Evaluation Officer

The Evaluation Officer reports to the Evaluation Specialist for supervision. The Officer provides professional technical, operational and administrative assistance throughout the evaluation process, in preparing, executing, managing and implementing a variety of tasks that contribute to evaluation planning, implementation, and reporting to ensure that evaluations are carried out according to schedule, and that results and recommendations are implemented, used and followed up in the 14 Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs). 

Under the guidance of the Evaluation Specialist the Officer will strengthen evaluation partnerships, toward national and Pacific wide evaluation capacity building and innovation in localized evaluation approaches.  This in turn will help strengthen the UNICEF Pacific evaluation processes, systems and tools, and provide technical analytical and methodological support across the multi-country office and field offices.  

Summary of key functions accountabilities:  

Under the guidance of the Multi-Country Evaluation Specialist: 

• Undertake evaluability assessments of themes in the costed evaluation plan and other cross-sectoral assistance as required, and assist in the actioning of recommendations to improve the evaluability of themes.
• Draft and/or develop terms of reference for external consultants and initiate the recruitment process to ensure the timely selection and recruitment of evaluators. Support the management of various processes of assessing and/or selecting consultant and evaluation teams to facilitate the recruitment/selection process.
• Organize materials, briefings and all required administrative arrangements to ensure external consultants are provided appropriate and comprehensive information to start and continue effectively and efficiently the conduct of evaluations.
• Participate in evaluations as an embedded member of the evaluation team with the consent of the regional evaluation adviser and following due consideration of risks and benefits.
• Organize validation workshops to discuss evaluation findings with the evaluation team, and facilitate the wide involvement of stakeholders including community members where feasible.
• Monitor and quality check the evaluation products according to the terms of reference, UNICEF guidelines and quality standards (e.g. GEROS).
• Facilitate the dissemination, use, and learning from evaluation evidence by preparing presentations, organizing consultations, and preparing evaluation communication products for diverse audiences on relevant platforms.
• Update the UNICEF tracking platform for evaluative evidence (EISI) and the regional office evaluation tracker throughout the project cycle of the evaluation.
• Carry out any other evaluation project cycle tasks as necessary.

Evaluation practice, systems and tools: 

• Assist with introduction, development and use of culturally responsive, participatory, localized evaluation design and associated theory of change design, data collection methods and analytical frameworks.
• Assist in the identification of data gaps and opportunities to establish ongoing systems for data collection to improve evaluation against targets.
• Review and propose refinements to the multi-country office standard operating procedures for evaluation.
• Support review of tools and guidance from the Monitoring, Research, Evaluation, Studies Committee (MRESC).
• Partnerships and capacity building in evaluation
• Build and strengthen partnerships with national governments, local universities, research institutes, private sector, and NGOs for relevant, efficient, and innovative models of evaluation.
• Facilitate evaluation capacity strengthening of national partners through their involvement in evaluation processes and possibly through specific capacity building initiatives.
• Research and report on innovative approaches for developing planning of knowledge products and evaluation systems.
• Participate as a resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of partners, stakeholders, and UNICEF Pacific multi-country office and field offices.

Evaluative analytical and methodological support:  

• Provide technical analytical and methodological advisory support to the sectoral and cross-sectoral programmes and field offices for assessing output and outcome level results.
• Identify, capture, synthesize and share lessons learned from evaluations for integration into annual reports, donor reports, mid-year reviews, annual work plans, moments of reflection and other key programme milestones.

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

Minimum requirements:

Education: 

• A university degree in social science, economics, public policy or statistics with some training in research methods is required, preferably supplemented by an advanced degree in the social sciences, economics, public policy, or statistics.

Work experience: 

• A minimum of one year of professional experience in implementing evaluation or research of social or development programmes is required.
• Experience in supporting national capacity in evaluation or research and working with academia and research institutes is required.
• Experience in evaluation or research design, qualitative and quantitative data collection, data cleaning and validation, data analysis and interpretation is required. Familiarity with UNICEF and UNEG norms and standards for evaluation in the UN System would be desirable.
• Familiarity with related evidence functions is an asset, including Social Policy, Public Policy, Programme Audit, and Programme Monitoring.
• Experience in both development and humanitarian contexts is an added advantage.

Languages: 

• Fluency in English is required.  Knowledge of the local language is an asset.

Source: https://jobs.unicef.org/cw/en-us/job/579707