Knowledge Management Specialist (Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL)) - P4, Global Office of Research & Foresight, Florence Italy

Contract

This is a P-4 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 7 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be between 90,970 USD and 117,287 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, Research

Job organizational context:

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does. The leave no one behind principle of the SDGs and UNICEF’s equity agenda translates this commitment on 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.

The team within which this post is located plays a leading role in building and applying evidence and methods from the social and behavioural sciences and building the capacity of UNICEF and partners by strengthening generation, communication, and use of evidence in decision-making and assessing subsequent impact. The behavioural science team is comprised of sector-agnostic methodological experts in applied behavioural science, implementation research, and evaluation methods and provides cross-cutting technical advisory support and capacity-strengthening in appropriate tools, processes and methods to support evidence-informed policy and intervention design.

The position will report to the Behavioural Science Research Manager.

Purpose of the post:

The main purpose of this post is to to provide support to Innocenti’s work on Applied behavioural Sciences, Implementation Research, and establishing a Behavioural Insights Research and Development Laboratory. The objective is to develop an overall Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) framework and provide project coordination support for projects in at least 17 countries, including support for country-level M&E and the design of small-scale experimental trials. In recognition of the need to strengthen the link between research findings and evidence-based advocacy, policy and programming, the post will also include an emphasis on learning from Implementation Research activities in which research is embedded within programming to identify and overcome implementation bottlenecks, enable timely course correction, and support adaptive learning, co-creation and local ownership of activities and outcomes.

Under the general guidance of the Behavioural Science Research Manager, the incumbent is responsible for providing support in the following areas:

1. Developing and coordinating an overall programme planning, management and reporting approach to ensure effective data collection, documentation, and communication for country case studies and donor reports (40%) 2. Developing and implementing an overall MERL plan for systematically surfacing insights, tracking, and understanding what works and what doesn’t, and improving performance in the application of behavioural sciences methodology and evidence to improve programme results in at least 17 countries (25%) 3. Establishing knowledge management & facilitation process including updating, maintaining, and curating content for the UNICEF BIRD Lab website and Applied Behavioural Sciences internal SharePoint sites (20%) 4. Developing capacity-building curricula and conducting training for Regional Offices, country teams, and partners in implementation research and MERL in relation to UNICEF’s applied behavioural science and human-centred design research activities (15%)

Key functions, accountabilities and related duties/tasks:

The purpose of this position is to assist the team with a range of research support tasks related to knowledge management (KM) and monitoring, evaluation, research and learning (MERL) associated with UNICEF’s efforts to scale up the application of behavioural science methods and evidence to achieve program and policy objectives for children (starting with a focus on primary health and immunization). Working under the supervision of the Behavioural Science Research Manager, the incumbent will be responsible for supporting the following four areas of responsibility:

1. Programme planning, management and reporting UNICEF Innocenti is collaborating with the SBC teams in UNICEF Programme Group and Immunization teams to scale up the application of insights and methods from the behavioural sciences to increase the uptake of primary healthcare and immunization services in at least 17 priority countries in 2023. This initiative will include building on a human-centered design process of diagnosing challenges and co-developing solutions with local stakeholders in order to prioritize specific behaviours for change and to design and test associated solutions/ interventions.

The TA will support and be responsible for:

i. Providing management support to guide the effective implementation of the funding mechanisms through convening and collaborating with relevant staff at country, regional and headquarters. ii. Coordinate data collection, documentation, and communication for country case studies and donor reports. iii. Coordinating with country teams to collect the necessary data to inform the overall MERL plan. iv. Maintaining a dashboard or similar mechanism for tracking progress through process and outcome indicators. v. Ensuring that programme delivery, monitoring and evaluation, as well as reporting are carried out efficiently, rigorously and transparently, in compliance with established guidelines and procedures. vi. Supporting communications efforts to tell a story and capture the country journey of BI in practice.

2. MERL technical assistance and experimental design This ambitious multi-country initiative will require a robust MERL plan for systematically surfacing insights, tracking and understanding what works and what doesn’t, and improving performance in the application of behavioural sciences methodology and evidence to improve programme results in at least 17 countries

The TA role will be responsible for:

vii. Provide technical support to country teams in develop tailored theories of change and MERL frameworks and coordinate data collection for the piloting and scaling up of behaviourally informed interventions. viii. Supporting country teams to develop implementation research questions and protocols for systematically documenting what works and what needs to be adjusted during the process of implementing and scaling up behaviourally informed solutions. ix. Supporting country teams to employ experimental or quasi-experimental designs to assess the effectiveness of specific interventions or elements of the overall implementation effort.

3. Knowledge management and facilitation UNICEF Innocenti is working in partnership with Programme Group to establish a Behavioural Insights Research and Design Laboratory, an associated website, and an internal collaboration platform on Applied Behavioural Science in SharePoint.

The TA will be responsible for:

i. Developing the KM plan for the initiative, including plans for the BIRD website and SharePoint pages. ii. Updating, maintaining, and curating content for the UNICEF BIRD Lab website and Applied Behavioural Sciences internal SharePoint site. iii. Documenting, packaging and communicating lessons learned through country case studies and periodic progress reports (See: Documenting Experiences (sharepoint.com). iv. Coordinating with ROs, COs, HQ/PG, and partners to develop up-to-date content to showcase externally via the BIRD Lab website or maintain for internal use via the SharePoint platform. v. Developing and implementing a MERL plan and framework for the overall multi-country effort.

4. Implementation research and MERL Capacity Development & Training Support for Regional Offices, country teams, and partners.

UNICEF’s efforts to link its applied behavioural science and human-centered design approach with methods and evidence from the behavioural sciences will entail developing new training curricula to support country teams with the development of MERL plans, conducting implementation research, and employing experimental research methods to test interventions in context.

In relation to UNICEF’s research activities, the TA will support and be responsible for:

vi. Supporting the Behavioural Science Research Manager and the project team to develop at least five one-hour training modules to insert at key moments in the HCD and/or BI processes. Specific modules will include defining behavioural targets; developing a theory of change; developing a MERL plan; conducting implementation research; and designing and conducting (quasi-) experimental trials. vii. Deliver and document trainings as either standalone events or integrated within other HCD and BI capacity-building workshops. viii. Provide continuous mentoring and technical support to country teams in MERL, implementation research, and experimental design.

V. Recruitment Qualifications:

Education:

• Advanced university degree with a background in Social Sciences, Political Sciences, Behavioural Sciences, Monitoring and Evaluation, and/or Knowledge management.

Essential Experience: • Track record of research and analytical skills, project management skills, skills in simplifying complex scientific writing for communication to general audiences. • Demonstrated background in Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning or related fields. • Experience managing and monitoring complex research projects • Experience and expertise in experimental research design • Core Competencies in Building and Maintaining Partnerships; Drive to Achieve Results for Impact, Managing Ambiguity and Complexity, Thinking and Acting Strategically and Working Collaboratively with Others. • Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability. • Have comprehensive health insurance coverage for the duration of the consultancy. • A minimum of 8 years of progressively professional experience at the international level in social science research, knowledge management, evidence synthesis, research impact, organizational learning, or another related area. • Demonstrable understanding of how to develop a systematic approach to capture research impact in a complex and dynamic environment. Desirable Experience: • Prior experience of working with UNICEF or the UN system is deemed an advantage • Experience managing and monitoring complex research projects is essential

Language Requirements: • Fluency in English language required. Knowledge of other UN working languages is considered an advantage (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish).

Competencies (essential)

• Excellent project management and time management skills, working within academic settings and the public sector. • Strong research and analytical skills. • Strong planning and organisational skills, with an ability to work independently as well as a team member. • An ability to develop effective working relationships with colleagues and partners in a multicultural environment • Good attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously. • Excellent communication skills (oral and written) and an ability to summarize complex scientific information in a straight-forward way for non-specialists.

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. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

i) Core Values

• Care • Respect • Integrity • Trust • Accountability • Sustainability

ii) Core Competencies

§ Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (1) § Works Collaboratively with others (1) § Builds and Maintains Partnerships (1) § Innovates and Embraces Change (1) § Thinks and Acts Strategically (1) § Drive to achieve impactful results (1) § Manages ambiguity and complexity (1)

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

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 is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. 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:

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments are also subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

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