Programme Manager - MEL

Nature of employment: Full-time Reporting to: Sr. MEL Manager Location: Delhi About Peepul Peepul is an education-focused non-profit organization committed to transforming India's education system and enabling every child to reach their full potential. We work closely with national, state, and local governments to strengthen government schools and education systems at scale. Currently, we partner with governments in Delhi and Madhya Pradesh, impacting over 6.6 million students, 273,000+ teachers, and 2,400+ school leaders across 90,000+ government schools. At Peepul, we collaborate with school systems to build the capacity of leaders, teachers, and institutions. We advocate policy improvements, support mentoring and monitoring mechanisms, and enhance student-teacher engagement in classrooms. Through our work, we have directly supported 5.94 million students, 254,000 teachers, and 1,644 school leaders across 88,711 schools in Madhya Pradesh, and 658,000 students, 19,000 teachers, and 821 school leaders across 1,500 schools in Delhi. Our work has been recognized internationally, including receiving the Commonwealth Education Awards for Innovation and being featured in reports by respected organizations such as the United Nations and the Ministry of Education, Government of India. We are supported by leading Indian CSR partners and prominent international foundations that share our vision of ensuring excellent education for the most disadvantaged children. Driven by our core values of impact, excellence, and leadership, we are a restless, resilient, and reflective organization. Our team of 200+ employees is passionate about creating lasting change and is rewarded competitively for their dedication. Join us in our mission to create a world where every child has equal access to high-quality education. Learn more about our transformative work at http://peepulindia.org. Where we are on Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Over the last 2 years, we have built a sophisticated MEL function, that works with large- scale data with Alteryx and PowerBI, partners with programmes to co-design and implement impact measurement tools, has detailed Theories of Change of the organization and programmes, and connects the dots across experiences. In the next 3 years, we plan to leverage our impact track record and learnings, to be a leading thought leader in the sector, and be a role model of impact measurement. We are involved with one of the early Development Impact Bonds in education in India, are working on large-scale programmes, and are staying deeply rooted in our exemplar schools as innovation grounds – all these pioneering initiatives come together to form a strong MEL launchpad for the organization. About the role Peepul’s monitoring, evaluation, and learning function has evolved into a strong and technically credible backbone for the organisation. Today, the team comprises 12 dedicated MEL professionals with deep capabilities across quantitative and qualitative research, data management, field monitoring, dash boarding, and impact evaluation. The team works closely with programme, academic, and leadership colleagues, ensuring that MEL is not a parallel function but an embedded partner in programme design, execution, and refinement. We have built a robust foundation of data systems across all programmes. This includes structured monitoring and evaluation data covering intermediate outcomes for teachers, school leaders, and government officials, alongside detailed student learning outcome (SLO) data through internal assessments and external evaluations. Our theory of change and results frameworks are clearly articulated at both programme and organisational levels, enabling coherent outcome tracking across geographies such as Delhi and Madhya Pradesh. The data collected feeds into regular reviews, informs training and coaching priorities, supports course correction, and strengthens conversations with government and funders around effectiveness and value for money. We are now entering a new phase focused on integration, standardization, and insight generation at scale. Over the past few years, we have developed a strong suite of tools, templates, toolkits, data protocols, and dashboards. A central MEL dashboard is under development to consolidate programme data into a unified view, streamline reporting, standardise metrics across programmes, and strengthen leadership decision-making. The next frontier for Peepul’s MEL journey is to deepen analytical rigour, sharpen causal inference in complex system contexts, strengthen automation and data governance, and further embed a culture of evidence-informed decision-making across the organization. This creates an exciting opportunity for a Programme Manager to shape the next phase of a sophisticated and impact-driven MEL function. Key Responsibilities (including but not limited to): 1. MEL Strategy and Systems Lead the design and implementation of MEL frameworks aligned with organisational and programme strategies. Provide technical leadership on student learning outcome assessment design for both internal and external assessments; design and implement assessments for internal monitoring and tracking; guide interpretation of learning data for programme improvement. Develop and strengthen systems for data collection, management, quality assurance, analysis, and reporting. Drive the use of MEL insights to shape programme strategy, scale decisions, and resource allocation. 2. Research and Evidence Generation Design and oversee quantitative and qualitative research studies, including experimental and quasi-experimental evaluations where relevant. Translate research findings into actionable insights for programme and organisational decision-making. Support empirical research projects to unearth learnings from the Peepul Exemplar Schools to contribute towards our scale programs. 3. Stakeholder Management Build and manage relationships with research partners, funders, and government stakeholders Represent the organisation in technical forums, working groups, and evidence-sharing platforms. Support donor reporting and technical discussions related to MEL and evidence; develop high-quality evidence products for donors, partners, and policy stakeholders. 4. Team Leadership and Capacity Building Lead and mentor MEL team members across projects and geographies. Build MEL capacity among programme and partner teams through coaching and training. Promote a learning culture across the organisation. Collaborate with peers to leverage MEL as a strategic driver for organizational development. Qualifications and Role Requirements: At Peepul, we seek talented professionals passionate about driving educational transformation and making a positive impact. We are looking for individuals who possess the following qualifications and meet the role requirements: Educational Background: Master’s degree (or higher) in Education, Economics, Statistics,Public Policy, Development Studies, or related field. Work Experience: We value both professional and personal experience. Candidates with 10+ years of total experience in MEL, research, or evidence roles, preferably in the education sector. Other Skills: - Proven experience in student learning outcome measurement and assessment design. - Strong experience in both quantitative and qualitative research methods. - Experience managing and mentoring teams. - Demonstrated ability to translate data into strategic insights. - Experience working with government education systems in India. - Experience designing or evaluating large-scale education programmes. - Exposure to A/B testing, adaptive trials, or iterative programme design. Core Competencies - Strategic thinking and problem solving - Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills - Excellent communication and synthesis skills - Ability to balance rigor with operational feasibility - Collaborative leadership and coaching mindset Language Profici