Research Analyst Consultant

WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principles

Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis, and we are committed to promoting diversity and gender balance

JOB TITLE:

Research Analyst Consultant

TYPE OF CONTRACT:

Regular Consultant

UNIT/DIVISION:

Office of Evaluation (OEV)

DUTY STATION (City, Country):

Rome

DURATION:

6 Months with possibility of extension ( November 2020 – May 2021)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

The adoption of the Country Strategic Plans and the expectation that they are all evaluated by WFP contributed to a considerable increase of its work plan. Evaluations provide solid evidence as a basis for strengthening WFP future performance. Having independent, credible and useful evaluations embedded into the policy and programme cycle creates a conducive environment for evaluation to be of good quality and publicly available.

Country Strategic Plan Evaluations, Corporate Emergency, Policy and Strategic Evaluations are managed by WFP’s Office of Evaluations (OEV) in its Headquarters in Rome, Italy. Evaluation Managers are appointed at the outset of each evaluation process. In addition, for each individual evaluation, research and data analysis is required to support TOR compilation, extract data from corporate databases for use by evaluation teams; to support the quality assurance process, as well as to set-up e-libraries, stakeholder meetings and participate in the preparation of stakeholder workshops and evaluation events.

Given the increase of OEV’s evaluation portfolio, WFP is currently looking for an additional Research Analyst to support the aforementioned research and data analysis.

The Analyst is expected to work with a high level of independence. He/she will be assigned to report formally directly to one of OEV’s evaluation officers, while he/she in addition will report functionally to various others, who manage the evaluations for which data management and analysis is undertaken.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Centralized evaluations: research and data analysis

The research analyst will conduct research and data analysis for the undertaking of various evaluations in tandem.

The portfolio of work will comprise:

1. Data management: This includes an assessment of relevant datasets to be used for the evaluation in question; proactive effective and efficient data collection (qualitative and quantitative) from relevant sources, including WFP corporate data systems, systematic management of data sources, assessment of reliability of data, analysis of data sets to ensure coherence of data, data analysis and visualization.
2. Knowledge management: this includes set up of evaluation library and populating it in a timely and accessible manner with all relevant documents for the evaluation team; maintenance of evaluation related documents in TWS and timely update of WFP Evaluation Management Information System.
3. Support to evaluation’s deliverables: This includes contribution to the Concept Note and/or TOR preparation, building of comments matrices, commenting on draft inception and evaluation reports, including the summary evaluation reports assessment of the quality and use of data coming from WFP corporate systems presented in draft reports, supporting as relevant the preparation of briefs, PPTs videos and/or seminars.

4. Support to management of evaluation process: This includes tracking of the evaluation process, identification of and liaison with HQ, RB, and CO stakeholders, administrative and logistics support (meetings invitation, evaluation briefings, support workshops arrangements, etc.).

5. Data analytics

OEV believes in the continuous improvement of it research and analytics systems to support the efficient and effective delivery of its evaluation plan. Analysts are expected to input based on their knowledge in terms of internal and external data sources and on their understanding of evaluation processes and content for the development of a toolkit to allow for high quality data analytics for evaluation. Analysts are requested to play their role in this continuous improvement process by building strong expertise in at least once specific topics (e.g. beneficiary data, resilience topics, etc.) and tools (e.g. Excel, Tableau etc.); keep up to date with any changes and innovations in their process, share the knowledge with the other members of OEV and work under the supervision of the Head of the Research and Analytics Unit (ARU) to reflect this knowledge in the internal OEV processes and tools.

3. Contribute to effective functioning of OEV

Contribution to OEV’s effective team and corporate performance, through:

1. Participation in planning and coordination meetings/retreats; and learning events;
2. Support provision to evaluation events;
3. Support for data processing, data quality assurance and data visualization for any possible need beyond the aforementioned support to assigned evaluations;

4. Support OEV for the undertaking of any other activity relevant for the development or continuation of the evaluation function.

5. AOB

Support OEV for the undertaking of any other activity relevant for the development or continuation of the evaluation function.

Most activities will be carried out in Rome. However, the analyst may be required to travel to other WFP sites on an ad-hoc basis to streamline data analytics as part of specific evaluation missions.

DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT:

For accountability 1 and 2:

• All tasks assigned, completed on time and to professional standards as per the detailed TOR for support to centralised evaluations.
• Contributions to the ARU provided in a timely and professional manner as requested by the head of the ARU over the contract duration.

For accountability 3: to be defined. Overall, the key results will contribute to the overall effectiveness and successful development of WFP’s evaluation function

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education::

• University degree in academic discipline(s) relevant to evaluation in WFP.

Experience:

• At least three years of relevant professional working experience preferably related to humanitarian or development work;
• At least one year of professional experience in evaluation, research, data analysis; and
• Experience using a variety of quantitative and qualitative analytical tools and methods.

Knowledge & Skills:

• Fully computer-literate with excellent skills in Word, Excel, Power Point and database management;
• Excellent qualitative and quantitative analytical skills, including statistical/econometric abilities;
• Eye for detail; accuracy;
• Excellent communication skills, written, verbal and visual;
• Knowledge of WFP is an advantage.

Functional competencies:

• Demonstrated ability to manage data, analyse, quality assure and communicate them;
• Ability to work with various evaluation managers at the same time and manage work planning and competing deadlines;
• Ability to engage professionally with evaluation stakeholders and evaluation teams;
• Demonstrated flexibility and ability to adapt to changing context;
• Ability to take initiative and be proactive in managing own work, as well as raise issues with functional and line managers when needed;
• Commitment to confidentiality and sound understanding of key ethical issues associated with evaluation.

Languages:

• Fluency in English and intermediate level of French and/or Spanish are required.

Terms and Conditions

WFP offers a competitive compensation package which will be determined by the contract type and selected candidate’s qualifications and experience.

Please visit the following websites for detailed information on working with WFP.

http://www.wfp.org Click on: “Our work” and “Countries” to learn more about WFP’s operations.

Deadline for applications: 5 November 2020

Ref.: VA No. 128262

Qualified female applicants and qualified applicants from developing countries are especially encouraged to apply

WFP has zero-tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.