Senior Evaluation Officer – Operations, P4, Dakar

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships

The Senior Evaluation Officer job may exist in Headquarters or in a Regional Bureau, Multi-Country or Country Office. In HQ, the job is in the Evaluation Service (ES) in UNHCR Headquarters Geneva. Working under the supervision of the Head of Service, the post focuses on operational aspects of evaluation work. This requires contributing to the technical support for both centralized and decentralized evaluation, and to the design, commissioning, management and follow up of a range of different types of evaluative work undertaken by the Service. It includes UNHCR’s contributions to inter-agency evaluation initiatives and thereby requires interaction with key external actors in the UN agency, donor, NGO and wider evaluation communities. In a Regional Bureau working under the overall leadership of the Senior Evaluation Coordinator, the position will complement existing HQ evaluation capacity to lead on planning and delivery of decentralised evaluations with UNHCR regional bureau and country operation colleagues (including the development of evaluation Terms of Reference, procurement and contract management of evaluation services, and providing quality assurance of evaluation deliverables). The incumbent directly participates in decentralised evaluation processes at a Regional Bureau and country operation level as relevant and required. S/he supports the design and delivery of UNHCR evaluation-related capacity building efforts in UNHCR Regional Bureaux and Country Offices. S/he also supports the Regional Bureau, Multi-Country Office and Country Office to identify key evidence gaps and priorities and develop appropriate evaluative strategies and plans to address these.

All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR’s core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.

Duties

– Provide guidance and training in evaluation work to UNHCR staff at headquarters, bureaus and in the field. – Develop networks and associations with other evaluation communities to enhance internal knowledge management and expertise. – Inter-act with appropriate UNHCR entities with respect to the design, commissioning and management of the evaluation cycle and Work Programme. – Provide appropriate instructions and guidance to contractors, consultants, and experts commissioned to undertake ES evaluation work. – Under the guidance of the Head of Evaluation Service, attend and represent UNHCR at external meetings on evaluation. – Perform other related duties as required.

In Headquarters – Oversee the successful completion of evaluations and reviews. – Enhance technical support and guidance to UNHCR staff at Headquarters and the field involved with evaluative work. – Enhance the technical quality of UNHCR¿s evaluation methodologies, tools, and procedures. – Contribute to the improvement of more evidence-based evaluation work. – Act as task manager for designated evaluations and reviews commissioned by the Evaluation Service. – Contribute to the development of follow up mechanisms for evaluation recommendations. – Contribute to evaluation reports, publications and other written material produced by the Evaluation Service. – Respond to requests for details of the Service evaluation work programme and activities. – Participate in conferences, workshops, and seminars relevant to UNHCR¿s evaluation work.

In a Regional Bureau, Multi-Country Office or Country Office – Support the HQ Evaluation Service in establishing strengthened evaluation policies and procedures, including the refinement of existing evaluation approaches and development of new innovative and forward-looking evaluation approaches and methodologies. – Enhance the technical aspects (both quantitative and qualitative) of decentralised evaluations commissioned by UNHCR are improved through expert advice and guidance. – Ensure that institutional knowledge, understanding and ‘culture’ of evaluation is strengthened. – Manage or co-manage decentralised evaluations in the Regional Bureau, Multi-Country or Country Office, and provide quality assurance to evaluation methodologies and deliverables. – Lead and participate in the selection and procurement of quality evaluation services (evaluation firms and individual consultants) and participate in the selection of qualified internal (UNHCR staff) evaluation team members when appropriate. – Deploy on scoping missions to build stakeholder support, develop and draft evaluation Terms of Reference, including defining key evaluation questions, as required. Oversee the successful completion of evaluations and reviews. – Work with Evaluation Service colleagues to design and develop evaluation-related training modules and materials, and deploy to facilitate evaluation-related awareness raising, training and/or capacity building sessions as required.

Minimum Qualifications

Education & Professional Work Experience Years of Experience / Degree Level For P4 – 9 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 8 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 7 years relevant experience with Doctorate degree

Field(s) of Education Social Sciences; Economics; Law; International Development or another relevant field. (Field(s) of Education marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Certificates and/or Licenses Research & Evaluation Methods; (Certificates and Licenses marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Relevant Job Experience

Essential Proven track record as an evaluator of humanitarian or development operations, programmes and projects. Experience with a range of evaluation purposes, objectives and methodologies. Demonstrable expertise of evaluation norms and standards. At least 5 years applied research or M&E related experience. Good knowledge of qualitative and quantitative research and evaluation methods/approaches, statistics, data collection tools and analytical approaches. Experience of leading and managing evaluation processes, including ideally managing multi-disciplinary teams with variable evaluation experience. Experience of working with and influencing senior decision makers, including in delivering challenging, or potentially contested, key messages. Experience in developing and/or delivering M&E or evaluation-related capacity building content. Experience of building effective working relationships with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures.

Desirable Formal qualification or certification in evaluation work. Substantial experience in a humanitarian or development context. Knowledge of UNHCR programmes and other humanitarian operations in a variety of geographical locations. Ability to write publications with minimal editorial supervision. Relevant work experience in field contexts, ideally including in refugee response contexts.