Resident Independent Monitor

Background and Purpose of the Position

The Resident Independent Monitor (RIM) provides independent, evidence-based monitoring of NTD programme activities, particularly Mass Drug Administration (MDA), within assigned LGAs. The role supports programme quality and accountability by monitoring implementation progress, treatment coverage, compliance with established guidelines and SOPs, data quality, commodity management, and operational challenges. The RIM identifies and escalates implementation gaps, recommends corrective actions, follows up on agreed interventions, and ensures that monitoring reports are objective, accurate, and based on verified field observations.

Scope of the Position

Under the supervision of the Associate Manager, Programme Delivery, the Resident Independent Monitor (RIM) will support the monitoring and supervision of pre-, during-, and post-MDA activities in assigned LGAs.

The RIM will be responsible for:

• Monitoring MDA implementation to ensure compliance with approved workplans, microplans, national guidelines, and NTD SOPs.
• Assessing implementation readiness of LGAs, health facilities, communities, and service delivery teams before campaign commencement.
• Monitoring the performance of CDDs, teachers, and other service delivery personnel.
• Verifying treatment and reporting data to ensure accuracy, completeness, consistency, and timely reporting.
• Identifying implementation gaps, including missed communities, underserved populations, and low-performing service delivery points, and recommending corrective actions.
• Monitoring drug and logistics management, including the receipt, distribution, utilization, retrieval, and reconciliation of medicines and related commodities.
• Supporting the resolution of operational challenges through timely escalation, follow-up, and monitoring of corrective measures.
• Documenting field observations, best practices, lessons learned, and recommendations to improve programme performance.
• Submitting timely monitoring updates and reports to Helen Keller Intl. and relevant stakeholders.

The RIM will work closely with government counterparts and programme stakeholders while maintaining independence, objectivity, and the integrity of all monitoring findings and reports.

Key Roles and Responsibilities

General Responsibilities

• Reside in the assigned LGA and remain available throughout all phases of implementation, including pre-implementation, campaign, and post-implementation activities.
• Participate in planning, training, review, advocacy, stakeholder engagement, and community mobilisation activities to support effective MDA implementation and community participation.
• Monitor the deployment, attendance, and performance of campaign personnel, including CDDs, teachers, and other service delivery teams, and verify related attendance and financial records.
• Monitor the availability, distribution, utilisation, accountability, and reconciliation of medicines, reporting tools, IEC/BCC materials, and other campaign commodities.
• Conduct field monitoring and supportive supervision across assigned implementation areas to assess service delivery quality, compliance with treatment guidelines and NTD SOPs, and overall campaign performance.
• Identify implementation gaps, missed communities, underserved populations, operational challenges, and low-performing areas; recommend and follow up on corrective actions and mop-up activities as needed.
• Support data quality assurance by validating, reconciling, compiling, and monitoring the timely reporting of treatment data and campaign documentation through approved systems and reporting channels.
• Provide regular implementation updates and reports, documenting key observations, challenges, actions taken, and recommendations.
• Ensure compliance with Helen Keller Intl.\'s safeguarding, data protection, confidentiality, fraud prevention, and security requirements.
• Perform any other program-related duties assigned by the Associate Manager, Program Delivery, or designated Associate Manager.

Specific Deliverables and Responsibilities by Implementation Phase

Pre-Implementation Phase

Period: Three consecutive days of training and other preparatory activities, or as specified in the approved workplan.

The RIM will:

• Participate in and monitor training activities at state, LGA, ward, health facility, teacher, and community levels, ensuring participants receive adequate instruction on treatment guidelines, drug administration, adverse event management, record-keeping, and reporting requirements.
• Verify training documentation and personnel deployment records, including attendance, participant information, supporting financial documents, and lists of health workers, CDDs, teachers, and other assigned personnel.
• Review implementation readiness and microplans to ensure targeted wards, schools, health facilities, communities, staffing arrangements, logistics, and service delivery plans are adequate and complete.
• Monitor the availability, distribution, and accountability of medicines, reporting tools, IEC materials, and other campaign commodities, ensuring timely delivery to service delivery points and proper documentation of receipt and issuance.
• Support advocacy, stakeholder engagement, and community sensitisation activities to strengthen community awareness, acceptance, and participation in the campaign.
• Conduct readiness and risk assessments to identify gaps and potential challenges related to staffing, commodities, logistics, security, accessibility, population movement, and other factors that may affect implementation.
• Ensure compliance with approved security guidance and deployment plans, and promptly escalate critical readiness gaps that could affect the quality, safety, or timely commencement of the campaign.

Expected deliverables and means of verification:

• Validated training documentation, including attendance sheets, participant details, financial records, and evidence of participation in training and cascaded training activities.
• Reviewed and documented implementation readiness, including LGA microplans, deployment lists for health workers, CDDs, and teachers, readiness assessments, identified gaps, and recommendations.
• Verified commodity distribution and accountability, including issuance and receipt vouchers, confirmation of delivery to service delivery points, and evidence of commodity availability before campaign commencement.
• Submitted GPS-tagged photographic evidence of training sessions, commodity receipt and storage arrangements, showing date, time, and location.
• Documented advocacy and community engagement activities conducted to support campaign awareness, acceptance, and participation.

Implementation Phase

Period: Seven days, or as specified in the approved campaign workplan.

• Conduct routine field monitoring and supportive supervision across assigned wards, communities, schools, health facilities, and other service delivery points to assess implementation progress, treatment coverage, and service quality.
• Monitor the performance of CDDs, teachers, and other campaign personnel, ensuring compliance with approved treatment guidelines, eligibility criteria, dosage requirements, directly observed treatment procedures, adverse event management, and accurate record-keeping.
• Monitor community mobilisation and SBCC activities to ensure communities receive accurate information and to identify barriers to participation, including refusals, absenteeism, missed populations, and inaccessible settlements.
• Monitor the availability, utilisation, and accountability of medicines, commodities, and data collection tools, ensuring proper handling and adherence to reporting requirements.
• Verify treatment and reporting data through spot checks, data validation, source document reviews, and verification visits to identify discrepancies and ensure consistency across reporting levels.
• Identify implementation gaps, low-performing areas, operational challenges, and coverage shortfalls, and work with programme stakeholders to implement and monitor corrective and mop-up actions.
• Support daily data collection, review, validation, entry, and reporting using approved templates, SurveyCTO, and other designated reporting platforms.
• Participate in daily debriefing and coordination meetings, providing updates on progress, challenges, best practices, lessons learned, and recommendations.
• Maintain regular communication with Helen Keller Intl. and relevant stakeholders, promptly escalating technical, operational, security, or management issues requiring intervention.

Expected deliverables and means of verification:

• Daily monitoring and reporting outputs, including SurveyCTO submissions, call-in reports, treatment progress updates, field observations, and data quality checks with documented discrepancies and actions taken.
• Evidence of field monitoring and verification visits to schools, communities, fixed posts, outreach sites, and other service delivery points, including GPS-tagged photographs where appropriate and permitted.
• Documentation of implementation gaps and corrective actions, including low-performing or missed communities, follow-up actions, mop-up activities, and outcomes.
• Medicine and commodity accountability records, including drug utilisation, stock monitoring, and inventory reports.
• Records of daily debriefing and coordination meetings, including key findings, agreed action points, and follow-up actions.
• A consolidated implementation report summarising achievement, challenges, corrective actions, lessons learned, best practices, and recommendations.

Post-Implementation Phase

Period: Three consecutive days, or as specified in the approved workplan.

• Support data review, validation, reconciliation, and reporting by verifying treatment data against source documents, identifying and escalating discrepancies, supporting data entry into approved systems and templates, and ensuring all data quality issues are resolved before final submission.
• Monitor end-of-campaign commodity accountability by overseeing the retrieval, reconciliation, documentation, and return of unused medicines, empty containers, and other campaign materials in line with approved procedures.
• Verify and submit campaign documentation, including treatment registers, summary reports, attendance sheets, financial records, and participant information, ensuring accuracy, completeness, and compliance with approved verification processes.
• Participate in post-campaign review and debriefing processes, documenting key challenges, lessons learned, good practices, success stories, and recommendations for future campaigns.
• Prepare and submit final campaign deliverables, including a comprehensive post-implementation report, supporting evidence, action photographs, and other required documentation in accordance with Helen Keller Intl. guidelines.

Expected deliverables and means of verification:

• Validated campaign data and reports, including community, school, facility, ward, and LGA summaries, with evidence of data reconciliation and resolution of identified discrepancies.
• Complete and verified campaign documentation, including attendance sheets, financial records, participant details, and bank account verification records.
• Commodity accountability reports, including drug inventory, reverse logistics, medicine retrieval, and reconciliation documentation.
• Evidence of submission of treatment registers, summary reports, and other required campaign documents to designated authorities.
• A comprehensive post-implementation report highlighting achievements, challenges, lessons learned, outstanding issues, and recommendations for future implementation.
• Supporting evidence and communication materials, including at least one documented success story with signed informed consent and a minimum of ten properly labelled action photographs that comply with safeguarding and consent requirements.
• All post-implementation deliverables must be submitted through designated reporting channels within one week of campaign completion, unless otherwise directed by Helen Keller Intl.

Data Quality, Reporting and Accountability Requirements

The RIM is responsible for ensuring that all monitoring and reporting activities are accurate, timely, verifiable, and compliant with programme requirements. Specifically, the RIM will:

• Ensure the accuracy, completeness, consistency, and timeliness of all monitoring data and reports, using verified field observations and source documents.
• Conduct routine data quality checks by cross-checking treatment records, tally sheets, registers, and summary reports to identify and document discrepancies, missing records, duplicate entries, unusual trends, or potential data integrity concerns.
• Support and document data validation and correction processes, ensuring that any revisions are properly justified, authorized, and traceable through established procedures.
• Maintain complete, secure, and auditable records of monitoring activities, reports, and supporting documentation.
• Uphold the highest standards of integrity and confidentiality by safeguarding programme data and participant information, and by refraining from the alteration, fabrication, or misrepresentation of any programme records.
• Promptly report suspected fraud, data falsification, misuse of programme resources, or other misconduct through approved reporting and accountability channels.

Safeguarding, Ethics, Professional Conduct and Data Integrity

The RIM is expected to uphold Helen Keller Intl.\'s values, safeguarding standards, and code of conduct while maintaining the highest levels of integrity, professionalism, and accountability.

The RIM will:

• Maintain integrity, objectivity, and professional independence in all monitoring, reporting, and programme-related activities, and avoid conflicts of interest, favouritism, bribery, fraud, or any abuse of position.
• Treat all stakeholders with dignity, respect, fairness, and professionalism, in accordance with Helen Keller Intl.\'s safeguarding and ethical standards.
• Comply with all safeguarding policies, including child safeguarding, Protection from Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment (PSEAH), and other applicable organisational requirements.
• Protect privacy and confidentiality by obtaining informed consent before collecting personal information, photographs, or individual stories, and ensuring sensitive information is shared only through authorised channels.
• Promptly report safeguarding concerns, security incidents, suspected misconduct, fraud, resource misuse, or data falsification through approved reporting mechanisms.
• Adhere to a zero-tolerance policy on data falsification, recognising that the deliberate fabrication, alteration, misrepresentation, or submission of false information constitutes serious misconduct and may result in termination of engagement, disqualification from future assignments, and other administrative or legal actions in line with organisational procedures.

Security and Field Access Requirements

The RIM will:

• Comply with all Helen Keller Intl. security protocols, movement procedures, and field access requirements, including participation in security briefings and obtaining required travel clearances.
• Maintain regular communication with designated programme personnel, promptly reporting security incidents, threats, movement restrictions, and other safety concerns.
• Adhere to approved security guidance, avoiding unauthorized movements and adapting responsibly to changing field conditions while maintaining assigned responsibilities and reporting timelines.

Required Minimum Education, Experience and Competencies

Education and Experience

Candidates must meet at least one of the following minimum requirements:

• A Bachelor\'s degree (B.Sc.) or Higher National Diploma (HND) in any relevant discipline, with at least one year of experience in public health, nutrition, NTDs, immunisation, malaria, HIV or other community-based health programmes; or experience in field monitoring and data collection using digital tools.

OR

• A minimum of secondary school education, with at least two years of relevant experience working in NTD, malaria, HIV, nutrition, immunization or other public health programs, including experience in community mobilization, field monitoring or data collection using smartphones.