Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) Officer

World University Service of Canada

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY EXTERNAL POSTING POSITION TITLE: Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) Officer POSITION LOCATION: Amman - Jordan REPORTS TO: Project Director, NASHMIA TECHNICAL REPORTING TO: Senior Monitoring, Evaluation, Research & Learning (MERL) Officer CONTRACT TERM: Full time, 1 year (renewable based on performance and fund availability) LANGUAGES REQUIRED: Fluency in English and Arabic APPLICATION DEADLINE: 02/06/2026 EXPECTED START DATE: As soon as possible BACKGROUND: WUSC is a Canadian global development organization working to catalyze positive education and economic outcomes for young people. We bring together and collaborate with a diverse network of partners (including students, volunteers, schools, governments, not-for-profits, and businesses) who share this mission. Together, we influence systems change, and foster Inclusive, youth-centered solutions that enable young people to thrive and belong. We work with all young people, with a focus on women and displaced populations. WUSC currently operates in 28 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as in Canada, with an annual budget of approximately CAD $65 million. Our global team includes over 100 staff in Canada and more than 250 staff internationally, implementing a diverse portfolio of development projects in collaboration with numerous multilateral and bilateral donors, and philanthropic foundations. PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The Nurturing, Advancing and Sustaining High-potential Women-led Microenterprises through Innovations Accelerating growth in Jordan (NASHMIA) project is a five-year initiative which supports economic wellbeing for women and female youth in Jordan, particularly refugees and those living with disabilities. NASHMIA will enhance the capacities of ecosystem actors to drive competitiveness and sustainability of women-led climate businesses, as well as reducing gender specific barriers to women s climate entrepreneurship and participation in the green economy. The Project will strengthen the capacity of Jordanian intermediary organizations through training, technical assistance, and ecosystem support to enhance their delivery of finance, business development, networking, co-working spaces, and integrated services for an estimated 3,000 women climate entrepreneurs in Balqa, Mafraq, Ajloun, Jerash, Karak, and Ma an regions of Jordan. The project is designed to align with Jordan s national priorities for climate resilience, green growth, and green job creation and facilitate transition to a low-carbon and climate resilient economy. The project offers significant opportunities for positive environmental impact as it will support climate friendly enterprise growth, raise awareness about environmental sustainability among project participants and partners, promote the development of green skills among women entrepreneurs, and support key actors to strengthen the policies, programs, and services that enable the development of environmentally responsible climate MSMEs. RESPONSIBILITIES: The Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) Officer will provide leadership on MERL activities and ensure quality oversight in order to meet project obligations and donor requirements. The MERL Officer is expected to provide technical expertise to ensure efficient, effective and timely planning and execution of the various project MERL processes and activities. Specifically, the MERL Officer is responsible for the following: • Develop and regularly update the MERL Plan, in line with GAC s Results-Based Management (RBM) principles, as well as organisational requirements; • Ensure that all MERL-related tasks (such as planning, coordination of monitoring and data collection activities, training of staff, etc.) are effectively carried out in accordance with the project s MERL plan; • With the support of the Global MERL team and of other TAs (technical advisors), contribute to the development of the learning agenda for the project and to the identification of learning partners as appropriate; • Promote the active participation of partners and stakeholders in country in all phases of the development and implementation of the MERL plan (from the design of the MERL plan itself and its tools, to the data collection exercises; from data analysis, to the dissemination and use of findings), providing support and capacity building as necessary and appropriate; • Support WUSC (and partner) team, and implementing partners to plan for and execute MERL-related activities; • Develop and regularly update all MERL tools and systems (including the Performance Management Framework) linked to key indicators for the purpose of informing program activities and reporting to the donor, and supporting continuous evidence-based learning and adaptive management in the process; • Provide high quality technical support on planning, development and implementation of the MERL plan to project staff and partner staff; and • Ensure regular communication and coordination with regard to the collection and exchange of MERL-related information with project staff and key stakeholders, as well as with WUSC (and partner) global team. MERL Tools Design and Quality Assurance: • Develop and periodically review monitoring tools for routine tracking of activities and collecting of program data; • Provide technical support and capacity building as needed to ensure project tools are being used effectively by project and partners staff and that the collected data are used for learning and adaptive management, as well as for planning and reporting to the donor and other external audiences; • Ensure that tools in use meet the needs of the project and that staff have the capacity to utilise them effectively for reporting and monitoring of progress; • Identify training needs of staff working on the project and recommend actions for improving MERL capacity; • Ensure that data collected are reliable, accurate and complete to the extent possible in the project context; and • Apply a continuous improvement approach toward all data collection processes. Data Collection: • Ensure that MERL activities are completed in a timely manner to contribute to high quality evidence-based learning, planning and reporting; • Oversee on-going data collection processes, analyses and validation for project evaluation and learning purposes; • Identify monitoring needs based on program implementation and collect data that effectively inform on-going progress; • Ensure that accurate and complete MERL-related files and databases are set up, maintained and updated;