Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning Manager

1. ABOUT ADRA

1. PROJECT BACKGROUND & JOB DESCRIPTION :

• PROJECT BACKGROUND

The Faith and Community Initiative (FCI) project in DRC aims to deliver cost-effective, high-quality integrated health services by strengthening community- and facility-based health workers and using faith- and community-based platforms. The project will focus U.S. Government assistance on strengthening community and frontline health worker networks, coordinating and integrating existing faith- and community-based services into government systems, and supporting a clear, time-bound transition of program activities to national and sub-national stakeholders in targeted regions and districts of DRC

• JOB DESCRIPTION

Working under the supervision of the Project Director, the MEAL Manager will provide technical leadership, oversight, and strategic direction for all Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) activities for the FCI project in DRC. S/he will lead the design and implementation of the project’s MEAL system, including the MEAL Plan, routine monitoring, data flows and collection tools, performance tracking, indicator management, baseline and endline assessments, data quality assurance, analysis, reporting, learning, and accountability mechanisms. The MEAL Manager will ensure that MEAL activities are implemented in accordance with donor requirements, Congolese national M&E guidelines, GHS guidelines, ethical standards, data protection and confidentiality protocols, and relevant national information and reporting systems.

The ideal candidate will have experience implementing MEAL systems that support adaptive management, learning, accountability, and evidence-based decision-making in health or Global Health Security (GHS) programming. The MEAL Manager will supervise and mentor the MEAL team, strengthen capacity as needed, support the use of HMIS and other health data for decision-making, ensure lessons learned and community feedback are integrated into project implementation, document and disseminate project successes and challenges, and coordinate MEAL activities with consortium partners, local stakeholders, and the Ministry of Public Health and Population (MOPHP).

• Lead the team in the development, periodic review, and implementation of the project MEAL Plan in coordination with the Project Director, the local MEAL team, and local stakeholders to capture project performance and results, including routine service delivery data reporting.
• Ensure that all data collection tools comply with the requirements of the donor indicator reference sheets.
• Lead the design and implementation of periodic assessments, including annual performance reviews or surveys as required by the donor and project learning agenda.
• Ensure high-quality MEAL implementation and responsible data management, consistent with Congolese national M&E guidelines, GHS guidelines, donor requirements, ethical standards, data protection and confidentiality protocols, and relevant national information and reporting systems.
• Establish country data collection and management across community, spokes, hubs, and national reporting systems

• Develop and oversee project data flows, collection tools, and data entry systems, including digital data collection approaches where appropriate, to ensure timely, accurate, and efficient data collection and reporting.
• Lead the implementation of data quality assurance systems, including routine data verification, periodic data quality audits, annual internal data quality assessments, and follow-up action plans in collaboration with MOPH and consortium partners.
• Lead country data collection, entry, management, cleaning, analysis, interpretation, and reporting of performance and contextual indicators.
• Conduct routine data quality assessments (RDQAs/DQAs), data verification, and data review meetings to ensure high-quality data are captured and reported.
• Contribute to donor and government reports, including periodic donor reporting (e.g., DATIM or the applicable GHSD reporting system), narratives, and dashboards.
• Develop MEAL strategies, contribute to workplans and budgets, and lead the compilation, verification, analysis, and interpretation of project performance as well as identify implementation bottlenecks to inform adaptive management and data for quarterly, semi-annual, and annual donor reports, internal management reviews, and consortium learning processes.
• Provide the Country Project Director and Technical staff with timely data, dashboards, and analysis for program management and decision-making.

• Provide the Country Project Director and Technical staff with timely data, dashboards, and analysis for program management and decision-making.
• Align country MEL with national M&E guidelines and health information systems (HMIS/DHIS2, and disease-specific platforms) and support integration of faith-based, community, and private health providers into the national reporting system, where appropriate.
• Collaborate with MOH (HMIS/DHIS2, other platforms), CHAs, FBOs, and other partners to ensure FCI reporting requirements are appropriately reflected within relevant national and partner health information systems.
• Contribute MEAL requirements and technical inputs to interoperability and electronic reporting initiatives, where applicable, to support alignment of FCI reporting with national health information systems.
• Work with provincial/regional and District Health Management Teams (DHMTs) and MOH counterparts, and implementing partners to ensure timely collection, reporting, validation, and use of routine data through national systems, consistent with the FCI Consortium’s ‘HMIS/DHIS2-first, not parallel systems’ principle.
• Support referral and counter-referral tracking and continuity-of-care measurement and monitoring of the Hub-and-Spoke service delivery model, while promoting data use and continuous quality improvement (CQI) at community, facility, and district levels.
• Support the transition agenda by strengthening country capacity to use and sustain national health information systems so that FCI monitoring and reporting can increasingly be integrated into routine government systems over the life of the program

• Ensure MEAL systems capture project contributions to GHS and integrated health service outcomes, including strengthened surveillance, community-based detection and reporting, outbreak preparedness, health worker capacity, coordination, and timely use of data for public health decision-making, in relevant service areas such as HIV, malaria, TB, MCH, and nutrition.
• Collaborate with the Congolese MOPHP to strengthen routine data collection, integrate community-level data into the broader health information system, and improve the quality, analysis, and use of HMIS and other health data for decision-making at facility, district, and sub-national levels.

• Lead the design and implementation of the project’s collaboration, learning, and adaptation (CLA) approach, including a learning agenda, reflection processes, after-action reviews, documentation of lessons learned, and mechanisms to apply learning across project staff, consortium partners, government counterparts, and other stakeholders.
• Use evidence from monitoring data, assessments, accountability mechanisms, and learning activities to inform strategic decision-making, adaptive management, and project planning.
• Document and disseminate lessons learned, promising practices, and success stories among the project team, the MOPHP, FBOs, Congolese development actors, and international stakeholders.
• Design and oversee safe, accessible, and inclusive accountability mechanisms, including community feedback and response systems, complaints tracking, referral protocols, and processes to ensure feedback from diverse community members informs project decision-making.

• Supervise, mentor, and strengthen the capacity of the project MEAL team to ensure high-quality MEAL implementation, reporting, data use, and professional development.
• Coordinate with consortium partners, government counterparts, FBOs, CSOs, and other key stakeholders to review project evidence, identify implementation challenges, and support agreed adaptations to improve project performance.
• Support coordination with project staff, consortium partners, and relevant stakeholders, as needed, to promote consistent MEAL practices, timely reporting, data quality, and use of project evidence.

• REQUIREMENTS

Minimum Education/Experience

• An advanced degree in research methods, statistics, biostatistics, quantitative/qualitative data analysis, public health, social/behavioral sciences, or other relevant medical or health discipline. Master’s degree in Program Evaluation or International Development preferred.
• Minimum of 8 years of experience in MEAL in the field of public health, HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health, TB, malaria, and/or other infectious disease programs, as well as knowledge of monitoring of results-based financing programs, preferably with US government-funded projects
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in collecting, analyzing, and managing donor-funded project data for health projects
• At least 3 years of experience applying collaboration, learning, and adaptation (CLA) approaches in donor-funded health programs, preferably including U.S. Government-funded projects, and leading CLA approaches across partners and technical focus areas to yield successful collaboration and integration.
• Familiarity with Department of State Global Health Security Bureau (GHS) M&E requirements and guidelines.
• Demonstrated ability to use national health information systems and data platforms HMIS (DHIS2 or DATIM) for reporting or analysis
• Demonstrated experience managing MEAL systems consistent with donor protocols for data collection and reporting
• Proven expertise in quantitative and qualitative methodology design, tool development, quantitative and qualitative data analysis, operations research, health management information systems, data quality assessments, reporting, dissemination, and presentation.

Technical Competencies

• Strong technical skills, including the ability to process and analyze data using one or more statistical software packages, including at least one of the following: SPSS, Stata, or SAS.
• Proven expertise in using digital tools for data collection, such as KoboToolbox, ODK, or others.
• Excellent diplomacy skills and a proven ability to establish and maintain interpersonal and professional relationships with host-country counterparts and representatives from other key stakeholders such as NGOs, FBOs, CSOs, and the private sector.
• Demonstrated outstanding leadership, strategic thinking, organizational, team-building, and representational skills.
• Experience supervising personnel and ensuring they acquire the necessary training and skills to meet evolving project needs.
• Demonstrated experience with MEAL plans development and implementation
• Excellent analytical and reporting skills coupled with proven ability in using visuals like graphs, charts, maps, and GIS
• Familiarity with USG administrative, management, and reporting procedures and systems
• Strong oral and written communication and presentation skills in English and French
• Experience living or working in DRC is preferred
• Familiarity with USG/EU/etc. administrative, management, and reporting procedures and systems
• Strong oral and written communication and presentation skills in English and French
• Experience living or working in DRC is preferred

• ESSENTIAL SOFT SKILLS

• Ability to coach, mentor, and develop the technical capacity of technical staff.
• Excellent skills in facilitation, team building, and coordination
• Excellent communication and writing skills, as well as negotiation and management skills.
• Proven ability to work independently, be flexible, and adaptable.

•  PREFERRED SKILLS, ABILITIES, AND FUNCTIONS

• Able to work and travel within DRC

1. HOW TO APPLY

The application package must include the following documents:

• A cover lettre and Curriculum Vitae (CV),
• Copies of academic degrees, training certificates, and employment certificates;
• Three (3) professional references (full name, position/title, relationship to the candidate, email address, and telephone number).

Interested and qualified candidates should submit their application as one single PDF file. The subject line of the email must strictly be:

Applications should be sent to the following email address: