Senior Lead: Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL)

Arthan is supporting a leading nonprofit organization working to advance social justice and equity for marginalized communities in India and is hiring for a Lead Monitoring, Evaluation, Research & Learning (MERL). 

The role will be pivotal in driving the organizations evidence, learning, and evaluation agenda while ensuring program quality, accountability, and measurable impact.

Key Responsibilities

Monitoring

• Track progress of existing programs against key performance indicators.

• Collaborate closely with program teams to provide timely insights and corrective action guidance.

Evaluation

• Identify and prioritize evaluation questions across implementation teams.

• Lead baseline, midline, and endline studies to inform programmatic decisions.

• Support leadership in advancing the organizations evidence and scaling agenda.

Research

• Design and disseminate qualitative and quantitative research studies, including rapid assessments of service delivery in last-mile contexts.

• Identify and engage research partners and advisors for emerging MERL needs.

Learning

• Document lessons learned, case studies, and best practices for internal and external use.

• Support proposal development by designing MERL plans and results frameworks.

• Build and manage a high-performing MERL team.

Other Responsibilities

• Collaborate with technology partners for data management and quality assurance.

• Develop and execute annual and multi-year MERL operational plans, ensuring budget efficiency.

• Translate data into actionable insights to inform program strategy and improvement.

Required Qualifications & Experience

• 10+ years of professional experience, including 5+ years in monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning.

• At least 2 years leading the MERL function in a nonprofit, research, or consulting environment.

• Proven expertise in developing measurement systems for complex, adaptive programs.

• Experience with experimental, quasi-experimental, and non-experimental evaluation designs using mixed methods.

• Strong facilitation, communication, and writing skills in English; working proficiency in Hindi preferred.

• Experience working with socially excluded or marginalized communities (desirable).