Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, Learning and Adapting Officer
Position Summary
Act
to End Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) | East is a five-year project
funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) that
supports national NTD control programs for the control and elimination
of five targeted NTDs: lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis,
schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminths, and trachoma. RTI
International seeks a Monitoring, Evaluation Research, Learning and
Adapting (MERLA) Officer who will support the Ministry of Health (MoH)’s
national neglected tropical disease (NTD) control program to ensure
quality data collection, analysis, and reporting in Tanzania under the
Act to End NTDs | East Tanzania program.
Recommended:
Location: Dar es Salaam
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
MOH Support
- Support the design and implementation of a M&E plan in line with the National NTDCP framework.
- Support the process of report writing for program activities and timely dissemination as required by MoH and other partners.
- Participate in the planning of Mass Drug Administration (MDA) activities including the collection of data relevant for drug forecast.
- Participate in the planning and implementation of disease specific assessments (DSA) surveys, and surveillance activities.
- Under the direction of the MERLA Advisor, participate in strategic planning of the NTD program with partners at the central, regional, and district government levels, NGOs, FBOs, and CBOs ensuring that M&E components are made part of the overall strategic plan.
- Work with local partners to integrate NTDs into the mainstream health care delivery systems at district levels, aligning the NTD M&E components to the MoH’s MTUHA system.
- Liaise closely with Regional Health Management Teams (RHMTs), Council Health Management Teams (CHMT) as well as other relevant local partners for harmonized operations of M&E components in program activities.
- Facilitate the capacity building of national NTD team, partners at the regional, district and local levels to collect and analyze data and prepare reports for both the CHMT and the NTD program.
- Under the direction of the MERLA Advisor, coordinate implementation of MERLA activities
- Supports MERLA activity tracking, including ensuring that activities are implemented in accordance with approved work plan and budget.
- Performs first line data reviews for specific program activities (e.g., surveys, MDAs, training) to ensure data accuracy and completeness.
- During routine and ongoing data review, communicates any problems with data quality to the Program Manager to ensure accurate data collection and reporting.
- Fills out routine project reporting tools and forms according to the program schedule (work planning, two semi-annual reporting periods, and additional as needed), collaborating with the Program Manager.
- Draft accurate and timely responses to ad hoc data requests.
- Supervise various field activities to support high quality data collection and reporting, identifying any challenges and providing on-the-spot solutions.
- Collaborate with MoH in the design of data collection forms and data management for the surveys and MDAs
- Assist developing protocols and reports for DSAs, data analysis to inform action-oriented conclusions, and the application of learning.
- Support the submission of survey outputs which include, but are not limited to, survey reports, raw survey data, and clean datasets.
- Support DSA outcome evaluations.
- Review country-level work plans and semi-annual reports to ensure they appropriately incorporate the relevant data, including accurate and high-quality reporting and using data to inform strategy and activities.
- Analyze/use project MERLA data to identify trends/patterns/outliers (e.g., low-performing districts).
- Assist stakeholders to regularly input information into and use the national data storage platform, such as the Integrated NTD Database, including using it to submit high quality data to WHO (including Joint Application Package [JAP], and disease-specific elimination dossiers), etc.
- Provide technical assistance to MoH to facilitate high quality submission of JAP.
- Collaborate with country and HQ staff to identify opportunities for learning and program adaptation, including operationalizing learning agenda action items.
- Assist in coordinating and facilitating periodic pause and reflect activities, including but not limited to “After Action Reviews (AAR), post MDAs and DSAs, utilizing the Data for Action Guide, etc.
- Support capacity strengthening efforts to the MoH to conduct MERLA activities and institutionalize the approaches for said MERLA activities.
- Bachelor’s degree in public health, epidemiology, biostatistics, or other analytics field (a must), plus 3 years of experience; or a master’s degree in public health plus 1 year of experience in global health/ governance/ nutrition/ environment programs (preferred).
- Ability to travel up to 50% of the time.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Excel.
- Knowledge of MERLA methods and approaches, as learned through coursework, internship, or work experience
- Experience managing electronic data capture (EDC) and working with real-time monitoring of data (preferred)
- Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and meet deadlines under pressure
- Capacity to prioritize and manage multiple tasks
- Strong organizational skills
- Detail-oriented
- High level of integrity
- Ability to communicate respectfully in a multi-cultural environment
- An understanding of development issues
- Fluent in English required
RTI is an equal opportunity employer. Only short-listed applicants will be contacted.
Program Assistant
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
- In collaboration with other project staff, provide monitoring, supervision and capacity building during the implementation of project activities.
- Collaborate with the Monitoring, Evaluation Research, Learning and Adapting (MERLA) Officer on data management, analysis and archiving, and translating data into action.
- Collaborate with the Program Officer on organizing, implementing and evaluating all workshops, training and technical meetings funded under the Act | East program, as well as all Health System Strengthening and Learning activities.
- Assist the Program Manager in managing relationships with the Ministry of Health (MOH) and other key stakeholders at the national, regional, and district levels to ensure the successful implementation of all project activities.
- Assist the Program Manager in developing annual project workplans and budgets.
- Supervise the implementation of Disease Specific Assessment (DSA) activities, e.g. pre-Transmission Assessment Survey (pre-TAS), TAS, and others, and ensure quality of implementation to meet the protocol requirements as well as the data quality.
- Facilitate participants’ payments for specific activities in the field, e.g. TAS, workshops, or training, as needed.
- Perform other duties related to other technical activities as assigned by the Program Manager.
- Perform other duties as per project needs.
Minimum Required Education & Experience
- Master’s degree and 1 year of experience or Bachelor’s degree and 3 years of experience or equivalent combination of education and experience
- Ability to travel to the field for about 40% of the time
- Proven experience in working collaboratively with Tanzanian government units at all levels as well as local NGOs is preferred.
- Ability to successfully work within a team, have exceptional organizational skills and the ability to handle multiple, high-pressure tasks.
- Fluent in English and have strong interpersonal skills, cultural awareness and the ability to effectively communicate with individuals from diverse professional and social backgrounds with a service-oriented attitude.
- Familiarity with international development organizations, with its systems and policies
- High degree of professionalism and discretion
- Ability to work independently as well as in a team and in matrix organization
- Strong attention to detail, accuracy, and organizational skills with ability to be flexible and work well under pressure in a multi-tasking settings
- Experience with MS Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Excel
RTI is an equal opportunity employer. Only short-listed applicants will be contacted.
Grants Officer
Read Also:
Essential Duties:
- Support Grants Manager in the development of the grants management program with the input and oversight of the Chief of Party, Finance & Grants Manager, and the RTI Office of Contracts
- Support grants management process for local organizations, including grant proposal tracking, review, and approval process
- Maintains financial management files for grants and ensures audit trail for all necessary grant documentation
- Ensures timely financial disbursements, compliance with grants financial management policies, monitors all grant expenses, and provides regular updates on grant status
- Provides operational and technical assistance as required to build capacity of local partners & grantees
- Reviews technical and financial proposals from local NGOs/CBOs, including negotiating annual budgets, and reviews grantee financial expenditure reports for accuracy and adherence to the SOW and budget
- Monitor and document grantee performance and areas of capacity development throughout the grant period
- Review milestone payment requests and deliverables to ensure adherence to the grant agreement
- Liaises with the Finance team to ensure timely invoice payment and processing
- Ensure timely closure of the grant agreement
- Other tasks as needed
- Coordinate or perform periodic evaluations of completed District Councils and regions and other duties as directed by the COP, in order to overview compliance with grant agreements and the schedules implementation.
- Review selection procedures to comply with grant agreements. Detect and resolve implementation problems.
- Field trips are required.
Minimum Required Education and Experience
- Master’s degree and 3 years of experience or Bachelor’s Degree and 6 years of experience or equivalent combination of education and experience in finance and grants management
- Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, is required to obtain and transmit information to municipalities.
- Ability to plan, develop, manage, and evaluate projects of the scope and complexity described above is required.
- A very good knowledge of the concepts, principles, techniques, and practices of the professional field of specialization indicated.
- Knowledge of the municipalities finance, perspectives, objectives and priorities.
- Knowledge of Tanzania regulations.
- Availability to travel.
RTI is an equal opportunity employer. Only short-listed applicants will be contacted.
