Job Title: Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) Advisor
Organisation: VVOB International
Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda
About Organisation:
VVOB is an international NGO with Programmes and projects in 10 countries worldwide. Our head office is based in Brussels, Belgium. When you join VVOB, you become a key player in VVOB’s mission to ensure quality education as a key enabler for achieving the sustainable development goals. We implement our programmes and projects with one shared passion: to ensure the improvement of quality education. Our teams of national and international experts achieve this by providing technical assistance to governmental and other education actors. In doing so, worldwide we ensure capacity building of governmental and other education actors.
Job Summary: As MERL Advisor, you contribute to VVOB’s ambitions and values by providing technical leadership in the design and development of the Green LEAP MERL system, indicators, and measurement tools, and by following up on research conducted with external partners within the framework of the Green LEAP programme.
The MERL Advisor reports to the Education Manager, works in consultation with the Strategic Education Advisor Research and Learning, and collaborates closely with colleagues in the Green LEAP programme, the education, operations and communications departments of VVOB in Uganda. The MERL Advisor is also part of the global Working Group on MERL for Skilling for Sustainable Futures.
Key Duties and Responsibilities:
- You lead and coordinate the design and implementation of the MERL System
- Develop and refine indicators and measurement tools.
- Provide guidance and technical support to other VVOB staff.
- Ensure collected data is used to inform on-going implementation and future programming.
- You support research design, implementation and use
- Support the recruitment and management of research consultants.
- Review research proposals and reports submitted by consultants.
- Ensure research findings are communicated effective to inform decision-making. You ensure Data Quality and Integrity
- Set up robust systems and mechanisms to assure high-quality data throughout all stages of research and M&E.
- Program digital measurement tools using ODK survey software like Kobo collect.
- Conduct data quality checks and data cleaning on received data.
- You foster knowledge sharing and contribute to knowledge dissemination and advocacy
- Actively participate in internal MERL-related working groups.
- Support the development of research papers and policy briefs.
- Present research findings at (inter)national conferences and forums.
- Engage with the Ministry of Education and Sports to promote the integration of evidence into national education policies.
Qualifications, Skills and Experience:
- Master’s degree in a relevant subject (e.g. social sciences, statistics, demography, international development, research, policy) or equivalent field experience.
- At least 5 years of professional experience in monitoring and evaluation, preferably in education and / or youth employment and entrepreneurship.
- Demonstrable experience with:
- Development of performance monitoring plans, including indicator development
- Development, contextualisation and validation of MERL tools for collecting quantitative and qualitative data, including surveys and questionnaires, guides for interviews (structured, semi-structured) and focus group discussions, (classroom) observation tools, etc.
- Data quality assurance from collection to reporting, including establishing protocols for data collection, training of data collectors, programming digital survey tools, validation and cleaning of collected data, accurate analysis and accurate, timely and credible reporting that supports evidence-based decisionmaking.
- Use of data collection and analysis software, specifically experience with the following tools and software is considered an advantage: KoboCollect/Sur- veyCTO/ODK; MS Excel/SPSS/Stata/Nvivo.
- At least 2 years’ experience in coordinating quantitative and qualitative re¬search.
- You possess:
- Excellent communication skills in English, including writing, conversing and presenting.
- Strong interpersonal skills working in cross-cultural teams and multi-stake¬holder settings.
How to Apply:
Interested candidates should submit their online application via the link below, not later than 29 July 2025. Upon submitting, candidates will be requested to indicate the level of their highest academic qualification, the number of years of relevant experience, as well as their salary expectations.
Deadline: 29th July 2025
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Level of Education: Postgraduate Degree
Work Hours: 8
Experience in Months: 60