Evaluation Officer, CST, (11 months) Johannesburg, South Africa

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WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status or disability.

ABOUT WFP

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. The mission of WFP is to end global hunger. Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need. In emergencies, WFP gets food to where it is needed, saving the lives of victims of war, civil conflict and natural disasters. After an emergency, WFP uses food to help communities rebuild their shattered lives. Present in nearly 120 countries, the organization has the global footprint, deep field presence and local knowledge and relationships necessary to provide access to nutritious food and contribute to the lasting solutions, especially in many of the world’s most remote and fragile areas. We manage an operating budget of approximately $5.9 billion each year, distributing 12.6 billion rations to those most in need. We reach an average of 80 million people with food assistance in around 80 countries each year. The World Food Programme office in Johannesburg is a Regional Office coordinating and supporting the delivery of humanitarian assistance to 12 Southern Africa countries including, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Angola, Tanzania, Malawi, Madagascar, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo. For more on WFP and what we do, please go to http://www.wfp.org/videos/zero-hunger

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

These jobs are found in Headquarters (HQ) and report to the Director of Evaluation or the designate. Job holders are likely to manage a moderate portfolio of evaluation activities, or contribute to evaluation missions and formulation of recommendations. Job holders operate with considerable independence in their area of work consulting on wider issues with Senior Evaluation Officers

JOB PURPOSE

Within the framework of the WFP corporate Evaluation Policy, the WFP Southern Africa Region Bureau (RBJ) is finalizing a Regional Evaluation Strategy (RES) (2023-2030) to guide the Regional Bureau and Country Offices (COs) in generating and making better use of evaluation evidence to: a) demonstrate WFP results and contributions towards achieving agenda 2030; b) generate and use evaluation evidence to learn and keep improving for the people we serve; c) be accountable to the people we serve and to the people that provide us resources.

The RES has two goals namely: Goal 1: Evidence from evaluations is used to inform decision-making for impactful strategies, policies, and programmes targeting the people WFP serves. Goal 2: WFP evidence contribution to national priorities and agenda 2030 is recognized and supported by donors, governments, the private sector, and other relevant stakeholders in the Southern Africa region and beyond.

These two goals are translated into two objectives: (a) deliver credible and useful evaluations that adequately cover WFP programmes across the region, and (b) make evaluation evidence timely used among internal and external stakeholders in policy formulation, strategy and programme design.

The purpose of this assignment is to contribute to the achievement of the dual RES objectives through direct support to COs in RBJ, and specifically to the implementation of the Regional Evaluation Strategy and annual Regional Evaluation Plan.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

1. Evaluation planning and management:

• Support the management of decentralized evaluations to generate independent, credible, and useful evaluation evidence that meets high professional standards in line with UN norms and standards and codes of conduct for evaluations in the UN system embodied in WFP Evaluation Quality Assurance System (EQAS)
• Manage decentralized evaluations of moderate to complex designs including evaluations commissioned by RBJ covering several countries or support the Regional Evaluation Officer in the management of complex decentralized evaluations
• The above specifically include

- managing or supporting evaluation processes from planning to completion, - seeking technical advice from the line manager in addressing evaluation issues in RBJ, - ensuring transparent and consistent communication with internal and external evaluation stakeholders and supporting their appropriate and active engagement evaluation processes, - applying the WFP normative framework, quality assurance and assessment mechanisms to all evaluation deliverables, and - support the management and monitoring of evaluation processes in COs.

2. Evaluation evidence generation and use:

• Support WFP’s evaluation culture of accountability and learning, working with internal and external stakeholders to enhance learning from and use pf evaluation evidence in policy, strategy, and programme design (eg. CSPs) and implementation
• Review and support draft Management Responses to evaluation recommendations and advise the Management of the coherence of the proposed follow up actions vis-à-vis evaluation recommendations
• Analyse evaluation evidence and contribute to the preparation of summary of evaluation evidence and summaries of evaluation findings and recommendations, contribute to dissemination of learning products, testing and adapting messages to specific audiences and platforms
• Contribute to drafting publishable and/or shareable pieces of evaluation evidence: Draft one-pager stories for evaluation blogs, draft articles to publish lessons and insights from evaluation practice in the region

3. Evaluation capacity development and partnerships:

• Participate or support RBJ Evaluation Community of Practice through webinars or meetings, and contribute to the sharing of experience and development of good practice
• Support WFP RBJ Evaluation Unit in engaging with counterparts from other UN agencies, government institutions and academia, as well as professional evaluation bodies, to discuss common monitoring and evaluation issues, and contribute to development of good practices.
• In collaboration with relevant functions, ensure gender mainstreaming, disability inclusion, and protection dimensions are catered for in all evaluations
• Provide inputs to the development of monitoring, review and evaluations plans that will provide most relevant and strategic information towards the achievement of expected results as set out in CSPs, regional and global plans
• Proactively engage with partners to identify opportunities to commission joint evaluations and engage with donor-led evaluations as well as UNSDCF evaluations
• Contribute to the development of M&E capacity of WFP staff and partners including support to emerging evaluators outposted in COs,

FUNCTIONAL CAPABILITIES

Capability Name Description of the behaviour expected for the proficiency level Strategic Management Applies understanding of humanitarian and development actions in different contexts and understanding of monitoring requirements and/or the evaluation mandate to identify and recommend improvements to WFP’s guidance, systems, and tools for monitoring and/or evaluation. Performance Management Demonstrates thorough understanding of WFP’s performance management system and ability to manage resources and relationships to lead monitoring actions or deliver complex evaluations (including joint & inter-agency) of a variety of WFP programmes, processes or policies to WFP monitoring and/or evaluation quality standards. Qualitative/Quantitative Methodology Applies in-depth understanding of developing practice in analytical approaches, methods and tools for an appropriate mix to deliver quality monitoring results or complex evaluations on diverse topics relevant to WFP’s strategic and operational results frameworks. Technical Communication Able to tailor and synthesize evaluation evidence and engage diverse internal and external stakeholders proactively in appropriate ways to maximize learning and use of evaluation concepts and evidence for improving WFP programme performance. Analysis Demonstrates consistent ability to assess the relevance and quality of evidence from a wide range of WFP and external sources and to deepen independent and balanced analysis of complex internal and external drivers of WFP performance in the wider geo-political and policy environment.

DESIRED EXPERIENCES FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE

Knowledge of evaluation principles, approaches, and methods

• Able to take initiatives and work with minimal or no supervision
• Ability to manage relationships and solve problems
• Ability/skills to engage a wide range of stakeholders and seek their participation in the evaluation processes
• Ability to read and assimilate a large amount of information within a short time, and provide constructive written and verbal feedback
• Strong communication skills (oral and written) including ability to summarise and present/ share guidelines and procedures in ways that are understandable to internal and external stakeholders
• Ability to work in a multi-cultural environment, respecting and upholding core values of WFP
• Self-confidence and creative, with ability to take decisions within the framework of these TOR and the DEQAS and know when to escalate issues for guidance/decision and support.
• Proven experience working with and support country programmes in Southern Africa

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education:

Advanced University degree in International Development, Economics, Social Science or other relevant field, or First University degree with an additional years of related work experience and/or training/courses

Experience:

Minimum of five years of relevant professional work experience including in international development or humanitarian work

Language:

Fluency in English is a requirement, intermediate level of French or Portuguese will be an asset.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

The Vacancy Announcement will close on 06 January 2023, 11:59 South African time

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Qualified women applicants, people with disabilities and candidates from developing countries are especially encouraged to apply

WFP has a zero-tolerance approach to conduct such as fraud, sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to WFP’s standards of conduct and will therefore undergo rigorous background verification internally or through third parties. Selected candidates will also be required to provide additional information as part of the verification exercise. Misrepresentation of information provided during the recruitment process may lead to disqualification or termination of employment

WFP will not request payment at any stage of the recruitment process including at the offer stage. Any requests for payment should be refused and reported to local law enforcement authorities for appropriate action.