Independent Consultant at Helen Keller International

Background

• Vitamin A supplementation (VAS) is one of the most cost-effective child survival strategies in areas where vitamin A deficiency (VAD) exists. Strong evidence shows that in settings where VAD is prevalent, twice-yearly receipt of VAS by at least 80% of children ages 6-59 months reduces risk of mortality from measles by an average of 50%, from diarrhea by an average of 40%, and from all causes by 24%.
• In Nigeria, VAS is usually delivered as part of an integrated package during the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Weeks (MNCHWs), a bi-annual event that takes place in the health facilities, where caregivers bring their children to receive Vitamin A and other key child survival services. However, due to the recent Coronavirus pandemic, VAS has been delivered through other safer means e.g. via door-to-door distribution by trained health teams and as part of routine services at the health facility, following WHO's suspension of mass campaigns.
• Over the past 10 years, HKI has supported the government in Nigeria to plan, implement and monitor VAS distribution events. Four to six weeks after the event, a Post Event Coverage Survey (PECS) is usually conducted to validate administrative / tally sheet coverage data, characterize children that were missed, evaluate service delivery and determine factors that affected coverage, knowledge about services distributed and whether program activities were effective.
• HKI usually trains and sends independent consultants into the field to monitor the events as well as conduct the post event surveys. Feedback and results from the monitoring and survey are then shared with the government at state level and relevant stakeholders for course correction and to improve future campaigns.

Overall Responsibility:

• The Independent Consultant is responsible for collecting field data during monitoring exercises and evaluation surveys for HKI Nigeria's nutrition programs.

Specific Responsibilities

• Participate in trainings and pilot survey tools to ensure questions are interpreted correctly, responses listed are comprehensive and skip patterns are correct
• Develop a daily schedule for the monitoring or survey exercise
• Travel to survey sites and meet with key officials at the state, LGA, Ward and community levels (MNCHW team, local health officers, village leaders, district heads, community guides e.t.c)
• Map clusters, health facilities or households to be surveyed and select respondents to be interviewed in line with monitoring / survey protocol
• Administer smartphone-based questionnaires to the target population (e.g. caregivers of children 6-59 months old, health workers, community leaders e.t.c.)
• Supervise data collection and ensure that questions are asked properly and responses are recorded correctly
• Provide supportive supervision and mentoring to health teams as they carry out their duties
• Recommend real-time solutions to challenges experienced by health teams on the field during monitoring activities or surveys
• Review questionnaires for completeness and accuracy
• Send completed questionnaires to an online data aggregation server for analysis
• Participate in state / LGA evening de-briefing meetings and hold daily review meetings with other survey team members to discuss successes, challenges and questions about the survey
• Document best practices, lessons learned, success stories, challenges and proffer possible solutions / recommendations
• Account for all materials provided for the monitoring exercise or survey (smartphones, power-banks, chargers, airtime e.t.c)
• Produce and submit a detail report of the monitoring activity or survey
• Participate in any other related duty as assigned

Qualifications

• Bachelors' degree in Public Health, Nutrition, Agriculture, Social Sciences or related fields. A Master degree is an added advantage.
• At least 5 years' experience in conducting health and social science research (especially experience in qualitative and quantitative data collection methods) in areas such as Nutrition, Agriculture and WASH.
• Experience in implementing or monitoring similar surveys (MNCHW, PECS, KAP or SMART surveys)
• Familiarity with the use of Android smartphones
• Highly organized individual, capable of handling multiple priorities, meeting deadlines, and managing time effectively
• Demonstrated proficiency in the use of MS Office and other statistical software, including skills in analyzing and presenting both quantitative and qualitative data.
• Excellent interpersonal communication, training and report writing skills.
• Fluent in both oral and written English.
• To speak the native language of any of the interested state is an added advantage.