Program Lead - Design and Monitoring & Evaluation (STEP Bihar- State)

Mantra Social Services; Patna; On-site; INR 1,200,000 - 2,400,000; Full time

Job summary

Mantra Social Services is seeking a Program Lead - Design and Monitoring Evaluation to oversee program design, measurement, and evidence across STEP Bihar. The role builds the theory of change and annual workplans while creating indicators, data systems, dashboards, and evaluation studies to test the program’s logic and effectiveness.

The candidate will partner with SCERT and DIETs, grounding decisions in data and rigorous evidence, and will design studies, review outputs critically, and mentor

Qualifications

• Must have fluency with theory of change, logical frameworks, logic models, and indicator design.
• Demonstrated ability to build and show work, not just read frameworks.
• Strong quantitative analysis skills and dashboard building experience.

Responsibilities

• Design and maintain theory of change, outcome chains and logic frameworks for state workstreams.
• Develop state indicators with baselines, targets, data sources and reporting cadence.
• Build data collection tools and dashboards for state and district use.
• Support annual endline student assessments, sampling, tool design and analysis.
• Brief external evaluators and translate findings into program design implications.
• Lead monthly review structures at state and district levels with decision focus.

Skills

Theory of change

Logic frameworks

Indicator design

Quantitative analysis

Data dashboards

SurveyCTO

Education

Master's degree in Education/Policy/ Economics/ Statistics

Tools

Looker Studio

Power BI

Python

R

Stata

Kobo

Job description

Job Summary

The Program Lead - Design and Monitoring Evaluation holds two connected responsibilities for STEP Bihar: the logic of the program and the evidence that tests it. On the design side, the role builds the theory of change, outcome chains, logic frameworks, and annual workplans across our state workstreams. On the measurement side, it builds the indicator sets, data systems, dashboards, and evaluation studies that show whether those chains are actually holding, from system functioning through functionary support and teacher practice to student learning.

The role works in partnership with SCERT, DPE, BEPC, DIETs, and the Vidya Samiksha Kendra, and supports the Bihar program team and district teams to use data rather than only report it. It suits someone who is rigorous about the difference between an output and an outcome, who will not let a training completion figure stand in for a change in classroom practice, and who can hold a design argument with senior colleagues and government officials on the strength of evidence.

Roles and Responsibilities

1. Program Design

• Build and maintain the theory of change, outcome chains, and logic frameworks for the state workstreams, separating immediate, intermediate, and long-term outcomes rather than collapsing them into one bucket.
• Make the assumptions behind the design explicit, state what is in scope and out of scope, and ground every design in a data-backed problem statement rather than in intent.
• Translate the design into annual workplans and goal statements that workstream owners can actually run against.

2. Measurement Framework and Indicators

• Build the state indicator set with baselines, targets, data sources, and reporting frequency, and keep output indicators clearly distinguished from outcome indicators.
• Apply Kirkpatrick levels to training and capacity building work and keep knowledge gain and practice change measured separately rather than treated as the same thing.
• Frame progress against Bihar SQAAF Domains 2 and 3 and against PARAKH benchmarks, so that every outcome chain traces upward to PARAKH readiness.

3. Data Systems, VSK and Dashboards

• Design data collection tools and protocols for classroom observation, mentoring visits, training, and review, and set the data quality standards the state and district teams work to.
• Build and maintain state and district dashboards, and work with the Vidya Samiksha Kendra to route program indicators into government reporting wherever an official line exists.

4. Evaluation, Assessment and Research

• Support SCERT and DIETs to design and run annual endline student assessment surveys, including sampling, tool design, analysis, and interpretation of effect sizes and grade-wise gaps.
• Design or commission studies where the program needs an answer it does not have, brief external evaluators, and review their outputs critically.
• Synthesize field and observation evidence into implications for program design, not only into findings.

5. Review Structures and Use of Data

• Establish and run monthly review structures at state and district level and prepare review material that leads to a decision rather than to a status update.
• Conduct regular field visits with state and district officials to check the quality of implementation against what the data claims.

6. Proposals, Reporting and Documentation

• Draft concept notes, proposals, results frameworks, and quarterly and annual reports for funders and government, and ensure every claim made is backed by evidence the program actually holds.
• Maintain clear records of program decisions, design revisions, and learnings.

7. Building Design and Measurement Capability

• Build the design and measurement capability of the Bihar program team, district teams, and government counterparts through structured review of their outputs and hands-on support.

Experience Competencies Required

• Master's degree in Education, Social Sciences, Economics, Statistics, Public Policy, or a related discipline, along with 4 to 8 years of experience in program design, monitoring and evaluation, research, or evaluation, preferably in education.
• Must have demonstrated fluency with theory of change, logical frameworks, logic models, and indicator design. Candidates should be able to show work they have built, not only frameworks they have read.
• Must have strong quantitative analysis skills, working knowledge of SurveyCTO, Kobo, or similar, and experience in dashboard building on Looker Studio, Power BI, or equivalent. Knowledge of Python, R, or Stata is an advantage.
• Must have an understanding of Bihar's education system and of policies such as NEP 2020, NCF.