Hours: Regular Full-time, 40 hours per week; Not Eligible for
Overtime
Location: Based in Gulu, Uganda; With travel to districts as needed
Salary: Commensurate with required experience and qualifications
Reports to: Chief of Party
University Research Co., LLC (URC)
URC is a global company dedicated to improving the quality of health care, social services, and health education worldwide. With a non-profit affiliate, the Center for Human Services (CHS), URC manages projects in over 45 countries, including the United States.
Established in 1965, URC offers a range of technical assistance to strengthen health and social systems and service quality by empowering communities and health workers to identify and scale up locally appropriate solutions to critical problems. Internationally, we expand access to and improve the quality of services addressing maternal, newborn, and child health; infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria; reproductive health and family planning; food and nutrition; and vulnerable children and families. In the US, we focus on improving communication related to issues like substance abuse, with a particular focus on reaching underserved populations.
URC’s mission is to provide innovative, evidence-based solutions to health and social challenges worldwide. Please join us in carrying out our mission (http://www.urc-chs.com/).
Project Overview:
With the RHITES-N Acholi Project (Regional Health Integration to Enhance Services in Northern Uganda – Acholi), USAID will continue its support of the Government of Uganda’s (GOU) efforts to improve access to and use of health services in the country’s post-conflict northern region. RHITES-N Acholi Project activities will build on USAID investments and national advances to increase access to and use of high-quality integrated services that accelerate the ability and capacity to respond to the specific health needs of residents in the Acholi sub-region, leveraging the URC-ASSIST project successes.
Roles and Responsibilities:
Reporting to the Chief of Party, the Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL) Director will be in charge of the monitoring, evaluation components of the Project and will lead the development of monitoring, evaluation and reporting (MER) Systems. The MER System will include appropriate indicators, baseline data, results and a plan to evaluate performance and produce timely, accurate and complete reporting.
Under the COP’s guidance, the MEL Director overall responsibility is to be able to measure and document program processes, output and impact data results by routinely and systematically collecting, analyzing, communicating and presenting program data for project staff, partners as well as the donors. Additional duties include, but are not limited to the following:
- Lead, direct and oversee the collection, analysis, and reporting of baseline data and ongoing MEL data collection, analysis and reporting according to the Project’s MEL plan.
- Conduct data verification and quality control exercises at and provide support on improvement of data quality.
- Work and coordinate with staff to design and implement robust MEL systems, including reporting, knowledge management, information and communication protocols.
- Identify and monitor key program activities in order to document results and ensure the integration of those results into the Project’s and stakeholder’s decision-management processes.
- Track, document and ensure progress on outcome level indicators attributable to project interventions at appropriate geographical levels, including community level indicators.
- In collaboration with the Health Systems Service Delivery (HSS) team, ensure that data collected and presented are accurate and valid and captures the information requested by donors, partners, and other stakeholders.
- Actively participate and engage in the planning for dissemination of lessons learned and present results of program achievements and outputs in written reports and at conferences and meetings.
- Prepare and ensure timely submission of project performance monitoring plans, including developing and defining program indicators and sources of data, as well as contributing to annual work plans, quarterly and annual reports and other project documents.
- Write and provide timely reports, presenting suggestions and recommendations based on MEL findings.
- Ensure that all staff, partners, and all other stakeholders involved in the collection and management of data to be used by the project have a clear understanding of the results framework, indicators, and data collection tools.
- In collaboration with the Project leadership team, and various members of technical staff, document best practices in form of case studies, success stories, abstracts, video clips in addition to the routine monthly updates, quarterly and annual reports.
- Supervise, mentor and guide staff members pertaining to MEL, KM, information and communication aspects of the Project and the organization, as needed.
- Any other related duties and relevant tasks assigned by supervisor/Chief of Party.
Minimum Qualifications:
Required Experience & Qualifications
- Master’s Degree in monitoring and evaluation (M&E), epidemiology, biostatistics, statistics, research methods or related field OR a Bachelor’s degree in statistics, biostatistics, social sciences or a related field and 3 years of experience (in addition to the 5-year requirement noted below) working in M&E for health programs;
- A minimum of five (5) years of work experience with M&E for health programs, demonstrating increased level of responsibility;
- At least 3 years of work experience in the field preferably at the community/district level.
- Proven ability to articulate technical information clearly and effectively to both technical and nontechnical audiences;
- Demonstrated experience in successfully moving evaluation and research findings to program actions;
- Proven proficiency in statistical software such as STATA, EpiInfo or similar, specifically for analysis of public health data and large datasets; and
- Demonstrated expertise in both quantitative and qualitative research methods
Desired Experience & Qualifications
- Minimum 3 years’ experience of working with USAID, PEPFAR, global health/development programs;
- Minimum of 3 years of experience of working in Northern Uganda is required.
- Demonstrable experience in supporting teams applying MEL/KM approaches is an added advantage;
- Experience in building and leading teams;
- Ability and willingness to spend at least 50% of the time at the district level;
- Experience with monitoring progress in financing, accounting, planning, budgeting and auditing is an asset; and
- Experience with capacity building.
Please note: Only candidates who are eligible to work in Uganda for an indefinite period without a need for sponsorship will be considered for this position.
To Apply:
For immediate consideration, please visit URC’s Career Opportunities page at www.urc-chs.com/careers.
You must upload your CV/Résumé and your Cover Letter where indicated. Also, please complete your application form and attach a completed USAID Form 1420 Contractor Employee Biographical Data Sheet as well by close of business on Friday, 15th October 2021.
Due to the large number of inquiries we receive, only candidates who have met the required experience & qualifications for this position will be contacted. No phone calls please. However, since we are active around the world in the field of public health, we may wish to retain your CV in our database for other/future opportunities, unless you direct us otherwise. Thank you very much for your interest.
URC is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We value and seek diversity in our workforce.