Note: This position is advertised through multiple USAID Advancing Nutrition consortium partners and is fully seconded to the project. Qualified applicants are encouraged to apply through the single (1) organization they are most interested in working for. Submitting applications through more than one (1) consortium partner is prohibited and could result in disqualification.
SCOPE AND PURPOSE:
The Senior MEL Country Support Advisor will provide monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) support to USAID Advancing Nutrition country programs. They will support country staff to develop and implement MEL plans and activities. This will include identifying appropriate indicators, planning for data collection, tracking data quality, and contributing to quarterly reporting. This position will also support USAID Advancing Nutrition home office staff, USAID Missions, host country governments or other USAID-funded implementing partners. The Senior MEL Country Support Advisor will contribute to work plans, coordinate inputs from team members and USAID, and follow deadlines while maintaining quality completion of MEL-related deliverables. The Senior Advisor will also liaise with the USAID Advancing Nutrition’s Program Management Team, Technical Directors, and Senior Advisors to ensure high-quality support to country programs and final dissemination of project materials. They are based in Arlington, VA and will report to the Director of MEL.
ESSENTIAL AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY
- Provides MEL-related technical assistance to USAID Advancing Nutrition country teams, USAID Missions, host country governments, and field-based implementing partners.
- Works closely with USAID Advancing Nutrition MEL, Program Management, and Country Support Staff to perform an array of MEL activities related to the design and implementation of country MEL plans.
- Writes or contributes to programmatic and technical reports, such as quarterly reports and technical and policy briefs.
- Reviews products and deliverables to ensure a consistent high-quality standard across all external products.
- Coordinates with other USAID Advancing Nutrition technical directors, advisors, and specialists to provide senior level MEL support and data analytics to USAID’s Advancing Nutrition programs.
- Liaises with USAID counterparts and external stakeholders to ensure consistent and timely communication of the needed support metrics is provided for each country program.
- Represents USAID Advancing Nutrition in meetings, seminars, debriefings and other technical meetings, internationally and domestically.
- Performs other duties as assigned.
SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:
- Master’s Degree in nutrition, public health, social and behavior change communication, and/or relevant agricultural or social sciences, or a related field.
- 15+ years of relevant experience, particularly in monitoring, evaluation, and learning, and supporting health and nutrition programs in LMIC.
- Senior-level experience providing MEL support to nutrition or health programs in developing countries.
- Experience with the design, development, and implementation of performance monitoring plans
- Experience designing routine data collection systems, data quality assurance and donor reporting.
- Professional experience interacting with community-based organizations, NGOs, host country governments, USAID Washington-based and Mission staff, and other relevant stakeholders
- Demonstrated ability to assess priorities and manage multiple, complex, time-sensitive tasks simultaneously, and meet deadlines with attention to detail and quality.
- Languages: English fluency and proficiency in French, Portuguese or other major foreign language required.
- Proactive and comfortable independently gathering information to complete tasks.
- Travel: Ability and willingness to travel internationally (up to 25%), when it is safe to do so.
- Ability to manage competing priorities.
- Strong drive and initiative to take on and complete tasks proactively
- Comfortable working in a matrixed, integrated work environment
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Advancing Nutrition is the Agency’s flagship nutrition project, led by JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. (JSI), and a diverse group of experienced partners. Launched in September 2018, USAID Advancing Nutrition implements and provides technical support to nutrition interventions across sectors and disciplines for USAID and its partners. The project’s multi-sectoral approach draws together global nutrition experience to design, implement and evaluate programs that address the root causes of malnutrition. Committed to using a systems approach, USAID Advancing Nutrition strives to sustain positive outcomes by building local capacity, supporting behavior change and strengthening the enabling environment to save lives, improve health, build resilience, increase economic productivity and advance development.