Evaluation Specialist, P3 Evaluation Office, NYHQ, USA

Contract

This is a P-3 contract. This kind of contract is known as Professional and Director staff. It is normally internationally recruited only. It's a staff contract. It usually requires 5 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be between 140,639 USD and 184,155 USD.

Please keep in mind that the salary displayed here is an estimation by UN Talent based on the location and the type of contract. It may vary depending on the organization. The recruiter should be able to inform you about the exact salary range. In case the job description contains another salary information, please refer to this one.

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, evaluate

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

This temporary position is based in UNICEF's Evaluation Office in New York, which serves as the steward of UNICEF’s evaluation function. Its Director reports to UNICEF's Executive Board through an annual report on the evaluation function and selected evaluations. The Evaluation Office commissions and manages independent corporate evaluations and other evaluative exercises (e.g., evaluability assessments, syntheses, reviews), usually conducted in collaboration with external consultants but sometimes embedding Evaluation Office personnel in the evaluation teams. It leads the implementation of the Evaluation Policy, strategy and systems; oversees evaluation quality assurance processes; undertakes evaluation capacity development activities within and outside the Organization; actively promotes an enabling environment for evaluation and a strong evaluation culture; and ensures transparent access to evaluation information.

The work of the Evaluation Office is guided by the UNICEF Evaluation Policy (2023) and the Plan for Global Evaluations 2022-2025. By providing timely and dependable feedback on what is working well and any shortcomings, the office helps to strengthen evidence-based decision-making. It seeks to contribute to deepening organizational accountability and learning in support of the UNICEF Strategic Plan 2022-2025 and in support of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Evaluation Office also conducts evaluations of institutional effectiveness to assess UNICEF’s overall organizational performance in achieving its intended results for children. These evaluations concentrate on broader institutional aspects of how UNICEF operates and how goal areas and other cross-cutting programmes are implemented. Institutional effectiveness evaluations focus on the change strategies and enablers that support the Strategic Plan’s realisation and are critical to positioning UNICEF and its partners to succeed. Other areas covered include evaluative exercises that examine UNICEF’s internal operations, institutional and structural arrangements, policies, support functions, results-based management systems, and overarching partnership approaches.

How can you make a difference?

Under the guidance and supervision of a Senior Evaluation Specialist, the Evaluation Specialist (Institutional Effectiveness) will be responsible for supporting and conducting institutional effectiveness evaluations. The Evaluation Specialist will also help with other evaluative exercises and contribute to strengthening the evaluation function in UNICEF.

In accordance with UNICEF’s mission, guiding principles, standards, commitments, and accountability framework, and under United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) revised norms and standards, the Evaluation Specialist will ensure that all evaluations conducted under their remit are of the highest relevance, timeliness, quality, credibility and utility possible and that they support the organizational learning and accountability needs of UNICEF and its stakeholders in achieving results for children. The Evaluation Specialist will contribute to transparent, inclusive and participatory processes to promote the use of evaluation to influence change in the organization.

The incumbent will also contribute to cross-cutting initiatives within the Evaluation Office and the wider evaluation function within UNICEF.

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

1. Provide technical support and contribute to the planning, implementation and rollout of independent evaluations of UNICEF’s overall institutional effectiveness (45%)

2. Support the preparation of high-quality and user-friendly evaluation products and their wide dissemination (45%)

3. Contribute to the office- and function-wide initiatives and the smooth overall functioning of the Evaluation Office and evaluation function (10%)

1. Lead and contribute to the planning, implementation and rollout of independent evaluations of UNICEF’s overall institutional effectiveness (45%)

• Contribute to strategic planning efforts to identify the highest-priority and most institutionally relevant evaluation themes in the portfolio, carry out qualitative and quantitative analyses (using, for instance, NVivo, Stata, SPSS, Excel, etc.) and secondary research, and participate in internal and external consultations to refine and finalise these topics for inclusion in the UNICEF Plan for Global Evaluations and Evaluation Office Annual Work Plan.
• Contribute to drafting well-tailored and well-written evaluation concept notes and terms of reference under the guidance and supervision of the Senior Evaluation Specialist and in close consultation with key internal and external interlocutors.
• Support the management of independent institutional effectiveness evaluations from start to finish, ensuring that these are as timely, credible and useful as possible in keeping with the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) revised norms and standards. Where appropriate, contribute to inception, data collection, data analysis and report drafting phases of individual evaluations as an embedded team member.
• Arrange effective, participatory consultation processes with internal and external interlocutors (using Teams, Miro and other platforms), including scheduling meetings and interviews, preparing meeting logistics and taking notes.
• Participate in the selection processes of external consultants and quality control processes of all outputs produced by consulting teams.
• Contribute to efforts to identify and either utilise or pilot and bring to scale creative and innovative approaches to the evaluation of institutional effectiveness, from best-in-class methodological approaches to alternative modalities for disseminating evaluation results and engaging with key stakeholders in ways that foster evaluation buy-in, learning and ultimately uptake at every stage of the evaluation process. Identify and deploy best practices to the broader evaluation function as appropriate.
• Participate in ongoing consultation and coordination with other headquarters divisions, regional offices, country offices and external partners, all in close collaboration with Regional Evaluation Advisers and, where necessary, Multi-Country Evaluation Officers.

2. Support the preparation of high-quality and user-friendly evaluation products and their wide dissemination (45%)

• Review evaluation products, including reports, to ensure they are high-quality, easy to understand and suitable for their target audience.
• Draft and contribute to implementing communication plans for evaluation products involving key stakeholders.
• Contribute to developing useful, inclusive and engaging evaluation products that foster stakeholder buy-in, learning, and the uptake of findings and recommendations (for instance, slide decks, videos, briefings, webinars, etc.).

3. Contribute to the office- and function-wide initiatives and the smooth overall functioning of the Evaluation Office and evaluation function (10%)

• Contribute to technical and strategic initiatives to strengthen the work of the Evaluation Office and the evaluation function more generally and of the evaluation culture within the Organization.
• Contribute to office-wide processes, products and other outputs (e.g., strategic planning processes, drafting of annual reports, meeting agendas, syntheses, capacity development activities. Contribute to a positive spirit of teamwork in the Evaluation Office.
• Collaborate closely with other Evaluation Office colleagues, Regional Evaluation Advisers, and colleagues in UNICEF’s other knowledge and evidence functions to ensure a maximally efficient whole-organization approach to planning, managing, conducting, and communicating on evaluations.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• Education:
  • Advanced university degree or higher in organization management, organizational behaviour, evaluation, public policy, economics, statistics, social science, or another field relevant to Institutional Effectiveness.
  • Proven knowledge of qualitative and quantitative research applications.
• Experience:
  • At least five years of professional experience in programme development and implementation, monitoring and evaluation activities, and examining institutional effectiveness in multilateral agencies or equivalent large-scale public- or private-sector organizations.
  • Previous experience in conducting evaluations is an asset.
  • At least one instance of exposure to UNICEF’s development and humanitarian action work is desirable.
  • Rising track record for supporting mixed-method evaluations that rely on qualitative and quantitative approaches and various data collection modalities (surveys, interviews, focus groups, direct and indirect observations, desk reviews).
  • Willingness/ability to keep up to date with the latest skills and organizational guidance in the field of evaluation.
  • Demonstrated track record working collaboratively in a multi-cultural team environment to contribute positively to shared results.
  • Ability to manage many tasks and projects at the same time.
• Language Requirements:
  • Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish) is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it.

Core Values

▪ Care

▪ Respect

▪ Integrity

▪ Trust

▪ Accountability

Core competencies

▪ Builds and maintains partnerships (I)

▪ Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (I)

▪ Drive to achieve results for impact (I)

▪ Innovates and embraces change (I)

▪ Manages ambiguity and complexity (I)

▪ Thinks and acts strategically (I)

▪ Works collaboratively with others (I)

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.