Sr. Project Officer - MELS & Digital Transformation

Senior Project Officer: MELS & Digital Transformation

Passing Gifts Private Limited (PGPL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Heifer International USA and it providesservices in educating, consulting, training, advising, and providing professional and technical services toindividuals,associations,andentitiesinIndiaandabroad,particularlythosewhosupportorareworkingintheareasofsocialadvancementandsustainabledevelopment.Thispositionmayalsorequireserviceagreements,secondmentagreements, betweenentities,etc.

PGPL is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employmentwithout regard to race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender identify, sexual orientation, age, statusasa protectedveteran, amongotherthings,orstatusas a qualifiedindividualwithdisability.

This position will support the development and manage the implementation ofmonitoring, evaluation,learning and systems (MELS) and Digital Transformation of the organization. A strong emphasis for this role is on IT enabled system, digital innovation, data collection, ensuring data quality,partnercapacitybuildingonMELS,evaluation/surveymanagement,integrity,dataanalysis,reporting,dissemination, andlearnings.

• Leadthe implementationof theMELSPlanforthe project.
• ReviewandadjustMELSplans andtargets,tools,andprocesses periodicallyandupdatethesame.
• Coordinate forannualoutcomemonitoring/surveys.
• Work with external evaluators to conduct the Baseline, Mid-term and final evaluations whileensuringdata quality.
• Conduct and manage the monitoring of project progress, living income validation, and outputmonitoringasper theMELS plan.
• Ensuretheeffective implementationofPGPLMELSpoliciesandproceduresforthe project.
• Disseminate learning findings from project monitoring, evaluation, and research. Lead learningevents with key stakeholders within the project communities, implementation partners, and PGPL ingeneral.
• Elevate MELS-related challenges to the Project Director and Associate Director – MELS forcoordination with the Executive Country Director to find timelysolutions;
• Design data collection tools, plans, and processes for all required information, ensuring high qualityandintegrityof data.
• Supportthedevelopmentofprojectframeworksandlogicalframeworks forallnew projects.
• SupportintherolloutandmanagethePGPLMELSsystemandIPMSfor the projects.

Digital Transformation: Enabling IT, Innovations & IT Support (30%)

• Lead the integration of the organization's PMIS system with digital dashboards for real-time data visualization and decision-making.
• Develop and implement IT and digital solutions for the organization’s key operational areas, including Self-Help Groups (SHG), Farmer Producer Organizations (FPO), and other livelihood initiatives.
• Build and manage IT-enabled tracking mechanisms for critical program activities such as access to finance, fodder security, farmer field schools etc.
• Guide and support teams in data collection, digital reporting, and IT system optimization to enhance program efficiency.
• Work closely with global teams to customize and improve IT tools, cloud services, and collaboration platforms.
• Support the design and implementation of AI-driven mechanisms for predictive analytics, process automation, and enhanced program monitoring.
• Identify opportunities for AI-driven insights, automation, and efficiency improvements across the organization’s digital ecosystem.
• Promote digital-first approaches for monitoring, evaluation, learning, and reporting to improve data-driven decision-making.
• Stay updated on emerging technologies and assess their applicability to improve workflow automation and program impact.

• Conductand/orqualityensureallMELSdatacollectedfortheproject.
• Organize routine data quality assessment on a quarterly basis and performance monitoring of eachsub-Awardonasemi-annual basis.
• Summarize/aggregate/analyze data at the state/project/FOAB/geography level to promote data-baseddecision-makingandsupport intheprogramstrategy.
• Manage all data properly in clean form, and analyze to use for project management, learnings, andmeet allthe reportingneeds.
• Work with the project management team to respond to periodic clients and PGPL requests foradditionalinformationonproject activitiesandresults.
• Building capacity of the project partners, program staff and other stakeholders on MELS and related components (PR, LR, Outcome Monitoring).

• Collaboratewithprojectholdersand PGPL teamsinprojectdesignandMELS budgeting.
• Supportinpreparationofsub-awardproposals.
• Supportresearch andevaluationinitiatives in thecountry.

• Assist in networking with other development organizations, governments and other line agencies inpromotingPGPLdevelopmentmodel/initiatives, andpotentialcollaborations.
• Trackphysicalandfinancialprojectprogressagainstthe annual plan.
• Contribute to the recruitment, training, and supervision of external parties that are contracted to implement special surveys and studies required for evaluating project effects and impacts.

• Bachelor’sdegree inprojectplanning,MonitoringandManagement,Economicsand/orStatistics,orSocial Science and or an equivalent with an academic focus on monitoring and evaluation or anotherrelatedfield; In addition, person should have good understanding about Information Technology (IT).
• Havingaminimumoffive(5)yearsoftotalexperienceinI/NGOs,outofwhichaminimumofthree(3)yearsof relevantexperienceinMELSand research;
• Knowledge andunderstandingofprojectMonitoring,Evaluation,Learning,andResultFramework.
• KnowledgeoftooldevelopmentusingtheODK platform;SurveyCTO.
• AgoodknowledgeofAdvance Excel,SPSS/STATA; Data visualization tools like PowerBI, Tableau etc.
• Experience in the design and usage of digital data collection tools like Survey-CTO, ODK, key surveys,etc.;
• Soundknowledgeandskillsinprojectmanagement,MELSplan,resultframework,andevaluationmanagement;
• Agoodknowledgeandskillstomanageprojectdatabasemanagementsystem.

• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to navigate challenging situations to achieve goals anddeadlines;
• Demonstratea highdegreeofhonesty andintegrity;
• Motivatedtoworkresponsibly withlittlesupervision;
• Abilitytomeetanddealwithothers inacourteous andtactfulmanner;
• Abilityto workwithsensitive informationandto alwaysmaintainconfidentiality;
• Abilityandwillingnessto work aflexibleschedule;
• FluentinHindi,English,andLocalLanguagespokenaswellaswritten;
• Haveaninterestinanimals/agriculturecommunitydevelopment;
• Willingness andabilityto travellocallyandinternationally;
• Knowledge of word processing, spreadsheets, PowerPoint, web designing, collaboration platformandtools, andelectronicmailsoftware(Microsoftpreferred);
• Constantsitting,standingandwalking,withoccasionalbendingandlifting;mayworkatacomputerforextendedperiodsoftime.