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WeForest is hiring for a Co-Lead of MERL Unit to co-manage its Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL): Apply Now

Ednah Carrick August 22, 2025

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Closing Date: 5 September 2025

WeForest is hiring for a Co-Lead of MERL Unit to co-manage its Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL): Apply Now

Overview

WeForest is a fast-growing international non-profit organisation with the Global Office in Belgium. WeForest develop forest landscape restoration projects to combat global warming and extreme poverty. Its mission is to conserve and restore the ecological integrity of forests and landscapes by engaging communities to implement and deliver lasting solutions for climate, nature and people.

WeForest activities have expanded and they are recruiting a second Lead to co-manage its Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) Unit that includes 6 full time equivalent positions in the Global Office.

Job purpose

The Co-Lead of MERL Unit will support the development and implementation of the MRV framework for carbon projects and improve the design, coordination and implementation of the monitoring, evaluation and reporting framework across the three main pillars for which WeForest aims to demonstrate project impact: 1. forest governance, 2. trees and biodiversity and 3. Communities & livelihoods.

The Co-Lead of MERL Unit position is both managerial and technical. The position is embedded within the Global Programmes team. The successful candidate will work in closely with the second Lead of the MERL unit and report to the Global programmes director. He/She will have regular contacts with the designated M&E focal points in the project teams as well as close cooperation with the rest of WeForest’s Operations and Communications & Marketing Teams.

Main responsabilities

Support Monitoring, Reporting & Verification (MRV) framework for carbon and Climate-Community-Biodiversity certification (close collaboration with carbon technical Lead)

Contribute to the design, planning, and implementation of high-quality MRV systems for carbon projects, including digital MRV tools and platforms (e.g. Verra and other NbS methodologies).
Provide support in coordinating and executing field monitoring activities related to MRV, particularly in biomass, biodiversity, and community-based components.
Support the implementation of QA/QC procedures to ensure the integrity and transparency of MRV activities.
Contribute to the development of monitoring plans and monitoring reports in the framework of project registration, validation, and verification.

Co-coordinate planning of resources and supervise applied research in Global office (close collaboration with the second Lead MERL)

Coordinate with the second Lead of MERL unit the planning and resources allocation for WF global-led projects and cross-projects evaluations & applied research.
Supervise and mentor the applied research partnership coordinator.

Coach and develop capacities of MERL country & project teams for a subset of countries (WeForest and implementing partners)with carbon technical Lead)

Continuously assess the quality of newly collected data, its analysis and resulting reports in the projects, and the degree to which it supports adaptive management.
Develop and disseminate M&E protocols, templates and tools when needs are identified, to support project teams and/or implementing partners to efficiently and correctly collect, analyse, interpret and report data.
Guide project teams and/or implementing partners on proper data and metadata storage & management.
Identify areas where technical support to project teams is required and facilitate capacity building through one of several modalities (e.g. in house training, external training, protocol development, etc.).
Assist project teams in developing or reviewing their M&E framework (project’s logframe, M&E plan & protocols, workplan).
Critically review the technical quarterly/bi-annual project reports and provide constructive feedback during the project review meetings.

Foster collaboration and communication with other WeForest departments

Translate MERL data and findings for use by the fundraising and communication teams and provide clarifications when needed to other departments (finances, partnerships, communication).
Support translating lessons learned in adaptive management for project teams and technical advisors.

Skills & qualifications

At least an M.Sc. or equivalent experience, in a scientific field closely related to data analysis (i.e. statistics, data management), ideally with additional knowledge of one of the substantive issues handled by the projects such as (tropical) forest conservation and restoration, biodiversity, agroforestry and livelihoods (e.g. Ecological data processing, Forestry, Biology and Biodiversity management, Geographic information system analysis, Natural resources economics, Land resources management, and related fields).
A proven track-record with the development or implementation of MRV protocol in carbon projects (ideally with Verra or Gold Standard) and the use of tools relevant to carbon monitoring such as emission reduction calculations, carbon stock estimations or geospatial baseline assessments).
Good technical skills and knowledge of data collection methodologies, data quality control, statistical & descriptive data analysis, graph construction and data interpretation for at least one of the following data types: forest vegetation data (permanent plots), animal biodiversity data (camera trap/ audio recorders/ transect), forest governance data, qualitative livelihood data (e.g. household surveys), quantitative livelihood data (e.g. focus-group discussions, key informant interviews) or geospatial data (e.g. forest polygons, POI point layers) Previous successful experience in a management role and remote coaching of field teams (moderation, facilitation and training skills).
Good technical skills and knowledge of at least some of the associated tools used for data collection and data analysis (e.g. Kobo Collect, GISCloud, QGIS, SPSS, R, Excel). Knowledge of database and/or business intelligence software is a plus (e.g. Access, PowerBI, Tableau).
Substantial proven field-based project experience, with responsibilities for monitoring, evaluation and learning, in projects working on relevant themes such as forest conservation and restoration, agroforestry and livelihoods.
Good organisational skills and analytical skills.
Ability to work in a team of diverse cultural backgrounds.
Excellent knowledge of English, good knowledge of French is a plus.