Kōtui Monitoring Evaluation Research and Learning (MERL) Lead

Te Pae Tawhiti: A just, inclusive and sustainable world for everyone, now and for future generations.

Kōtui MERL Lead

• Are you passionate about monitoring and evaluation in development and international cooperation projects?


• Be part of a team committed with climate issues affecting The Pacific and Timor-Leste


• Support a pivotal moment at the end of a phase one of Kōtui Programme and the smooth transition to Kōtui Tuarua.

Lead the Learning. Shape the Future.

At Oxfam, we believe that lasting change comes when local leaders are at the centre. The Kōtui programme is in its final, critical year—a year to consolidate evidence, amplify impact, and ensure women’s resilience shine through the challenges of climate breakdown and disasters. We’re looking for a passionate Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) Lead to help tell this powerful story and ensure the lessons of today shape the solutions of tomorrow.

This is more than a role—it’s a chance to make voices heard and knowledge matter. Working alongside Oxfam teams and incredible local partners across the Pacific and Timor-Leste, you’ll champion Indigenous perspectives, gender-responsive practices, and contextually grounded learning. You’ll guide evaluations that go beyond numbers to reveal real stories of resilience. You’ll lead programme forums like Te Kete that bring people together to share, reflect and innovate—because learning is strongest when it is shared.

If you’re driven by evidence and inspired by equity, this is your moment. As MERL Lead, your work will not only close out a ground-breaking programme with credible, meaningful insights—it will help lay the foundations for Kōtui Tuarua, shaping the next chapter in inclusive climate resilience. This is your opportunity to ensure women’s voices, local knowledge, and collective wisdom leave a legacy far beyond the life of the programme.

Job Purpose:

The Kōtui Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) Lead is a fixed-term role focused on delivering priority MERL outcomes in the final year of the programme. Working with Oxfam Aotearoa, Oxfam in the Pacific, Oxfam in Timor-Leste, and partner organisations, the role will consolidate evidence of results, support partners to demonstrate impact, and strengthen locally led and Indigenous approaches to evaluation.

Key responsibilities include guiding the final evaluation process, facilitating learning forums such as Te Kete, and ensuring that insights inform both programme closure and the design of Kōtui Tuarua. By enabling robust monitoring, research, and reflection, the MERL Lead will help ensure credible evidence, meaningful learning, and stronger partner capacity to sustain change beyond Kōtui.

The goal of the Kōtui programme is that women have increased resilience, wellbeing and agency in the face of climate breakdown and disasters. This will be achieved through two long-term outcomes:

• Women have improved resilience through more equitable access to resources and opportunities


• Governance systems affecting resilience are more inclusive, accountable and gender responsive.

The MERL Lead will:

• Support partners to design and implement robust, contextually relevant MERL systems.


• Strengthen capacity for monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning across partners and project teams.


• Ensure Indigenous voices, local knowledge, and gender-responsive practices are central to all MERL activities.


• Facilitate and connect learning processes such as the regular all-programme workshops known as Te Kete, enabling cross-country exchange and adaptation.


• Support the development and execution of research outputs that elevate local expertise and influence policy and practice.

This role is about enabling and amplifying local leadership in MERL, ensuring the programme can deliver credible, evidence-based results, demonstrate impact and strengthen the systems and skills of those who will sustain change beyond Kōtui.

Competencies

Knowledge, skills and experience

• Postgraduate qualification in international development, evaluation, social sciences, or a related field.


• Minimum 5–7 years’ experience in senior MERL roles, ideally in the Pacific or Southeast Asia.


• Demonstrated ability to design and implement MERL systems that are participatory, locally led, and inclusive.


• Proven experience in capacity development and mentoring of more junior staff and local civil society organisations.


• Understanding and respect for Indigenous knowledge systems and culturally grounded evaluation methodologies.


• Strong skills in both qualitative and quantitative analysis.


• Excellent facilitation skills for learning and reflection processes.


• Highly developed communication skills, with the ability to translate technical data into accessible insights for diverse audiences.

Desirable

• Familiarity with climate justice, climate finance, and gender and adaptation research.


• Experience with MFAT-funded programmes or similar donor requirements.


• Experienced in MERL for multi-country programmes.


• Knowledge of Solomon Islands Pidgin, Tuvaluan or Tetun would be a plus.

Personal attributes

• Well-organised and able to work to deadlines


• Strong inter-personal skills


• Able to take the initiative and work independently


• Personal knowledge and sensitivity to cultural differences, race and gender issues, sexual and gender identity issues, disability and class issues as well as the commitment to equal opportunities.


• Active commitment to champion and progress feminist principles, women’s rights, and diversity in all aspects of OAo’s work.


• Commitment to Oxfam’s safeguarding and anti-harassment, bullying, child protection and safeguarding policies to ensure all people who come into contact with Oxfam are as safe as possible.

Apply now:

Applications closing date: Sunday 14 September 2025. Shortlisted candidates will be contacted soon after this date with interviews starting on the week of 22 September 2025. Only candidates living in Aotearoa New Zealand with the right to work here need apply. 

See full job description here: https://www.oxfam.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/250827-Kotui-Monitoring-Evaluation-Research-and-Learning-Lead-Job-Description.pdf

About us..

Oxfam Aotearoa believes in a just, inclusive, sustainable world for everyone, now and for future generations. We are here to change and transform the systems that drive climate and gender injustice.

With a vision for the future that is deliberately different to the status quo, Oxfam Aotearoa has evolved as an organisation. Across the world, Oxfam continues to grow its focus on systems change through influencing. No longer wanting to be a traditional ‘charity’ organisation, Oxfam is actively seeking to facilitate, support, nurture, inspire and spark collective action to transform the systems that create and entrench discrimination, exclusion and poverty.

Our work is focused in the places where people are trapped in poverty and injustice, despite their incredible resilience and drive to change things. Our international development work spans advocacy, mobilisation, partnering to deliver in-country programmes, and humanitarian response. Across this work, we build collective power to influence the people who can decide whether or not to alter unhelpful structures, whether these people are in governments, corporations, regional or international organisations, or in communities.

We couldn’t do what we do without the generous Kiwis who share our vision, kindly donating time and money to support our vision. We raise funds for the greatest impact possible through a sophisticated public fundraising programme, and through partnering with institutional donors such as the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.