The Senior MERL Advisor – Country Support (SMA-CS) will provide leadership and technical direction for monitoring, evaluation, research and learning in the MOMENTUM Integrated Health Resilience (MIHR) project consortium led by IMA World Health. S/he will report to the MIHR MERL Director.

This position will focus on areas of fragility analytics, humanitarian-development nexus learning, and monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning as it relates to building health resilience capacities. Building on JSI’s expertise in program quality in humanitarian-development nexus programming, this position will focus on setting up monitoring systems, data collection, assessment instruments and data use platforms that enable adaptive approaches to ensuring program quality and ensure data-driven decisions to strengthen programming. This position will facilitate thought leadership on effective approaches to FP/RH, MNCH, nutrition, and WASH programming in the humanitarian-development nexus through translating and elevating data and information gathered through MIHR programming. This position will be supporting our Francophone countries and requires French proficiency.

• The SMA-CS will oversee the implementation and provide MERL technical support for the MIHR project in 4-5 French-speaking countries, in addition to advancing M&E systems, MEL tools, and research initiatives for the MIHR core project and MOMENTUM suite of awards. S/he will provide guidance to the MEL budgets and workplans and provide technical support to the MIHR country programs, currently Mali, Burkina Faso, and Sudan. They will provide technical support and capacity strengthening on HMIS, mobile data collection, mixed-method and participatory approaches, data for decision-making, and USAID’s collaboration, learning, and adaption (CLA) principles.
• Provide technical support to country teams to improve and develop (where necessary) MEL plans, PMP and systems including defining and operationalizing indicators that reflect USAID and MIHR priorities.
• Provide technical support to country teams to ensure quality, complete and valid data flows into the MIHR system.
• Provide technical support, management, and mentoring to MEL Senior Advisors in MIHR country programs, M&E field officers and staff to address data quality and any issues/challenges.
• Work with field support activities/projects to strengthen their MERL approaches and systems.
• Collaborate with the country teams on quarterly, annual, and periodic donor reporting.
• Review MERL sections of the quarterly and annual reports for countries and provide technical support while developing annual workplans.
• Communicate information obtained through MERL activities to program staff, and external stakeholders, including USAID and the other MOMENTUM implementing partners, and facilitate data use for decision making.
• Primary data collection and evaluation support (with MERL Research co-director):
• Actively participate in the development and design of evaluation and research efforts.
• S/he will engage in the design, implementation, analysis, and writing for research on effective FP/RH/MNCH programming in the humanitarian-development nexus.
• Engage in MIHR’s learning and documentation on the humanitarian-development nexus, particularly for development actors.
• Ensure data management processes function smoothly throughout the project at the country level to provide quality, timely data to the right audience at the right time to enable improved performance and learning.
• Provide technical input and guidance for MERL to support program quality within MIHR’s FP/RH, MNCH, nutrition, and WASH programming in fragile settings, including: engage in monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning instruments, protocols, and systems across FP/RH, MNCH, nutrition, and WASH project components that are aligned with USAID’s CLA principles and leverage mixed-methods and participatory approaches.

• The MERL Advisor must be fluent in French.
• Minimum 8 years MEL experience.
• Graduate degree in Public Health.
• Familiarity with health systems and country HMIS.
• The MERL Advisor should be able to work with diverse teams. The SMA-CS sits on JSI team within MIHR, where they sit on the MERL team for the project. S/he coordinate closely with the MIHR Technical Team, MIHR Country Programs Team, MIHR Field Teams, and JSI. This position has technical supervisory responsibility for the MIHR Sr. MEL Advisors in each country office.
• The MERL Advisor should be passionate about working in fragile health settings. The SMA-CS represents MIHR’s work both internally and externally to advance the field of high-quality effective programming for FP/RH, MNCH, nutrition, and WASH in fragile settings, including the humanitarian-development nexus.