Job Description

Roles & Responsibilities

ROLE PROFILE

Title Impact & Research Manager

Functional Area Programmes

Reports to Head of Programmes and Strategy

Location Amman, Jordan

Travel required As Required

Effective Date ASAP

Grade Level 16

The organization Plan International is an independent child rights and humanitarian organisation committed to children living a life free of poverty, violence and injustice. Plan actively unite children, communities and other people who share our mission to make positive lasting changes in children s and young people s lives. Plan support children to gain the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to claim their rights to a fulfilling life, today and in the future. Plan place a specific focus on girls and women, who are most often left behind. Plan have been building powerful partnerships for children for more than 80 years and are now active in more than 70 countries. Plan International Jordan is established in 2016 and has programmes in governorates in the centre, north and south regions as well as host communities and Azraq camp

ROLE PURPOSE

The Impact and Research Manager provides strategic and technical leadership across all Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) functions at Plan International Jordan. The post holder ensures that evidence generation, impact measurement, and learning systematically inform programme quality, resource allocation, and organisational decision-making. The role has three interconnected areas of strategic focus:

• Research leadership: designing and managing rigorous research initiatives that generate credible evidence to inform programming and advocacy work.
• Impact measurement: developing and implementing robust frameworks to assess the depth, breadth, and sustainability of programme results at beneficiary and systems levels.
• Country strategy monitoring: ensuring systematic, real-time tracking of progress against country strategy objectives and enabling timely course corrections.

Dimensions of the Role

• Reports to the Head of Programme and Strategy (HoPS) and is a member of the broader Programme team.
• Directly supervises MERL team
• Works closely with the Programmes Managers, Project Managers, Head of Operations and Finance

Accountabilities

1. Programme Design and Monitoring
   • The post holder leads the design of high-quality Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) frameworks for all development and humanitarian projects, ensuring MERL considerations including data requirements, evaluation design, and research opportunities are built into proposals from inception. This includes:
   • Developing comprehensive project M&E frameworks (indicator matrix, indicator tracker, MERL activity plan, and Theory of Change) and ensuring alignment between project-level frameworks and the country strategy.
   • Leading participatory, gender-transformative, and inclusive data collection approaches including qualitative and quantitative tools with appropriate data quality assurance (DQA) processes at all stages.
   • Promoting effective use of the MERL database (PMERL) and global M&E IT systems for data collection, storage, analysis, reporting, and aggregation across all levels.
2. Country Strategy Monitoring
   • The post holder is responsible for translating the country strategy into a live, measurable system that enables adaptive management by senior leadership. This includes:
   • Designing and maintaining the Country Strategy MERL Framework, including a strategic results dashboard and scorecard that provides the CMT with a consolidated, real-time view of strategic performance on a quarterly basis.
   • Establishing and maintaining a country-level Theory of Change, ensuring all project theories of change are aligned with and contribute to country strategy outcomes.
   • Coordinating the annual country strategy review process aggregating project-level results, analysing contribution to strategic objectives, and producing a strategic progress report.
   • Monitoring the operating context to identify shifts that may affect the feasibility or relevance of country strategy objectives, and presenting findings quarterly to the E-CMT.
   • Ensuring all strategy monitoring data is disaggregated by sex, age, disability, and geographic location to track equity and inclusion in strategic outcomes.
3. Programme Impact Measurement
   • The post holder leads Plan Jordan's approach to understanding and communicating the depth and sustainability of programme change. This includes:
   • Developing and leading Plan Jordan's Programme Impact Measurement Framework, establishing standardised methodologies for assessing short-term, intermediate, and long-term impact across all thematic areas (protection, education, livelihoods, and others).
   • Designing and implementing participatory impact assessment methodologies such as Outcome Harvesting and Most Significant Change (MSC) to capture unanticipated and transformative change at community and systems levels.

Key relationships

• Internal:
• Head of Programme and Strategy (HoPS) direct line manager
• Head of Resources Mobilisation proposal development and donor engagement
• National Offices, Regional Hub and Global Hub Monitoring, Evaluation, Research Learning (MERL) technical networks
• External :
• Implementing partners, local organisations and CBOs
• UN agencies, INGOs and national NGOs
• Donors technical focal points and programme officers for assigned grants

Technical expertise, skills and knowledge

Essential

• Bachelor's degree (BA) in Statistics, Research Methods, Strategic Planning, Development, Social Studies, or a related field; a postgraduate degree in research, monitoring and evaluation, or a related discipline is strongly preferred.
• 5 - 7 years of relevant working experience in MERL, with at least 2 years in a management or senior technical role within an international non-governmental organisation (INGO) or similar institution.
• Demonstrated experience leading primary research studies including mixed-methods, RCT, and quasi-experimental designs and managing country-level or programme-level impact measurement systems.
• Experience leading or contributing to country strategy MERL framework development, with a track record of translating strategic objectives into measurable indicators and monitoring systems.
• Knowledge of data management, quality control, validation processes, data privacy standards, and research ethics frameworks including IRB processes.

Desirable

Desired Candidate Profile

• Bachelor's degree (BA) in Statistics, Research Methods, Strategic Planning, Development, Social Studies, or a related field; a postgraduate degree in research, monitoring and evaluation, or a related discipline is strongly preferred.
• 5 - 7 years of relevant working experience in MERL, with at least 2 years in a management or senior technical role within an international non-governmental organisation (INGO) or similar institution.
• Demonstrated experience leading primary research studies including mixed-methods, RCT, and quasi-experimental designs and managing country-level or programme-level impact measurement systems.
• Experience leading or contributing to country strategy MERL framework development, with a track record of translating strategic objectives into measurable indicators and monitoring systems.
• Knowledge of data management, quality control, validation processes, data privacy standards, and research ethics frameworks including IRB processes.
• Strong strategic thinking, analytical, and problem-solving skills; ability to work effectively in a multidisciplinary and multicultural environment.
• Proficiency in statistical and research software (e.g., SPSS, STATA) and data visualisation tools (e.g., Power BI, Tableau) to produce strategic dashboards and impact reports for senior management and donors.
• Ability to analyse, synthesise, and translate complex research findings into accessible evidence briefs, policy papers, and visual summaries for diverse audiences.
• Strong team-building, facilitation, and influencing skills; able to champion evidence-based decision-making across departments and proactively identify opportunities to use research and impact data for policy influence.
• Intellectual curiosity and comfort with ambiguity; able to navigate iterative learning in dynamic humanitarian and development contexts.