Senior Regional Manager, Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning ( MERL)

RESPONSIBILITIES Under the supervision of the Project Director, the Regional Senior Manager, Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) will oversee the MERL strategic response by offering leadership, and technical oversight across the project's interventions. The Regional Senior Manager, MERL will be responsible for designing the MERL system in alignment with the country level frameworks. The lead will: MERL System Design and Management Design and manage the program's overall MERL standards and framework, ensuring data collection and reporting capabilities are robust and aligned with program goals and donor requirements. Establish and oversee quality standards, ensuring adherence to the necessary level of MERL standards across the entire project portfolio. Manage and mitigate the risk associated with challenges in maintaining quality MERL standards across a diverse set of partners. Develop annual operating forecasts of MERL budgets, and the annual research, evaluation and learning agenda in close collaboration with the Project Director and team leads; Oversee a team of five, including a Learning Manager, Research Manager and 3 MERL Officers, providing coaching and support to successfully deliver the initiative's ambitious MERL agenda; Provide coaching and support to the Technical Assistance Mechanism, Higher Education Inclusion, and RLO Opportunity Fund units to ensure that M&E practices are embedded in the teams' daily work. Le