Zambia Integrated Health Activity

Job Description

Job Title: Strategic Information and Monitoring and Evaluation Director

Position Type: Full time

Supervisor: Chief of Party

Posting Location: Lusaka

Background

John Snow, Inc. (JSI) is a public health management firm, headquartered in the United States, dedicated to improving the health of individuals and communities throughout the world. JSI has been implementing public health work in Zambia for over 25 years.

JSI seeks a dynamic and experienced Strategic Information and Monitoring and Evaluation (SI/M&E) Director for the anticipated United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded Zambia Integrated Health Activity (ZIHA). The Activity will work in 3 provinces, Copperbelt, North Western, and Central, with the main objective focused on HIV prevention, care and treatment with integrated health services, specifically family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) as well as maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH).

The SI/M&E Director is a full-time position based in Lusaka and is responsible for overseeing the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and knowledge management activities. The SI/M&E activities will be designed to enable program managers in the field to identify problems and their causes, and improve overall program performance. SI/M&E activities will assess and report on project outputs and life-of-program effects and results, providing USAID and the host government with a record of progress, effectiveness and lessons learned. The overall approach is expected to provide decision-makers with accurate, practical and useful information (both quantitative and qualitative) in a consistent, timely, and cost-effective manner. The SI/M&E Director will work closely with the Chief of Party (COP) and the SIM&E team as well as the JSI/Boston-based backstopping team. This position will report to the COP.

This position is contingent upon donor approval and funding.

MAJOR Responsibities

Provision of overall technical oversight to the SI/M&E team, local government (LG) and partners on strategic planning and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of program activities
Manage a team that monitors the performance of all PMP indicators
With technical and communications team, develop an approach to strategically use M&E data within the project and for external stakeholders
Promotion of evidence based planning and decision making through use of program data as well as supplemental data sources, including DHS, ZPHIA Advise and train staff to perform their appropriate M&E tasks that include but are not limited to HMIS strengthening, quality improvement, applied technology, lot quality assurance sampling (LQAS) surveys, conducting data quality audits (DQAs) and subsequent data quality improvement;
Oversee development and implementation of a robust research agenda which addresses critical questions in implementation and management of HIV, reproductive health and family planning and MNCH activities.
Direct development of data use and visualization tools such as dashboards
Serve as the focal point for M&E and liaise closely with the technical directorate, other aspects and strategies of the program to ensure consistency in the M&E approach;
Develop and/or supervise weekly, monthly, quarterly, annual and LQAS reports for submission to USAID, MOH and other stakeholders including ad hoc USAID and MOH requests;
Participate in national-, regional- and district-level M&E related meetings and
workshops;
Work in collaboration with technical leads and HQ advisors to develop study protocols and data collection tools
Ensure all research activities comply with international and local IRB requirements.
Participate in the development and submission of articles for peer reviewed journals
Participate in the development of abstracts, posters and oral presentations for international conferences.
QUALIFICATIONS

Advanced degree in health and/or population sciences; PhD preferred
Minimum 10-15 years of M&E senior level leadership experience in international health projects in a technical capacity; preferably including several years with USAID-funded projects;
Demonstrated applied skills in M&E methods and innovations and use of data for systems strengthening projects/programs;
Proven track record in the development and implementation of a public health research agenda, with a preference for experience in HIV
Experience in the M&E of HIV, especially those funded by PEPFAR;
Experience in the routine M&E of family planning and MNCH programs
Demonstrated leadership working with other technical experts in M&E and research in the international community and at the host country level;
Ability to work in diverse settings with public, private and NGO sectors;
Ability to tailor data collection approaches to local needs, interests, and capabilities;
Ability to convey M&E results to non-technical stakeholders and generate interest in the use
of M&E data/results for programmatic improvements;
Demonstrated capacity to oversee development/implementation of work plans, reports and
presentations;
Excellent interpersonal, teamwork, supervisory, communications and mentoring skills;
Strong communication skills in English