Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator

Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator, Transforming Lives through Nutrition

Flexible: Any country where Helen Keller has a presence will be considered. Guided by the remarkable legacy of its co-founder, Helen Keller, Helen Keller Intl partners with communities that are striving to overcome longstanding cycles of poverty. By delivering the essential building blocks of good health, sound nutrition, and clear vision, we help millions of people create lasting change in their own lives. Working in 20 countries – across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the United States – and together with a global community of supporters,
we ensure every person has the opportunity – as Helen did – to reach their true potential.

We are seeking a Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator (MEC) with broad public health project implementation experience to provide specialized technical support to 12 country programs implementing a suite of five lifesaving health services: supplementing women with essential vitamins and minerals during pregnancy, supporting optimal breastfeeding, improving diets for infants and young children, screening children for acute malnutrition and getting treatment to them as early as possible and, delivering vitamin A. Our program also
drives complementary food systems actions that improve women’s diets, protect and promote diets of infants and young children and secure access to essential nutrients.

The MEC will be responsible for the technical quality and timeliness of monitoring and evaluation efforts for this multi-country, multi-region program. They will lead the design and implementation of MEL frameworks, data collection and analysis for the Transforming Lives
through Nutrition program. In addition, the position will lead in the development of relevant knowledge products to disseminate learnings.

This position will play a key role in ensuring that the data is used to inform program decision making, standard procedures are applied for data collection and analysis, and that data and learnings can be aggregated across the 12 countries. They will both provide and coordinate
MERL expertise from colleagues to program teams in implementing country offices. This position could potentially be hosted in any Helen Keller office where the selected candidate will be hired on the local salary scale (grade M) with local terms and conditions.
Functional Relationships Reporting to the MERL lead for Transforming Lives, the coordinator will be a member of the Global ME team for Transforming Lives. Together with regional monitoring and evaluation coordinators for Africa and Asia, the MEC will support all technical aspects of ME for Transforming Lives program.

To ensure congruity and consistency of technical approaches and cross-organizational learning, the position will also be a member of and a key resource for Helen Keller’s global MERL and Nutrition teams.

The MEC and the program management team will provide oversight and guidance to country office teams. They liaise with other subject matter experts (within Helen Keller and the consortium), ME focal points in country, Country Directors, and Project Managers and their teams to facilitate the integration of all facets of the program work with the common goal of ensuring that project objectives are met. The position will also serve as a co-manager of relevant staff in implementing country offices. Regular communication and a spirit of teamwork are essential to make this complex structure thrive.

Helen Keller’s programs also require close relations with governments, partner NGOs, and donors, including UN agencies. The MEC will contribute to nurturing and overseeing some of these cooperative relationships and will represent Helen Keller to donors and the
international community, as needed.

Key Responsibilities

Overall Management and Leadership

• Collaborate with relevant colleagues to develop high-quality ME frameworks and guidance for the consortium and provide oversight to country program activities on the execution of ME, as assigned.
• Participate in work groups, as assigned, to develop global policies and approaches and/or optimize systems, procedures, global indicators, training modules, etc.
• Provide and/or assign technical guidance to program staff and partners (in coordination with relevant colleagues) on program interventions, to align practices across country offices to adhere to best practices and support achievement of program goals.
  o Coordinate and follow-up with assigned advisors and/or country programs to ensure guidance is fully integrated into programs and that other subject matter experts are kept informed, as needed. Oversee implementation of a monitoring, evaluation and learning plan
•  Oversee the implementation of the MERL framework including the use of appropriate indicators, data collection methods and evaluation approaches; and
•  Ensure alignment of MERL activities with program objectives, donor requirements, and best practices in nutrition programming that take safeguarding measures into account.
•  Oversee the implementation of MERL activities, and manage the conduct of assessments and evaluations, partnering with country program leadership to ensure adherence to methodological standards and ethical guidelines.
• Provide and/or assign technical guidance to program staff and partners (in coordination with relevant colleagues) to align practices across country offices to adhere to best practices and support achievement of program goals.
• Coordinate and follow-up with assigned advisors and/or country programs to ensure guidance is fully integrated into programs and that other subject matter experts are kept informed, as needed.

Survey design and oversight

• Coordinate activities for harmonized baseline data collection in 12 countries
• Contribute to global protocols and provide input into country specific protocols for the baseline, bespoke research studies and evaluations
• Liaise with country teams regularly to support them in the implementation of surveys, including training, tool development,
•  Coordinate with external research partners, consultants, and academic institutions to collect data in a standardized manner allowing for global analysis, ensuring rigor, and in accordance with ethical standards and best practices.
• Oversee the global analysis of baseline data and
•  Analyze data and research findings to identify trends, patterns, and lessons learned related to nutrition program implementation and outcomes.

Data aggregation and use

• Aggregation of monitoring data on a quarterly basis.
• Ensure data quality through regular validation, and verification processes. Lead data quality audit processes.
• Lead the analysis of quantitative and qualitative data to assess program performance, identify trends, and inform decision-making.

Knowledge management

• Coordinate, guide, edit and/or write knowledge products such as case studies, research and policy briefs, regular progress reports, technical presentations, scientific abstracts, peer-reviewed publications and other documentation for internal and
  external audiences including donors and partners.
• Document and share out lessons learned, best practices and success stories to inform future program design and implementation.
• Synthesize and interpret research findings to inform programmatic decision-making, policy development, and advocacy efforts.

Capacity Building

• Facilitate a culture of learning within the program team and partner organizations: promote reflection, adaptation, and innovation.
•  Build the capacity of staff to effectively use MEL data for decision-making, program improvement, and reporting.
•  Identify capacity gaps among program staff and partners related to MERL and develop and implement capacity-building plans to address these gaps.
• Provide training and technical support to program staff and partners on MEL methodologies, data collection techniques, and analysis tools.
• Lead and organize periodic lessons-learned and capacity building events.
• Participate actively in a dynamic community of practice to learn and to share learning.
• Model collaboration for your matrixed team: effectively consult and inform colleagues to maximize efficiency and knowledge sharing; and integrate guidance and direction

from subject matter experts in your team and elsewhere in the global organization to maximize performance.

Required Qualifications and Competencies

•  Master’s Degree in public health plus at least 8 years of relevant work experience; or equivalent combination of education and experience. PhD a plus.
• Strong technical expertise in M&E methodologies, research design, data analysis, and interpretation.
•  Proven experience leading and conducting research studies, evaluations, and assessments, including familiarity with quantitative and qualitative research methods.
•  Highly computer literate including proficiency in data management and visualization platforms (e.g. SurveyCTO, DHIS2, PowerBi)
• Proficient in data analysis software for quantitative (e.g., Stata, R) and qualitative data analysis software (e.g. NVivo, MAXQDA)
•  Excellent English language communication, required. Ability to communicate verbally in French sufficient to provide guidance to country teams strongly preferred.
• Experience building capacity and providing technical support to staff and partners in M&E and research-related skills and competencies.
•  Experience working in Africa and/or Asia, with a deep understanding of the context in which we are implementing programs in at least one of the priority regions.
•  Experience collaborating across departments to integrate all aspects of finance and administration with the work of program teams to meet program outcomes and fulfill objectives established in awards.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including an ability to effectively lead a team in a crosscultural environment, communicate a vision, make timely and transparent decisions, and manage conflict.
• Ability and willingness to:

o flex schedule to accommodate availability of colleagues in other time zones;

o travel at least 30% to project country offices and/or to meetings and conferences.

•  Collaborative, flexible and solution-oriented. An ability to maintain balance when
  under stress.
•  Demonstrable respect for all persons regardless of religion, ethnicity, class or gender, with a high comfort level working in a diverse environment with a demonstrated commitment to high professional ethical standards.
•  Personal commitment to Helen Keller’s mission and the values embodied by our namesake and co-founder: courage, integrity, rigor, and compassion.

To Apply

Qualified candidates should submit a cover letter and resume to hki.recruitment@hki.org.
Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.

In the spirit of our founder and namesake, Helen Keller is dedicated to building an inclusive workforce where diversity in all its forms is fully valued.