Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Officer at Palladium International

Project Overview:

The New Partnerships Initiative (NPI) Expanding Health Partnerships—NPI EXPAND Project— is a five-year project which aims to support Missions by increasing the availability and utilization of quality health services across all USAID priority health areas. In line with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) commitment to expanding its range of implementing partners, NPI EXPAND invests in new and underutilized local partners (NUPs) and strengthening their capacity to strategize, plan, and implement health sector programs with USAID funds. Enhanced participation of capable local partners to increase demand for and deliver high-quality, high impact health services will enable governments to meet crucial health goals equitably and sustainably. NPI EXPAND will catalyse opportunities to scale up innovative interventions by strengthening the capacity of NUPs with varying levels of capabilities and exposure to USAID. In Kenya NPI EXPAND is working in Narok County in collaboration with local organizations to support quality health services in Family Planning (FP) and Maternal Health (MH).

Role Overview:

NPI EXPAND Kenya seeks to fill the position of a Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL**) Officer** to provide programmatic support in the monitoring and evaluation process for the NPI EXPAND Kenya project. The position is based in Nairobi with frequent travel to the field. The holder of this position will report to the Country Team Lead – NPI EXPAND Kenya. The position will coordinate closely with the Monitoring Evaluation Research and Learning (MERL) team based in the Palladium headquarters (HQ) in Washington DC, coordinate the MEL activities of the sub-grantees and ensure all the requirements for reporting are met. The position will also be the USAID MEL contact for the project and respond to all MEL requirements by the USAID Mission for Family Planning and Maternal Health activities.

Primary duties and responsibilities include:

• Project workplan: Contribute to the development and finalization of the project workplan including the country MEL plan and indicator framework, and keep it updated in accordance with project activities and relevant timeframes
• Manage MEL processes: Conduct and oversee data collection efforts to align with the overall MEL Plan and coordinate with the subgrantees to ensure that all project-related data requirements are met
• Coordination with HQ team: Coordinate with HQ team to report data from grantees and support in the development of tools required for data collection and verification
• Quality of data: Conduct data quality assessments in collaboration with the HQ team to verify the data submitted by grantees and ensure that the data reflects the reality on the ground
• Facilitate utilization of data: Ensure that the data collected is presented well for utilization, accountability, and regular reporting to USAID and other stakeholders. The MEL officer will also coordinate dissemination of information and learning based on agreed data use and sharing plan for the project.
• Coach or transfer knowledge and skills: Support grantees in understanding the required MEL indicators for both internal reporting and donor reporting
• Knowledge management: Coordinate collaborative learning within the project and with the county, work with the teams to document and share learning, and prepare technical briefs and case studies
• Baseline assessment: Develop baseline data for the key project components on the results framework and project indicators
• County ME&L Coordination: Work closely with the county MEL officer, reproductive health and community health strategy coordinators to ensure coherence in the project data and county data
• Logistics: As needed, assist in providing logistic support in conference and workshops through ensuring that workshop materials are prepared, registration of participants and verifying of per diem.
• Assist with any other duty assigned

Key competences required

• Project Understanding: MEL officer must understand key terminologies in project implementation i.e., project results framework, indicators, project design and general donor reporting requirements
• People Skills: The MEL officer should have good communication skills and have experience in explaining project results framework and MEL approach.
• Analytical Skills: The MEL officer should be able to translate data to information that links to project goals, highlight trends and problems identified from the data and demonstrate results/achievements.
• Data management and analysis software: The MEL officer should be comfortable with using MS Excel as the primary data collection and analysis tool for different types of data and information collected.

Required qualifications and experience:

• First level university degree in statistics, demography, public health, or a related field. Advanced training at master’s level or an equivalent in ME&L and statistics preferred
• At least 3-5 years of professional experience in project design, implementation, and MEL
• Strong experience in collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data in the public health sector
• Knowledge of evaluation methodologies e.g., qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods
• Experience in planning and managing surveys
• Experience in data quality assessments and oversight with excellent attention to detail
• Experience training or coaching others in MEL -related topics
• Experience working on FP/MH programs, preferred
• Excellent written and spoken English
• Good communication and interpersonal skills