Manager – Monitoring, Evaluation and Research (MERL)

Location: New Delhi (office-based)
Level: Manager level
Travel: Around 20% of the time, to project states
Engagement: Full-time, long-term project role

About the Opportunity

Our client is setting up a dedicated Monitoring, Evaluation and Research function for a multi-year programme in women and child health. The programme works closely with the government to support coordination across states and the rollout of national health guidelines.

We are looking for an Advisor – MERL to lead the programme's data analysis, evaluation and research work. This role is for someone who is comfortable working with large datasets, building trust with government counterparts and turning evidence into practical recommendations for policy.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide technical support for monitoring, evaluation, research and learning activities related to women and child health to inform programme planning, implementation and decision-making.
• Track, analyse and interpret key indicators using data from routine health information systems, large-scale surveys and other relevant sources to assess programme performance and identify gaps.
• Undertake triangulation of data from multiple sources to identify trends, disparities and areas requiring programmatic attention.
• Design and conduct quantitative and qualitative assessments, including development of study protocols, sampling strategies, data collection tools and analysis plans.
• Conduct secondary data analyses, literature reviews and evidence synthesis to inform programme strategies, priorities and policy recommendations.
• Support the development of monitoring frameworks, indicators, analytical tools, dashboards and data visualizations to facilitate programme monitoring and reviews.
• Support data quality assessments and identify opportunities to strengthen data quality, reporting and use across routine monitoring systems.
• Contribute to scientific writing and development of technical reports, policy briefs, research manuscripts, presentations and other knowledge products.
• Analyse and synthesize findings from various assessments and data sources, and translate them into actionable recommendations for programme strengthening.
• Coordinate with government counterparts, technical partners and other stakeholders for data reviews, assessments, evidence generation and dissemination of findings.
• Ensure quality and methodological rigour in research and analytical activities, including adherence to relevant ethical and data governance requirements.
• Perform other duties as assigned by the supervisor to support the objectives of the project.

Required Qualifications and Experience

• MBBS with a Master's in Public Health, Epidemiology or a related field, or a PhD in Population Sciences, Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Statistics, Public Health or a related field.
• At least 7 years of experience in public health, specifically in monitoring, evaluation, research and data analysis.
• Hands-on experience with Stata, R or SPSS.
• Prior experience of working with government bodies, such as ministries or state health departments.
• Experience with state or national health data systems, and with large national datasets such as NFHS, DLHS or SRS.
• Strong scientific writing skills, ideally with published research.
• Fluency in Hindi and good working English.

Good to Have

• Peer-reviewed publications based on secondary analysis of large datasets.
• Experience designing and conducting programme evaluations.
• Understanding of public health programmes and policies in India.