Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning Officer

The Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) Officer is an officer-level position within Equity Group Foundation (EGF). The position holder will support the implementation of MERL activities across EGF programs, working closely with Enterprise Development and Financial Inclusion pillar Program Managers and regional teams, under the supervision of the Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) Manager.

The MERL Officer will support routine monitoring, data management, analysis, reporting, research, learning, and evidence-generation activities. The position will contribute to maintaining high-quality program data and generating timely information to support program implementation, decision-making, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

• Support the management, maintenance, cleaning, validation, and quality assurance of program databases, including identifying and addressing errors, inconsistencies, duplicates, missing information, and other data quality issues.

• Provide basic support and guidance to program and regional teams on the use of MERL databases, data collection systems, reporting tools, and related data processes, and escalate technical issues where necessary.

• Generate routine reports and data visualizations from program datasets, including tables, charts, dashboards, and other reporting outputs.

• Prepare and submit accurate and timely weekly reports for regional teams, highlighting program implementation progress, key outputs, emerging issues, and data quality concerns.

• Support the development, testing, and refinement of quantitative and qualitative data collection instruments, including questionnaires, interview guides, monitoring tools, and other MERL instruments.

• Support data collection, monitoring, data quality assessments, evaluations, beneficiary engagements, and other MERL field activities in accordance with approved methodologies, tools, protocols, and procedures.

• Conduct quantitative and qualitative data analysis using appropriate analytical software, under guidance where required, and support the interpretation of findings.

• Support the preparation of data analysis, methodology, findings, and other relevant sections of MERL reports and knowledge products.

• Conduct desk reviews and synthesize relevant primary and secondary information to inform program monitoring, research, evaluation, and learning activities.