Madagascar: Director of Monitoring and Evaluation, WASH Program

Organization Overview

Medical Care Development International (MCDI), a division of Medical Care Development, Inc., is a private, non-profit voluntary organization founded in 1977 with offices in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States of America. MCDI’s mission is to enhance the wellbeing of peoples and communities in developing nations through superior technical assistance in health and socio-economic development. Since 1977, MCDI has provided technical assistance to over 40 countries and institutions in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia, and the Middle East.

Overview of the Position

MCDI is seeking candidates for the Director of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) position for an anticipated rural water supply, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) Program funded by USAID in Madagascar. The primary goal of the Program is to increase access to sustainable WASH services in targeted rural areas of Madagascar. Specifically, the Program would expand access to sustainable WASH services, facilitate improved behaviors and use of those services, develop and support public-private partnerships, and strengthen governance at the community, commune, regional and national levels.

The Director of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) would support the Project Chief of Party and the Deputy Chief of Party, Technical Senior Advisor, and work with the Project team to deliver the Project’s expected results. S/he would lead project monitoring, evaluation and operational research efforts. This position shall develop monitoring, evaluation and reporting plans, systems and tools that include Program indicators, baseline data, targets and a plan to evaluate performance and produce timely, accurate and complete reporting. Moreover, this position will help continually improve program implementation based on M&E findings. This position would also play a key role in supporting Program knowledge management and carrying out a Learning Plan to accomplish documentation and dissemination of Program lessons learned and best practices.

The position is contingent on successful award of the Cooperative Agreement to MCDI.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Work closely with the Program COP and Deputy COP to provide technical support in building capacities of the Program implementing partners (to include the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) to monitor and evaluate Program results;

• Develop and oversee the implementation of the Program Performance Monitoring Plan (PMP) that includes plans for collecting baseline data and establishing targets and outputs that contribute to improving outcome level indicators to be annually measured by USAID/Madagascar (through the Outcomes Monitoring Surveys);

• Assume primary responsibility for all Program activity monitoring, evaluation and learning, and lead the development of platforms to share lessons learned with the GOM and its partners, the donors and key WASH stakeholders in Madagascar and the region;

• Oversee and lead the development of Program M&E systems, procedures and tools;

• Play a key role in maintaining a Program Knowledge Management and Learning system;

• Lead all Program baseline, mid-term and end-line surveys in support of Program data collection and analysis to inform Program interventions and national policy formulation;

• Ensure the availability and use of high quality data for decision making;

• Support the COP and Deputy COP in developing M&E sections of the quarterly and annual reports, and contribute substantially to the annual planning process as it relates to M&E and learning goals, targets and activities;

• Assess and implement innovative technologies (mHealth), when relevant, supportive of improved WASH information system reporting;

• Provide capacity building and mentor in monitoring, evaluation and learning to all Program implementing partners, to include Community-Based Organizations involved in Program implementation through sub-awards;

• Train and mentor Program staff on relevant M&E aspects of Program implementation;

• Contribute to the development and implementation of a strategy for synthesizing and disseminating key results, lessons learned, and other research and survey outputs of the Program.

Required Qualifications, Skills and Experience

• A Masters-level degree in demographics, public health, WASH, social sciences, or a related field is desirable;

• A minimum of 7 years direct work experience in developing countries as a senior expert in monitoring and evaluation in the health/WASH sector;

• Proven expertise in quantitative and qualitative methodologies, operations research, health Management Information Systems, reporting, data quality assessments, data analysis, and/or presentation;

• Established track record in monitoring and evaluation of WASH and health programs, with extensive experience designing, developing and implementing health data information systems, preferably in Madagascar;

• A high level of scientific and management expertise and substantial experience relevant to planning and implementing M&E activities;

• Strong verbal skills and ability to communicate technical information clearly and effectively to both technical and non-technical colleagues;

• Extensive experience in data processing and data management (from data capturing to data analysis for decision making). This should include high level knowledge in the use of database management software (e.g. MS Access, SQL-Server and/or other), SQL, MS Excel, and data analysis software (e.g. STATA, SPSS, EPI Info and/or other). Experience in the use/programming of PDAs will be considered an asset;

• Experience in mentoring counterparts in monitoring and evaluation, database management, data analysis using the software identified above;

• Demonstrated strong management, coordination, teamwork, and planning skills, with proven ability to function effectively with multiple host-country counterparts in both the public and NGO sectors;

• Strong verbal and written French and English communications skills; Malagasy and knowledge of the region is preferred;

• Experience in capacity building and training in monitoring and evaluation;

• A proven ability to work with government and donor agencies, stakeholders and decision makers;

• Experience working with USAID and knowledge of USAID rules and regulations is preferred;

• Full professional proficiency in English and French;

• Prior experience working in Madagascar is strongly preferred. Preference would be given to Malagasy nationals.

In order to apply for this position, please send your CV to evanbronkhorst@mcd.org with the title "Application for Director of Monitoring and Evaluation, WASH Program".