Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting, and Learning (MERL) Director

Jhpiego is an international, non-profit health organization affiliated with The Johns Hopkins University. For 50 years and in over 155 countries, Jhpiego has worked to prevent the needless deaths of women and their families. Jhpiego Corporation has been providing technical support to the Ministries of Health in partner countries across the globe in a variety of technical areas including cervical cancer treatment and prevention, community health, HIV and AIDS, maternal and newborn health, health workforce capacity development family planning, malaria, and IPC/WASH. 

The RISE project is a five-year global USAID-funded project, with a period of performance from Apr. 15, 2019 – Dec. 30, 2027.  RISE supports countries to respond to the HIV epidemic and COVID-19 pandemic by providing technical assistance, service delivery, research, and cross-cutting health system innovations. RISE partners with ministries of health, local stakeholders, and nongovernmental organizations in more than 25 countries around the world to advance strategic and policy objectives to control the transmission of HIV and COVID-19. Working across the HIV prevention, care, and treatment cascade, RISE bridges country-led efforts to reach the UNAIDS 95-95-95 goals by 2030. To address the COVID-19 pandemic, RISE provides short-term, emergency response aid, alongside longer-term health systems strengthening, to achieve pandemic preparedness. Targeted technical assistance includes strengthening health information systems, human resources for health, supply chain, and health financing. 

The RISE project is looking to hire a Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Reporting (MERL) Director who will provide technical leadership, oversight and strategic direction for monitoring and evaluation (M&E) activities in collaboration with program teams, donors and stakeholders to promote data-driven programing and continuous improvement. This includes, but is not limited to:

1. Leading the development of an M&E strategy to capture high-quality, relevant and timely data for programmatic decision-making.
2. Improving the quality of interventions and outcomes
3. Measures project impact, 
4. Leading data quality audits;
5. Building capacity of Jhpiego M&E Unit, sub-partners and other stakeholders
6. Designing and conducting program evaluations and contributing to documenting and disseminating project successes and challenges to the donor and stakeholders. 
7. Strengthening digital health platforms that prevent, detect and respond to pandemics. 

The M&E Director will also align project indicators and M&E systems to Eswatini’s Health Management Information System (CMIS) and Ministry of Health  priorities.  S/he will supervise and manage other M&E personnel including M&E Advisor, M&E Coordinators, M&E Officers, and Data Clerks and closely collaborate with management and technical colleagues to foster a culture of data use for decision-making, including leading routine data review meetings.  

• Provide leadership and direction on M&ERL to support the RISE project in achieving its goals and corresponding objectives and targets
• Lead development of the project logic model, results framework, M&E plan, data flow loops, work plan and budget, including selecting indicators and setting targets
• Design, implement and supervise M&E activities and trainings, baseline and end line assessments, data quality assessments, and any program evaluations
• Oversee support for digital health activities
• Work closely with subrecipients to ensure complete and accurate reporting and task completion
• Lead routine data review meetings to use data to contribute to strategic decision-making and project planning in close collaboration with project management and technical staff
• In collaboration with the Chief of Party, program staff and the ME&RL Unit, support development of proposals or other business development opportunities.
• Create various learning platforms for the organisation and institutional memory through the documentation of key lessons learnt.
• Contribute to annual work planning.
• Document, coordinate progress reports (monthly, quarterly and annual reports), and disseminate program-related data. Liaise with other business units to ensure a timely submission of progress reports.
• Collaborate on the writing of relevant data-driven abstracts and manuscripts for publication.
• Support research and other program data collection activities
• Responsible for entering relevant data into donor databases as part of official mandatory project reporting
• Enhance systems for routine data collection and M&E feedback to Technical Advisors, donor and other stakeholders.
• Work with financial staff to manage M&E budget
• Represent Jhpiego in public and professional circles through meetings, conferences, and presentations and cultivate relationships and liaise with other USAID implementing partners and MOH colleagues
• Support the implementation of other program activities as needed.
• Ensure protection of participant data and confidentiality during any IRB process and implementation of study

• At least a Master’s degree in social sciences, public health, information sciences or statistics
• 10+ years' experience leading M&E activities in the health sector.
• Advanced degree in public health, demography, statistics, social sciences or related field or equivalent experience
• Demonstrated experience conducting data quality assessments, data analysis and presentation, and reporting, including proficiency with one or more statistical software packages (e.g., SPSS, Stata, Epi Info, MS Access)and Microsoft Office
• Expertise in creating and managing data visualisation dashboards, with proficiency in tools such as Microsoft
• Ability to coach, mentor and develop technical capacity of colleagues and partners, with a preference for additional experience hiring and supervising M&E staff
• Strong management, coordination, teamwork and planning skills with a proven ability to establish and maintain interpersonal and professional relationships with donors, government partners and other key stakeholders
• Expertise in research/program evaluation preferred
• Excellent verbal, written, and presentation skills in English
• Familiarity with USAID reporting requirements
• Ability and willingness to travel nationally 30% of time

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.