Senior Technical Advisor, Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning (MERL)

About Palladium:

Palladium is a global company working to design, develop and deliver positive impact on the lives and livelihoods of people around the globe; broaden access to health, water, power, and infrastructure; build enduring, sustainable, and transformative institutions and market systems to address global challenges; and conserve the natural world. We operate in over 90 countries and have a workforce of 3,200 talented, motivated, and diverse staff of all religions, races, languages, and gender identities. 

This Opportunity:

Our Center of Technical Excellence (CoTE) is comprised of cross cutting areas that support Palladium in being technical leaders in our chosen fields of implementation. This includes Capacity Building, Inclusive development, climate analytics, data analysis, knowledge exchange, and Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning (MERL).  This position reports into the MERL unit under the CoTE.

The Senior Technical Advisor (STA), Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning (MERL) will be part of a dynamic team of professionals who support results-based proposal design, Activity Monitoring Evaluation and Learning Plan (AMELP) development, MEL related project start up and implementation support across Palladium’s portfolios.

Location and Compensation:

The position is based in Palladium’s Washington D.C. office

For our prospective employees in the United States, please note that the full-time equivalent annual base salary for this position is expected to range from $102,000 to $150,000, and successful candidates may also be eligible for additional, variable incentive compensation dependent on the role. For part-time employees, the salary will be prorated based on the actual number of hours worked.

Please be advised that a final salary offer will be based on various factors, including but not limited to your qualifications, education, experience, skills, seniority, performance, and Palladium’s business or organizational needs.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the compensation for this position, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. We value your interest in our company and appreciate the opportunity to discuss this opportunity with you.

You and Your Career:

If you are a MERL expert with a strong strategy and design background and love bringing MERL perspectives to project design and implementation, we are interested in hearing from you!

We are a learning organization and provide growth opportunities from the start.  We pride ourselves on giving you the freedom, resources, and guidance to chart a fulfilling career!

Reporting Lines:

This position reports to the Director, Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning (MERL)

Primary Roles and Responsibilities:

Support Capture Teams to Develop Best in Class, Results Driven Proposals (estimated LOE: 45%)
Support capture teams on proposal development by ensuring proposals are designed to achieve results – this includes working closely with capture teams on development of theories of change/results frameworks, MEL Sections, AMELPs, CLA plans and, indicator selection and target setting. Support includes help in recruiting and inputs for MERL activities in the budget
Incorporate MERL best practices and/or innovations into proposals. Be up to speed on recent guidance from the donor community and/or USAID as well as ADS 201 requirements and updates
Work with capture teams to identify and leverage other technical expertise to write a winning proposal (e.g., digital, data science, inclusive development, climate) within the CoTE and Palladium
Provide MERL Backstopping to Select Projects (estimated LOE: 18%)
Support MEL during project start-up, including facilitating TOC sessions, AMELP development, and other requirements at start up within required timelines. This could include participating in work planning sessions and/or coordinating with developers and MEL/project staff to develop/adapt MEL data capture systems Support the project team on identifying suitable MERL candidates, orienting MERL project staff on Palladium processes/best practices and support from the CoTE, and supporting them/facilitating access to CoTE resources based on demand driven needsAs needed, support project teams on MEL tasks, which include but aren’t limited to, Data Quality Assessments (DQAs), reviewing reports, help developing learning materials, facilitating pause and reflect sessions; and contributing to development of study protocols and oversight of vendors/data collection firmsFacilitate select COP sessions and participate in others, ensuring projects are accessing MERL support and learning is fed back up to Director MERL for improvement in Palladium tools and processes
Contribute to Development and Delivery of Tools, Resources, and Learning (estimated LOE: 5%)
Contribute to publishing portfolio project/practice successes through success stories, blogs, conference presentations, publications, or other ways of sharing learning internally and externally. Assist MEL project staff in the same
Participate in MERL and CoTE sessions, COP activities, etc,. and support developing needs based, user friendly tools and resources for staff
Contribute to MERL Specific BD Opportunities (estimated LOE: 32%)
Review the USAID and other client forecasts and partake in other intelligence gathering activities to identify potential procurement opportunities for Palladium in the MERL space
Support capture strategy through conducting background research, organizing events/publications, engaging with partners and potential clients, etc.
Take on various roles for opportunities including writing proposal sections, capturing, and supporting strategy

Essential Criteria:

Relevant work experience - living or working in international settings providing technical assistance in the MERL sector
Demonstrated success working with teams in developing strong results-based proposals, particularly for USAID
Deep understanding of USAID project cycle, policies, regulations, and monitoring and evaluation methodologies and reporting requirements
Proven experience in working within and across teams to achieve results
Previous managerial experienceExperience building capacity of staff in MEL
Strong strategic thinking and leadership skills, with the ability to raise important questions, assess logic, and working with teams to make necessary improvements
Excellent people skills and high emotional intelligence and ability to engage a broad range of stakeholders
Excellent facilitation skills and willingness to adapt approaches for different teams/business needs. High intellectual curiosity and ability to stay up-to-date on latest MEL approaches
Strong business development and client relationship management skills and sound problem solving and decision-making skills
Independent worker who can manage workload and needs of many teams with tight timelines and high needs.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills; ability to write technical documents in English
Familiarity with quantitative and qualitative research and evaluation design and analysis methodologies
Ability and willingness to travel internationally about 25% of the time

Desirable Criteria:

Previous experience doing capture or coordination for business development proposals for USAID
Experience designing data management systems and dashboards or other data visualization tools
Experience analyzing qualitative data using Atlas.ti, NVivo, or other qualitative analysis software
Experience with rigorous quantitative analysis (using STATA, SAS, Excel or other tools)
Cross regional experience preferred (e.g., Africa, LAC, Asia Pacific)
Working proficiency in at least one other language a plus (e.g., French, Spanish, Kiswahili)
Experience in one or more relevant sectors (Health, Economic Growth, Finance and Investment, Natural Capital, Environment, Supply Chain, Resilience &/or Humanitarian Assistance)

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion - Palladium is committed to embedding equity, diversity, and inclusion into everything we do. We welcome applications from all sections of society and actively encourage diversity to drive innovation, creativity, success and good practice. We positively welcome and seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce; and that all job applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment regardless of their background or personal characteristics. These include: (but are not limited to) socio-economic background, age, race, gender identity and expression, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, veteran, marital or Indigenous status. 

Should you require any adjustments or accommodations to be made due to a disability or you are a neurodivergent individual or for any other circumstance, please email our team at accessibility@thepalladiumgroup.com and we will be in touch to discuss.

Safeguarding - We define Safeguarding as “the preventative action taken by Palladium to protect our people, clients and the communities we work with from harm”. We are committed to ensuring that all children and adults who come into contact with Palladium are treated with respect and are free from abuse.  All successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced selection process including safeguarding-focused interviews and a rigorous due diligence process.