JOB DESCRIPTION

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.

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. 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. UNICEF and cooperating partners and stakeholders work to secure the rights of each child and the surrounding families, communities, and nations.

Working through the country program of cooperation, and likewise through the United Nations Sustainable Development Partnership Framework (UNDP), UNICEF assists countries to realize the rights of all children. This involves strategies and programs ranging from innovative and experimental to those at scale. The effectiveness and impact of the strategies and programs must be determined. Evaluation is a critical function for understanding if development objectives have been met in a way that contributes to the progressive realization of children’s rights. To this end, evaluations assist program managers to make necessary adjustments or confirming that the program can continue to advance to scale. Evaluations have an accountability objective, to assure partners that resources guided through UNICEF are used effectively and efficiently and that there is a willingness to change when results can be improved. Furthermore, evaluation, together with other sources of evidence contributes to country, organizational and global learning. The evaluation also supports civic empowerment and behavioral change goals when it is implemented in a participatory way that allows stakeholders and rights holders to acquire the skills to assess development initiatives and to hold duty bearers to account.

How can you make a difference?

The MC Evaluation Specialist works with the evaluation specialists / focal points in their duties in the assigned countries. He/she also ensures credibility, impartiality, and independence of the evaluation function in the COs under her/his responsibility. He/she also facilitates the development and implementation of evaluation work plans in each Country Office and provides guidance and technical support to sectors and to the Country Management Team as well as the national government on evaluation and on related matters.

The MC Evaluation Specialist helps the Country Offices to manage its evaluation partnerships, including inter-agency relations within the UN, and collaboration with the Regional Office and Headquarters.

The Specialist will cover specific tasks in the region as a resource person, including methodological work, resource mobilization, managing specific evaluations in other countries, and procurement support for evaluations (20 percent of the time).

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

Evaluation Leadership

• Support the Country Offices under his/her responsibility and their national partners to develop and implement a plan of evaluation activities that will provide relevant and strategic information to manage Country Programmes and relevant national policies and programs toward achieving results for children in both humanitarian and non-humanitarian environments.

Evaluation Conduct and Use

• Ensure that UNICEF-supported evaluations are designed and implemented to establish UN quality standards, and the results are disseminated in a timely fashion and used by stakeholders in order to improve program performance and contribute to wider learning.
• Evaluation Capacity Strengthening and Partnership Building
• Ensure that evaluation capacities of Country Office staff and national partners – including government and civil society – are strengthened, enabling them to increasingly engage in and lead evidence generating processes. Ensure that the Country Office is effectively linked to wider UNICEF capacity-building developments in a way that both contributes to and benefits from organizational learning.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have

Education:

• An Advanced University Degree in the social sciences, economics, public policy, statistics, or in research methods is required. A degree or certification/accreditation in Evaluation is a significant advantage.

Experience:

• A minimum of 8 years of professional experience in the implementation of equity-focused evaluations and the management of the evaluation function at the national and international levels. Experience of evaluation in humanitarian settings is required.
• Experience in supporting national evaluation capacity and working with professional evaluation associations.
• Experience in evaluation design and in conducting evaluations as per UNICEF and UNEG norms and standards for Evaluation in the UN System;
• Familiarity with methods used in conducting both ‘upstream evaluations (e.g. focusing on policies, strategies, and systems), as well as ‘downstream evaluations (e.g. focusing on the delivery of programs and projects) is an asset.
• Experience in related evidence functions is an asset, including Social Policy, Public Policy, Quantitative and Qualitative Data Analysis, Research, Programme Audit, and Programme Planning and Monitoring. Experience in these areas cannot be substituted for the Evaluation experience but is an advantage.
• Experience in the region where the post is situated is advantageous

Language:

• Fluency in English and French is required. Knowledge of Arabic is an asset.

Source:https://jobs.unicef.org/cw/en-us/job/546614