MERL Coordinator (Women Peace Security)

The MERL Coordinator will lead and coordinate Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, Learning, and Accountability (MERL) activities in Ethiopia. The role will ensure the generation of high-quality evidence, effective monitoring systems, strong data quality, and timely reporting to support adaptive management and donor compliance.

Key responsibilities include coordinating assessments, managing project data, supporting research and learning initiatives, strengthening evidence generation, and working closely with partners, women-led organizations, project teams, and regional stakeholders. The position will contribute to evidence-based programming that promotes the participation, protection, leadership, and inclusion of women and young women in peacebuilding, governance, and decision-making processes.

The ideal candidate will have strong experience in MERL systems, data analysis, research, reporting, and learning within development or humanitarian programs, with a commitment to gender equality, safeguarding, disability inclusion, and conflict-sensitive programming.

Key Activities

Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting 

• Lead the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of the project’s MERL framework by ensuring alignment with the Theory of Change, Results Framework, indicator tracking, performance measurement plans, donor requirements, and Plan International MERL standards.
• Develop monitoring and evaluation plans, data collection tools, reporting templates and standard operating procedures
• Coordinate baseline, midline, end line and outcome assessments.
• Ensure timely collection, verification, analysis and reporting of project performance data.
• Conduct regular data quality assessments (DQAs) and verification exercises to ensure reliability and accuracy of reported results.
• Monitor progress against project indicators, milestones and targets and provide regular performance updates.
• Establish and maintain project databases and information management systems.
• Conduct routine data quality assessments and support corrective actions.
• Consolidate partner and project-level data for donor and organizational reporting.
• Support preparation of high-quality quarterly, annual and donor reports.
• Track project results, risks, assumptions and lessons learned to support adaptive management.
• Produce project dashboards and analytical reports for management decision-making.
• Lead and coordinate project learning and evidence-generation processes, including Outcome Harvesting, Most Significant Change, learning reviews, and outcome documentation, to capture intended and unintended results, strengthen adaptive management, and support evidence-based decision-making and reporting.

Research, Learning and Knowledge Management

• Lead evidence generation initiatives, assessments, surveys, operational research and learning studies.
• Coordinate documentation of case studies, success stories, promising practices and lessons learned.
• Facilitate project reflection meetings, pause-and-reflect sessions and learning events.
• Support analysis of trends related to women’s participation, protection and leadership outcomes.
• Lead the planning and management of project evaluations by developing Terms of Reference (ToRs), coordinating and overseeing external consultants, ensuring methodological rigor and quality standards, and reviewing evaluation processes and reports to generate credible evidence for learning, and decision-making. Promote utilization of evidence for programme improvement and strategic decision-making.
• Develop knowledge products including briefs, reports, presentations and learning papers.
• Support dissemination of evidence and learning across countries participating in the regional programme.
• Contribute to regional learning agendas and cross-country learning exchanges.

Accountability and Partner Support

• Strengthen accountability mechanisms that ensure meaningful participation and feedback from women, girls and community stakeholders.
• Support establishment and monitoring of community feedback and complaints mechanisms.
• Ensure data collection and accountability processes are inclusive, safe, ethical and survivor-centered.
• Build the capacity of partner organizations on MERL systems, data collection tools, reporting requirements and evidence-based programming.
• Conduct partner mentoring, coaching and supportive supervision on data quality and results measurement.
• Support partner performance review meetings using evidence and results data.
• Promote partner ownership of learning and adaptive management processes.

Coordination and Representation

• Participate in project governance, review and planning meetings.
• Provide technical MERL guidance during annual planning and project design processes.
• Represent the project in relevant MERL, research and learning forums.
• Coordinate with regional MERL teams to ensure harmonized reporting and measurement approaches.
• Support donor visits, monitoring missions and external evaluations.
• Contribute technical inputs to donor communications, advocacy products and programme reviews.
• Assess MERL capacities of implementing partners, grassroots women-led organizations, and CSOs.
• Provide training, coaching, mentoring, and technical support on MERL systems, RBM, data quality, reporting, and evidence use.

Safeguarding Children and Program Participants (Safeguarding) and Gender Equality and Inclusion (GEI)

• Understands and puts into practice the responsibilities under Safeguarding and GEI policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), ensuring that concerns are reported and managed per the appropriate procedures.
• Ensures that all staff in the unit/function/department and CSOs partners are properly inducted on and understand their role in upholding Plan International’s safeguarding and GEI policies;
• Ensures that Plan International’s global policies for Safeguarding Children and Young People and Gender Equality and Inclusion are fully embedded in day-to-day work.
• Ensures that Plan Ethiopia contributes to Plan International’s global efforts to ensure safeguarding and GEI, including making sure that relevant reporting and data are submitted.

The Individual 

Qualifications/ Experience/Skills Essential:

• Bachelor’s degree in statistics and economics or related fields
• A minimum of five years of progressive professional experience in MERL coordination
• Strong knowledge of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, including survey design, sampling techniques, and data collection processes.
• Proficiency in data management, analysis, and visualisation using statistical software (e.g., SPSS, STATA, R), Power BI, and digital data collection platforms such as Kobo Toolbox/ODK.
• Experience in designing and implementing data quality assurance systems, outcome measurement frameworks, and performance monitoring processes.
• Demonstrated ability to generate, synthesise, and communicate evidence through analytical reports, data storytelling, and visualisation products.
• Strong skills in learning, knowledge management, and translating evidence into actionable recommendations for programme improvement and decision-making.
• Experience working on gender-based violence (GBV), protection, survivor-centred approaches, or gender-transformative programming.
• Excellent facilitation, negotiation, coordination and relationship-management skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in a professional and multicultural working environment.

Languages required:

• Fluency in English language is essential
• In addition to Amharic, other local Knowledge of Local Languages is desirable