MERL Specialist, Sierra Leone

This role was posted on February 05, 2026. Please note that we will review applications on a rolling basis.

MERL Implementation, Data Systems, and Learning

• Lead the design and implementation of project MERL plans, including evaluation questions, indicators, methods, targets (as applicable), analysis, reporting, and dissemination.
• Conduct descriptive quantitative and qualitative analyses across projects, including digital tools for clinical supervision, health worker training, and malaria vaccine implementation.
• Support strong data systems through data management, quality assurance, and data cleaning processes.
• Partner with internal and external program teams to ensure MERL approaches are fit-for-purpose and responsive to program priorities and learning needs; share findings and support teams to use data to strengthen implementation and strategy.
• Design and manage data collection tools and processes (e.g., surveys, KIIs, FGDs), including digitization, testing, and rollout.
• Provide technical support for field-based MERL activities, including enumerator training and deployment oversight.
• Develop timely, accessible dashboards and data visualizations for internal and external use, drawing from sources such as DHIS2 and CHIS to inform decision-making.
• Coordinate completion of program close-out reports and routine donor and partner reporting.
• Support Institutional Review Board (IRB) submissions and ongoing compliance for research activities.
• Participate in LMH’s MERL Community of Practice to share learning and best practices, and build MERL capacity within the Sierra Leone team.
• Produce learning products and synthesis materials for internal and external audiences; contribute to data reviews, after-action reviews, and learning initiatives such as deep dives.
• Support updates to country-level indicators, partner reporting requirements, country targets, and annual strategy reviews.
• Support the implementation and dissemination of research and learning studies, ensuring alignment with LMH, Ministry of Health, and country best practices.
• Lead the quarterly extraction, consolidation, and presentation of program-level data for LMH teams and stakeholders.

Program Design, Management and Performance Review

• Support program design best practices across the Sierra Leone portfolio, including needs assessments, evidence reviews, logic models, process reviews, and adaptive management.
• Collaborate with global and country-based teams to develop and refine logic models and theories of change aligned with short- and long-term country strategy.
• Strengthen documentation and tracking of the Sierra Leone country strategy by linking program activities to strategic objectives, facilitating strategy reviews, and ensuring completion of Project Hubs.
• Provide project management and coordination support, including deliverable tracking, reporting, and knowledge management across collaborative work streams.

• Bachelor’s degree in Public Health, Epidemiology, Health Policy, Health Economics, Demography, or a related field;
  Master’s degree preferred
• Progressive years of experience in public health and/or international development, including relevant years of experience designing and leading MERL activities.
• Strong experience with quantitative and qualitative MERL methods and tools.
• Experience designing digital data collection tools using Kobo Collect or ODK.
• Experience working with routine health information systems, including DHIS2 and Community Health Information Systems (CHIS).
• Experience developing logic models, conducting needs assessments, and completing evidence or literature reviews.
• Demonstrated experience supporting routine data collection in rural and remote areas of Sierra Leone, with willingness to spend extended time in districts.
• Proficiency in statistical analysis using software such as Stata (preferred), including designing and conducting statistical tests.
• Strong self-management skills, with the ability to work independently, proactively, and toward deadlines.
• Experience producing MERL reports, toolkits, factsheets, and data visualizations for diverse audiences.
• Experience developing presentations and slide decks…