The posting
About the organization
The Antara Foundation (TAF) envisions a world where women and children do not suffer from preventable health conditions. We believe that every mother and each child deserve an equal start to a healthy life. We support the public health system deliver solutions at scale, to improve maternal and child health outcomes, by partnering with government and communities. Interventions of The Antara Foundation follow two closely integrated paths: to help the government system deliver better quality health care to the community and to support the community to mobilize and seek better health outcomes.
We are a young, energetic, and passionate team, working across eight districts, 38 blocks, 5,700 villages, with 20,000 Frontline Health Workers (FLWs), and reaching 379,000 women and 650,000 children in central India. Over the next few years, we see ourselves spreading across multiple locations in India to implement our solutions and to create an impact at scale.
For more information visit antarafoundation.org.
Reporting to: Head, Data Systems
Location: Betul, Madhya Pradesh, with travel to intervention blocks as required
Duration: 6 months (contractual)
Position Summary
The Associate / Sr. Associate – M&E and Implementation (Community Programs) will be embedded in Betul district to provide dedicated M&E support to TAF's community-level program pilots. This role will work at the intersection of field implementation and evidence generation supporting the design, monitoring, and early evaluation of new community-based models of health service delivery. The incumbent will work closely with both the field implementation team and the central M&E team, ensuring that data flows in real time, pilots are designed within an evaluation framework, and formative evidence is rigorously synthesized to guide decision-making.
This is a field-heavy, mixed-methods role suited to someone who is equally comfortable facilitating a community discussion, cleaning a dataset, and writing a synthesis note.
Responsibilities
1. Pilot Design and Evaluation Framework
- Support the design and roll-out of community model pilots, ensuring each pilot is embedded within a clear monitoring and evaluation framework from the outset.
- Work with the central M&E team to define pilot-specific indicators, data collection timelines, and process documentation protocols.
- Help develop and adapt data collection tools (quantitative and qualitative) appropriate for rapid field deployment.
- Contribute to the development of pilot evaluation plans including baseline documentation, process tracking, and light-touch outcome measurement with guidance from the M&E team.
2. Concurrent Monitoring and Real-Time Feedback
- Lead concurrent monitoring of pilot implementation tracking fidelity, coverage, and early outcomes on an ongoing basis.
- Conduct rapid quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis to generate real-time feedback for implementation teams.
- Prepare brief, actionable monitoring notes and updates to flag implementation bottlenecks, deviations from design, or emerging community insights.
- Coordinate closely with program officers and field staff to ensure monitoring data is used for course correction and adaptive management.
3. Synthesis and Analysis of Formative Research
- Consolidate, organize, and analyze qualitative and quantitative data from formative research conducted in the community program geographies (including community conversations, barrier assessments, and field observation notes).
- Conduct descriptive and thematic analysis to identify patterns, convergences, and divergences across communities and respondent groups.
- Produce synthesis notes, briefs, and presentations that translate field evidence into actionable program insights for internal teams and senior leadership.
- Contribute to knowledge management activities including documentation of learning, writing brief field notes and reflections, and organizing data archives.
4. Team Support and Organizational Contribution
- Prepare periodic internal progress reports and contribute to donor reporting as required.
- Participate in program and M&E team meetings, contributing field perspectives to organizational discussions.
- Support capacity building of field staff on data collection, documentation, and basic data use.
- Perform any other task as assigned by the organization.
Skills and Experience Required
We are looking for a self-motivated, curious, and detail-oriented professional with strong mixed-methods skills and a genuine interest in community health. They would also have the following credentials:
- A recognized postgraduate degree in Public Health, Economics, Statistics, Development Studies, or a related field. Candidates with a research or evaluation-oriented degree or specialization including MPH, MSc, or MA with a strong methods component will be preferred.
- 1–3 years of experience in monitoring and evaluation, research, or implementation support. Experience in maternal and child health, nutrition, or community health programs would be preferred.
- Demonstrated ability to work with both qualitative and quantitative data: designing tools, conducting analysis, and synthesizing findings into clear outputs.
- Experience in qualitative research methods community conversations, FGDs, IDIs, or participatory appraisal approaches and comfort working directly with communities in rural or tribal contexts.
- Comfort in a fast-paced, field-based, entrepreneurial environment; ability to prioritize and manage multiple workstreams independently.
- Ability to present information in a structured and insightful manner both in writing and verbally.
- Technical skills: proficiency in Google Sheets and/or Excel; experience with data collection tools such as ODK or KoBoToolbox; familiarity with qualitative analysis software such as NVivo, Atlas.ti, or Dedoose; familiarity with Google Data Studio or Power BI for reporting is an advantage. Intermediate knowledge of statistical packages (SPSS, STATA, R) preferred.
- Basic to intermediate proficiency with responsible use of AI tools for research and analysis preferred.
- Understanding of government health and nutrition data portals (HMIS, ANMOL, and related systems) is desirable.
- Knowledge of result-based management approaches logical frameworks, Theory of Change, Outcome Mapping and familiarity with process evaluation or implementation research methods would be an advantage.
- Willingness to be based in Betul, Madhya Pradesh for the duration of the assignment, with regular travel within the district and to intervention villages.
- Fluency in Hindi is essential; knowledge of local dialects is an added advantage.
- Demonstrated interest in or commitment to tackling community health and development challenges in India.
