About us
Practical Action is a change-making organisation that works in unconventional ways. We put ingenious ideas to work so people in poverty can change their world.
We do things differently, so answers that start small can grow big – bringing people together in bold collaborations, using innovation and knowledge to build futures free from poverty and help shape a world that works better for everyone.
About the role
This is a people-facing, system-focused role within Practical Action’s Impact, Innovation and Influencing (II&I) directorate. The MEL Systems Officer is responsible for maintaining the quality, organisation, and user uptake of Practical Action’s centralised MEL system. You will develop the protocols that guide how data is entered and maintained, and support internal teams to follow them, ensuring colleagues always have accurate data to draw on for reporting, learning, and influencing. This is a 2-year fixed-term contract (with option to extend), open to candidates based in any Practical Action registered office globally.
About you
You are highly organised, methodical and digitally confident, comfortable administering online data systems, building data structures and ensuring data quality over time. You communicate clearly and build relationships easily, with a proven ability to train and support users with varying levels of technical experience. You have a good working knowledge of MEL concepts, including results frameworks, indicators, and theories of change, and can translate MEL thinking into practical system design. Experience in an international development or NGO context, and familiarity with platforms such as Kobo or Power BI, would be a distinct advantage.
Accountabilities
System administration & organisation: Maintain and organise data within Practical Action’s centralised MEL system, ensuring it is kept up to date, accurate and consistently structured. Carry out routine data quality checks and flag any gaps. Ensure that approved indicators, results frameworks and theories of change are correctly entered and reflected in the system. Maintain clear user guidance documentation and standard operating procedures. Liaise with system providers and IT colleagues to log and follow up on system issues and upgrades.
User support, reporting & MEL process: Act as the first point of contact for MEL and programme staff with system queries, providing friendly, practical support and managing user accounts and permissions. Deliver onboarding and training sessions to help colleagues use the system confidently. Produce organisational impact dashboards and support the preparation of MEL reports and data extracts for annual and donor reporting. Support knowledge sharing by ensuring reports, evaluations, and learning products are accessible on internal platforms.
PERSON PROFILE
Person Specification
Qualifications, Knowledge, and Experience
To be successful in this role, the ideal candidate will be able to demonstrate:
Essential
- Applicants must hold a Bachelor’s Degree
- Experience administering online data systems, databases or digital platforms, with confidence working with structured data and reporting tools.
- Highly organised and methodical, with a drive to produce high-quality output.
- Confident communicator and relationship builder, with a focus on nurturing team coherence.
- Demonstrable experience in leading and delivering training and user support.
- Good understanding of MEL concepts, indicators, results frameworks, data collection and theories of change.
- Ability to explain system or data processes clearly to non-technical audiences.
- Fluent English, written and spoken.
Desirable
- Experience working in an international development or NGO context.
- Familiarity with MEL or data collection platforms (e.g. Kobo, or similar).
- Experience producing dashboards or data visualisations (e.g. Power BI, Tableau, Excel).
- Proficiency in one or more additional languages, Spanish, French or Arabic particularly.
Skills, Abilities and Competencies:
- Technical skills: Experience with data management systems; familiarity with MEL or data collection platforms such as Kobo, and similar; experience producing dashboards or data visualisations using Power BI, Tableau or Excel.
- Interpersonal skills: Strong written and verbal communication skills in English. Ability to build trusted relationships across a dispersed, multicultural team. Collaborative, proactive and solutions-oriented approach to problem-solving.
1.1 APPLICATION INFORMATION
1.2 Why join us?
The opportunity to work for an organisation that is making a positive difference to the lives of people worldwide, a friendly and supportive culture, and working with values-driven and highly engaged colleagues are just some of the reasons we think Practical Action is a great place to work.
This will be a global role based either in the UK or in one of our country offices in Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Peru, Boliva, Nepal or Bangladesh. The final salary and benefits for this role is dependent on the country of base and job market conditions.
The successful applicant must have the pre-existing right to both live and work in the country from which they will be based. They must be in a commutable distance from one of our global offices, as the successful candidate would be expected to attend the office on regular occasions.
Additional information
Practical Action believes that having a diverse workforce and inclusive workplace culture based on respect will enable us to be an effective organisation. We seek to create an inclusive workplace in which people are accepted as individuals, regardless of their differences and where they feel their contribution is valued. Practical Action is an equal opportunities employer, and we encourage applications from under-represented groups.
We stay committed to cultivating an inclusive and diverse working environment and believe that people from different backgrounds or cultures give us different perspectives, and the more perspectives we have, the more successful we will be. By building a culture where everyone feels heard, respected, and valued we give everyone working with us the opportunity to achieve their full potential.
Practical Action is committed to safeguarding and protecting children and vulnerable adults and as such candidates will be subject to pre-employment checks including criminal checks and terrorist financing.
HOW TO APPLY
If you want to work for a charity with significant people ambitions, then we would like to hear from you. For more information, please visit our careers page. To apply please submit a copy of your CV (no more than 3 pages) and send us a supporting statement that includes the answers to the following questions:
- Please outline any experience you have of working with online data systems, databases or digital platforms, including what your responsibilities involved.
- Please give an example of a time you have supported others to use a system or follow a process, and describe the approach you took.
- Please describe any exposure you have had to Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning, including how you have worked with data, results frameworks or indicators in practice.
Closing date for applications: 4th June 2026. Please note that should we recruit a suitable candidate before the closing date, we will close applications earlier than the specified date.
Interviews: It is anticipated that interviews will take place in the week commencing 16th June 2026
If you do not hear from us within five weeks of the closing date, please assume your application has not been successful on this occasion.
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