Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL) Manager – Faith and Community Initiative (FCI)

With 75 years of experience, our focus is on helping the most vulnerable children overcome poverty and experience fullness of life. We help children of all backgrounds, even in the most dangerous places, inspired by our Christian faith.

Come join our 31,000+ staff working in nearly 100 countries and share the joy of transforming vulnerable children’s life stories!

Employee Contract Type:

Local - Fixed Term Employee (Fixed Term)

Job Description:

Status: Contingent upon award and donor approval

Job Summary

Design, implement, and manage the country-level monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) system for the FCI country program in Sierra Leone, aligned with the global MEL framework, standards, and indicators established by the Global MEL Team, while remaining responsive to the country context and aligned with national health information systems. Working collaboratively with technical teams, implementing partners, Ministry of Health (MoH) , Christian Health Associations (CHAs), Faith-based Organizations (FBOs), and other stakeholders, the MEL Manager leads country data collection, management, quality assurance, analysis, and reporting; ensures alignment with national Health Information Management System (HMIS)/District Health Information System 2 (DHIS2) and donor reporting requirements; supervises country MEL staff and builds the MEL capacity of sub-partners; and promotes the use of data for decision-making and continuous quality improvement.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES

Country MEL System Design and Implementation

• Lead the development, periodic review, and implementation of the country-level MEL plan and systems, including country implementation plans, indicator reference sheets, data collection and reporting tools, tailored from the global MEL framework and appropriate to the country context.
• Adapt and apply the global indicators, definitions, and MEL minimum standards at country level to ensure consistent, comparable reporting.
• Contribute MEL inputs to country work planning and ensure MEL activities are included and tracked against the work plan.
• Establish country data collection and management across community, spokes, hubs, and national reporting systems.

Data Quality, Analysis, and Reporting

• 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.
• Support preparation of technical presentations, learning products, and evidence of summaries for country and consortium stakeholders.
• Provide the Country Project Manager and Technical Manager with timely data, dashboards, and analysis for program management and decision-making.
• Promote routine analysis and interpretation of data to identify implementation of bottlenecks and inform adaptive management.

National Systems Alignment and Data Use

• 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 MEL 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.

Capacity Building and Supervision

• Supervise and provide guidance to country MEL staff (e.g., MEL Officers, data/database officers).
• Lead capacity development of local sub-partners through training, mentoring, and coaching in data management, data quality, analysis, reporting, and data use.

Learning, Evaluation, and Research

• Document and share country innovations, lessons learned, and promising practices with the Global MEL Team to support cross-country learning, adaptive management, and continuous improvement.
• Support the planning and implementation of learning activities and, where required, contribute to evaluations, operational research, and special studies in response to evolving project priorities and the needs of the consortium, partners, and donors.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILL AND EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor’s degree required (Master’s preferred) in epidemiology, statistics, public health, monitoring and evaluation, demography, or a related field.
• Minimum 8 years’ MEL experience on donor-funded health programs, including design and implementation of country MEL plans and data quality assurance.
• Demonstrated experience with national health information systems and data platforms (HMIS/DHIS2), donor reporting systems (e.g., DATIM), and working with MOH/DHMT counterparts.
• Experience conducting DQAs, strengthening routine health information systems, and supporting data use for decision making.
• Strong data analysis, visualization, interpretation, and communication skills using commonly used statistical, database, and dashboard software.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English; proficiency in the national/local language(s) strongly preferred.
• Experience in fragile/conflict-affected contexts and faith-based programming preferred.

TECHNICAL COMPTENCIES

• Organizational Awareness: Understands business operations and the mission, work and priorities of the organization. Applies understanding of the organization’s informal structure, culture and climate in achieving goals. - Proficient
• Program Design and Implementation: Effectively design development and relief programs that transform communities in need. Understands how to acquire and integrate resources to support program design. Carries out the vision of ministry program. - Proficient
• Stakeholder Engagement: Builds and maintains productive working relationships with Ministries of Health, implementing partners, faith-based organizations, and consortium members to strengthen collaboration and achieve shared program objectives. - Advanced
• Sector Knowledge: Understand current methodologies and standards associated with different sectors and effectively apply knowledge in designing, monitoring and evaluating programs. - Advanced
• Funding Mechanisms Knowledge: Understands diverse funding mechanisms (e.g., cost proposals, fixed-price grants, etc.), how they operate, and the requirements for each, and applies knowledge in developing budgets. – Proficient
• Managing Resources: Identifies appropriate people, facilities, tools and materials, time constraints, vendors, etc. for accomplishing goals. Considers potential costs and benefits of resources prior to allocating them. - Proficient
• Coaching and Developing Others: Coach and mentor others effectively. Understands the performance evaluation process, how to give and receive feedback, how to find and set up developmental opportunities, and how adults learn. - Advanced
• Knowledge Management: Effectively organizes and manages information resources so that current, critical knowledge is retained and information can easily be disseminated. Develops feedback loops to ensure best practice information is captured. - Advanced
• English Language Proficiency: The ability to speak, understand and write fluently in English. - Proficient

Work/Travel requirements

• Country office environment with regular in-country travel (typically up to 50%) to implementation regions, districts, health facilities, and community sites for data collection, supervision, and data quality assurance.
• May require travel to insecure or hazardous/ complex and difficult locations.

All successful candidates will be required to undergo a police (criminal background) check, appropriate to the role and location, as well as a Counter-Terrorism Sanctions screening, as part of the clearance process prior to commencing employment.

World Vision International also participates in the Inter-Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme (https://misconduct-disclosure-scheme.org/). In line with this Scheme, we will request information from applicants’ previous employers, as part of the reference checking process, regarding any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, as well as any such incidents under investigation at the time of separation.

By applying for this role, applicants confirm their understanding of and consent to these recruitment procedures.

WOMEN ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY

Applicant Types Accepted:

Local Applicants Only