Action Against Hunger leads the global movement to end hunger. We innovate solutions, advocate for change, and reach 24 million people every year with proven hunger prevention and treatment programs. As a nonprofit that works across 50 countries, our 8,300 dedicated staff members partner with communities to address the root causes of hunger, including climate change, conflict, inequity, and emergencies. We strive to create a world free from hunger, for everyone, for good.

Action Against Hunger USA is part of the Action Against Hunger International network. As an independent NGO, Action Against Hunger USA currently manages operations in 8 countries: Kenya, South Sudan, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Zambia, and Haiti. Action Against Hunger-USA has over $100 million in programs and approximately 1,800 permanent staff based in New York City, Washington D.C, Nairobi, and country offices. Additional growth is anticipated.

Summary of position:

Action Against Hunger (AAH) has received a new award to implement a project in tittle “Enabling Anticipatory Action for Acute Malnutrition in Practice through strengthening Early Warning Systems”. The project will be implemented in four different countries – Ethiopia, South Sudan, Kenya, and Somalia and funded by the German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO).  The project aims to promote capabilities of effective anticipatory action by generating model-based forecasts of acute malnutrition in children under five years of age, which will be incorporated into existing national and regional EWS in support of anticipatory actions. It will be implemented by Action Against Hunger, the Universities of Maryland (UMD), and Minnesota (UMN). In the country, the project will work closely with anticipatory action actors such as N/RDRMC, N/RENCU, NGOs, local health offices, UNICEF, WFP, FAO, IOM, and OCHA to effectively achieve the project goal and objectives. The project has a strong study component regarded as Modeling Early Risk Indicators to Anticipate Malnutrition 2.0 (MERIAM 2.0), which is a successor of the MERIAM 1.0 project piloted in Kenya. MERIAM’s primary aim in this regard is to develop, test, and scale up an effective and efficient predictive model that improves the use of secondary nutrition data in countries that experience the frequent climate and conflict-related shocks to monitor the nutrition situation, predict the likelihood scenarios and build an anticipatory plan of action based on the information gathered and analyzed.

The MERIAM project manager will be based in Addis Ababa (Capital officer) and serve as the main point of contact in the country for all elements of the project. S/he contributes to the successful implementation of the project by providing high-level oversight of project activities in close collaboration with the HoD- Nutrition and Health Department, field-based colleagues, Key government and NGOs focal persons in the country and externally with HEARO, HQ as well as with the Universities of Maryland (UMD) and Minnesota (UMN).

Purpose

• The MERIAM project manager will be primarily responsible for implementing the MERIAM 2.0 project in Action Against Hunger USA, Ethiopia mission. She/he will serve as the main in-country point of contact for all matters related to the project. The candidate for this position will play a strategic role in enhancing the role of the mission in generating evidence on the anticipatory plan of action for nutrition and contributing to its growth.

Engagement

• The MERIAM project manager is expected to engage internally with the Health and Nutrition, MEAL, Finance, Grants, Logistics, and HR departments as well as HQ, HEARO, and focal persons of the two international universities on regular basis during the implementation of the project. Externally the incumbent is expected to engage with relevant government line ministries, NDRMC, respective clusters (Nutrition and Health), and various working groups such as EWS and CMAM.

Delivery

• The MERIAM project manager will oversee the implementation of project activities by ACF in Ethiopia. In addition and specifically, S/he together with the rest of the project staff should ensure the development of an innovative acute malnutrition prediction model which will be included and utilized in the EWS at different levels to anticipate and respond to acute malnutrition risk and crises effectively. Moreover, S/he should strive to ensure the quality standard of both programmatic and research endeavors in the project.

Essential Job Duties

Led, coordinated, Designed, Implement and Monitor project activities.  (60% LoE)

• The MERIAM project manager will have the primary responsibility of leading, coordinating, designing, implementing, and monitoring the project activities in the Action Against Hunger Ethiopia mission.

Specific duties include:

• Serve as the in-country point of contact and liaise with relevant government ministries, including MoH, NDRMC, and EPHI for project update provision, report and study protocol submission, and so on.

• Coordinate the implementation of the project in close consultation with other project staff based in Addis, HEARO, and HQ.  

• Act as a research focal person for the MERIAM 2.0 study and manage both the technical and administrative aspects of the project.

• Provide strategic oversight to the project team and in particular for the research team in providing technical and managerial insights, conducting/facilitating formative research activities, including community mapping, surveys of existing activities and resources, and identifying existing community structures.

• Ensure standard study protocol is produced, submitted, and implemented in close coordination with key project actors, including the Universities of Maryland (UMD) and Minnesota (UMN).

• Submit, follow up, achieve in-country IRB approval for the study protocol, and liaise with relevant line ministries to communicate study updates as needed.

• Ensure and oversee proper ethical clearance acquisition and permission procedures are applied and implemented throughout the MERIAM 2.0 study as per the SOP and study protocol.

• Work closely and coordinates with field colleagues to set up a proper project management structure and system.  

• Develops and maintains SOP, leads project implementation strategy, project management, and technology applications for effective and efficient implementation of MERIAM 2.0 study.

• Develop ToR for scooping and contextual analysis and hire consultants to do the task.

• Ensure that the findings of the project assessments are properly documented, disseminated, and translated into action and decision-making processes.

• Develop or adapt a minimum project-specific monitoring standard checklist in collaboration with the MEAL department, field-based colleagues, and focal persons from the Universities of Maryland (UMD) and Minnesota (UMN).

• Provide technical and managerial oversight to the development of study materials and behavior change communication materials as well as any tool required for effective implementation of the project.

• Oversee and support the data collection and analysis of the MERIAM 2.0 in close consultation with project data analysis and focal persons from the Universities of Maryland (UMD) and Minnesota (UMN)

• Ensure a high level of data accuracy through periodic data quality checks and oversight of implicated research staff.

• Assist in the final analysis of study data and results

• Ensure close coordination and clear communication between the Action Against Hunger Ethiopia mission, HEARO, HQ staff, and focal persons of the Universities of Maryland (UMD) and Minnesota (UMN).

• Performs other duties as assigned by her or his line manager.

Support and assist regular project development and set up (30% of LoE)

• Develop a project-specific Detailed Implementation Plan (DIP), project procurement plan (PPP), and supply plan (SP).

• Regularly follow project budget utilization in collaboration with the finance department based on the latest budget follow-up Units (BFUs) and provide regular guidance and support to the base team for efficient budget utilization.

• Undertake and participate in regular (weekly/bi-weekly) meetings with key project actors, including the Universities of Maryland (UMD) and Minnesota (UMN).

• Assist in the coordination of effective procurement, transportation, storage, and distribution of project-specific commodities and supplies in close consultation with other project staff.  

• Hire and train (e.g. data analysis, enumerators, and supervisors) for the MERIAM 2.0 study and the project in line with HR procedure and in coordination with other project staff.

• Collaborate closely with key departments with Action Against Hunger for the smooth implementation of the project.

• Organize regular capacity building (face-to-face and virtual) project-specific review meetings and training with base tea in consultation and coordination with other project focal persons such as

• Ensure adherence to standard project designing, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation tool across all bases for Nutrition and Health programs/projects.

Partnerships and engagement (10% of LoE)

• Serve as the in-country point of contact to achieve in-country IRB approval and liaise with relevant line ministries as necessary to provide updates.

• Engage and actively participate in global, national, and sub-national level EWS TWGs, networks, and similar forums.

• Update and share relevant meeting notes from EWS, sectoral, and cluster coordination platforms and meetings with the capital and base team as well as the research team.

Supervisory Responsibilities

• S/he will directly supervise the project data analyst based in Capital.

Fiscal Responsibility

• Undertake budget follow-up for the project activity in close consultation with the Head of the Department for Nutrition and Health.

Physical Demands

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to sit for long periods and to concentrate on work, including typing, and turn out heavy volumes of work accurately, within short time frames under stressful situations in the context of an operational base. Must be able to proofread own work accurately so that only minor corrections are needed on an infrequent basis.

• The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

Working Conditions, Travel, and Environment

• The duties of the job require regular job attendance.

• Must be available to work outside normal office hours or on the weekends as needed or required by contact with the PI or in-country partners.

• Must be able to travel coach fare for standard domestic and international business travel as well as to the country project sites if appropriate.

• While in the field, the employee may be exposed to precarious settings under high-security risks and/or very basic living conditions and outside weather conditions, as well as to infectious diseases.

• The candidate must be able to travel to remote locations, often over poor road conditions.

Gender Equality Commitments

• Foster an environment that reinforces the values of women and men, and equal access to information.

• Provide a work environment where women and men must be evaluated and promoted based on their skills and performance.

• Promote a safe, secure, and respectful environment for all stakeholders, particularly for children, beneficiaries, and members of staff.

• Help to prevent any type of abuse including workplace harassment and sexual abuse and exploitation.

• Respect beneficiaries’ women, men, and children (boys and girls) regardless of gender, sexual orientation, disability, religion, race, color, ancestry, national origin, age, or marital status.

• Value and respect all cultures.

Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA)

• Beware of the minimum operating standards of SEA

• Protect and prevent others from SEA.

• Report SEA.

• Strictly comply with AAH child protection and SEA policies. 

Job Requirements

Required Qualifications and Professional Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in public health, human nutrition, epidemiology, or statistics from an accredited university or college and at least 8 years of relevant experience  in the field of nutrition research, Early Warning System (EWS), humanitarian and development nutrition, public health programs

• A Master’s or another advanced degree in a similar field of study with more than 5 years of relevant experience is preferred.

• Experienced in managing nutrition and health programs and staff in a senior management position and Previous experience in managing projects funded by GFFO is desired.

• Familiarity with the national and regional EWS and strategies, policies, and anticipatory plan of action for crisis response is desired.

• Exposure and participation in national and subnational Early warning System coordination and technical working groups are preferred.

Required Skills:

• Ability to take initiative and prioritize multiple tasks with minimum supervision.

• Good strategic and analytical ability with strong organizational skills and attention to detail.

• Embracing Diversity, Self-Awareness, and Self-Regulation, good experience in staff management and capacity building.

• Desirable project management skills, including preparation of quality report writing skills.

• Experience in organizing and participating in nutrition research, field-level surveys, assessments, and program monitoring and evaluation exercises.

• Strong interpersonal communication skills, networking, and representation skill.

• Knowledge and skills of MS Office Suite are required and skills in other statistical software (Epi Info 7, ENA for SMART, and SPSS) are desirable.

• Genuine interest and commitment to the mission and principles of Action Against Hunger.

    Language

• Fluency (written and Spoken) in English is compulsory. 

• Knowledge of more than one local language, including Amharic is a plus. 

How to Apply

Register using the following LINK

Note: Write “MERIAM 2.0 Project Manager” in the subject line of the email!