Senior Advisor for Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning (MERL)

				Overview:

The Global Health Training, Advisory and Support Contract (GHTASC) delivers effective global health programming to advance the mission of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Bureau for Global Health (GH) through institutional support and workforce development services from junior, mid-level, senior and expert advisory, and administrative professionals.

Credence and its partner, the Public Health Institute (PHI), are both employers for GHTASC, and are seeking a Senior Advisor for Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning (MERL) under GHTASC. This position will be hired under Public Health Institute (PHI).

Position Summary: 

USAID's Bureau for Global Health supports health programs in partner countries, advances research and innovation in areas relevant to overall Agency health objectives, and transfers new technologies through its own programmatic work, coordination with other donors, and a portfolio of grants. Global health is a global good with consequences that not only affect the people of developing nations, but also directly affect the interests of American citizens.

The Office of Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition, within USAID's Bureau for Global Health (GH/MCHN), serves as the Agency's technical and policy lead on maternal newborn and child health, immunization, nutrition, and environmental health, with a focus on preventing child and maternal deaths and improved nutrition, and supporting other related Agency priorities. Cross-cutting activities managed by the Office in support of this goal include private sector partnerships, social and behavior change, MCHN policy, multilateral partnerships, gender, innovation, monitoring, evaluation, research/research utilization and learning (MERL).

MCHN's Research and Policy Division (GH/MCHN/RP) is responsible for technical leadership, guidance, and coordination to advance a systematic approach to the use of policy, behavior change, community and private sector engagement, innovation, monitoring, evaluation, research/research utilization and learning to accelerate the uptake, sustained and effective use of, and scale-up of maternal, newborn, child, water, and sanitation (WASH) and nutrition programming. The RPD is one of four divisions in the MCHN Office, which also includes the Maternal and Newborn Health Division, the Child Health and Immunization Division and the Nutrition and Environmental Health Division. RPD staff support the MERL needs of other MCHN Divisions as well as USAID Missions, the Bureau for Global Health, and the Agency at large.

The Senior Advisor for Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) in Maternal, Child Health (MCH), and Nutrition will work as an institutional support contractor (ISC) in USAID's Bureau for Global Health, Office of Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition (MCHN), Research and Policy (RP) Division. The Senior Advisor for MERL will provide technical support in the application of MERL in support of Preventing Child and Maternal Deaths Framework for Action and the Getting to 2030: Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition Technical Roadmap (https://www.usaid.gov/global-health/health-areas/maternal-and-child-health/mchnroadmap). The Senior Advisor for Implementation Research in the RP Division will act as the USAID point of contact for this position. The position will work in a matrix management environment and be a member of one or more formal and informal teams.

The Senior Advisor will be responsible for providing MERL support to the MCHN Office, MCH/Nutrition/WASH-focused global projects, USAID Missions and USAID bilateral awards along with special MCHN Office, Bureau for Global Health and priority Agency initiatives, such as Primary Impact and Localization, as required. There are four major areas of responsibility:

* Contribute to USAID's global technical leadership in MERL for MCH, Nutrition and WASH. 
* Provide expert MERL support to USAID Missions and USAID global and bilateral projects.
* Contribute to USAID's annual reporting, portfolio reviews and budget development processes and support special initiatives. 
* Support analysis, documentation, knowledge management and dissemination activities working in collaboration with the MCHN communications team. 

MERL support provided will include guidance on improving routine and periodic measurement of coverage, quality, equity, and cost of evidence based MCH and nutrition interventions and practices, use of data for decision making and individual and organizational capacity strengthening in MERL. This position will also conduct secondary analyses of data from sample surveys, routine data/monitoring systems, and other data sources; contribute to program evaluation and cost analysis design, implementation oversight and dissemination; contribute to development and/or review of Mission, project and office learning agendas and performance monitoring plans, and share MERL evidence and best practices. The MERL Advisor will further contribute to USAID's global leadership activities in MERL for MCH, nutrition and WASH and the overall development of MCHN Office strategies and activities, development of theories of change, and priority setting. This is anticipated to be undertaken through collaboration with other donors and multilateral agencies including the World Bank, UNFPA, UNICEF, WHO, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and by engaging with USAID Mission staff within countries.

The successful candidate will have a wide range of MERL expertise and practical experience applying this expertise to the design, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, modification and scale up of evidence-based health-related programs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Specifically, the candidate should have experience with program process, performance, and impact evaluation; implementation research; context and performance monitoring and innovative complexity aware monitoring and evaluation methods (e.g., Most Significant Change), as well as approaches to building MERL capacity among local actors and entities. In addition, experience in conducting cost analysis is preferred.

Full salary range for this position is $133,380 to $200,720 per year, with the starting salary determined based on candidate's knowledge, skills, experience, as well as budget availability.

Responsibilities:

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Provide expert MERL support to USAID Missions, bilateral projects, and, as appropriate, Global Projects.

* Provide expert MERL technical assistance to Missions in development of their Country Development Cooperation Strategies, new procurements, portfolio-wide performance monitoring plans, and/or analysis and development of portfolio-wide evaluations and learning agendas. 
* Serve as an MCHN Office MERL technical Advisor to one or more USAID country support teams.
* Support efforts by Missions and LMIC stakeholders to use MERL data for decision making, accountability, and reporting to develop and strengthen policies, strategies, programs, and domestic resource mobilization that advances mortality reduction.
* Serve as a Technical Advisor for USAID global and/or country bilateral projects.
* Review and provide guidance on project workplans, theories of change, performance monitoring plans, learning agendas, study protocols, data collection tools, learning products, and external evaluation scopes of work. 
* Support capacity building in MERL for USAID mission staff and LMIC partner country counterparts
* Facilitate sharing and adoption of MERL best practices by USAID Missions as well as bilateral and global programs.

Contribute to USAID annual review, reporting and budget development processes and support special initiatives.

* Conduct data analysis and data visualization to develop data and knowledge projects working in support of the MCHN communications team in support of dissemination of key messages, strategies, learning products, and evidence to pr
			

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