Pact is an international nonprofit that works in nearly 40 countries building solutions for human development that are evidence-based, data-driven and owned by the communities we serve. Founded in 1971, Pact works with partners to build resilience, improve accountability, and strengthen knowledge and skills for sustainable social impact.
Department Program Operations (PrOps) - Pact exists to help create a world where those who are poor and marginalized exercise their voice, build their own solutions, and take ownership of their future. The Program Operations teams contribute to realizing this by: ensuring effective project management through supporting project startups, implementation, reporting and financial management as well as closeouts; portfolio coordination: providing a coordinating role across departments in DC that support country offices and programs; working with country teams to develop, refine and pursue their strategies by leveraging technical knowledge (our own and others) and supporting business development as needed; knowledge sharing and learning: enhancing communication between country offices and DC-based teams to ensure better understanding of the diverse operating environments and program approaches.
Position Overview
Pact seeks a Sr. Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) Manager for anticipated USAID-funded Local Health Systems Solutions (LHESS) Activity, which is expected to be released in 2023. The purpose of this activity is to support Liberia’s MoH in strengthening critical components of the health system to improve access and affordability, thus increasing patient outcomes at all levels and focuses on three core objectives:
- Obj 1 - Strengthened Decentralization Structures at national and subnational level to drive health system performance.
- Obj 2 - Strengthened systems for delivery of quality health services; and
- Obj 3 - Increased financial protection through reduced out-of-pocket spending on health care.
This is anticipated to be a five-year activity (2024-2029). This position is contingent upon award.
Key Responsibilities
The Sr. MERL Manager provides strategic guidance, vision, and management for successful monitoring and evaluation of the program as well as for generating and translating evidence to inform programmatic adaptation. The MERL Manager will design and oversee the project’s MERL system that integrates known standard best practices with innovative methods; and is responsible for ensuring the strategic and functional integration of all MERL activities as well as active collaboration with sub-awardees and USAID.
The specific duties to be carried out by the successful candidate are listed below:
- In collaboration with Pact’s R&M team, develop a system for monitoring progress towards intended results through identifying key performance indicators and developing standard data collection tools.
- Design and manage formative baseline and follow-up assessments and collection of performance indicator data.
- Oversee the development and maintenance of a comprehensive project data management system, including effective, efficient and secure flow of data from collection through compilation, storage, analysis and reporting.
- Systematize data quality into all MERL activities to ensure validity, reliability, precision, integrity, timeliness of data, including through Routine Data Quality Assessments (RDQA) and implementation of corrective actions to improve data quality and accountability of staff and partners.
- Ensure accurate and timely reporting to USAID per cooperative agreement/contract requirements and in response to donor’s ad hoc requests; and responsible for the data analysis, writing, and review of the results and learning sections of program reports in collaboration with program staff, before submission to donor.
- Integrate participatory MEL methods for promoting local ownership and sustainability; and ensure inclusive and gender-sensitive MEL.
- Ensure data use for decision making through routine review and interpretation of data, packaging and disseminating findings in a meaningful way, and making recommendations for adaption.
- Co-create with key stakeholders a targeted learning agenda aimed at generating evidence to guide adaptation of current activity and design of future interventions in public health system recovery and resilience; and lead operationalization of the agenda and dissemination of findings.
- Design and conduct/manage appropriate methods of operational research for responding to learning agenda and providing internal evaluation.
- Coordinate any external evaluation processes, including drafting evaluation ToR and selection of firm, in alignment with award.
- Ensure appropriate capacity development and supportive supervision for staff in monitoring and evaluation procedures, data collection tools, and data management practices in alignment with the MEL plan.
- Work closely with partners to establish their internal MERL systems, M&E plans, and data quality management, oversee partners’ compliance with MEL system, and design and conduct trainings to support capacity for MEL among partners.
- Annually self-assess project MERL system using Pact’s Results and Measurement Standard assessment tool; and develop action plan for addressing gaps together with R&M team.
- Report project targets and results annually on Pact’s Global Indicators through imPact, Pact’s agency-wide data management system.
- Produce learning products and thought leadership pieces relevant to the project intervention; present in conferences or on webinars regarding project’s MERL successes.
- Other tasks as assigned.
Basic Requirements
- Master's degree with six (6) years work experience or bachelor's degree with at least eight (8+) years work experience in any of the following or related fields: public health, epidemiology, social sciences, research & evaluation, statistics.
- At least four (4+) years management experience as a MERL/MEAL manager or lead, managing, and implementing results-based MERL activities
- Demonstrated supervisory skills, and ability to work well on a team.
- Progressively responsible experience in research and learning and/or monitoring and evaluation of peacebuilding activities, program beneficiaries, and program staff.
- Excellent organizational as well as English oral and written communication skills
- Demonstrated relevant technical skills in analyzing and interpreting quantitative and qualitative data and packaging the findings.
- Successful experience integrating participatory and empowerment MEL approaches
- Extensive expertise in research ethics and Do No Harm requirements in sensitive research environments
- Strong skills in M&E technical capacity development of others
- Extensive knowledge and experience in reporting procedures, best practices, guidelines, and tools for monitoring, evaluation and learning, including impact evaluation.
- Extensive experience with data management systems, including cloud-based
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office programs, i.e., Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc., and the ability to use various commercially available statistical software programs.
Preferred Qualifications
- Liberian nationals are strongly encouraged to apply.
- Working knowledge of DHIS2
- Strong data visualization skills including proficiency in data visualization software
- Experience in integrating gender sensitive and social inclusive MEL
- Knowledge and experience in complexity-aware evaluation methods