Monitoring and Evaluation Officer

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• FAO is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality, background and culture
• Qualified female applicants, qualified nationals of non-and under-represented Members and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply
• Everyone who works for FAO is required to adhere to the highest standards of integrity and professional conduct, and to uphold FAO’s values
• FAO, as a Specialized Agency of the United Nations, has a zero-tolerance policy for conduct that is incompatible with its status, objectives and mandate, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination　　
• All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks
• All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality
• FAO staff are subject to the authority of the Director-General, who may assign them to any of the activities or offices of the Organization.

FAO’s commitment to environmental sustainability is integral to our strategic objectives and operations.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) contributes to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda through the FAO Strategic Framework by supporting the transformation to MORE efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems, for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind.

Organizational Setting

FAO’s commitment to environmental sustainability is integral to our strategic objectives and operations. FAO is a specialized agency of the UN that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. FAO’s goal is to achieve food security for all and ensure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. With 195 Members (194 countries and the European Union), FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide.

FAO Country Offices, working under overall corporate guidance and in line with the Strategic Framework, offer policy advice and support to countries in the mandated areas of FAO, facilitated through partnerships, resources and an active country programme to provide technical assistance, develop capacities and deliver core services while fully observing international standards of accountability to establish leadership and strengthen impact at the country level.

The Offices deliver on the programmatic priorities of each country as agreed in their respective Country Programming Frameworks (CPFs) aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) and ensure effective and efficient operations with adequate human and financial resources. Specifically, FAO Country Offices:
1. advocate, inform and support policies and investments in the areas of FAO’s mandate;
2. provide technical assistance and deliver core services;
3. assist and catalyse partnership and resource mobilization activities to support agrifood systems transformation;
4. position FAO as the specialized/authoritative technical agency in food and agriculture and agrifood systems transformation; and
5. ensure risk-smart and accountable operations and management.

FAO Pakistan Country Programming Framework (CPF), which covers the period 2023-2027, draws on the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2023-2027 in Pakistan, which guides FAO’s partnership with the Government of Pakistan, leveraging innovative international good practices, innovation and expertise. The CPF embedded with the FAO Strategic Framework 2022-2031 that seeks to support the 2030 Agenda through the transformation to more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable, agrifood systems for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind.

The position is located in the FAO Representation in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Reporting Lines
The Monitoring and Evaluation Officer reports to the FAO Representative in Pakistan and works in close collaboration with the Deputy FAOR, Assistant FAO Representative (Programme).

Technical Focus
Development and implementation of comprehensive and realistic monitoring and evaluation plans and strategies.

Key Results
Development and implementation of coherent, integrated and effective monitoring and evaluation.

Key Functions
• Leads the development and implementation of comprehensive and realistic monitoring and evaluation plans and strategies with appropriate data sources, collection methods, analysis plans, quality controls and resource requirements.
• Assesses methodologies and instruments for collection, documentation, analysis and reporting of data for weaknesses and potential improvements.
• Monitors and analyses programme/project development and implementation; identifies problems and issues to be addressed and proposes corrective actions.
• Provides support and advice to ensure that monitoring systems are in place and that key annual programme indicators are tracked and analysed.
• Leads data collection and analysis from field visits, standardizing them across programmes, to feed into programme performance monitoring.
• Coordinates policy development, including the review and analysis of issues and trends, preparation of evaluations or other research activities and studies.
• Leads programme development and project formulation processes in accordance with relevant procedures and in conformity with FAO priorities and Strategic Framework.
• Leads mobilization of resources required for technical assistance projects.
• Ensures the provision of scheduled inputs and technical backstopping, conducts consistent quality control and monitors timely execution, in line with project work plans.
• Prepares and finalizes delivery estimates, pipeline reviews and project related reports (progress and terminal reports).
• Provides substantive backstopping to consultative and other meetings, conferences, including proposing agenda topics, identifying participants, preparation of documents and presentations, etc.
• Leads and/or participates in large, complex field missions, including provision of guidance to external consultants, government officials and other parties, and drafting mission summaries.
• Coordinates activities related to budget funding (programme/project preparation and submissions, progress reports, financial statements, etc.) and prepares related documents/reports (pledging, work programme, programme budget, etc.).

Specific Functions
• Leads the development and implementation of a programmatic MEAL (Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning) framework/strategy to generate consistent quantitative and qualitative information on FAO’s Pakistan country programme.
• Ensures harmonization across various monitoring and evaluation approaches including third party monitoring, field and remote monitoring.
• Provides timely and relevant information to the FAO Pakistan management on the reach, outcomes and longer-term impacts of FAO’s programme activities including high-level analytics and visualizations (dashboards and other forms) as well as high-level impact analyses on key outcomes pertaining to food security, livelihoods, resilience and agriculture impacts.
• Plans and organizes validation and learning workshops for key monitoring and evaluation studies with all stakeholders for adaptive management and continuous improvement.
• Establishes a sound link between data generated at project/programme level and organizational learning priorities for both internal and external audiences.
• Coordinates with Information Management Team on the design and implementation of automated dashboards that visualize key findings of MEAL data in a customized way that meets the various needs of relevant stakeholders.
• Ensures ongoing learning and capacity development of the Country Office MEAL and programme teams on project cycle management.
• Collaborates with programme teams to develop and implement comprehensive monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment plans and budgets for projects that define methods, tools and indicators for various evaluation and impact assessment studies.
• Contributes to corporate reporting, including FAO Country Annual Report, UNInfo for the UN System in Pakistan, as well as to responding to the requests from the Regional Office and the headquarters for various data.
• Leads FAO’s contributions to interagency initiatives on monitoring and knowledge generation at country level.
• Acts as evaluation focal point and point of contact with the Office of Evaluation (OED).
• Performs any other duties requested by the FAO Representative.

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CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements
• Advanced university degree in agricultural economics, economics, social sciences or related field.
• Seven years of relevant experience in agricultural development and/or project planning/formulation/ implementation, including monitoring and evaluation
• Working knowledge (proficiency – level C) of English and intermediate knowledge (intermediate proficiency – level B) of another FAO official language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish).

Competencies
• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills
• Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in field positions, is desirable.
• Extent and relevance of experience in monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning in humanitarian, development and peace programmes/settings.
• Demonstrated knowledge of methodologies and technologies (STATA, SPSS, R) relevant to MEAL practice required.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively communicate Monitoring and Evaluation (M-E) findings into programming decision-making products.
• Demonstrated experience in managing MEAL teams and processes.
• Understanding of FAO policies and programmes is considered a strong asset.