Application Guide
How to Apply for Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Officer
at Notify Health
🏢 About Notify Health
Notify Health is a startup nonprofit on a mission to ensure all Nigerian children receive life-saving immunizations by sending SMS and automated voice reminders in over 10 local languages. Since its founding 2.5 years ago, it has reached caregivers of over 50,000 children across three Nigerian states, with pilot evidence showing timely vaccination coverage up to 24 percentage points higher. Backed by GiveWell and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, it aims to scale to 10+ states, making it a high-impact, fast-moving place to work.
About This Role
As the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Officer, you will design and implement systems to track the effectiveness of Notify Health's reminder messages, measure vaccination coverage changes, and generate insights to improve the program. You will work remotely with a dynamic team, analyzing data from SMS/voice campaigns and government partnerships to inform scaling decisions. Your work directly ensures that resources are directed toward the most impactful strategies for saving children's lives.
💡 A Day in the Life
A typical day might involve reviewing data from recent SMS campaigns to assess delivery rates and vaccination outcomes, then meeting with the program team to discuss trends and adjust messaging. You could spend time cleaning datasets, preparing reports for donors like GiveWell, or collaborating with local partners to improve data collection processes. Later, you might analyze the effectiveness of a new voice call script or brainstorm indicators for an upcoming expansion state.
🚀 Application Tools
🎯 Who Notify Health Is Looking For
- 3+ years of experience in monitoring and evaluation, preferably in public health, immunization, or mobile health (mHealth) programs in low- or middle-income countries.
- Strong quantitative skills: proficiency in data analysis tools (e.g., Excel, Stata, R, or Python) and experience designing surveys, managing databases, and conducting impact evaluations.
- Familiarity with Nigerian health systems, vaccination schedules, and challenges in data collection in remote or low-resource settings.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English; ability to translate data into actionable insights for non-technical partners and donors.
- Self-starter comfortable working remotely in a startup environment, with a collaborative spirit and a passion for social impact.
📝 Tips for Applying to Notify Health
Highlight any experience with immunization or maternal/child health programs in Nigeria or similar contexts—Notify Health specifically targets Nigerian children, so local knowledge is a plus.
Quantify your MEL achievements: e.g., 'Designed a survey that increased data accuracy by 30%' or 'Analyzed data from 10,000+ beneficiaries to inform program expansion.'
Show familiarity with Notify Health's model: mention SMS/voice reminders, their pilot results, and how MEL can support scaling to 10+ states.
Demonstrate ability to work remotely and independently: provide examples of managing projects across time zones and using collaborative tools (Slack, Zoom, Google Workspace).
Tailor your cover letter to the startup nonprofit culture: emphasize adaptability, quick learning, and a commitment to iterative improvement, as they value constant learning.
✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter
['Your hands-on experience designing and implementing MEL frameworks for health programs, ideally in Nigeria or similar settings.', "Specific examples of how you've used data to improve program outcomes, such as increasing vaccination coverage or optimizing reminder systems.", 'Your ability to work with diverse stakeholders, including government partners and local communities, to ensure data quality and ethical collection.', "Enthusiasm for Notify Health's mission and a clear understanding of how MEL supports their goal to scale impact cost-effectively."]
Generate Cover Letter →🔍 Research Before Applying
To stand out, make sure you've researched:
- → Read Notify Health's website and any published reports or blog posts to understand their pilot results, expansion plans, and partnerships with GiveWell and Gavi.
- → Research Nigeria's immunization schedule and common barriers to vaccination (e.g., forgetfulness, access issues) to contextualize the MEL work.
- → Explore GiveWell's evaluation criteria for charities and how they assess impact, as Notify Health is backed by them and likely aligns with their metrics.
- → Look into mobile health (mHealth) interventions in low-resource settings, including studies on SMS reminders for immunization, to bring evidence-based ideas to the interview.
💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics
Based on this role, you may be asked about:
⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Avoid generic MEL experience without linking it to immunization or mobile health—Notify Health needs someone who understands the specific challenges of vaccination reminders.
- Don't overlook the Nigerian context: failing to mention local languages, government health systems, or cultural nuances could signal a lack of fit.
- Avoid focusing only on data collection without emphasizing learning and adaptation—Notify Health values continuous improvement and using insights to scale impact.
📅 Application Timeline
This position is open until filled. However, we recommend applying as soon as possible as roles at mission-driven organizations tend to fill quickly.
Typical hiring timeline:
Application Review
1-2 weeks
Initial Screening
Phone call or written assessment
Interviews
1-2 rounds, usually virtual
Offer
Congratulations!