Director, Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) - HIV Activi at Corus International

, , Ukraine -

Full Time

Start Date

Immediate

Expiry Date

02 Oct, 26

Salary

0.0

Posted On

04 Jul, 26

Experience

10 year(s) or above

Remote Job

Yes

Telecommute

Yes

Sponsor Visa

Skills

Monitoring Evaluation Research and Learning, Quantitative Data Collection, Qualitative Data Collection, Data Cleaning, Data Management, Project Management, Donor Compliance, Capacity Strengthening, Strategic Leadership, Proposal Development, English Proficiency, Ukrainian Proficiency, Adaptive Management, Results Frameworks, Budget Design, Technical Supervision

Industry

Non-profit Organization Management

Description

Corus International is the parent of a family of world-class organizations working to deliver the holistic, lasting solutions needed to end extreme poverty once and for all. We are a global leader in international development, with 150 years of combined experience across our brands. Our nonprofit and for-profit subsidiaries include IMA World Health and its fundraising brand Corus World Health, Lutheran World Relief, CGA Technologies, Ground Up Investing, and Farmers Market Brands. Our more than 400 employees around the globe are experts in their fields and dedicated to helping the world's most vulnerable people break the cycle of poverty and lead healthy lives. At Corus we believe that good only grows stronger and we reflect that belief in our workplace culture. We value every employee's specialized area of expertise and nurture professional growth. We promote an engaging and supportive work environment, where employees feel enabled and driven to innovate, learn and collaborate. And because our subsidiaries often function as partners, our employees have the opportunity to work across our enterprise family. Job Brief: This position will be a employee of Corus International. This position is for an anticipated large-scale, CDC-funded program in Ukraine that aims to help the Public Health Center (PHC) of the Ministry of Health (MOH) enhance life-saving assistance for HIV and associated prevalent health conditions with targeted HIV testing, prevention, and treatment activities amid ongoing instability. The Director, MERL serves as the primary Corus technical leader for the dedicated geographic portfolio, providing strategic oversight and guidance to project teams and MERL staff across the region. This is a high-touch advisory role focused on ensuring the overall effectiveness and integrity of project MERL cycles through guidance on planning, routine monitoring, data quality, reporting, and adaptive management. The role serves as a key liaison to field-based MERL staff, ensuring strong capacity, compliance, and effective use of centralized MERL systems and tools to capture and demonstrate project progress and impact. Working within the Corus Central MERL Unit, the Director, MERL bridges HQ standards and field implementation realities by delivering structured and proactive guidance across the full project cycle and contributing to new business development by shaping MERL strategies, content, budgets, and proposal inputs aligned with donor requirements and organizational standards. Responsibilities: Geographic Portfolio Management & Day-to-Day MERL Backstopping (75%) Provide strategic MERL leadership and advisory oversight across an assigned portfolio of projects within the region. Coordinate implementation of the consortium Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) framework, ensuring harmonized methodologies, reporting standards, data quality and learning across all implementing partners. Serve as the primary HQ liaison and escalation point for project teams and field-based MERL staff within the assigned portfolio. Coordinate with the Public Health Center of Ukraine, the Ministry of Health and consortium partners to harmonize program indicators and reporting requirements. Play a key role in the recruitment and onboarding of project MERL leads. Provide day-to-day mentoring and capacity strengthening of project MERL staff (e.g., indicator tracking, workplan alignment, results frameworks, and donor compliance). Provide strategic and quality assurance of core MERL deliverables (e.g., MERL plans, PMPs, indicator reference sheets, data collection tools, baseline and evaluation reports). Develop those deliverables in the absence of the project MERL staff. Ensure that consortium monitoring and reporting systems support measurement of HIV programme performance in accordance with CDC and national monitoring requirements. Drive regular portfolio "MERL Health Checks" with project teams to identify bottlenecks, risks, or gaps in data collection, documentation, reporting, or learning. Flag data quality issues, risks, and adaptive management needs, and support corrective action planning and follow‑up with project teams and the Central MERL Unit. Partner with the Senior Director for Evaluation & Research on commissioned evaluations and learning studies within the portfolio, including TOR development, evaluator/contractor selection, and findings dissemination). Partner with the Senior Director for Data & Data Management on the design and roll out of the databases of the projects within the region (supporting data needs identification, forms design, training, troubleshooting). Document and share portfolio-level learning across teams and with the broader MERL unit. Synthesize portfolio-level findings into high-quality evidence products (e.g., dashboards, learning briefs, case studies, presentations) for internal and external audiences. Lead after-action reviews, pause-and-reflect sessions, and learning events for assigned projects. Contribute to the rollout of organizational data standards and tools on Data & Data Management and Evaluation, Research, and Learning. Serve as acting MERL Lead for projects without dedicated MERL staff. Business Development Growth and Strategy (15%) Partner with country office and new business teams to design donor and Corus compliant MERL approaches (results frameworks, indicator selection, learning priorities, MEL narratives), budgets, and staffing plans, and identify MERL key personnel. Participate in and contribute to capture planning by advising MERL-related donor priorities, evaluation requirements, and competitive positioning strategies. Maintain and apply strategic awareness of evolving donor MERL standards and expectations in assigned regions to inform proposal design. Represent and champion Corus programs externally with donors and partners as a technical expert in MERL, showcasing technical insights and learnings within the region. Organizational MERL Practice (10%) Contribute to the review and refinement of organizational MERL tools, templates, and guidance notes. Foster a culture of shared learning and continuous improvement across projects within the assigned region. Play a leadership role in Corus MERL Communities of Practice (CoP) driving knowledge exchange, identifying organizational learning gaps, and strengthening technical capacity among CoP members, partners, and staff. Regularly engage with industry practice groups (peers, competitors, and donors) to identify, track, and shape trends related to the assigned region. Represent the organization at key forums, including meetings, conferences, and events to advance the mission and cultivate strategic partnerships. Supervisory: Provide technical supervision and oversight to provincial MERL staff and partner MERL teams across the project provinces, and direct the deployment of surge support and external consultants for evaluations and research as needed. Education & Experience: Bachelor's degree in international development, social science, public health, agriculture, education, economics, statistics, or a related field, Minimum of eight years relevant experience At least three of the eight years of experience must include working in a portfolio-level, advisory, or HQ/regional support role working across multiple projects or countries. Direct in-country MERL implementation experience, either embedded with a project or in a field office. Demonstrated experience developing and managing PMPs, indicator reference sheets, and data collection systems. Experience providing remote technical support to field-based MERL teams across multiple countries or regions. Extensive experience with at least two major donor MERL frameworks (e.g., USG, UN RBM, FCDO, EU). Experience with mobile data collection platforms (KoboToolbox, ODK, CommCare, or equivalent). Familiarity with private foundations or private sector funded projects is a plus. Experience contributing to proposal development (MERL narratives, indicator selection, M&E budget design) is a plus. Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Strong working knowledge of quantitative and qualitative data collection methodologies. Proficiency in data cleaning, management, and basic analysis (Excel required; DHIS2, SPSS, Stata, R, or Power BI an asset). Strong interpersonal and communication skills, ability to build trust with field teams across cultural and organizational contexts. Ability to manage a diverse portfolio and prioritize competing demands without dropping commitments to any project team. Detail-oriented with a high bar for data quality and documentation standards. Comfortable operating at the intersection of technical rigor and practical field realities. Collaborative team player who actively shares knowledge and lifts others. Demonstrated written and oral English language communication skills. Demonstrated written and oral Ukrainian language communication skills.

Responsibilities

Provide strategic MERL leadership and oversight for a CDC-funded HIV program in Ukraine, ensuring data quality and harmonized reporting across consortium partners. Bridge HQ standards with field implementation through mentoring staff, managing deliverables, and contributing to new business development.