EVALUATION MANAGER – International Consultant (Goma) (177969)

ABOUT THE WFP

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. We are currently seeking two Evaluation Managers in the Democratic Republic of Congo; one for our Goma office and one for our Kalemie office.

Qualified women and people living with a disability are strongly encouraged to apply.

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, disability.

CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND :

DRC ranks 175th out of 189 on the Human Development Index in 2020. According to the 20th Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) projections, approximately 26 million people are experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above), and are in urgent need of food assistance, including 5.4 million people in Emergency (IPC Phase 4). In addition, DRC continues to experience prolonged conflict – particularly in the east of the country – contributing to large-scale population displacements, disrupted agricultural activities and impeding access to markets, schools and healthcare. Activities of armed groups and inter-communal violence have hindered the country’s development by devastating the socio-economic fabric in these provinces, leading to the impoverishment and chronic vulnerability of its people.

To support smallholder farmers and vulnerable populations in the DRC, WFP, FAO, and UNICEF are jointly implementing a large resilience project in North and South Kivu, funded by KFW/BMZ. The project aims to strengthen the socio-economic resilience of 60,000 smallholder farmers (28,000 in North Kivu and 32,000 in South Kivu) and supports vulnerable populations in the targeted communities in the areas of food security, livelihoods, and access to basic social services. This is expected to contribute to the overall objective of peace and stabilization in the two provinces. The project’s approach to resilience is based on the triple nexus approach (humanitarian – development – peace), promoting links between humanitarian action, recovery, and development, laying the foundation for sustainable development.

WFP will contract an evaluation firm to lead the evaluation of this joint resilience programme; the evaluation’s methodological and technical management and oversight will be the joint effort of the three agencies through a technical taskforce that has been appointed for this purpose. The Evaluation Manager will sit in the WFP Goma office and lead all coordination efforts between the three agencies, the regional offices, and the evaluation firm.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Under the direct supervision of the Head of VAM/M&E in Goma, with technical guidance and oversight from M&E colleagues from FAO and UNICEF, and additional oversight/guidance from programme colleagues (including the resilience Officers for WFP, FAO and UNICEF in Goma). The Evaluation Manager will have the following responsibilities:

Support the process of identifying the evaluation firm together with the Evaluation Steering Committee (EC), comprised of key staff from the three UN agencies.

Lead the process of establishing the Evaluation Reference Group (ERG), including development of the ERG Terms of Reference; manage all consultation with the ERG members according to the agreed milestone.

Support the process of ERG and EC review of all key evaluation deliverables, including the inception report and final report.

Lead the coordination of data collection and analysis, together with the evaluation firm.

Ensure adherence to schedule, key milestones and budget throughout the evaluation process.

Provide daily coordination between the evaluation team and the three UN agencies, ensuring that concerns are effectively communicated between parties, flagging emerging issues that may be of potential concern, and ensuring that effective and productive collaboration is maintained.

Cooperate effectively with all co-workers, as well as national, provincial, and local government officials, and any other stakeholders or external collaborators.

Keep the evaluation team and relevant members of the project implementation team routinely updated on activities, concerns, and decisions that need to be made.

ESSENTIAL QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE:

Education :

Master’s degree in economics, political science, sociology, public policy, or related fields, including training in econometrics and statistics.

Experience :

At least six years prior experience in humanitarian or development work, with a focus on research or evaluations.

Knowledge & Skills :

Work experience managing evaluations of humanitarian assistance or resilience programmes in low- or middle-income countries; experience with joint evaluations is a plus.

Work experience managing resilience or development interventions in low- or middle-income countries.

Ability to work independently and as part of a team.

Well organized, detail-oriented, and able to prioritize and manage multiple tasks simultaneously with minimal supervision.

Experience in providing research assistance and record of strong performance.

In-depth experience in project/programme impact evaluation preferred

Demonstrated ability to coordinate multiple teams of people, organizations and activities concurrently.

Experience in the analysis of quantitative survey data.

Experience using statistical software such as SPSS, Stata or R preferred

Willingness to undertake regular and extended field visits and interact with different stakeholders.

Languages :

Strong oral and written communication skills in English and French required; Swahili proficiency preferred.