Final

Data Verification Officer

About Lafiya

At Lafiya, we're on a mission to make contraception accessible to anyone who needs it and wants it, no matter where they live. Through our network of dedicated female health professionals, our Lafiya Sisters, we provide information and deliver contraception directly to communities that need it most. Our approach is cost-effective, community-based, and deeply rooted in respect and agency. We operate in hard-to-reach communities that otherwise do not have access to contraceptive products and information. We currently run our core programme across six states in Nigeria, managing 600+ Lafiya Sisters. In addition to our direct community-based work, we are partnering with the government to co-create sustainable financing models for contraception procurement and to address critical data and delivery gaps. To date, we have supported more than 1,000,000 women through our innovative last-mile approach.

We're a fast-growing nonprofit in the middle of a transition from a start-up to a scale-up. Our focus is on impact, cost-effectiveness, and ensuring our work enhances the dignity and agency of those we serve. Lafiya was founded in 2021, incubated by Ambitious Impact in 2023, and is funded by some of the world's most discerning donors seeking evidence-backed impact at large scale, such as GiveWell, Mulago Foundation, Dovetail Impact Foundation, The Life You Can Save and Founders Pledge. GiveWell estimates our programme to be 14x their benchmark. By 2030, we aim to reach 20 million women with family planning services, operating in four countries, focused on increased government co-payment for financial sustainability.

Position Overview

The Data Verification Officer (DVO) ensures that Lafiya’s programmes are delivered with accuracy, accountability and integrity by independently verifying that programme data reflects what is actually happening in the field. Through spot checks and verification of registers and stock records, the DVO provides the evidence base that programme and leadership decisions rest on. As part of Lafiya’s central Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL) department, the DVO reports to a Data Quality & Field Lead, works alongside the State Programme Manager, and links the state team to central MEL, turning field findings into practical recommendations that improve how Lafiya Sisters record and report data and how that data feeds into national systems.

Beyond Lafiya’s own data, the DVO serves as a technical resource to state and LGA counterparts on community-level data, supporting data quality assessments, contributing evidence to quantification exercises, and strengthening the use of community data for planning and decision-making. This is central to Lafiya’s health systems strengthening work, positioning Lafiya as a technical partner to the government, not only a service delivery partner. The role is hands-on and field-based, with frequent travel and close collaboration with Lafiya Sisters, facility staff, the Central Medical Store, and state and LGA M&E counterparts. The DVO’s engagement with government is technical and data-focused; strategic engagement, formal representation and programme-level decisions remain with the State Programme Manager.

What You’ll Do

As a Data Verification Officer, you will:

• Plan and target spot checks. At the start of each month, use the Prioritisation Tool to score Lafiya Sisters across internal, counselling-quality, and national-reporting metrics, and build a visit schedule around the highest-priority cases, including those flagged in previous visits.
• Conduct spot checks in the field. Visit Lafiya Sisters and facilities to verify data accuracy by checking stock and cross-verifying records against our systems. Use each visit to mentor Lafiya Sisters on the spot: guide them on completing registers correctly, submitting accurate data in SurveyCTO, and meeting reporting standards. Document your findings for the State Programme Manager and the MEL team, and refer wider performance issues to the Programme Officer. Coaching and performance follow-up remain with the Programme Officer.
• Verify counseling data. Check the accuracy and completeness of Lafiya Sisters’ counselling submissions and records, and escalate discrepancies to the Data Quality & Field Lead. Share findings and recommendations with the State Programme Manager and the MEL team so the programme team can act on them.
• Investigate discrepancies with national systems. Where Lafiya’s data does not match DHIS2 or NHLMIS, investigate at facility level to find the cause, and check whether Lafiya-supported facilities are correctly registered and reporting. Report any registration or reporting gaps to the State Programme Manager and MEL team for resolution.
• Provide technical assistance to government on community-level data. Serve as a technical resource to state and LGA counterparts on community data quality, verification, reporting and use, strengthening the integration of community-based service delivery data into government systems. This includes supporting government-led data quality assessments (DQAs) and validation exercises, and participating in state M&E technical working group meetings, where you explain our data and document key takeaways for the MEL team and the State Programme Manager. Strategic government engagement and formal representation of Lafiya remain with the State Programme Manager.
• Contribute verified data to government planning. Provide verified community-level service delivery and commodity data to quantification, forecasting and planning processes, helping ensure community needs are reflected in resource allocation and decision-making.
• Conduct independent stock counts at the Central Medical Store. Carry out cycle counts with CMS staff and reconcile physical balances against records.
• Report supply chain and logistics issues. Flag supply chain or logistics issues found during verification promptly to the State Programme Manager and Operations team, who are responsible for resolving them.
• Answer internal data questions. Respond to routine data questions about your state from colleagues across the organisation. Questions from external partners go through the State Programme Manager.
• Set up and support data collection tools. Install and configure SurveyCTO on Lafiya Sisters’ phones, provide technical support on SurveyCTO and reporting tools during Lafiya Sister training sessions led by the programme team, and troubleshoot reporting problems as they arise. Use what you see in the field to identify training needs and share them with the Programme Officer and State Programme Manager.

Who You Are

We are looking for someone who takes personal ownership of the truth behind the numbers. Much of this role is carried out in the field, far from an office so we need someone who plans their own month, holds the standard when nobody is watching, and is curious about why a figure doesn’t add up rather than content to record that it doesn’t.

You’re someone who:

• Works autonomously. You don’t wait to be told what to do next. You plan your own visit schedule, decide what needs attention, and move it forward without close supervision.
• Is determined to find what doesn’t work. You care about why a register doesn’t match a submission. You don’t just record the gap; you are driven to uncover the cause behind it, whether that is a training gap, a broken tool, or something harder to raise.
• Takes ownership of accountability. You don’t hesitate to highlight issues proactively, including uncomfortable ones, and you believe that MEL protects truth, not comfort.
• Identifies and communicates actionable findings. You go beyond spotting data discrepancies to explain what they mean and why they matter. You make evidence-based recommendations for improving data quality and reporting, and you communicate your findings clearly to MEL and programme teams so they can take corrective action.
• Communicates feedback constructively. You can tell an experienced midwife that her records do not match her submissions in a way that is clear, direct, and respectful. You address problems honestly without making people feel undermined or disrespected.
• Is a local expert and communicator. You are fluent in Hausa and English, understand the cultural context of the communities we serve, and can sit down with facility staff or state M&E officers to explain our data and work through discrepancies together.
• Is driven by learning. You are comfortable saying when you don’t know something and enjoy figuring it out. You tell us when our tools or processes aren’t working, rather than working around them quietly.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in public health, statistics, social sciences, or a related field (or equivalent experience)
• Minimum of 2 years’ relevant work experience in monitoring & evaluation, data collection, or programme operations.
• Experience conducting field data collection, verification, or supervision visits is preferred.
• Experience working with community health workers or at primary health facility level is a plus.

Skills & Personal Qualities

• Professional fluency in English and Hausa or Pidgin (depending on location) is mandatory.
• Proficiency using spreadsheet software (Excel or Google Sheets) for verification and analysis, e.g. lookups, pivot tables, and working with a scoring tool, is mandatory.
• Experience with mobile data collection tools such as SurveyCTO, ODK, or CommCare is highly preferred.
• Working knowledge of DHIS2 and NHLMIS, or willingness to learn them quickly, is preferred.
• Strong organisational skills, with the ability to plan your own schedule, manage multiple visits, and deliver reports on time.
• High standards of integrity, with a commitment to accurate reporting and safeguarding.
• Willingness to travel frequently within the state, including to rural areas, and to work flexibly where needed.

Why should you apply

This is a unique opportunity to play a central role in strengthening the quality and accountability of Lafiya’s programmes. As a Data Verification Officer, your work will ensure that the data we rely on is accurate and that our supply chains are transparent, enabling Lafiya to deliver services with confidence and integrity. You will gain exposure to both state-level operations and central MEL systems, making this a valuable stepping stone for a career in programme management, monitoring & evaluation, or public health operations.

You will be joining a young, ambitious and supportive organisation that is growing quickly. We are serious about impact and serious about investing in our people. There will be room to take initiative, make decisions, and leave your mark on a critical stage of Lafiya’s growth. We don’t have layers of approval or slow processes – if something makes sense, we’ll try it.

Benefits include:

• 40 days of paid annual leave inclusive of national holidays
• Fully paid 16 weeks maternity leave
• Laptop, phone and communications data allowance
• Working closely with a team of senior leaders who are collaborative, ambitious and serious about impact.
• HMO insurance cover, travel reimbursements, and the possibility of a co-working space.

What is the recruitment process for this role?

We value your time and aim to make our recruitment process as insightful as possible. It includes:

• Stage 1: Application Form & Assessment. Share your CV and complete an online multiple-choice assessment to evaluate your fit for the role.
• Stage 2: Test Task. Engage in a 1-3 hour task that mirrors the kind of work you'll do with us.
• Stage 3: Interview. This is the final stage, after which we’ll make offers. All candidates will be asked the same questions in a 1-hour interview and it will also be an opportunity for you to ask us questions.

We're committed to transparency and will provide feedback at Stage 3. If you're ready to embark on this journey with us, apply here: https://tally.so/r/BEKK0N