete the following tasks:

• Develop and design SMART survey protocol, including sample size estimation, population size, clustering of the villages etc., and validate contextual tools using the SMART methodology
• Train the SMART data collection teams and data clerks (including field testing)
• Assume overall responsibility for design and implementation of the SMART, including daily supervision of SMART teams and daily data collection quality assurance
• Be responsible for data cleaning and analysis using appropriate software i.e. Epi Info, SPSS, ENA for SMART
• Prepare a draft SMART survey report for review by IMC, ensuring that the assessment is comprehensive and includes all relevant indicators
• Prepare a final report including background, methodology, results, limitations, conclusions and recommendations incorporating feedback from IMC staff on the draft report
• Prepare and lead a validation workshop for MOH and stakeholders in Maiduguri, Borno State Nigeria. The presentation outcomes will be shared at national level via the Nutrition Cluster/ Nutrition working group

Deliverables:

• Present the design, implementation and supervision strategy of the SMART survey. Validate with IMC country team and the TU Nutrition advisor
• Implement the SMART survey in Jere, Konduga and MMC LGAs in Maiduguri, Borno State Nigeria.
• Present a draft SMART survey report including background, methodology, results, limitations, conclusions and recommendations (short term and medium-term recommendation)
• Present a SMART final report incorporating the feedback from the IMC country team and the TU nutrition advisor
• Submit all the data and analysis outputs (both raw and final) electronically to IMC country team

Essential Skills And Qualifications Required For The Role

• A health professional or nutritionist with MPH, MSc or advanced professional degree or field-related experience.
• Significant and proven experience, at least three years, in community based studies including SMART surveys.
• Knowledge in designing and implementing CMAM and IYCF programs
• Excellent analytical and statistical skills.
• Strong communication skills, able to effectively present information clearly and respond appropriately to questions from IMC staff and other relevant stakeholders
• Strong supervisory and organizational skills
• Ability to work on own initiative and to meet deadlines.
• Ability to cope with stress; hardship; patience and flexibility and willingness to work additional hours in order to meet tight deadlines;
• Ability and willingness to travel to field sites and nutrition facilities
• Advanced proficiency in the use of MS Office, EPI INFO, SPSS and for ENA SMART Software.
• Fluent in written and spoken English.
• The candidate must present an approved final report of the most recent SMART survey that he/she had conducted