MERL Officer, WPF

Litipara, Jharkhand, India | Monitoring and Evaluation | Full-time

Apply by: Feb. 9, 2025
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Title: MERL Officer, WPF

Location: Littipara Block, Pakur District, Jharkhand

Reports to: Project Lead, WPF

Employment Status: Full Time

Salary: CTC 9 Lakhs PA

Last update: 9 February 2025

About Trickle Up

Since 1979, Trickle Up has been enabling extremely poor people to build resilient livelihoods and emerge from the cycle of poverty adopting graduation approach. Trickle Up has focused on the poorest and most vulnerable, helping empower participants who live in extreme poverty and face multiple levels of exclusion due to gender, ethnicity, religion, and disability. We target those who are most socioeconomically excluded across Asia, Africa, and the Americas- women, youth, people with disabilities, indigenous people, refugees, and other vulnerable groups who live beyond the reach of most social services and development programs. In FY19, we reached 170,000 people across 19 countries. We have been registered and operating in India since 2005; our current footprint is focused on Jharkhand and Odisha States, where we reached 129,000 people in FY19.

Project Overview:

The “Graduation for Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups in Jharkhand” Project aims to empower 1,200 extremely poor women from the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) of Pahariya and Malpahariya in Littipara Block, Pakur District, Jharkhand, over 36 months (July 2024 - June 2027). By implementing a tailored Ultra-Poor Graduation Approach, the project seeks to equip these women with the knowledge, skills, and resources necessary for diversified income generation and sustainable livelihoods.

The approach involves a comprehensive set of interventions, including market and socio-economic assessments, consumption support, savings and financial inclusion, asset transfer, livelihood training, coaching, and linkages to government schemes. This will address key challenges such as limited access to productive assets, markets, and credit, inadequate infrastructure, and low entrepreneurial activity among the PVTG women.

Position Overview:

This is a technical position within the Program Team. He/she will take the monitoring lead in Ultra-Poor Graduation Program in promoting a culture of continuous learning and program improvement and ensuring that TU and its partners have the necessary M&E systems and tools to meet their management, learning and evidence needs. The MERL Officer will work closely with both the India program team and the global monitoring, evaluation, research and learning (MERL) team to provide strategic and operational direction and oversight related to M&E and will provide on-the-ground leadership on implementation of monitoring and evaluation activities. This position will also take the

lead in integrating digital monitoring and data visualization systems of the project, to support real-time monitoring and management to support continual program learning and improvements. 

Program Quality & Monitoring

·        Align monitoring systems with program objectives, learning, and advocacy needs.

·        Ensure technical quality and compliance with government and partner expectations.

·        Integrate digital technologies for real-time monitoring and improvement.

·        Implement and maintain the MERL framework, ensuring high-quality evidence and reporting.

·        Develop data collection tools, analyze outcomes, and produce stakeholder reports.

Evaluation & Research

·        Identify research priorities and oversee internal/external evaluations.

·        Ensure data integrity and translate findings into actionable insights.

·        Collaborate with technical teams on program analysis and research reviews.

Capacity Building & Knowledge Management

·        Foster a learning culture within Trickle Up and its partners.

·        Train teams on knowledge gathering, data use, and interpretation.

·        Facilitate knowledge-sharing sessions and integrate research insights into program improvements.

Data Management & Analysis

·        Maintain accurate project data, conduct statistical analysis, and ensure data security.

·        Perform routine quality assessments and implement corrective actions.

Documentation & Dissemination

·        Develop research briefs, case studies, and technical publications.

·        Disseminate findings to stakeholders and support advocacy efforts at multiple levels.

Other Responsibilities

·        Contribute to resource mobilization and donor engagement.

·        Support partnership assessments and adapt responsibilities based on evolving priorities.

Qualifications

Academic:

  • Post-graduate degree or equivalent in Rural Development/Social Work/Sociology/Business Management/Economics/Statistics or another relevant field
  • Certificate on Results Based Management, Data, Impact and Policy would be preferrable

Working Experience:

·       Demonstrated at least 6 years monitoring & evaluation experience working with field-based staff to ensure quality program implementation and learning for international NGOs, reputed local NGOs or government.

·       Technical expertise in evidence-based monitoring and evaluation approaches and practices both for accountability and learning processes.

·       Demonstrable good track record in data tracking and quality assessment, with the ability to support staff and partners on MERL methodology and analyse and disseminate complex information to a range of stakeholder audiences.

·       Well-developed research, analytical (qualitative and quantitative), documentation, report-writing, and strategic planning skills, with competency in participatory research methods.

·       Proficiency in data management and visualization software programs (e.g., Power Bi, R, Tableau, Kobo Collect, ODK, NVivo, ATLAS.ti, and STATA, Epi Info, SPSS etc.).

·       Experience managing or evaluating livelihood programs, particularly in rural areas.

·       Experience with gender focused programs, and other cross-cutting vulnerabilities.

·       Experience working with extremely poor and highly marginalized populations.

·       Experience working in partnership with both local NGOs and/or CBOs and government and state/national level entities (e.g. NRLM)

·       Experience with FPOs and market linkages programs highly valued

Knowledge and skills

·      Quantitative and qualitative data analysis skills, and design and implementation of monitoring systems and evaluation.

·      The candidate must have exemplary communication skills, including strong writing skills in English

·      Experience in ensuring data quality, integrity and efficiency of data collection, analysis and reporting and dissemination.

·      Knowledge of digital approaches of program implementation and M&E.

Behavioral competencies

·      Strong attention to detail

·      Able to prioritize, manage multiple tasks, and consistently meet deadlines

·      Works well both independently and as a member of a team

·      Optimistic, creative, and solutions-oriented; tackles challenges with maturity

·      Superb people skills and diplomatic demeanor

·      Understands the challenges and opportunities of working in a nonprofit setting

·      Demonstrated commitment to mission-driven work

TRAVEL Requirements

Must be able to travel at least 50% of the time to remote areas, at short notice.

Salary and Benefits:

Trickle UP offers competitive salaries and benefits for this full-time position. The successful applicant will join a dynamic, passionate, multicultural team deeply committed to the alleviation of extreme poverty. Trickle Up promotes a collegial, high-performing organizational culture in which staff communicate clearly and openly, and are reflective, innovative, and mutually accountable.

To Apply:

  • To be considered, all candidates must fulfill the above prerequisites, provide a complete CV, covering letter. Incomplete applications will not be accepted.
  • To submit your application, go to the Web Link given below and click on “Apply for this Position” button at the bottom of the page, and follow the instructions.

WebLink:

Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until 9 February, 2025. We are sorry that we are unable to entertain phone calls related to this posting.

Trickle Up is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We value a diverse workforce and extend equal opportunity to all applicants and employees regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, sexual orientation, veteran status, disability, or any other status protected by law.