Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, Learning, and Adapting (MERLA) Officer, Najaf

Program Overview: Chemonics International, a US-based international development consulting firm, seeks a MERLA Officer, Najaf for the USAID Iraq Together/ Maán activity. Iraq Together aims to provide more equitable, efficient, and sustainable public services in Iraq, as well as improving government responsiveness to citizens’ needs and demands. Objectives of this activity include working with the Government of Iraq (GOI) to improve service delivery and strengthen democratic and participatory governance.  

Position Overview: The Najaf MERLA officer reports to the Najaf Provincial Engagement Lead with technical guidance and support from the MERLA Lead, and is responsible for ensuring that all the MEL requirements are met for all Ma’an interventions implemented in Najaf.  He/ She will contribute to the design of the data collection tools, gathering the required data, and reporting data on the USAID development information system.  This position is open to Iraqi nationals residing in Najaf.   

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to: 

• Works with the MERLA Lead to contribute to and follow the project’s MERLA system and Activity Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Plan (AMELP), ensuring alignment with Iraq Together’s strategic objectives and USAID MEL policy requirements, including ADS 203 
• Contributes to the project’s results framework, theory of change, and development hypothesis during work planning sessions 
• Support the design of Together’s data collection tools 
• Undertakes data collection, data analysis, and reporting activities, ensuring timeliness, comprehensiveness, and quality 
• Implements the projects collaboration, learning, and adaptation (CLA) activities 
• Contributes to reporting on program output and outcome indicators, including developing internal and external communications 
• Support reporting on USAID’s Development Information System (DIS) 
• Support internal and external Data Quality Assessments (DQAs) 

• Conduct activities monitoring visit for Najaf and the region as required 
• Other duties as assigned by the MERLA Lead 

Minimum Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree in behavioral/social sciences, statistics, or related field; Master degree preferred 
• At least four (4) years of M&E experience working with development programs;  
•  Two (2) years’ experience with a USAID-funded project is preferred 
• Demonstrable skills and experience developing and utilizing M&E tools, conducting data collection, analysis, synthesis, and reporting 
• Familiarity with USAID-funded MEL systems highly preferred 
• Knowledge of Najaf operating environment required 
• Demonstrated leadership, versatility, and integrity 
•  Fluency in written and oral Arabic required, English proficiency is preferred and proficiency in other local languages is a plus, but not required