Vacancy for Program Officer – Data, Analytics, Measurement, Learning and Evaluation, Abuja, Nigeria
Nigeria Country Office
In Nigeria, the foundation works with government, the private sector, and civil society to help people lift themselves out of poverty. We want to see children, mothers and farmers, in particular, given the opportunities to lead healthy and productive lives. With over 300 grants, the foundation works in Nigeria to achieve six main goals:
- Eradicate polio: the work at the international level with the World Health Organization and UNICEF, as well as at the country level, with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency and state governments, to ensure regular vaccinations and immunizations.
- Improve family health: we aim to reduce preventable deaths by focusing on maternal and child health; investing in programs that provide prenatal through postnatal care, as well as childhood immunization programs. We also address common healthcare challenges, including pneumonia, diarrheal diseases, and neglected tropical diseases, as well as access to clean water and proper sanitation and hygiene.
- Strengthen healthcare systems: we bolster primary healthcare and look for ways to integrate healthcare services to ensure a strong health system for Nigeria’s people.
- Improve nutrition: we partner with the Aliko Dangote Foundation and others to address severe malnutrition and improve overall childhood nutrition.
- Increase agricultural productivity: we help smallholder farmers increase the yield of important crops such as yams, cassava, sorghum, cowpeas, and rice, as well as the productivity of their livestock. We do this by providing farmers with better tools, seeds, and systems, and by supporting research and policies that help improve the lives of smallholder farmers over the long term.
- Enhance access to financial services: our programs support the government’s aims to ensure that women, smallholder farmers, and other marginalized populations have access to the country’s financial system, which can help them save, spend, and plan for the future more effectively.
- Gender Equality: we work with government and partners focusing on increasing women’s economic empowerment, which we define as access to income and assets; control and benefit from economic gains; and power to make decisions.
- Finally, we inspire people to take action to change the world around them – whether in their own homes, their communities, the states, their countries or globally.
Summary
The Program Officer for Data, Analytics, Measurement, Learning & Evaluation will be responsible for supporting the Nigeria Country Office to advance and further develop an approach to and investments in Measurement, Learning & Evaluation and proactively analyze, articulate and track progress made to improve key health system and human capital outcomes with a particular emphasis on strengthening national and state level measurement and analytic capabilities.
Reporting to the Country Director and working closely with the Nigeria leadership team, the Program Officer will work closely with the Program Manager and Program Officers to advance monitoring, learning and evaluation approaches to support Nigeria grants portfolio management.
Core Responsibilities
Internal BMGF portfolio monitoring and evaluation
- Support Foundation program staff in the design of outcome-focused investments. Support non-MLE staff to strengthen their skills in measurement and evaluation and to design and implement practical and rigorous monitoring and evaluation approaches with their grantees.
- Monitor, learn from, and evaluate the implementation of the foundation Nigeria Country Plan, including both new and established bodies of work.
- Provide accountability and ensure efficiency in tracking progress and success including monitoring value for money.
- Review, refine, analyze and monitor the key performance indicators to be tracked on a regular basis.
- Develop, refine and operationalize the country plan’s Monitoring, Learning and Evaluation (MLE) framework and plan in consultation with foundation leadership and project teams.
- Develop and manage clear measurement, learning, evaluation investments as required.
- Contribute to strategy refresh, portfolio development, and cross cutting data initiatives with focus on coherent, integrated theories of change, measurable impact models, collaborations and implementation plans to ensure long-term sustainability and impact.
Provide data analytics support to foundation strategies
- Proactively engage and practically deep dive into improving analytics and data use at different levels, understanding data quality gaps and identifying areas of innovation and investment to improve overall data quality.
- Work with the NCO program officers, technical advisers and the leadership team to oversee regular program progress tracking and lead the preparation of relevant narratives and analytics.
Building and strengthening government data systems
- Work to support both federal and state governments to strengthen their data and evidence ecosystem to produce better quality data more cheaply and rapidly for improved policy and programmatic decisions via management of data investments.
- Play a key role in strengthening and aligning with government measurement systems instead of creating parallel or vertical measurement approaches.
- Work closely with key relevant federal and state level government agencies to keep abreast of and advise on strengthening in-country institutional capacity for measurement, learning and evaluation.
- Work collaboratively with external partners and other stakeholders working in Nigeria’s data, analytics and measurement ecosystem to identify synergies and areas of collaboration.
- Proactively invest in strengthening in-country measurement, data and analytic capabilities.
- Spend significant amounts of time in the field actively learning from and practically monitoring how data and measurement interventions affect the health outcomes of citizens and workload of users.
Core Knowledge and Skills
- Advanced degree in statistics, measurement, evaluation or a related field with demonstrated skills (Development, Social Sciences, Public Health) and 5+ years proven experience in monitoring and evaluation.
- Demonstrated high level of technical proficiency as well as ability to manage the process evaluations of the implementation of a development/investment plan with the goal of contributing insights and evidence to drive investment strategies and decisions.
- Understanding of the nuances and pros and cons of different types of data systems and tools; understanding of how to sequence investments
- Proven experience working with/coaching/mentoring government staff to improve data analytics and measurement systems.
- Curious and proactive self-learner seeking to understand and engage with the complex political economy of data, analytics and measurement; and with convoluted data from multiple sources.
- Can analyze, understand and promote data use at different levels and to engage with a wide range of stakeholders.
- Track record of working on large scale, complex health systems strengthening programs across multiple geographies; working in localized settings and resource constrained environments
- In-depth knowledge of statistical methods, formative, summative, developmental and additive evaluation designs, nuanced approach with qualitative and quantitative methodologies, data collection and management
- Experience with and awareness of approaches to informatics
- Ability to critically design MLE tools, surveys, surveillance systems, and evaluations
- Expertise in the whole value chain of MLE needed by the Nigeria Country office: 1) Strong government MLE/data system strengthening expertise, 2) Grants / portfolio performance management and MLE expertise and 3) Strong data curation, analytics and presentation expertise.
- Self-critical and humble; reflective, immersive in understanding of contexts and ability to think out of the box.
As part of our standard hiring process for new employees, employment with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will be contingent upon successful completion of a background check.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is dedicated to the belief that all lives have equal value. We’re committed to creating a workplace where employees thrive both personally and professionally. We also believe our employees should reflect the rich diversity of the global populations we aim to serve—in race, gender, age, cultures and beliefs—and we support this diversity through all of our employment practices.
All applicants and employees who are drawn to serve the mission of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will enjoy equality of opportunity and fair treatment without regard to:
* Race
* Color
* Age
* Religion
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* Sex
* Sexual Orientation
* Disability
* Gender Identity
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