World Vision is seeking a Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Director (MEL Director) for an anticipated project titled, “Strengthening public health systems in Sierra Leone,” which is funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to build and sustain a more resilient public health system to identify, respond and mitigate health threats. The MEL Director will ensure high quality MEL for the CDC-funded project to build and improve country capacity and leadership in the prevention, early detection, and response to infectious disease threats, with an emphasis on data and surveillance, diagnostics, public health workforce and institutions, and prevention and response. The project budget is estimated to be $30 million.

S/he will work collaboratively with partners to ensure quality design, monitoring, evaluation, research and learning practices through technical assistance, training and proposal development/program implementation.Key aspects of the role include:
a.) Lead the development of appropriate MEL standards for the project in close collaboration with the CDC.

b.) Establish, prioritize and manage MEL tools & practices.
c.) Oversee and contribute to the strengthening of WVUS and WVI staff in all aspects of MEL.
d.) Oversee and contribute to strengthening ongoing grant performance, meeting or exceeding donor requirements and/or expectations.

e.) Communicate results to professional and lay audiences.

f.) Promote an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect, and help carry out our Christian organization’s mission, vision, and strategies.

Recruitment is contingent upon successful award of the project. Selection of the final applicant is subject to CDC approval. The project is anticipated to begin in September 2025.

Major Responsibilities

Keep Christ central in individual and corporate life. Actively participate in and contribute to the spiritual disciplines of the organization (Christian conduct, devotions, chapel, prayer, worship); incorporate WV Core Values into decisions within scope of role. Leadership:

• Provide leadership and demonstrate collaboration in developing and executing against shared services mandate in support of technical area excellence that meets the prioritized needs of the grant to build evidence of impact and support increased revenue acquisition.
• Escalate key insights, opportunities and risks to the Sr. Project Director as required to assure quality evidence of impact and increasing revenue.
• Collaborate closely with the CDC on MEL practices and processes.
• Provide leadership in the development of expert area technical assistance and capacity building strategies.
• Provide leadership with information regarding performance pertaining to specific objective, performance indicators, planning, budgeting and operating procedures and advise of areas of risk.

Management:

• Lead, manage, mentor, and provide conflict resolution support to unit staff.
• Participate in the development of annual plans with clear initiatives and deliverables.
• Regularly review and monitor results toward objectives and indicators and coach staff in order to ensure the grant mandate is achieved.
• Represent unit in grant planning and budgeting process, presenting unit goals, negotiating budget requests, and ensuring adequate resource to achieve goals.
• Hire, fire, train, counsel, evaluate, and recommend salary increases and promotions for those under direct supervision.

Technical Expertise:

• Ensure monitoring and evaluation (M&E) templates and guidance are up to date and are in compliance with CDC guidance/expectations.
• Manage the selection of appropriate research methodologies for program assessments, designs and evaluations.
• Assist in the development and budgeting of all MEL elements of proposals.
• Support and review evaluations (Baseline, mid-term and final evaluations).
• Support project specific troubleshooting and stop-gap solutions for MEL performance challenges as requested.
• Lead evaluations, data quality reviews, or other specialized MEL work as needed.

Innovation:

• Ensure incorporation of industry best practices into standards, tools and guidelines.
• Stay up to date on latest USG and other key donor MEL trends and guidance.

Knowledge and qualifications for the role

Required Professional Experience:

Master’s degree required (PhD preferred) from an accredited university in public health, statistics, evaluation research, social science, international development, or a related discipline required; equivalent experience may be substituted for graduate degree. Minimum of eight years of experience in MEL and research for similar programming.

Language Requirements:

English required.