Program Officer Recruitment at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people- especially those with the fewest resources – have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, the foundation is led by CEO Sue Desmond-Hellmann and co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Ref. No.: B014589
Location: Abuja, Nigeria
Job Type: Full Time

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.
• 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.
• 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.

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.
• 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.
• 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.

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.
• 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
• 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.
• Expertise in the whole value chain of MLE needed by the Nigeria Country office:
  • Strong government MLE/data system strengthening expertise
  • Grants / portfolio performance management and MLE expertise and
  • 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.

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Note: 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