Associate Manager, Field Monitoring

Job purpose

The Associate Manager, Field Operations, is responsible for supporting all Evidence Action’s Monitoring and Evaluation activities in Nigeria. This is an exciting position that involves overseeing program research and learning activities, training, management of data collection vendors, data entry and coordination between MLE and program teams, government and other implementing partners as needed. The role supports multiple Evidence Action Nigeria projects including Deworm the World (DTW), SQ-LNS, Safe Water Now, and Multiple Micronutrient Supplement (MMS). This position is based in the Abuja Nigeria office and reports to the WCA MLE FO Manager.

Duties and responsibilities

Research and Learning

• Lead the development and maintenance of relevant databases for tracking and managing program information (planning and treatment data) for the Nigeria program.
• Capturing and disseminating lessons learnt from implementation rounds as well as tracking improvements in those significant areas over time to ensure that learnings are translated to program improvements.
• Supporting operations research activities for the Nigeria program.
• Supporting process monitoring data analysis

Vendor management

a. Data collection

▪ Support the sourcing for vendors to provide data collection service to Evidence Action in Nigeria

▪ Lead in drafting and reviewing Terms of Reference (ToR) and Scope of Work for data collection vendors.

▪ Directly manage budget, timelines and deliverables by vendors contracted to perform data collection on behalf of Evidence Action.

▪ Lead in verifying and validating data collected by data collection vendors and/or other partners through data reviews, checks and field visits

▪ Take the lead on developing and implementing field data quality checks, e.g., infield supervision and back checks.

Coordination between MLE and Program, Government and Partners

• Represent MLE in program meetings with partners and government (at both State and National levels) where MLE presence is needed.
• Communication of requests from the program teams, government or partners that relate to the MLE team.
• Communicating program requests and/or needs for data and translating that back to the necessary MLE delivery team/members for necessary action when required.
• Collaborate with the MLE delivery teams to ensure a unified understanding of DTW Nigeria, SQ-LNS, HCD Safe Water Now, and MMS data needs and that the delivery team deliver program needs on time.
• Support capacity building for government officials on monitoring and evaluation with a focus on treatment data.
• Active participation in stakeholder engagement in terms of representing the Nigeria program at meetings that require Evidence Action’s M&E inputs and actions, making presentation, review meetings, support in terms of training and other capacity-building activities
• Program planning and treatment data collation, management and reporting, including tracking and reporting key performance indicators for program implementation, which includes planning data, training data and treatment data.

Review process monitoring reports

• Review process monitoring reports shared by Data Learning team and provide context-based input before the team finalises and shares the report with program teams
• Review and share with Data Learning field reports from the independent monitoring firm

Team management

• Managing the work plans and priorities of the MLE team in Nigeria
• Support the recruitment and onboarding of MLE staff in Nigeria in collaboration with the MLE leadership, HR Manager and the necessary representatives from program teams
• Manage the productivity, professional development and skill building of the MLE team under her supervision.

Training

• Develop training materials and protocols to train external data collection vendors, government and/or other partners involved in data collection.
• Oversee the training of monitors at the independent monitoring firm on M&E activities before data collection.
• Train government officials on monitoring and evaluation with a focus on treatment data.

Data management

• Manage program reporting systems and verify/validate data reported or collated from implementation units prior to official reporting/dissemination
• Support maintenance of internal database and ensure data availability for planning and decision-making
• Support other hoc data-related tasks as requested by the country’s programs teams
• Support the program data management unit to clean data collected by the field operations team providing relevant context and contributing to improving data quality

Other

Perform any other monitoring, evaluation and learning duties as may be required and assigned by the supervisor.

Direct Report

MLE Field Operations Senior Associates.

Working conditions

This position will require coordinating closely with the sub-regional M&E team members, some of whom are based out of Nigeria. It also requires frequent travel across program implementation states.

Equal Opportunity Statement

Evidence Action does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, colour, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organisation, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factors.

Requirements:
• Master’s degree in a relevant field with strong economics, statistics, or mathematics or public health background
• 6+ years of experience supporting monitoring and evaluation of health programs in Nigeria
• Strong technical skills and capacity, with at least 2 years of practical experience managing M&E staff and working directly with large teams and data.
• Experience writing research and monitoring reports for programs
• Project management and coordination skills
• Experience using electronic data collection platforms, specifically SurveyCTO for data collection and management
• Data analysis skill and experience is an added advantage, specifically using STATA
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Willing to travel on short notice, to multitask, to work in ambiguity and to respond to instruction from multiple sources.
• Naturally inquisitive, sceptical, intellectually curious, detail-oriented and organized
• Inspired by Evidence Action’s mission to bring proven interventions to scale, improving the lives of millions;