Vacancy: Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Specialist, USAID Advancing Nutrition Ghana

Company Profile

USAID Advancing Nutrition is USAID’s flagship multi-sectoral nutrition project, led by JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. (JSI), and a diverse group of experienced partners. Launched in September 2018, USAID Advancing Nutrition implements and provides technical support to nutrition interventions across sectors and disciplines for USAID and its partners. The project’s multi-sectoral approach draws together global nutrition experience to design, implement and evaluate programs that address the root causes of malnutrition. Committed to using a systems approach, USAID Advancing Nutrition strives to sustain positive outcomes by building local capacity, supporting behavior change, and strengthening the enabling environment to save lives, improve health, build resilience, increase economic productivity and advance development. From 2020 - 2022, USAID Advancing Nutrition will provide technical support and assessment services to advance the Government of Ghana’s efforts to improve equitable delivery of quality services that promote household resilience and early childhood growth and development. Technical services provided through USAID Advancing Nutrition will strengthen national and local government planning in Northern Ghana and stimulate the development of multisectoral solutions most pressing food security and nutrition problems. The portfolio will encompass activities funded by USAID/Washington as well as the USAID Ghana Mission.

Job Description

• Job Location: Tamale with periodic travels to project sites as required.


• Reporting: The Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Specialist reports to the project Chief of Party.

Job Summary

As key member of the USAID Advancing Nutrition Ghana team, the MEL Specialist will undertake all MEL activities for the project.

Major Duties and Responsibilities

• Coordinate the drafting and review of USAID Advancing Nutrition Activity Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Plan (AMELP) and ensure the overall implementation of the AMELP.


• Ensure compliance with USAID policies and regulations in relation to MEL activities.


• Formulate project-level performance management plans to track milestones and report on required standard performance indicators of the project.


• Ensure that appropriate data collection procedures are used including M&E data tracking system methods for data quality checks.


• Oversee the Food Security and Nutrition indication study


• Support the project to conduct mapping exercise to further understand relevant processes, bottlenecks, barriers, and drivers for improved country coordination for multi-sectoral planning and implementation.


• Support the project’s technical staff, government agencies and nutrition stakeholders to identify and develop performance indicators and measurement of multi-sectoral food security and nutrition activities.


• Coordinate expenditure analysis of MMDAs planning and financing for nutrition and resilience and examine the outcomes against expenditure.


• Initiate and lead efforts to strengthen Regional Coordinating Councils (RCC) and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) staff competencies on data-driven planning, implementation and decision-making.


• Support National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) to develop Food Security and Nutrition (FSN) guidelines for multi-sectoral planning and facilitate the use of the guidelines for medium-term development and annual action planning processes.


• Coordinate with the RCCs and 17 MMDAs to integrate food security and nutrition indicators into District Performance Assessment Tool (DPAT) for MMDAs performance assessment.


• Contribute to drafting of quarterly, annual, and other ad hoc reports on project activities and provide insight on the project performance management trends.


• Develop and maintain a detailed understanding of the multi sectoral nutrition issues (i.e. health, agriculture, social protection, WASH, etc.) in Ghana and key policies and government priorities.

Required Skills or Experience

• Master’s Degree in Statistics, Business Administration, Project Management, or related area of study and a minimum of seven (7) years of progressively responsible work experience managing MEL needs of projects of similar size and scope.


• Qualitative and quantitative research skills and experience including design and implementation of surveys, assessments, case studies, data visualization, and results dissemination.


• Familiarity with the monitoring, evaluation and leaning standards of NDPC, GHS, RCC and the MMDAs.


• Must be knowledgeable in Microsoft Suite, graphics, spreadsheet, database, and statistical software packages.


• Prior MEL experience on a USAID-funded project.


• Excellent English language skills, both written and spoken with strong presentation skills.

Preferred Skills or Experience

Demonstrated experience providing capacity strengthening on data-driven decision making to subnational government agencies and CSOs.