Associate – Impact Collective (MEL)

ABOUT VIDHI

The Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy (“Vidhi”) is an independent think tank doing legal research to make better laws and improve governance for the public good. Vidhi is committed to producing legal research of the highest standard with the aim of informing public debate and contributing to improved governance. Vidhi works with Ministries of the Government of India and State Governments, as well as other public institutions, providing research and drafting support at various stages of law-making. Vidhi also conducts and freely disseminates independent research in areas of legal reform which it believes is critical to India’s future.

Vidhi is an equal opportunity employer and neither practices nor tolerates any kind of discriminatory behaviour.

ROLE DESCRIPTION

Vidhi is embedding a real-time, organisation-wide impact system that tracks quarterly and biannual movement on legal reform and public narrative, ensuring accurate and timely reporting. As part of this effort, the Associate will serve as the system’s architect and champion–standardising indicators and language, driving adoption across teams, and converting evidence into funder-ready insight for proposals. The role includes designing, operationalising, and stewarding Vidhi’s organisation-wide MEL framework in collaboration with research teams, alongside fundraising and communications.

Key responsibilities include:

• Org-level system design
• Own the MEL framework: Theory of Change, indicator/metrics library (outputs and outcomes), data dictionary, Quality Assurance standards, and SOPs.
• Build credible proxy indicators for policy/narrative change (process tracing, contribution analysis, outcome harvesting).
• Tooling & automation
• Implement light-touch, real-time tracking for outputs/outcomes (e.g., citations in government docs, draft contributions, media traction, stakeholder uptake).
• Set up dashboards (Excel/Google Sheets/BI tools) with automated data pulls and simple inputs, ensuring project leads can self-serve.
• Quarterly & biannual cycles
• Run the quarterly data cycle (collection, validation, dashboard refresh) and the biannual learning review (synthesis, insights, actions).
• Translate evidence into crisp narratives with comms; feed proposals and reports with fundraising.
• Evidence standards & learning culture
• Convert qualitative wins into structured evidence (process tracing, contribution analysis, outcome harvesting).
• Define credible proxy indicators for “movement” in policy processes and narrative shifts; triangulate evidence.
• Train teams on indicators and evidence quality; run after-action reviews; maintain a traceable learning repository.
• Commission/manage rapid outcome studies and independent evaluations where useful/required by funders
• Data governance & risk
• Enforce privacy, consent, and retention standards; maintain auditable trails for funder diligence.

REQUIREMENTS

Essential

• 3-5 years hands-on MEL in complex, non-linear change environments (policy, governance, or social impact).
• Proven ability to transform qualitative insights into structured, comparable evidence.
• Proven track record building MEL systems that busy teams actually use (templates, SOPs, dashboards).
• Depth in methods for contribution, not attribution (contribution analysis, outcome harvesting, process tracing).
• Advanced knowledge of Excel/Google Sheets; confident with one BI tool or ready to learn fast.
• Strong facilitation, coaching, and change-management skills; excellent writing for non-technical audiences.
• Experience commissioning or managing independent evaluations.
• Results mindset: bias to iterate and automate.

Desirable

• Understanding of legal policy work.

LOCATION AND REMUNERATION

• This is a full-time position based out of New Delhi.
• Remuneration will be competitive, in line with experience and existing structure at Vidhi.
• The engagement will be for a period of one year, with renewal subject to performance and availability of funds.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Interested candidates should apply through our online portal by filling in the required details in the application form and uploading the following documents:

• Latest Curriculum Vitae (CV) (not exceeding two A4 pages)
• Statement of motivation (in a maximum of 500 words) explaining why the candidate is interested in this position
• 1-2 work samples demonstrating MEL system-building or learning synthesis
• Details of two references, including names, contact details and nature of professional relationship

Please ensure that the file is titled “FirstName LastName” and is uploaded as a single PDF file under the field of ‘Additional Documents’.

The deadline to submit applications is 15/12/25. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Only applications submitted through the online portal will be reviewed. Please do not email resumes and cover letters; only queries may be sent via email to careers@vidhilegalpolicy.in with the subject line “Query – Associate, Impact Collective”.