MEAL Officer – OVC at Catholic Relief Services (CRS) – Akwa Ibom and Cross River

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is an international non-governmental organization supporting relief and development work in over 99 countries around the world. CRS programs assist persons on the basis of need, regardless of creed, ethnicity or nationality. CRS works through local church and nonchurch partners to implement its programs, therefore, strengthening and building the capacity of these partner organizations is fundamental to programs in every country in which CRS operates. CRS has worked in Nigeria for more than 25 years.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: MEAL Officer – OVC

Job Ref Code: MLC14220
Locations: Akwa Ibom and Cross River
Department: Programs / ICHSAA
Reports To: Technical Specialist – MEAL OVC
Position Type: Full Time
Band: 7
Slot: 2 Openings

Project Summary

The USAID/Nigeria funded Integrated Child Health and Social Service Award (ICHSSA) is to ensure that Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) are cared for, and protected by their households, communities, and local and state government to reduce their vulnerability to HIV. The ICHSSA, which is implemented by Child Health, Livelihoods and Development (CHILD) project in Akwa Ibom and Cross States of Nigeria, seeks to improve the wellbeing of OVC and their caregivers in a coordinated and sustainable manner.
CRS is a member of the consortium with Center for Clinical Care and Clinical Research (CCCRN) and will be managing the Strategic Information component of the project, among others. It is pertinent to develop new databases and/or management information systems (MIS), maintain and upgrade existing ones in order to respond to data management needs of the project in relation its Activity Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Plan (AMELP), which will include but not limited to routine data collection, storage and reporting using appropriate indicators, tools and MIS.

Primary Function

The primary responsibility of this position is to provide an overall support to the day to day implementation of M&E activities at the Project offices in Akwa Ibom and Cross River states.
S/he should collaborate with his Technical Specialist in the state office and or in-country headquarters to ensure that all M&E tools and management information systems (MIS) are availability and up to date for routine program monitoring activities in the state.
Under the direct supervision of the Technical Specialist, the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL)Officer will ensure that data entry into national, PEPFAR and project MIS – National OVC management information system (NOMIS), District Health Information System (DHIS), Data for Accountability and Impact (DATIM) and other MIS; are up to date at all times.
Furthermore, s/he will collaborate with the MEAL teams of the project and the CSOs to ensure that accurate and high quality program data are collected and entered into the MIS platforms in a timely manner, reports generated along with the narratives, to provide information for OVC programming and management decision making.
Also, s/he will support the training of CSO staff, promote program learning and sharing among staff, partners and stakeholders and encourage data utilization at all levels.

Job Responsibility

Support the S/Technical Specialist in overseeing the MEAL activities of the CSOs in the implementation and use of the CHILD MEAL tools and MIS.
Work closely with the CSO M&E officers and mentor them to ensure they understand the data requirements and data-gathering and report formats.
Support CSO M&E staff in their work with the Data entry clerks, community volunteers, LG Social welfare officers and community improvement teams(CIT) to ensure that enough training is done at all levels, that the correct forms are used and that accurate reports are submitted on a timely basis.
In collaboration with the CHILD MEAL team build capacity of CSO M&E staff in understanding of OVC MER indicators and Nigeria custom indicators and how they are measured.
Ensure that CSOs enter accurate and high-quality data and report on the MIS platforms on a timely basis or as may be needed.
Work with contract M&E firm in the implementation of data quality assessments (DQAs), Site Improvement and Monitoring System (SIMS) implementation.
Ensure that CSOs participate in the DQAs, understand the recommendations for remedial action, and comply with those recommendations
Collaborate with the Senior Technical Specialist (STS) or Technical Specialist, MEAL OVC in the analysis and report of CSO’s data using the MIS required platforms on monthly, quarterly, semi-annual and annual basis to USAID and other stakeholders, as may be required.
Undertake any MEAL responsibilities that may be assigned to him from time to time by his supervisor of the management team.

Qualifications and Skills

Bachelor’s degree in social science with emphasis in rural development, public health, statistics or a development related field.
Demonstrated skills in M&E design with previous experience in application of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies.
At least three (3) year of professional experience implementing/managing M&E for programs related to Health, HIV and OVC, agriculture or food and nutrition security programming, of which at least one year with a NGOs.
Experience in designing computer databases in Excel, Access, SQL or in other database packages such as DHIS and DATIM.
Demonstrable computer literacy in MS Office – Excel, Power Point and Word.
Experience in data analysis in Access and at least one of the following: CSPro, SPSS, EpiInfo or STATA is an added advantage
Demonstrated ability to work effectively with government and civil society partners and communities as well as transfer knowledge to diverse audiences through workshops, training and meetings using participatory methods and adult learning principles.
Proven leadership and inter-personal skills for effective teamwork; as well as the ability to work independently on a frequent basis, taking initiative, managing a variety of activities concurrently, and delivering outputs on schedule.
Demonstrated ability to support partners working at a distance to achieve results against program objectives/targets.

Key Working Relationships:

Internal: Technical Specialist MEAL, Database Manager, State Program Manager, Technical area leads (HIV Care and Support, Household Economic Strengthening, Government and Community System Strengthening, Gender and adolescents, Collaborating, Learning and Adapting, etc)
External: CSOs, External Consultants and Government partners

Travel:

Travel up to 30% of the time.

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff)
These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results: