FHI 360 Job for a Technical Advisor – IYCF, Monitoring and Evaluation

FHI 360 is a nonprofit human development organization dedicated to improving lives in lasting ways by advancing integrated, locally driven solutions. Our staff includes experts in health, education, nutrition, environment, economic development, civil society, gender, youth, research and technology – creating a unique mix of capabilities to address today’s interrelated development challenges. FHI 360 serves more than 70 countries and all U.S. states and territories.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Technical Advisor – IYCF, Monitoring and Evaluation

Location: Alive & Thrive (A&T); Abuja, Nigeria
Supervisor: A&T Nigeria Project Director
Program Duration: November 2015 to November 30, 2019
FHI 360 Global Health, Population & Nutrition

Project Summary

• Alive & Thrive is an initiative to save lives, prevent illness, and ensure healthy growth and development through improved breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices. In its first five years (2009 to 2014), A&T demonstrated that innovative approaches to improving feeding practices could be delivered with impact and at scale in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Viet Nam. Alive & Thrive continues its work there and is supporting others to scale up nutrition by applying and adapting tested, proven approaches and tools in Burkina Faso, India, Southeast Asia, and Nigeria. Alive & Thrive is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the governments of Canada and Ireland.

Position Summary:

• The A&T Nigeria IYCF M&E Advisor will work as part of an A&T Nigeria senior technical leadership team led by the A&T Nigeria Project Director. This specialist is responsible for providing overall technical and program leadership in the design, implementation and oversight of A&T Nigeria’s M&E portfolio.
• This portfolio will be focused on the design, implementation, and monitoring of the A&T program components and its partners’ implementation of these. The program components include: advocacy, interpersonal communication and community mobilization, mass communication, and the strategic collection and use of data.
• The position is also responsible for providing IYCF M&E technical and program input through coordination, collaboration, and participation at high level discussions with partners (and through technical assistance and training as requested) in line with the Government of Nigeria’s National Strategic Plan of Action for Nutrition (2014-2019), specifically the FMOH; international donors; private/commercial and NGO agencies and projects; other partners and stakeholders at the federal level and in Lagos and Kaduna states to help in the design and implementation of M&E activities towards tracking and reporting on the improvement of breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices. The position will also provide this support to the A&T Nigeria senior technical leadership team’s work to integrate IYCF messages, materials, tools, and indicators within these entities and their programs.
• The M&E Advisor will also develop and implement an integrated M&E system for A&T to track the inputs, processes, outputs and outcomes of each of A&T Nigeria’s core activities, whether directly carried out by A&T or by its international and local subcontractors and partners. In this regard, the Advisor will also oversee quality control and timely production of required project data, tools, materials and products relevant to M&E, including any operational research and baseline/end line surveys.
• This position will communicate, connect, and coordinate with other A&T HQ and A&T Nigeria office technical staff, subcontractors, partners, government and NGO stakeholders, and international donors to ensure successful design and implementation of the M&E portfolio of activities expected.
• This position will provide highest level strategic technical and program M&E leadership and quality assurance in Nigeria and will take a lead role in disseminating lessons learned from M&E at national and regional forums.

Program Summary:

• The Nigeria A&T IYCF social and behavior change program focuses on improving rates of early initiation of breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding, timely introduction of complementary feeding, and minimum dietary diversity for infants over 6 months old. A&T will work across the public, commercial/private, and NGO sectors to improve IYCF through A&T’s four components: advocacy, interpersonal communication and community mobilization, mass communication, and strategic use of data.
• At the national level, A&T will predominantly work with its public, private/commercial, and NGO sector partners (Scaling Up Nutrition and other national IYCF initiatives) to improve the implementation, monitoring, and enforcement of key IYCF policies (Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes; maternity leave; work place support; breastfeeding-friendly health care and delivery facilities).
• A&T will also work in two states—Lagos (metropolitan) and Kaduna (urban and rural)—to apply the four components to reach households, communities, and facilities with targeted, age-appropriate social and behavior change communication (SBCC) messaging on IYCF practices.
• Specifically, in metropolitan Lagos, the Nigeria program (as an example only) might work with the State Primary Health Care Board, proprietary and patent medicine vendors, licensed traditional birth attendants, major public and private maternity centers, social franchise-oriented private organizations, faith- and community-based organizations, and related on-going USAID (SPRING) and UNICEF projects to improve advocacy; interpersonal behavior change communication (counseling), and mobilization efforts to reach pregnant women and new mothers; and use mass communication (through broadcast, Nollywood, mobile phone, and signage) to further extend the reach of IYCF messages, provide follow-up counseling, and improve the social norm around IYCF practices.
• In rural and urban Kaduna, the Nigeria program (as an example only) might work with the State Ministry of Health, the Federation of Muslim Women Associations of Nigeria, the Market Women Association, and related health initiatives by USAID (SPRING), Clinton Health Access Initiative, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Primary Health Care initiative to improve advocacy, interpersonal behavior change communication and mobilization; and use mass communication (through broadcast, Kallywood, and mobile phones) to improve the social norm for IYCF among stakeholders and health care providers.
• At both the national level and in the two states, while the emphasis will be to build the capacity of the public sector to improve IYCF practices, the involvement and resources from the private and commercial sectors will be pursued to advance IYCF policies, expand the promotion of positive social norms, and extend timed and age-appropriate behavior change messaging through private and commercial facilities to households and communities. Formative research will be conducted to further understand target populations and audiences (stakeholders, providers, beneficiaries), and monitoring systems will be established to ensure that program inputs, outputs, and outcomes are tracked and fed back into improving the program.

Essential Job Functions 
General roles/responsibilities:

• Serve as the overall M&E technical and program advisor to GON, international donors, and NGOs
• Participate in various national working groups and task forces related to the National Strategic Plan of Action for Nutrition
• Facilitate the use of data to develop and implement IYCF and IYCF-sensitive BCC programs at the federal level and in Lagos and Kaduna states as needed and possible.
• Support the A&T Nigeria Senior Leadership Team to integrate IYCF into public, private/commercial, and NGO sectors, organizations, and programs at the federal level and in metropolitan Lagos and rural and urban Kaduna
• Provide capacity building (TA and training) as needed in strategic collection and use of IYCF data.
• Provide in-service input to improve the quality of M&E to track the inputs, processes, outputs, and outcomes of the supervisor-health care worker-community volunteer connection to the community and households.
• Design, conduct and/or actively participate in designing & conducting short, focused evaluation exercises, operational research at designated sites, with topics determined in cooperation with public, private/commercial, and NGO sectors at national and/or state level; and A&T country office and/or HQ staff, to shed light on operational issues concerning implementation of IYCF programs. Share data and lessons learned from these exercises with local, national, and regional partners to continue to build the knowledge base of IYCF.
• Help interpret and disseminate data on IYCF and ensure that state and national results are reported to clients and partners.
• Keep abreast of international developments concerning M&E strategies for IYCF programs and share state-of-the-art information, tools, and approaches with A&T Nigeria and partners
• Develop/refine M&E plans for A&T Nigeria – comprehensive interventions, including suggesting possible indicators and proposing M&E strategies to collect data for chosen indicators based on the clearly outlined plan of action and developed project log-frame.
• Provide technical assistance on the design and implementation of qualitative studies and quantitative surveys for IYCF, including sampling strategies, survey instruments, survey implementation, data analysis, report writing, and dissemination of results. This may include household surveys, trials for improved practices (TIPS), sentinel surveillance, lot quality assurance sampling, focus group discussions, in-depth interviews.
• Provide technical assistance to IYCF partners & sub-grantees to develop M&E plans, including suggesting indicators and proposing data collection strategies, activities, analysis and reporting formats.

Specific roles/responsibilities include:

• Provide technical assistance, coordination, and implementation support to the FMOH as requested, to include mapping of current IYCF M&E interventions and developing subsequent actions to fill in gaps or strengthen on-going activities.
• Provide technical assistance and training to Lagos and Kaduna state stakeholders on the strategic collection and use of data to track inputs, processes, outputs and outcomes. This will include overseeing overall baseline work and the set-up of M&E frameworks that will track input, process, output, and impact of at-scale state advocacy, IPC and community mobilization, and mass communications activities.

Other roles/responsibilities:

• Contribute to the development of A&T annual work plans, budgets (especially the M&E component) and project reports, and ensure timely reporting and responses to requests for information to HQ
• Actively participate in, contribute to, and in some cases conduct or facilitate major A&T program development and implementation activities (strategic planning, program presentations, advocacy and policy meetings, workshops), as appropriate
• Work closely with A&T Nigeria Project Director to leverage other international donor and private sector resources to complement and extend project reach
• Present/disseminate program results, based on program experience, M&E and evaluation data to GON platforms, projects and partners, and other professional colleagues and organizations, both in country and internationally
• Other duties as assigned

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this job. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, skills, efforts, or working conditions associated with a job.

Required Skills And Qualifications
Education:

• Master’s degree in Public Health, Nutrition, Demography, Statistics, or related field, with emphasis on quantitative analysis. PhD preferred.

Experience:

• At least 7 years of relevant experience in Nigeria (similar global experience may be acceptable) required with at least 3 years in a senior technical leadership role providing technical input to a large scale nutrition or public health/development project.
• Experience leading M&E for international, donor-funded projects. Recent senior technical and program work experience (3-5 years in the last 10 years) in Nigeria (similar setting may be acceptable).
• Extensive public health/nutrition field experience in designing, implementing, monitoring and reporting on various types of service delivery platforms (i.e. interpersonal communication, community mobilization and mass communication)
• Experience in analysis and interpretation of quantitative data, including experience drafting reports based on quantitative data

Special Requirements:

• This job will require a criminal background check

Skills:

• Ability to work independently, assess priorities, and manage a variety of activities while communicating, connecting, and collaborating with HQ and field office staff, subcontractors, and a broad coalition of government, NGO, and international project partners
• Excellent writing, editorial, and communication skills, including strong presentation skills to report results to major donors
• Competency in survey design and implementation and experience in data analysis using Stata, SAS, EpiInfo, or SPSS
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English; fluency in Hausa, Yoruba also strongly preferred.
• Strong interpersonal and organizational skills
• Excellent problem-solving skills

Additional Information:

• Equipment to be used:  Computers, fax machine, telephones, calculators, and/or similar devices
• Typical physical demands:  Works in a typical office setting
• Working conditions including Travel and Overtime:  Travel from Abuja to and from Lagos and Kaduna 50% time.

Remuneration
The following is a summary of fringe benefits provided by FHI 360 to eligible employees:

Core Benefits:

• Comprehensive medical plans (PPOs)
• Dental insurance
• Vision coverage
• Group life and AD&D insurance
• Supplemental personal accident insurance
• Supplemental disability
• Life insurance
• Paid vacation, sick and parental leave
• 403 (b) retirement plan
• Health savings account
• Long-term disability
• Medical and dependent care flexible spending accounts (FSAs)
• Dependent life insurance
• Business travel insurance
• Pension plan.

Other Benefits (will vary depending on work location):

• Public transportation program
• On-site fitness center
• Qualified tuition programs (529 plans)
• Bicycle subsidy
• Legal assistance plan
• Local credit union membership
• Health and wellness program
• Employee assistance program
• Pet insurance.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply

Note

• This job description summarizes the main duties of the job. It neither prescribes nor restricts the exact tasks that may be assigned to carry out these duties. This document should not be construed in any way to represent a contract of employment. Management reserves the right to review and revise this document at any time.
• FHI 360 fosters the strength and health of its workforce through a competitive benefits package, professional development and policies and programs that support healthy work/life balance. Join our global workforce to make a positive difference for others – and yourself