Vacancy for director of monitoring, evaluation and learning

URC is a global company dedicated to improving the quality of health care, social services, and health education worldwide. With a non-profit affiliate, the Center for Human Services (CHS), URC manages projects in over 45 countries, including the United States.
Established in 1965, URC offers a range of technical assistance to strengthen health and social systems and service quality by empowering communities and health workers to identify and scale up locally appropriate solutions to critical problems. Internationally, we expand access to and improve the quality of services addressing maternal, newborn, and child health; infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria; reproductive health and family planning; food and nutrition; and vulnerable children and families. In the US, we focus on improving communication related to issues like substance abuse, with a particular focus on reaching underserved populations.
URC’s mission is to provide innovative, evidence-based solutions to health and social challenges worldwide. Please join us in carrying out our mission (http://www.urc-chs.com/).

Division & Project Overview:
University Research Co., LLC (URC), a US-based public health organization working in Uganda since 2005, is implementing the USAID’s Regional Health Integration to Enhance Services in East Central Uganda Activity (USAID’s RHITES EC). The purpose of this project is to support the implementation of a comprehensive, integrated investment in regional health, HIV/AIDS and nutrition assistance. This five-year activity targets 11 districts in East-Central Uganda with an estimated total population of 4.1 million through a district-based integrated package of quality health, HIV/AIDS, nutrition and child development services. URC is seeking qualified candidates to fill the following positions at the Jinja town and district based offices.

Roles and Responsibilities:

The Director Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning is a member of the URC senior management team that manages the USAID RHITES-EC Activity and reports to the Chief of Party. S/he is responsible for supporting the design and implementation of the project’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning agenda, and provides strategic and technical leadership to the project in Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning, including reporting of results, data utilization for program decision-making and knowledge management

Coordinate and work with other project staff to manage a robust M&E system, identify and monitor key program activities in order to document results and what interventions contributed to the results, and ensure the integration of those results into Uganda’s health system’s decision-management processes.
Lead in ongoing review and implementation of the Activity’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Plan (AMELP) to ensure responsiveness to evolving project, Donor and host government needs.
Support M&E and HMIS teams at various levels to conduct frequent and routine data verification and quality assessment exercises as per the Activity AMELP and internal needs.
On a regular basis, prepare and ensure timely submission of project performance monitoring plans, including developing and defining program indicators and sources of data, as well as contributing to annual work plans, quarterly and annual reports and other project documents.
Track project monitoring indicators for all (or specified) project health component activities and periodically provide data to the project’s Senior Management Team.
Document progress on various levels of indicators attributable to project interventions
Direct and ensure coordination and linking of data reporting with technical strategy discussions
Provide leadership for knowledge management and documentation for project with emphasis on dissemination and lessons learned and present results of program achievements and outputs in written reports and at conferences and meetings.
Develop and manage a robust and dynamic Learning and Operational Research agenda On a very frequent and regular basis, advise project COP and senior management team on trends for various performance indicators, as well schedules for project deliverables as per prescribed timelines
Track district-level and facility-level performance through focal technical staff, Cluster teams, and M&E team
Provide technical and managerial leadership in the development and design of all project evaluation and research efforts, and ensure that they are linked to project objectives and deliverables and are properly resourced
Manage various project databases to capture relevant data on key indicators
Participate in writing regular, timely progress reports of project activities and results for USAID and other stakeholders, including responding to all USAID requests for data and reporting in a timely manner
Engage with other program and technical staff in developing and implementing annual project work plans
Provide strategic, technical and coordination support to the project team to effectively support strengthening of the HMIS at district, facility and community levels

Minimum Qualifications:
Required Experience & Qualifications

Master’s Degree in either Statistics, Biostatistics, Public Health, Epidemiology, or another relevant field.
At least ten (10) years of relevant professional experience in leading M&E processes, quality improvement and Knowledge Management.

Desired Experience & Qualifications

Experience in implementation of Health Systems Strengthening, HIV/AIDS, malaria, family planning, maternal, newborn and child health, or nutrition is desirable.
Demonstrated expertise in performance management and linking data to improvement
Experience with managing complex data sets and databases, including conducting and supervising data analyses, report writing, and design of creative data presentation and visualization tools
Experience in working with USAID and/or PEPFAR funded programs
Ability to travel extensively with the East-Central region of Uganda
Demonstrated team player and experience with staff supervision
Ability to hold self and others accountable for work-related commitments and deliverables, and consistently and all the time follow through on such commitments and focus on those activities that have the greatest impact on meeting measurable high quality results

Please note: Candidates who are eligible to work in Uganda for an indefinite period without a need for sponsorship are highly preferred. However, consideration is open only to well-qualified non-national candidates and contingent upon the grant of all required visas/permits as mandated by the laws and regulations of Uganda.