Senior Evaluation Officer P5, Head of Impact Evaluation Unit - Rome, Italy

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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.

Are you a senior evaluation expert, with a high-level of expertise in conducting impact evaluations?

We are seeking to fill the position of Senior Evaluation Officer at the P5 level, based in the Office of Evaluation (OEV) at our Headquarters in Rome, Italy.

If you are interested in further developing your professional experience while contributing to ending global hunger, and you are passionate about helping others, please continue to read.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

Monday, 25 April 2022 (11.59 PM CET)

WHO WE ARE

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), a highly prestigious, reputable & world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

At WFP, people are at the heart of everything we do and the vision of the future WFP workforce is one of diverse, committed, skilled, and high performing teams, selected on merit, operating in a healthy and inclusive work environment, living WFP's values (Integrity, Collaboration, Commitment, Humanity, and Inclusion) and working with partners to save and change the lives of those WFP serves.

To learn more about WFP, visit our website: UN World Food Programme (WFP) and follow us on social media to keep up with our latest news: YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter.

WHY JOIN US?

• WFP is a 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
• WFP offers a highly inclusive, diverse, and multicultural working environment
• WFP invests in the personal & professional development of its employees through a range of training, accreditation, coaching, mentorship, and other programs as well as through internal mobility opportunities
• A career path in WFP provides an exciting opportunity to work across the various country, regional and global offices around the world, and with passionate colleagues who work tirelessly to ensure that effective humanitarian assistance reaches millions of people across the globe
• We offer an attractive compensation package (please refer to the Terms and Conditions section)

ABOUT THE OFFICE OF EVALUATION AT WFP

The Office of Evaluation (OEV) is an independent evaluation function within WFP. The Evaluation Policy, Charter, and Corporate Evaluation Strategy together constitute the governance framework for the WFP evaluation function within the wider oversight arrangements established by the Executive Board.

As per the updated WFP Evaluation Policy (2022-2030), impact evaluations are managed by OEV at the request of country offices. They measure changes in development outcomes of interest for a target population that can be attributed to a specific programme or policy through a credible counterfactual. They are usually undertaken during programme implementation over a multi-year period. Impact evaluations are not presented to the Executive Board. Impact evaluations are commissioned by OEV in line with corporate evidence priorities through impact evaluation “windows”. These windows are portfolios of impact evaluations in specific priority evidence areas, agreed with WFP management, that will be updated over time as the organization’s evidence priorities change.

The WFP Impact Evaluation Strategy (2019-2026) has four main objectives, to:

1) contribute to the evidence base for achieving global goals;

2) deliver operationally relevant and useful Impact Evaluations;

3) maximise Impact Evaluation responsiveness to rapidly evolving contexts;

4) harness the best tools and technologies for Impact Evaluation.

OEV is responsible for delivering and supporting the quality of all WFP impact evaluations as per its quality assurance and assessment procedures and building organisational capacity to deliver them.

THE ROLE

Your role will be to provide independent impact evaluation evidence, assessing the performance and results of policies, programmes and activities of WFP for accountability and learning to inform future direction. Reporting to the Director of Evaluation, you are expected to take the lead on impact evaluations in WFP, managing the Impact Evaluation Unit and overseeing planning and delivery of high-quality impact evaluations in WFP.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

• Lead the development and implementation of the impact evaluation workstream of the Office of Evaluation work-plan, providing functional supervision and/or line management to other staff working on that stream; provide coaching and guidance to staff to ensure appropriate development and enable high performance, and/or second level quality assurance on a particular type(s) of evaluation.
• Lead implementation of the impact evaluation strategy and follow-up on recommendations to related reviews.
• Drawing from good practice, oversee development and use of quality support tools for WFP impact evaluations, as well as post-hoc quality assurance processes, as part of a coherent Impact Evaluation Quality Assurance System (IEQAS) which meets high professional and academic standards in line with norms and standards and codes of conduct for evaluation in the UN system to ensure the production of independent, credible impact evidence and recommendations for future directions.
• Oversee and support WFP impact evaluation capacity development throughout the organization.
• Oversee and provide second-level quality assurance and guidance for impact evaluations managed by the impact evaluation unit.
• Manage high profile and/or highly complex impact evaluation processes and budgets directly, from preparation and design through to completion, meeting IEQAS requirements and ensuring the production of independent, credible evidence and recommendations for future directions.
• Engage stakeholder groups, both internal and external to WFP, appropriately in the evaluation process.
• Identify, build and manage partnerships with external organizations specializing in impact evaluation.
• Oversee OEV’s impact evaluation budgeting, financial reporting, and management information systems.
• Coordinate function-wide governance mechanisms for impact evaluation; oversee coordination and participate in window-level and individual impact evaluation-level governance mechanisms.
• Ensure engagement & coordination with other OEV units and the regional bureaux.
• Promote WFP’s evaluation culture of accountability and learning through analyzing evidence and lessons; preparing syntheses and summaries of evaluation findings and recommendations and presenting these, tailoring messages to specific audiences and platforms, and working with internal and external stakeholders to enhance learning from and use of evaluation evidence in policy, programme and project design.
• Contribute to strengthening use of evaluative evidence through preparation and dissemination of innovative evidence products.
• Lead specific evaluation expertise group(s) to enable sharing of experience and development of good practice.
• Represent the Office of Evaluation as required in inter-agency forums on monitoring and evaluation issues and in professional bodies and networks, developing strategic relationships, as appropriate, to enhance WFP performance and results.
• Effectively mainstream cross-cutting issues (equity, gender, inclusion of persons with disability, human rights, humanitarian principles, protection, accountability to affected population) into WFP evaluation processes and support the organization in mainstreaming these approaches in programme design and implementation to help ensure that the most vulnerable benefit from WFP services.
• Other as required.

QUALIFICATIONS AND KEY REQUIREMENTS

Education:

You have:

• An Advanced University degree in International Development, Economics, Social Science or other relevant fields including advanced data analysis course work, OR First University degree with additional years of related work experience and/or recognized training/courses on impact evaluation methods.

Experience:

You have:

• Strong team management skills and proven ability to produce results to deadlines.10 years or more (of which at least four international) of relevant professional experience both in the field and in Headquarters in international development or humanitarian work, evaluation and/or policy studies.
• At least 8 years of experience in conducting/managing impact evaluations in diverse humanitarian and/or development contexts, including joint evaluations.
• In-depth, up-to-date understanding and knowledge of global geopolitical issues relevant to WFP’s mandate and the implications for evaluation policy and practice to achieve Agenda 2030.
• In-depth, up-to-date understanding and knowledge of rigorous impact evaluation methods, both quantitative and qualitative, experimental and non-experimental
• Broad knowledge of other types of evaluation (process evaluations, strategic evaluations, formative evaluations, developmental evaluations etc.) and diverse evaluation methods, practices, concepts, and principles.
• In-depth, up-to-date understanding and knowledge of advancing international professional evaluation standards to define and adapt evaluation functions that support and aligns with WFP’s strategic goals.

Language:

You have:

• Fluency (level C) in the English language.
• Intermediate knowledge (level B) of a second official UN language: Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish, and/or Portuguese (A WFP’s working language)

MORE ABOUT YOU

• You have first-hand experience in conducting impact evaluations (under time and financial constraints), in diverse contexts, assessing policies and programs including subject areas relevant to WFP (desirable).
• You have first-hand experience in impact evaluation quality assurance and assessment mechanisms.
• You have excellent knowledge of international norms and standards for evaluation, ability to communicate the essentials of the norms and standards to others apply them consistently in all settings.
• You are greatly familiar with policy and practice debates on impact evaluation.
• You have a strong understanding of competencies, skills and methodologies required to conduct robust and credible impact evaluation
• You can communicate knowledge and skills effectively and conduct remote coaching

ADDITIONAL / NICE-TO-HAVE REQUIREMENTS

• Membership in a professional evaluation association and/or professional certificate in evaluation is highly desired.
• Solid experience in supervising professional staff.
• Familiarity with WFP and the UN system will be regarded as an asset

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Mobility is and continues to be a core contractual requirement in WFP. This position is however classified as “non-rotational” which means the incumbent shall not be subject to the regular reassignment process unless the position is reclassified as rotational. The selected candidate will be employed on a fixed-term contract with a probationary period of one year. This position is open to both internal and external candidates.

WFP offers an attractive compensation and benefits package, including basic salary, post adjustment, relocation entitlement, travel, visa and shipment allowances, 30 days’ annual leave, home leave, an education grant for dependent children, a pension plan, and medical insurance. For more information, visit https://icsc.un.org/.

The selected candidate will be required to relocate to Rome, Italy to take up this assignment.

REMINDERS BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION

• We strongly recommend that your profile is accurate, complete, and includes your employment records, academic qualifications, language skills and UN Grade (if applicable).
• Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application.
• Please make sure you upload your professional CV in the English language
• Kindly note the only documents you will need to submit at this time are your CV and Cover Letter
• Additional documents such as passport, recommendation letters, academic certificates, etc. may potentially be requested at a future time
• Please contact us at [email protected] in case you face any challenges with submitting your application
• Only shortlisted candidates will be notified

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All employment decisions are made on the basis of organizational needs, job requirements, merit, and individual qualifications. WFP is committed to providing an inclusive work environment free of sexual exploitation and abuse, all forms of discrimination, any kind of harassment, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. Therefore, all selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

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.