Director of Monitoring, Evaluation, Research & Learning – Greater Lakes & Southern Africa

About the role

The Director, MERL GLSA will serve as the primary technical leader for Corus International’s portfolio in the Greater Lakes and Southern Africa region. This senior advisory role ensures the effectiveness and integrity of monitoring, evaluation, research and learning (MERL) cycles across projects, providing strategic guidance on planning, data quality, reporting and adaptive management.

Key responsibilities

• Provide strategic MERL leadership and advisory oversight for the GLSA portfolio.
• Act as the main liaison between headquarters and field‑based MERL staff, handling escalations and ensuring compliance.
• Support recruitment, onboarding and capacity strengthening of project MERL leads.
• Mentor staff on indicator tracking, work‑plan alignment, results frameworks and donor requirements.
• Ensure quality of core MERL deliverables such as MERL plans, performance monitoring plans, indicator reference sheets, data collection tools and evaluation reports.
• Develop MERL deliverables when project staff are unavailable.
• Contribute to new business development by shaping MERL strategies, budgets and proposal inputs aligned with donor criteria.

Required profile

• Extensive experience leading MERL functions in international development or humanitarian settings.
• Proven ability to provide high‑level technical guidance and capacity building to multidisciplinary teams.
• Strong understanding of donor compliance, results‑based management and adaptive learning processes.
• Excellent communication skills for liaising between HQ and field offices.

Required skills