Job Opportunity for EAII State Manager, Monitoring, Learning & Evaluation at Evidence Action in Bhopal

Position Overview

Job Title: StateManager- Monitoring, Learning & Evaluation

Employment Status: Full Time

Position Location: Madhya Pradesh

About EAII Advisors

EAII Advisors, Evidence Action’s technical partner in India, supports the implementation of the school and Anganwadi-based National Deworming Day program, as well as iron and folic acid supplementation programs, across 11 states by providing technical assistance to applicable state ministries of health, education, and women and child development. Moving forward, EAII Advisors aims to expand its impact by collaborating with more state governments on these existing programs, as well as supporting new public health, water, & nutrition programming. 

EAII invites applications for the position of State Manager – Monitoring, Learning & Evaluation in Madhya Pradesh.

About Evidence Action

Evidence Action aims to be a world leader in scaling evidence-based and cost-effective programs to reduce the burden of poverty for hundreds of millions of people in the poorest places. Last year Deworm the World reached 280 million people with deworming medications, partnering with governments to launch, scale, and sustain mass school-based deworming programs, including in India. Meanwhile, Dispensers for Safe Water provided 4M people across rural Africa with clean water, saving thousands of young lives. The approach relies on an innovative and human-centric design to deliver clean water at the source. These serve as just two examples of the work Evidence Action is undertaking.

In addition to running these scaled programs, Evidence Action leverages its unique Accelerator to develop the next generation of programs. These programs are rigorously tested to ensure exceptional scale, cost-effectiveness, and clear evidence of impact. In 2019 we launched an ambitious new strategy, intending to double our impact over the next five years, with much of that impact coming from new programs identified and scaled through the Accelerator.

Evidence Action has a presence across 9 countries, with major offices and/or technical partners in Nairobi, Kenya; Delhi, India; and Washington, D.C. Evidence Action’s programs have been recognized by GiveWell, the Skoll Foundation, the Life You Can Save, Giving What We Can, and covered in the Economist, NPR, and the New York Times.

About India Safe Water Now 

Evidence Action’s Safe Water Now program provides safe drinking water to over 10 million people across rural Uganda, Malawi, and Kenya. Recent evidence highlights that water treatment may be among the most cost-effective interventions available to save young children’s lives, reducing all-cause child mortality by about 25%. The Dispensers for Safe Water (DSW) program, based on research by a Nobel-winning economist, utilizes an innovative and human-centric design to deliver clean water at the source in rural settings, achieving usage rates which are 5x that of comparable interventions. Evidence Action recently launched a next generation technology, In-Line Chlorination (ILC) in Uganda and Malawi, targeting rural, peri-urban, and urban communities, which has the potential to be even more cost-effective. Over the past year, we’ve more than doubled our footprint in East Africa and are actively exploring opportunities for expansion into new countries.

In addition to its longstanding work in East Africa, Evidence Action, through its technical partner in India, EAII Advisors, is launching a major technical assistance program to help the government of India reach 17.5 million people across multiple states with safe water. This complements the Indian government’s effort to bring water access to every household in the country.  

About the Position:

The State Manager- Monitoring, Learning & Evaluation (MLE) will report to the State Program Lead-SW, based at the state. The State Manager-Monitoring, Learning & Evaluation (MLE) must have a commitment to working in the development sector in India, and a strong interest in and understanding of the role of monitoring learning and evaluation in ensuring program quality, improvement, and results. As the Evidence Action program portfolio expands, it will continue to find innovative ways of working at scale including use of technology. The State Manager-Monitoring, Learning & Evaluation (MLE) will be responsible for assist the national MLE team in the successful design, rollout of new initiatives and in the management of the MLE function of Evidence Action India program in the state.   

The State Manager- Monitoring, Learning & Evaluation (MLE) will be providing technical assistance to the state on situation analysis, preparing Monitoring, Learning & Evaluation (MLE) plans including design and measurable indicators (output and outcome) using SMART principles, data collection protocols, strategies for data use, reporting, strengthen monitoring systems, results-based management and support in dissemination of program findings. State Manager- Monitoring, Learning & Evaluation (MLE) will work closely with the state program team, MLE team at National Level, State Governments and partners to roll-out new initiatives and manage the process from design to roll-out. As for all staff, State Manager-Monitoring, Learning & Evaluation (MLE) must possess a sense of collaboration and mutual understanding and a willingness to assist colleagues.  

Responsibilities:

Technical Delivery

●        Lead the development of MLE strategy, framework, key program performance indicators, plan and budgeting for the Safe Water Now program in consultation with the National/Global MLE and State/National/Global program team.

●        Lead implementation of Safe Water Now MLE activities in the state and other activities catering to organization priorities.

●        Support the NO and Global MLE team in designing research protocols, survey instruments and techniques and its administration, monitoring and quality control.

●        Identify effective methodology for quantitative and qualitative data collection, management, robust analysis, data visualisation and dissemination of findings and recommendations to the intended audiences in user-friendly methods.

●        Lead in review of scientific papers and manage databases of research and evidence around Safe Water/WASH and other relevant issues for sharing with stakeholders.

●        Stay current on technical knowledge, including Jal Jeevan Mission guidelines for rural drinking water supply and latest research and publications, and share latest developments with others team/s.

●        Assist the team and coordinate with states and partners for appropriate planning and implementation of different surveys, evaluation tools and plans as recommended.

●        Utilize critical inputs, feedbacks and assessment results from internal studies/ other studies to inform changes in program approaches and scale-up as appropriate.

●        Use the quantitative and qualitative analysis approach in program assessments and reports including writing up field-notes and use different methods to improve program implementation, such as SWOT analysis, problem-solution tree, etc.

●        Lead development of reports and visualizations from monitoring and evaluation data to drive decision-making/insights

●        Ensure that MLE related KPIs are regularly met through robust systems for tracking, reporting and following up improvement actions.

●        Undertake publications of reports, articles and other research material and ensure research publication in peer reviewed journals.

●        Prepare a Monitoring, Learning & Evaluation (MLE) plan for SPM, in alignment with the program work plan, and strengthen monitoring and reporting systems in the state bot for Evidence Action and the state government.

●        Capacity Building of EA field team and the State Government on ensuring good quality data, data review and analysis 

●       Support the state team with data-related reporting by documenting program activities, best practices, and providing technical support related to MLE.

●       Oversee embedding Monitoring, Learning & Evaluation (MLE) into the program and developing a system for tracking program activities using indicators, trackers, web portal/app, and dashboards

●       Ensure that all data collected is subjected to data quality assurance procedures.

●        Lead the management of MIS at the state level

Program Management

●        Support in developing and managing partnerships, developing ToR, contracts and agreements for conducting research and survey activities.

●        Coordinate and support program team for advocacy with state governments, to ensure that MLE activities and strategic initiatives are rolled-out as planned.

●        Coordinate with relevant stakeholders to facilitate successful implementation of SW program initiatives in the states. This includes coordination with the concerned government stakeholders, contracted agencies and vendors, state teams, and other partners.

●        Manage partner and vendor relationships relating to the new strategic initiatives, including development of budgets and costing, and monitoring actual expenditures.

●        Provide support in disseminating the findings of MLE initiatives, studies and other relevant data analysis.

●        Perform any other MLE related tasks and undertake other duties as required as necessary and assigned. 

●        Attend meetings with donors, State level partners including State Government and other technical agencies and represent organisation in meeting, conferences and other events.

●        Should be willing to travel at least 20% of the time, as required by program activities.

●        Coordinating with the concerned Government officials to get updated and latest versions of all database (Contact number, MIS, etc) periodically.

Team Management

●        Manage the team of direct reportees to ensure timeliness and quality of the output

●        Strengthen technical and team management capabilities of direct reportees and other team members

●        Provide support to the HR team in recruitment of staff and consultants as necessary.

Requirements

Essential

●        Advance degree in statistics/biostatistics/population studies/economics/public health/ computer application or related field.

●        Must have 7 + years of work experience in monitoring and evaluation with a reputed organization with a minimum of three years at managerial capacity.

●        Should understand Monitoring, Learning & Evaluation (MLE) framework, Theory of change, log frame etc.

●        Must have experience of developing and handling Public sector (Health/Water/WASH) IT applications and supply chain management.

●        Prior experience of developing management information systems and/or technological platforms is highly essential.

●        Experience in online data collection tools- ODK, Kobo collect and developing visualization reports and dashboards in Excel/Power BI/other software is preferred

●        Prior experience with mobile or CAPI based surveys are highly preferred.

●        Strong analytical skills having experience in using advanced levels of MS-Excel is required.

●        Experience working in the public sector.

●        Experience in working with senior level government partners is desirable, with project management experience working with state governments to implement large projects.

●        Highly motivated to achieve results and the ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously

●        Excellent interpersonal skills, sound judgment, communication skills, training experience

●        Willingness to travel as and when required, and often on short notice.

●        Excellent team player with ability to work independently and in collaboration with colleagues at all levels across departments and external stakeholders

Desirables

●        Knowledge of Stata or any other Statistical packages (SPSS etc.) is desirable.

Disclaimer: The duties and responsibilities described are not a comprehensive list and that additional tasks may be assigned to the employee from time to time.

Benefits

Compensation: Competitive and commensurate with the individual’s credentials, experience, and previous pay scale.

All contracting arrangements will be made through EAII Advisors Private Limited. EAII is an equal opportunity employer. Employment at EAII is based solely on an individual’s merit and qualifications directly related to professional competence. EAII does not discriminate against any employee or applicant because of race, caste, creed, colour, religion, gender, origin, disability, marital status, or any other basis protected by law.

All candidates applying for the position should upload a resume along with cover letter mentioning current and expected salary.

We may end this search process earlier than the specified close date in case of exceptional candidates. Due to resource constraints, we will only be able to contact shortlisted candidates.