Technical Advisor, Polio Data and Information Management

The Technical Advisor, Polio Data and Information Management position provides strategic and technical leadership for monitoring, evaluation, data quality, and data use across the AFGHS-FHI 360 Polio Activity. The Advisor is responsible for ensuring the consistent collection, validation, analysis, interpretation, and reporting of project performance indicators across participating countries and for translating program and surveillance data into actionable information for project management, technical decision-making, and donor reporting. Working closely with country teams, regional technical staff, and the project monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL)/strategic information (SI) team, the Advisor establishes and maintains standardized approaches for indicator definitions, data collection, verification, aggregation, and reporting; monitors country performance against approved work plans and targets; identifies data quality and reporting issues; and provides technical assistance to strengthen country-level monitoring and data management capacity.

Beyond routine project monitoring and reporting, the Advisor leads country, regional, and global analyses of polio surveillance and program data analysis to identify weaknesses, geographic disparities, surveillance gaps, underperformance, and data quality concerns that can be addressed through FHI 360 programming. This includes conducting and supporting analyses of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP), environmental surveillance, laboratory, specimen referral and transport, case investigation, timeliness, completeness, and other relevant surveillance and program indicators. The Advisor works with country and technical teams to examine subnational variation-including silent or underperforming geographic areas-and distinguish true surveillance performance gaps from weaknesses in data completeness, quality, reporting, or interpretation. Findings are translated into practical recommendations that inform country work plans, geographic targeting, resource allocation, technical assistance, and corrective actions, enabling FHI 360 to focus resources on the surveillance gaps and populations of greatest concern.

The Advisor also contributes to FHI 360's technical thought leadership by developing analytical tools, dashboards, data-review approaches, guidance, learning products, and other resources that strengthen the use of evidence across the global polio portfolio. They lead and support periodic country and cross-country surveillance data reviews, identify emerging trends and lessons across the portfolio, and synthesize findings for FHI 360 leadership, country programs, governments, donors, and partners. The Advisor represents FHI 360's polio monitoring, evaluation, and data priorities with key stakeholders-including the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy (GHSD), national polio programs, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), UNICEF, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and relevant technical groups-and promotes alignment with national and global polio surveillance standards and indicators.

Working closely with the Technical Director, Polio; AFGHS-FHI 360 Director, Strategic Information; regional and country technical teams; and others, the Advisor ensures that monitoring, evaluation, surveillance analysis, and data-quality findings are integrated into program implementation and management decisions. The Advisor provides technical assistance, mentoring, and capacity strengthening to country teams and government counterparts on data collection, data quality, analysis, interpretation, visualization, and use; supports the development and monitoring of country work plans and performance targets; and contributes to high-quality technical and donor reporting. Through these responsibilities, the Advisor helps ensure that FHI 360 not only reports what its polio investments achieve but systematically uses surveillance and project data to identify weaknesses, improve implementation, target resources, and strengthen the performance and sensitivity of polio surveillance systems.

Accountabilities

Technical Requirements:

• Works on complex monitoring, evaluation, surveillance, and data-analysis challenges that require evaluation and interpretation of multiple factors across country, regional, and global levels.
• Demonstrates strong technical knowledge of polio monitoring and evaluation and surveillance systems, including AFP and environmental surveillance, laboratory and specimen-management indicators, and relevant GPEI surveillance performance standards.
• Leads the development, collection, validation, analysis, interpretation, and reporting of AFGHS-FHI 360 Polio project indicators and performance targets, ensuring consistency, completeness, accuracy, and timely reporting across the multi-country portfolio.
• Conducts and leads country, regional, and global analyses of polio surveillance and program data to assess performance, identify subnational variation, silent or underperforming geographic areas, surveillance gaps, and data-quality concerns.
• Demonstrates strong analytical judgment in distinguishing actual surveillance performance gaps from weaknesses in data completeness, reporting, quality, or interpretation and develops evidence-based recommendations for corrective action.
• Translates surveillance and project data into actionable recommendations for program implementation, including geographic targeting, technical assistance, work planning, resource allocation, and quality-improvement activities.
• Develops and applies approaches for data-quality assessment, data visualization, dashboards, surveillance performance reviews, and other analytical products that strengthen the use of data for programmatic decision-making.
• Leads and supports periodic data reviews with country teams, government counterparts, and partners and provides technical assistance and mentoring to strengthen data collection, analysis, interpretation, visualization, and use.
• Networks and collaborates with key internal and external technical personnel, including national polio programs, GPEI partners, donors, and other stakeholders involved in polio surveillance, monitoring, evaluation, and data management.

• Provides analytical findings and recommendations to senior technical leadership to inform AFGHS-FHI 360 Polio strategy, country prioritization, technical approaches, and alignment with national and global polio surveillance standards.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Project Design Implementation:

• Reporting to the AFGHS-FHI 360 Director, SI with Polio technical direction from Technical Director - Polio, the Advisor leads the monitoring, evaluation, surveillance analysis, and data-use components of the AFGHS-FHI 360 Polio Activity across its multi-country portfolio within established technical, resource, and financial parameters.
• Supports the design and implementation of the global and country-level AFGHS-FHI 360 Polio portfolio, ensuring that monitoring, evaluation, data-quality, and surveillance-analysis requirements are incorporated into country work plans, implementation strategies, and performance targets.
• Works with country and regional teams to establish and maintain standardized project indicators, data-collection and reporting processes, performance targets, data-quality standards, and approaches for analyzing and using project and surveillance data.
• Leads secondary analyses and periodic reviews of AFP, environmental surveillance, laboratory, specimen referral and transport, case investigation, timeliness, completeness, and other relevant surveillance and program data to identify geographic and programmatic gaps that FHI 360 can address through implementation.
• Uses surveillance and program data to help identify and prioritize countries and subnational geographic areas requiring focused technical assistance, and works with technical and country teams to translate findings into practical interventions and corrective actions.
• Monitors performance against approved work plans and targets and works with country teams to identify the root causes of underperformance, develop improvement plans, and assess whether implemented interventions result in measurable improvements in surveillance performance and data quality.
• Coordinates with technical, MEL, programmatic, finance, and operations staff to ensure that activities are implemented and reported in accordance with award requirements, FHI 360 policies, approved work plans, and applicable global polio standards.
• Provides technical leadership for the development of data-review tools, dashboards, analytical products, technical reports, presentations, and learning products that communicate performance, trends, gaps, and recommendations to project leadership, donors, governments, and partners.
• Contributes to the design and scope of AFGHS-FHI 360 polio initiatives by using available epidemiological, surveillance, project, and performance data to inform geographic targeting, resource allocation, technical priorities, and implementation approaches.
• Develops strategies, tools, and standardized approaches for monitoring, evaluation, data quality, surveillance analysis, and data use across AFGHS-FHI 360 Polio programming and, where appropriate, related Global Health Security activities.

• Provides technical oversight and quality assurance for monitoring, evaluation, surveillance-data analysis, and reporting across participating countries, ensuring high-quality implementation consistent with global standards, best practices, and contractual obligations.
• Coordinates with and provides technical direction to country staff, data analysts, consultants, and other technical personnel supporting monitoring, evaluation, surveillance reviews, data-quality assessments, and related analytical activities.
• Works closely with country teams and technical leadership to ensure that data are used not only for reporting, but as a management and technical decision-making tool to identify weaknesses, target resources, improve implementation, and strengthen the sensitivity and performance of polio surveillance systems.

Staff Leadership and Training

• May supervise team members, monitor performance, and lead professional development efforts.
• Develops and implements training and competency systems. Identifies strategies to address training gaps.

Project/Program Reporting

• Reviews sponsor financial and technical reports.
• Prepares and delivers presentations to sponsors on progress.
• Develops project work plans and coordinates with sponsors and partners on activities.

Quality Assurance

• Ensures technical deliverables and implementation are consistent with best practices in the industry / subject and meet client / funder contractual obligations for moderately complex technical units of a functional domain, directing other professional staff members.
• Proactively identifies risks or challenges to technical deliverables and creates mitigation plan.
• Reviews, analyzes, and evaluates the effectiveness of projects and makes recommendations for enhancements.
• Ensures the quality of implemented technical activities and systems at all levels.

Applied Knowledge & Skills

• In-depth technical knowledge of polio eradication, monitoring and evaluation, and surveillance systems, including acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) and environmental surveillance, case investigation, laboratory systems, specimen collection and transport, surveillance performance indicators, and relevant GPEI standards and guidance. (Mandatory)
• Demonstrated knowledge of monitoring, evaluation, and performance measurement, including indicator development and definition, target setting, data collection and validation, performance monitoring, data-quality assessment, and donor and program reporting across multi-country programs.
• Strong quantitative and analytical skills with demonstrated ability to analyze and interpret complex epidemiological, surveillance, laboratory, and program performance data at country, subnational, regional, and global levels.
• Demonstrated ability to assess subnational variation in surveillance performance, identify silent or underperforming geographic areas, detect trends and anomalies, and distinguish true surveillance weaknesses from issues related to data completeness, quality, reporting, or interpretation.
• Ability to translate complex data and analytical findings into clear, actionable recommendations that inform geographic targeting, technical assistance, work planning, resource allocation, corrective actions, and other program implementation decisions.
• Strong knowledge of data-quality assessment, data visualization, dashboards, and surveillance data-review methodologies, with the ability to communicate complex findings clearly to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Strong diagnostic, analytical, and problem-solving skills, including the ability to conduct or lead root-cause analyses of identified surveillance and program performance gaps and develop practical approaches for addressing them through program implementation.
• Ability to lead and facilitate country and multi-country data reviews, working collaboratively with country teams, government counterparts, technical partners, and other stakeholders to interpret findings, identify priorities, and develop performance-improvement actions.
• Ability to manage multiple analytical and M&E priorities across a geographically dispersed portfolio, establish realistic priorities and timelines, and ensure timely delivery of high-quality analyses, reports, and other technical products.
• Strong written and oral communication skills, including the ability to synthesize complex surveillance and program data into concise technical reports, presentations, briefs, recommendations, and donor reporting.
• Ability to exchange technical information, present evidence-based recommendations, and collaborate effectively with FHI 360 technical and program teams, national polio programs, donors, GPEI partners, and other external stakeholders.
• Ability to influence technical and programmatic decision-making through effective presentation and interpretation of evidence and to build consensus around recommended actions, priorities, and quality-improvement measures.
• Understanding of the broader operational and external environment affecting polio eradication a