PROGRAM SUMMARY
GUARD America (Global Urgent Activation for Response to Infectious Diseases) is an International Medical Corps-led consortium funded by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy (GHSD) to support rapid outbreak activation and response, early detection and containment, operational coordination, and stronger national and subnational outbreak-response systems. GUARD is currently supporting the BVD response in DRC, while retaining a broader platform and consortium structure that may support additional country responses as activated.
International Medical Corps is implementing a large and evolving Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with additional regional and multi-country programming. The response spans multiple projects and funding streams and includes case management through Ebola Treatment Centers and transit/triage structures; surveillance, alert management and community-based surveillance; infection prevention and control (IPC) and WASH; risk communication and community engagement (RCCE); mental health and psychosocial support; and continuity of essential health services. The scale and complexity of the response requires a coordinated M/E approach that harmonizes indicators, tools, data systems and reporting across projects while meeting government, donor and internal requirements.
The Senior Specialist, Monitoring and Evaluation (M/E) - GUARD will provide senior technical M/E leadership and oversight for International Medical Corps' global project team for GUARD. The role will augment, not replace, the existing country M/E team and leadership. The role will also provide targeted M/E support to the GUARD consortium, including management of the results framework and indicator tracking, donor reporting, consolidation of partner results, and coordination with consortium partners on M/E standards and requirements. As GUARD's response remit evolves, the position is expected to transition to a broader multi-country or global GUARD M/E role.
JOB SUMMARY
The role of the Senior Specialist is to support better performance and greater accountability by implementing evidence-based project management at the field level, to guide and improve performance. The Senior Specialist will lead the design of methodologies and tools to ensure the availability of clear and accurate information at the project level. The Senior Specialist also plays a vital role in data management, surveys and quality by designing an M/E system that adheres to the International Medical Corps (IMC) M/E Global Guidelines, the M/E Minimum Standards for Quality, and the guiding M/E policies and procedures, among others. The Senior Specialist, M/E will provide technical support to the project and build capacity in the country mission through strengthening learning and knowledge sharing across the IMC and with the wider humanitarian community.
For this assignment, the Senior Specialist will provide senior technical M/E leadership and oversight for IMC's highly infectious disease responses led by GUARD, providing technical direction to the country M/E team to ensure coherent monitoring, data quality, analysis and reporting across multiple projects and funding streams, while also supporting GUARD consortium-level performance monitoring, reporting and partner M/E coordination.
REPORTING AND WORKING RELATIONSHIPS
- The country-based M/E lead will have a dotted-line reporting relationship to the Senior Specialist, Monitoring and Evaluation, for technical direction and oversight, while keeping their solid-line reporting relationship to country leadership.
- Sets the technical scope, standards, methods, tools and quality expectations for M/E across the Ebola response and GUARD-supported activities. Provides technical guidance, review and capacity building to the country M/E lead and team.
- Country leadership keeps line management of the country M/E team, including day-to-day work assignments, deadlines, performance management, and hiring and separation decisions. The Senior Specialist gives technical input to these processes as appropriate.
- Where GUARD operates in countries with an existing IMC mission, the same model applies. Country M/E leads reports to the Senior Specialist on a dotted line for technical matters, and country leadership keeps solid-line management and operational accountability.
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential function with or without reasonable accommodation.
MAIN TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
IMC's policies, guidelines, and procedures
- Mainstream the Global M/E Guidelines across all related M/E activities at the field level and ensure the guidance notes for monitoring and evaluation are functional at the field level.
- Apply and adapt existing Global M/E Guidelines, tools, and templates at the relevant stages of the project cycle.
- Actively promote the Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) standards within IMC and amongst its beneficiaries.
- Contribute to the creation of a positive image and overall credibility of the organization, notably through the application of the Code of Conduct, ethics, values, and standpoint with regards to internal and external actors.
Ebola Response and GUARD M/E Leadership
- Provide senior technical leadership and oversight of M/E for IMC's Ebola response in DRC across multiple projects and funding streams, providing technical direction to the country M/E lead and team to ensure that project-specific requirements are met within a harmonized response-level M/E approach.
- Maintain and strengthen the consolidated Ebola response M/E framework, including harmonization of indicators, definitions, data collection tools, reporting flows and performance tracking across projects and implementation areas.
- Lead routine review of response performance, data quality and indicator achievement, working with program, technical and field teams to identify discrepancies, implementation gaps and required corrective actions and to strengthen the use of data for operational decision-making.
- Coordinate donor and internal M/E deliverables for the Ebola portfolio, including M/E plans, indicator tracking tables, performance reports, data calls and other quantitative reporting requirements, ensuring consistency of results across submissions.
- For GUARD, maintain and update the project results framework/log frame and indicator tracking systems; coordinate consolidation and quality assurance of results reported by IMC and consortium partners; and contribute M/E evidence and analysis to GUARD donor reporting, reviews and planning.
- Provide M/E guidance and capacity strengthening to GUARD consortium partners as required, including clarification of indicator definitions, reporting requirements, data-quality expectations and supporting documentation.
- Ensure that GUARD country-response monitoring is integrated with existing Ebola response systems to the extent feasible, avoiding unnecessary duplication of indicators, tools, databases and reporting processes.
- Coordinate closely with the Information Management/Data Manager, epidemiology staff, country M/E staff, technical leads and relevant HQ technical teams to establish clear responsibilities for data collection, management, analysis and reporting.
- Support adaptation of M/E systems for additional GUARD-supported country responses if activated and be prepared to assume a broader multi-country/global GUARD M/E remit as the program evolves.
Project design and planning
- Lead or support the development and updating of project and response-level results frameworks, theories of change, log frames, M/E plans and indicator tracking tables, including harmonization of indicators across Ebola response projects and GUARD.
- Identify the budget/resources needed for M/E activities of the project.
- Support project planning processes related to M/E aspects (M/E work plan and budget). M/E system
- In coordination with the implementation Team and M/E field Focal Points, establish a reliable participatory M/E framework according to donors' requirements for the project to ensure quality.
- Follow full M/E procedures and operating plans within the project and develop harmonized data collection tools involving the different stakeholders (project team, partners).
- Establish M/E system in line with donors and project requirements and ensure donors' requirements are followed through the project management life cycle.
- Develop and maintain data gathering strategies and clear data and reporting flows across projects, implementation sites and, for GUARD, consortium partners.
- Oversee the collection and timely reporting of data and statistics from the service delivery points.
- Consolidate and reconcile results across technical sectors, projects, geographic areas and relevant implementing partners, ensuring consistency between project-level and response-level reporting.
- Implement DHIS2 where appropriate and applicable, control and manage DHIS2 data entry and management.
- Collaborate with the M/E and DHIS2 teams at HQ to develop and maintain the data management system, including updating, troubleshooting and promptly addressing all problems as they arise
- Lead the implementation of Satellite-based Tracking and Remote Monitoring (STARM) system
- Conduct regular site visits or when required to monitor service provision and ensure data quality.
- Support project team to organize regular review and planning meetings to assess project progress.
- Set project monitoring system for the project (monitoring plan, monitoring tools and strategies) and disseminate all monitoring tools within project.
Data quality management
- Collaborate with technical staff on data quality maintenance and routine monitoring of project.
- Assess the quality of data collected for the indicators and ensure that data pitfalls and issues are...