Catholic Relief Services- Zambia Country Program Currently Recruiting: Monitoring & Evaluation Officer [15 Positions]

Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. Our Catholic identify is at the heart of our mission and operations. We welcome as part of our staff and as partner’s people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and commitment to serving those in need.

Background

CRS is currently seeking applications from qualified Monitoring & Evaluation Officer candidates for a USAID-funded Scaling Up Nutrition Technical Assistance (SUN TA) contract in Zambia. The maximum amount and duration of the award is $75 million dollars for seven-years (four years, with two optional eighteen month, at the discretion of the donor). This activity is expected to provide multi-sectoral, layered, high-impact technical assistance coupled with targeted, cost effective, evidence-based direct implementation to reduce stunting in targeted districts. The SUN TA activity will be responsible for need-based technical capacity strengthening for National Food and Nutrition Commission (NFNC) and line ministries, at national, provincial and primarily at the district level. This will include capacity building in the development of annual work planning and costing of nutrition priority activities and interventions, mentoring regarding implementation of the activities by the line ministries, progress reporting, advocacy and governance strengthening, learning, and monitoring and evaluation. It will also include direct implementation to address time-sensitive gaps in programming. This activity will work initially in a minimum of 30 districts in Zambia, with the potential to increase the geographic scope in future years.

Position Summary

The Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Officer will report to the District Capacity Strengthening Advisor, supported by Monitoring & Evaluation Expert and Data Use Advisors and position will be based in a district to be determined. S/he will work closely with key line ministries represented by the District Nutrition Coordination Committees (DNCCs) to strengthen their capacity in M&E and improve data collection, data utilization for decision-making and data quality around nutrition indicators.

Key Responsibilities

• Support the DNCC to set up a standardized system for collecting from and feeding back information to households with pregnant women and children under two reached through the Care Group Model with multiple nutrition services;
• Provide capacity strengthening and mentoring of M&E staff within key line ministries and DNCC M&E representatives on the use of household data collection tools, data analysis/presentation approaches, data quality and information use, and surveillance activities;
• Facilitate a process to support data quality audits and action planning within the line ministries and as a DNCC, in order to strengthen the quality of data being collected for improved analysis and decision-making;
• Set up and support the use of a simple monitoring dashboard for district teams to analyse progress and make decisions;
• Strengthen district staff capacity to apply adaptive management and to use data visualization and mapping in their planning and decision-making processes, particularly as they evaluate the effectiveness of investments in previous annual plans;
• Explore and analyse data deducing emerging trends as well their potential support and work with line ministries in sharing updates including dissemination of monitoring and evaluation findings and;
• Work closely with key line ministries’ M&E staff to support a community scorecard approach to ensure that there is a feedback mechanism on how implementation supports target households at the community level.

Qualifications

• University degree in Monitoring and Evaluation, Public Health, Social Sciences or other relevant discipline
• Five (5) years’ relevant work experience in monitoring and evaluation
• Experience with Scaling Up Nutrition, working with the National Food and Nutrition Commission (NFNC) and other Zambian government ministries
• Experience working in at least one of the following sectors: nutrition and food security, mother and child health and water sanitation and hygiene
• Experience implementing M&E activities under USAID funded projects preferred
• Experience in deploying M&E tools and strategies for data collection, analysis, producing reports and leading evaluations, surveys, and quantitative and qualitative research including digital data collection
• Experience in monitoring and accountability system and supporting learning from that information
• Demonstrated progressive experience in program monitoring, capacity building in M&E of host government, and reporting on large-scale project progress
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively and collaborate with government entities and community leaders and transfer knowledge to diverse audiences through workshops, training, meetings, and participatory methods
• Proficiency in using MS Office including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook including statistical packages (SPSS or STATA preferred) and web-based data collection platforms such as Kobo toolbox, i Form builder and Open Data Kit

Personal Skills

• Organizational and planning skills, detail-oriented
• Ability to prioritize work, multi-task and meet deadlines
• Ability to analyze problems and design solutions at strategic and functional levels
• Ability to work within cross-functional teams and work cooperatively and comfortably with all levels of contacts in a diverse environment

Travel Required: 50% to communities within assigned District (s).

Key Working Relationships
Supervisory: None
Internal: District Capacity Strengthening Advisor, Data Use Advisor, M&E Expert, Multi-sectoral Technical Advisors and potentially other specialists.
External: Key District line ministries M&E staff and other SUN stakeholders.

Agency-wide Competencies: These are rooted in the mission, values, and principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and to achieve the desired results.

• Serves with Integrity
• Models Stewardship
• Cultivates Constructive Relationships
• Promotes Learning

Disclaimer: This job description is dependent on future funding. The job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties and responsibilities associated with the position.

CRS’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Applicant Instructions: Please email a cover letter and current CV (inclusive three contactable referees) in MS Word format to: [email protected]. Please include the position you are applying for in the subject line. Do not at this stage attach copies of your academic qualifications. Please ensure that you mention www.gozambiajobs.com as the source of this job advertisement.

The closing date for receiving applications is 28th March 2018. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview.

RECRUITMENT FOR THIS POSITION IS CONTINGENT ON PROJECT AWARD