Senior Assessment Officer, Third Party Monitoring (TPM) for Nigeria at IMPACT Initiatives

IMPACT Initiatives is a humanitarian NGO, based in Geneva, Switzerland. The organisation manages several initiatives, including the REACH Initiative. The IMPACT team comprises specialists in data collection, management and analysis and GIS. IMPACT was launched at the initiative of ACTED, an international NGO whose headquarter is based in Paris and is present in thirty countries. The two organizations have a strong complementarity formalized in a global partnership, enabling IMPACT to benefit from ACTED’s operational support on its fields of intervention.

We are currently looking for a qualified candidate to fill the position below:

Job Title: Senior Assessment Officer, Third Party Monitoring (TPM) for Nigeria

Location: Abuja, Nigeria with frequent travel to Maiduguri, Nigeria
Department: IMPACT
Duration: 12 months
Starting Date: ASAP

Background on Impact and Reach
REACH was born in 2010 as a joint initiative of two International NGOs (IMPACT Initiatives and ACTED) and the United Nations Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT). REACH’s purpose is to promote and facilitate the development of information products that enhance the humanitarian community’s decision making and planning capacity for emergency, reconstruction and development contexts. REACH facilitates information management for aid actors through three complementary services: (a) need and situation assessments facilitated by REACH teams; (b) situation analysis using satellite imagery; (c) provision of related database and (web)-mapping facilities and expertise.

Country Profile

In North East Nigeria (NEN), the ongoing crisis continues to have a profound impact on the population, leading to displacement both within and out of the region and high rates of unmet needs among internally displaced persons. The conflict additionally exacerbates prior unmet needs among non-displaced and host communities. While the primary driver of the conflict remains violent conflict, including ISWAP (Islamic State West Africa
Province), JAS (Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad) and associated armed opposition groups (AOGs), other underlying factors, such as climate change, poverty, and disease outbreaks, exacerbate need and further complicate aid delivery.
Against the backdrop of this protracted crisis, the humanitarian situation in Northeast Nigeria remains one of the world’s most severe.
Out of the Northeast’s Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe (BAY) state’s total population of 13 million people, an estimated 7.9 million are in need of humanitarian assistance.[1] Borno state remains the epicentre of the crisis, containing over 80% of the region’s over 2 million internally displaced persons.[2] Major incidents throughout 2019 have led to continued mass displacements and severely affected the provision of humanitarian assistance in the region.
The sudden influx of arrivals added strain to the existing infrastructure of the humanitarian community, resulting in high rates of unmet needs, overcrowding in camps, and exposure to protection risks for vulnerable groups.
The congestion status of the camps has resulted in over 60% of IDPs residing outside of camps within host communities, further complicating service delivery.[3] The intensity of needs within Maiduguri and the instability of the security situation in more remote regions has resulted in increased focus on populations in accessible areas; however, populations in the less accessible areas are presumed to have even greater needs.
These hard-to-reach areas are estimated to contain around 971,000 persons.[4] Very little is known about the specific conditions and needs of the populations living in these areas, but they are presumed to have little mobility, limited essential services, and little or no access to humanitarian aid.
The same threats that severely limit the ability of humanitarian actors to conduct thorough assessments also immediately affect the population living in the region. REACH’s Humanitarian Situation Monitoring (HSM) assessments in the Hard-to-Reach areas of Borno state have found that people in these inaccessible areas lack of access to basic services including health facilities, access to livelihoods and have decreased access to foods, access to improved water sources and access to humanitarian services.[5]
As such, the needs for evidenced-based Humanitarian Aid and information on populations in both accessible and inaccessible areas is paramount to a coordinated response. IMPACT has been present in Nigeria since 2017, providing a growing evidence base for humanitarian response planning through sectoral, multi-sectoral and area-based assessments as well as information management services.
In 2019, IMPACT is looking to continue to provide the humanitarian community with relevant and reliable information to strengthen strategic programming and needs-based targeting in Northeast Nigeria.
As an initiative deployed in many vulnerable and crisis-affected countries, IMPACT is deeply concerned by the devastating impact the COVID-19 pandemic may have on the millions of affected people we seek to serve. IMPACT is currently scaling up its programming in response to this pandemic, with the goal of identifying practical ways to inform humanitarian responses in the 20+ countries where we operate, including Nigeria.

Project Profile:

IMPACT Initiatives, under its Partner support portfolio and in a consortium with Ground Truth Solutions[6], was awarded a DFID third party monitoring contract in 2018 to monitor their North East Nigeria Transition into Development (NENTAD) programme. The DFID NENTAD portfolio includes programming in Education in Emergencies, Protection, Nutrition, General Distribution, Coordination and Security, however the latter two are not covered in IMPACT monitoring.
Monitoring of this portfolio has direct influence on DFIDs $300 million GBP portfolio in the BAY[7] states and engages over 30 international NGOs in implementation. DFID, and donors in general, face numerous challenges in obtaining accurate, reliable and unbiased information related to their investments in North East Nigeria due to the scale of the response and the complex and volatile context.
There are clear and recent reports highlighting the prevalence of aid diversion – a phenomenon that lessens the impact of already limited donor funding. IMPACT conducts monthly light touch monitoring on the 4 previously stated programmes, deep dives focusing upon each of the programmes, thematic assessments and partner systems reviews of all DFID partners’, including monitoring and evaluation, accountability to affected populations and conflict sensitivity.

Position Profile:

IMPACT is seeking an experienced candidate, who has previously designed and implemented mixed-methods assessments – ideally in a humanitarian setting.
The candidate should be capable of synthesizing qualitative, quantitative, and geospatial information to write clear, engaging reports conveying the results of the monitoring assessments.
The candidate should also be comfortable representing IMPACT and the consortium in multi-sector meetings and able to coordinate and liaise with external partners on technical issues.

Functions

Under the supervision of the IMPACT Research Manager & Country Coordinator in Nigeria and of IMPACT’s HQ in Geneva, this IMPACT Senior Assessment Officer will be responsible for the management and implementation of TPM assessments.
S / he will be responsible for ongoing data analysis and coordination with IMPACT Nigeria’s field teams, database officers, and GIS officers to produce to support with the production of outputs.

The IMPACT Senior Assessment Officer’s responsibilities include:

In coordination with the Research Manager and Country Coordinator, designing and implementing IMPACT assessment strategy and research cycle;
Directly line-managing IMPACT Assessment Officer(s) and coordination with the GIS Officer and Data Officer to ensure smooth and timely implementation of activities;
Facilitate engagement and feedback on research design with external partners, including implementing partners and the donor;
Lead on designing the methodology, tools, and data analysis plan according to IMPACT requirements and principles;
Coordinate external partners and internal teams during data collection;
Support in organizing and facilitating joint analysis workshops, as applicable;
Oversee the data analysis and drafting information products, which comply with IMPACT’s guidelines;
Implementing and monitoring the IMPACT assessment strategy in coordination with the Country Coordinator and IMPAC Research Manager;
Supporting the development / revision of assessment / programme strategies, reports or new proposals;
In coordination with the IMPACT Country Coordinator and Research Manager, external representation of IMPACT with donors, partners, and the wider aid community through clusters and sectoral working groups;
Liaising with programme staff of other ACTED departments to ensure close coordination and information sharing is maintained;
Coordinate timely and accurate reporting to IMPACT HQ along with the Country Coordinator.
Other tasks falling within IMPACT’s functions as requested by supervisors.

Impact Assessment Management and Coordination
Management of assessment processes:

The Senior Assessment Officer (SAO) is responsible for designing the methodology and tools associated with each assessment, according to IMPACT requirements and principles.
He / she will manage the planning, implementation, and follow-up of all IMPACT and project-specific assessment activities conducted.
The SAO shall manage logistics, financial, administration and HR processes directly related to IMPACT and liaise accordingly with the relevant ACTED counterpart.
He / she is directly responsible for the implementation of proper IMPACT and ACTED FLAT procedures.

Implementation:

The SAO is responsible for contributing to the implementation of assessment projects, and providing support to the development of assessment, database and GIS tools with the IMPACT team. This will specifically include, designing of data collection tools (household surveys, focus groups, and more); development or review of databases; contributing to GIS data collection procedures; and analysis of information to contribute to reports.

Coordination:

The SAO shall provide technical support to the Country Coordinator in terms of the preparation of new project proposals, development of programme strategies, implementation of project activities, and any other required reporting mechanisms.
The SAO is responsible for the timely and accurate preparation of narrative and financial reports related to IMPACT activities in-country through close liaison with the Project Development and Finance departments.

IMPACT Reporting:

The IMPACT SAO is responsible for consolidating all analysis and conclusions from each assessment into IMPACT products such as factsheets, reports and briefs using standard formats. He / she will liaise with Geneva and Regional GIS/DB Specialists in order to represent data in static map formats, as relevant.
The SAO is responsible for following the designated timeline of reports to be submitted to project partners and donors.
He / she must ensure the writing of timely assessment reports and factsheets, ensuring the quality and accuracy of technical information provided as well as the confidentiality of collected information.
He / she will ensure that assessment reports contribute to aid coordination and planning and add to the general base of field knowledge in Nigeria for all organisations working in the region.
The SAO will also store, organise and disseminate assessments, project documents and best practices among partners.
He / she will coordinate timely and accurate reporting to IMPACT.

Staff Management:

The SAO is responsible for day-to-day management of assessment staff, and coordination with the Data / GIS team and field teams. He / she is expected to guide and direct IMPACT staff and prepare and follow up work plans with each staff member that directly reports to him/her.
The SAO will ensure that all field teams are comprehensively briefed on the objective, expected outputs and that the overall implementation strategy of any given activity is clearly understood.
He / she will ensure that project / field staff are given training and complete all the necessary documentation in line with program requirements set by IMPACT.
He / she will also be responsible for capacity building and staff development of enumerators, Field Officers and Junior Assessment Officers.

External Engagement:

The SAO is responsible for the representation of IMPACT in cluster and multi-sector meetings / technical working groups in country, and is expected to follow up on technical issues identified in meetings.
This specifically will include liaising with external partners to identify potential for data sets to be integrated into existing databases and mapped to support the coordination of the broader humanitarian community.
The SAO will further represent IMPACT vis-a-vis current and potential donors and communicate relevant information to the IMPACT Country Coordinator. He/she will participate in inter-NGO meetings and those of UN agencies and any other relevant inter-governmental institutions at the national or provincial level.

Confidentiality:

The IMPACT Senior Assessment Officer will maintain the strictest confidentiality on all data collected and related processes.
He / she will actively take measures to prevent the unauthorized sharing of any information and data belonging to IMPACT and its partners, or collected during his / her assignment with IMPACT.

Accountability to Communities and Beneficiaries:

The staff member is responsible for ensuring that all relations with the communities we work are conducted in a respectful and consultative manner. Due attention must be paid to ensuring that communities are adequately consulted and informed about IMPACT programme objectives, activities, beneficiary selection criteria, and methodologies. This is the responsibility of every IMPACT staff member.

Requirements

Excellent academic qualifications, including a Master’s degree, if relevant;
2 years of relevant working experience in a humanitarian setting;
Excellent team management, coordination, organisational and planning skills required, including an ability to manage large workloads, oversee multiple teams and effectively meet deadlines, through an excellent ability to multi-task and prioritise;
Experience with external engagement (donors, partners and other key stakeholders) required;
Familiarity with the humanitarian coordination system required;
Excellent communication and drafting skills required for effective report writing;
Excellent analytical skills required – the ability to situate findings within a wider context;
Solution-oriented, flexible, and open-minded, including the ability to operate in a cross-cultural environment required;
Fluency in English required;
Strong knowledge of Microsoft Word and Excel required;
Experience with mobile data collection (ODK, ONA, KOBO) required;
Knowledge of the Adobe Suite software, particularly Illustrator and InDesign an asset.
OCHA, Humanitarian Needs Overview, 2020
IOM, Displacement Tracking Matrix, November 2019
OCHA, Humanitarian Needs Overview, 2020
OCHA, Humanitarian Needs Overview, 2020
REACH HSM Hard-to-Reach Factsheets, 2020
Ground Truth Solutions is a London based NGO specializing in accountability and beneficiary feedback.
Borno, Adamawa and Yobe.

Conditions

Salary defined by the IMPACT salary grid; educational level, expertise, hardship, security, and performance are considered for pay bonus
Additional monthly living allowance provided in country by IMPACT’s partner ACTED
Food and lodging provided at the organisation’s guesthouse/or housing allowance (depending on contract length and country of assignment)
Transportation costs covered, including additional return ticket + luggage allowance
Provision of medical, life, and repatriation insurance + retirement package

Application Closing Date
18th September, 2020.

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