Technical Lead, CMAM Avance at International Rescue Committee

Position Summary


The CMAM Avance' Technical Lead provides senior technical leadership and oversight across all project countries to ensure high‑quality, evidence‑based implementation and learning. The role combines country‑level technical partnership, capacity strengthening, quality assurance, and global‑level technical leadership, with a strong focus on cost‑effectiveness and learning.
Working closely with country teams, Ministries of Health, MEAL and coverage specialists, the Best Use of Resources (BUR) team, finance, research, and HQ nutrition colleagues, the Technical Lead ensures that project implementation, data use, and learning remain rigorous, coherent, and strategically relevant.
As part of the West and Central Africa regional team, this position—working specifically on the CMAM Avancé project—will contribute beyond country-level implementation by supporting regional learning and cross-country reflection. The role will help inform and accelerate the advancement of similar approaches in other countries across the region, particularly by strengthening cross-functional ways of working and helping to prioritize efforts where there is the greatest potential for scale. In this way, the position directly contributes to the ongoing Phase 2 of IRC's Nutrition Impact at Scale (I@S) strategy, translating programmatic learning into scalable, region-wide nutrition impact.


Specific Responsibilities:

Country-Level Technical Support & Capacity Strengthening

Technical Advisory & Program Performance Improvement


Serve as the primary technical advisor to CMAM Avance' country teams in Chad, DRC, and Niger, providing continuous remote and in‑country support on program design, adaptation, and implementation.
Provide expert technical guidance on complex operational and programmatic challenges, including protocol adaptations, implementation trade‑offs, and risk mitigation.
Partner with national technical teams to analyze program performance data (coverage, admissions, treatment outcomes, supply gaps, and quality indicators) and deliver evidence‑based recommendations to improve program quality, access, coverage, and effectiveness.
Support country teams to strengthen the quality and clarity of technical reporting, ensuring robust articulation of evidence‑based results and learning.


Capacity Strengthening & Technical Workforce Development


Design and deliver advanced technical training, mentoring, and coaching to country nutrition teams to build sustained capacity in evidence‑based CMAM protocols and quality standards.
Develop, adapt, and deploy practical technical tools, job aids, guidance documents, training packages, and curricula tailored to country contexts, ensuring alignment with international and national standards.
Promote a culture of continuous learning, accountability, and technical excellence through hands‑on support and structured follow‑up.


Quality Assurance, Supervision & Government Engagement


Conduct regular technical support visits, including supportive supervision, quality assessments, coaching sessions, and joint program reviews.
Work closely with Ministries of Health and key government counterparts to ensure adherence to CMAM protocols, alignment with national strategies, and identification of opportunities for corrective action and system strengthening.


Coordination & Cross‑Country Learning


Establish and maintain structured coordination mechanisms with country teams, including regular technical meetings, joint work planning, and follow‑up actions.
Facilitate cross‑country learning by documenting and sharing best practices, lessons learned, and innovations, and supporting their adaptation across project countries.


Technical Strategy, Evidence, and Learning

Cost‑Effectiveness & Best Use of Resources


Collaborate with the Best Use of Resources (BUR) team to (1) strengthen monitoring and evaluation of cost‑effectiveness across project components, as well as (2) assess the feasibility, cost, and impact implications of program adjustments and expansions to increase cost-effectiveness
Work with the finance analyst to monitor and correct expenses and encourage country teams to optimize costs; as well as build annual budgets;


MEAL Systems, Data Use & Analytical Oversight


Collaborate with the MEAL Specialist and country M&E leads to ensure effective use of CommCare and PowerBI nutrition data platforms.
Provide technical oversight and review of project‑level reporting against the learning agenda, including key performance indicators such as coverage, admissions, recovery rates, and relapse.
Advise on data‑driven course correction to strengthen implementation quality and outcomes.


Coverage Measurement & Technical Methodologies


Provide technical leadership and oversight for nutrition coverage surveys, including methodological guidance, quality assurance, data analysis, and reporting.
Support country teams to translate coverage findings into practical improvements in service delivery and program strategy.


Technical Innovation, Tools & Coverage Expansion


Provide technical leadership and capacity building to support adoption of context‑appropriate, coverage‑increasing activities.
Develop, test, and roll out practical tools, resources, training materials, and curricula that respond to country needs and end‑user realities.


Knowledge Management, Learning & Strategic Influence


Systematically document, analyze, and synthesize lessons learned from the CMAM Avancé project to generate actionable evidence that informs IRC Strategy 100 Phase 2 and the Nutrition Innovation @ Scale (I@S) initiative.
Translate country-level implementation learning into regional insights, supporting cross-country reflection and adaptation of CMAM and nutrition system-strengthening approaches across West and Central Africa.
Contribute to regional learning agendas by identifying emerging best practices, implementation bottlenecks, and enabling factors for scale, and by distilling these into clear recommendations for programmatic and strategic decision-making.
Facilitate cross-functional collaboration (across nutrition, health systems, MEAL, advocacy, and partnerships teams) to strengthen integrated ways of working and ensure that learning from CMAM Avancé informs broader IRC nutrition programming.
Support prioritization for scale, by helping assess which programmatic innovations and operational models show the greatest potential for sustainable expansion within government systems.
Contribute to knowledge products (e.g. learning briefs, case studies, internal strategy notes, presentations) that support internal alignment, donor engagement, and external influence related to nutrition at scale.
Engage with regional and global IRC teams to ensure that evidence and learning from West and Central Africa meaningfully shape the evolution and operationalization of the Nutrition Impact at Scale (I@S) Phase 2 strategy.
Support adaptive management processes, using real-time learning and data to inform course correction and enhance effectiveness of ongoing and future nutrition interventions.