Monitoring and Evaluation Officer

Job Description

Helen Keller Sierra Leone – Job Announcement – External/Internal
Established in 1915, Helen Keller International is dedicated to saving the sight and lives of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged. Headquartered in New York City, Helen Keller Intl currently implements programs in 21 countries across Africa and Asia, as well as the United States. The organization collaborates with communities striving to overcome longstanding cycles of poverty and is devoted to scaling up evidence-based, cost-effective solutions to improve care practices and ensure that basic health interventions reach vulnerable people, with a focus on women, youth, and children.
Helen Keller Intl has been operating in Sierra Leone for nearly 20 years in support of the Nutrition and Neglected Tropical Disease (NTDs) components of the National Health Development Plan of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, as well as food security component of the Ministry of Agriculture.

. Monitoring and Evaluation Officer (Neglected Tropical Disease)

Job Type: Full time
Location: Freetown, Sierra Leone
Start Date: April 1, 2024
End Date: March 31, 2025; Annual contract (renewable)
Reports to: MEAL Manager with a dotted line to NTD Program Lead
Open to Expatriates: No
Grade: I

Job Summary
Helen Keller International currently seeks to fill the position of Monitoring and Evaluation Officer for our Neglected Tropical Disease program in Sierra Leone. Based in Freetown with regular field visits, the Officer will collaborate with the NTD program team at both the Country Office (CO) and regional/global levels. Responsibilities include monitoring and evaluating all NTD activities, ensuring accurate data collection from all 16 districts. The Officer will actively contribute to the NTD M&E processes, conducting high-quality disease-specific assessments in partnership with the national NTD program and District Health Management Teams (DHMTs). Additionally, they will ensure precise reporting of results, facilitate the utilization of data, and transfer M&E knowledge and skills. The Officer will document program successes, lessons learned, and best practices, while also contributing to the analysis of the overall progress of the organization’s broader programmatic activities.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:
• Establish and oversee an effective Monitoring and Evaluation system for the NTD initiative(s) in the Country Office (CO).
• Identify and define measurable indicators to assess progress and success in NTD program implementation.
• Ensure the systematic collection, review, consolidation, and analysis of national NTD program data from all 16 health districts, compiling them for organizational use.
• Take the lead in updating the Act | West Neglected Tropical Disease Information System (NIS) with Disease-Specific Assessments (DSAs) and Mass Drug Administration (MDA) data for reporting to the global team.
• Develop preliminary survey protocols for disease-specific assessments for Lymphatic Filariasis (LF),
Onchocerciasis (OV), Schistosomiasis (SCH), and Soil-Transmitted Helminths (STH).

• Lead the creation of comprehensive disease-specific assessment reports for review by the NTD manager.
• Oversee data collection activities, draft abstracts and contribute to peer-reviewed for publications of DSAs such as Transmission Assessment Survey (TAS) and Onchocerciasis epidemiological surveys.
• Provide support during MDAs including conducting training sessions for Primary Health Unit (PHU) staff and district supervisors on the use of the Supervisor’s Coverage Tool.
• Design, deploy, and update mobile data collection tools for various NTD field activities, such as surveys, routine monitoring, training evaluations, and supervision checklists.
• Develop and update district-specific MDA templates, conducting sub-district level data analysis to identify areas requiring additional resources and supervision.
• Collaborate with program staff to ensure thorough documentation and systematic archiving of DSA findings.
• Lead the development of district posters showcasing activity milestones achieved during NTD annual review meetings.
• Facilitate training sessions for district supervisors, health facility staff, and Community Health Workers/Community Drug Distributors (CHWs/CDDs) on effective Mass Drug Administration for LF, OV, STH, and SCH.
• Lead or contribute to the planning, implementation, and management of all NTD program evaluations, impact studies, and lessons learned.
• Contribute to NTD work plans and program design, ensuring M&E needs are well integrated and articulated.
• Take charge of organizing and conducting data review meetings with districts and chiefdoms.

• Assess capacity gaps in documentation and reporting at health facilities, recommending appropriate interventions for improvement.
• Actively collaborate with regional and global counterparts as needed.
• Ensure well-presented data for utilization, accountability, and regular reporting to stakeholders. The M&E officer will coordinate the dissemination of information and learning based on an agreed data use and sharing plan for the project.
• Support project staff in understanding the required Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) indicators for both internal and donor reporting.
• Assist in conducting research and assessments as needed.
• Represent Helen Keller at relevant meetings, both external and internal.
• Adhere to all relevant safeguarding policies and procedures of the organization.

• Undertake additional tasks as delegated by the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Manager/NTD Program Lead
Key Skills and competences required.
• Project Understanding: M&E officer must understand key terminologies in project implementation i.e., project results framework, indicators and project design.
• People Skills: The M&E officer should have good communication and interpersonal skills and have experience in explaining project results framework and MEAL approach, as well as proficiency in collaborating with local and international colleagues, ministry officials, and beneficiaries.
• Analytical Skills: The M&E 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. The officer should be able to choose and produce appropriate visualizations to display data to non technical stakeholders
• Data management and analysis software: The M&E officer should have strong analytical skills in
at least one statistical software, such as STATA, SPSS, ENA for SMART, etc.
• Quantitative and qualitative research methods/ approaches in public health fields

• Proficiency in computer applications Microsoft Office 365 (i.e. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, MS Outlook).

Qualification and experience:
• A bachelors’ degree in a relevant field – Public Health, social science, statistics, international development, etc. A post-graduate degree will be an add on;
• Minimum of 4 years of proven experience in monitoring and evaluation in an office of similar size;

• Microsoft Suites (Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Teams)
• Hand-on experience in District Health Information System (DHIS2)
• Ability and experience in designing electronic forms on Windows and Android based tablets (Sureycto, Kobocollect, ODK, ONA etc.) and reviewing incoming data for real-time quality control;

• Experience in using statistical software to manipulate datasets (e.g. SPSS, Stata, SAS, R, etc.); required. Experience cleaning survey datasets is a plus.
• Experience in designing and implementing qualitative and quantitative studies (designing tools, writing/reviewing protocols, training interviewers, supervising data collection, analyzing data and writing reports with qualitative data)
• Experience in using statistical software to manipulate qualitative datasets (e.g. NVivo, MAXQDA, QDA Miner, etc.);
• Data visualization skills, establishing dashboard and use of tools like Tableau, Power BI, etc.

• Experience in cartography working with various mapping and Geographic Information System (GIS) software tools (ArcGIS, QGIS, MapInfo Professional)
• Strong measurement, analytical and data skills including demonstrated experience in developing both quantitative and qualitative data collection tools.
• Experience with USAID reporting requirements is preferred
• Must be able to work in a dynamic and complex environment.
• Excellent written and verbal English language skills.

 To apply, please send your CV and cover letter to SierraLeone.Recruitment@hki.org
Please mark your application as per the references stated in the positions above (referencing the SUBJECT heading)

Closing date for the receipt of applications is 17:00hrs on Friday 16 February, 2024
Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

“Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply”