Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist

The incumbent will serve as a technical lead for the UNICEF Afghanistan Project Management Unit (PMU) and will the ensure that the UNICEF PMU has useful, valid, and reliable information on Humanitarian cash-based interventions and to support in developing monitoring capacity of Implementing partners and third-party service providers.

Under the guidance of the PMU implementing Partnership HACT Manager, the incumbent will ensure the development of project monitoring and evaluation systems for conditional and non-conditional cash-based interventions.

The incumbents will monitor the progress and quality of the implementation process and regularly report the findings, contributing towards an effective implementation process for quality project design. To achieve this, he/she will be required to be familiar with project operational manuals and technical annexes, Standard Operational Procedures; Specifically, the protocols and procedures and the deliverables of each service provider in line with the agreed terms of implementation. Ensure compliance and irregularities monitoring as part of the broader programme risk and quality assurance systems.

Under guidance from the implementing Partnership HACT Manager, ensure that UNICEF PMU and relevant Cash Transfer Project Partners have a well-prioritized monitoring system that will provide the most relevant and timely information to monitor the PMU Cash-based interventions.

• Provide technical assistance for developing project performance indicators and design of monitoring systems including data collection tools for UNICEF’s Cash Transfer project funded by World Bank among other donors.
• Undertake process monitoring to assess whether the processes of project delivery including communication and field facilitation, Payment delivery and Grievance and Redressal Mechanisms are operating according to the Operations Manual/ToR and in line with the plan of action. Bring to attention any major issues identified during field monitoring including fraud, mishandling and misappropriation.
• Conduct analysis of reported challenges, identify trends on issues arising and problematic areas and report back to the PMU. Provide a periodic update on the progress (qualitative and quantitative) of the project, highlighting the situation, issues, and challenges. Share collected information on activities with the PMU Programme Specialists – Cash Transfers on a continual basis and update the Issues log with follow-up information.
• Project and contract management of Third-Party Monitoring function of the project.
• Provide technical support and inputs on the ToRs of the Third-Party Monitoring, assessment of technical proposal based on agreed criteria, and selection of the third party for monitoring.
• Coordinate/ liaise with Third Party as required and provide technical inputs for the development of monitoring plans and ensure that performance monitoring, spot checks are being undertaken as per the plan.
• Work closely with TPMO to prepare routine reports on results of the project’s progress and for development of protocols for data confidentiality, exchange, security, and archiving.
• Organize capacity development of project partners particularly third-party monitoring as needed to ensure that they have the basic knowledge and skills in understanding and applying M&E policies, tools, and methods to fulfil their responsibilities.
• Seek inputs from the project beneficiaries to identify any issues problems with the Payment, Grievance, Facilitation, Third Party Monitoring.
• Conduct post distribution activities and monitoring to understand utilization and outputs of the cash-based interventions implemented by the PMU.
• Work with TPMO on protocols for data confidentiality and exchange, security, and archiving.
• Disseminate findings of field monitoring and recommendations to the intended audiences in a user-friendly manner.
• As required, conduct field monitoring and analysis of selected cases by the PMU for unusual or atypical results and provide feedback to the PMU.
• Ensure project planning and monitoring of training activities provided by PMU Management and to service provider organization and monitor subsequent training sessions of Service Provider Organizations’ field staff.
• Organize stock-taking and review exercise to document lessons, identify gaps and provide recommendation to improve project design.
• Responsible for ensuring the latest programme monitoring and evaluation theory, methodology, technology, and tools are applied for the cash-based intervention implemented by PMU.
• Spearhead and develop research and impact assessments. Also collaborate with Regional M&E Advisers and UNICEF relevant Office for overall coordination of priority research, monitoring and evaluation activities, especially those of regional scope requiring the coordinated effort of multiple countries.
• As requested by the PMU, support in conducting ad hoc and rapid situation analysis in selected locations covered by the PMU cash-based interventions project, addressing issues related to, i.e., socio-economic conditions, security, infrastructure, access, and the presence of internally displaced persons.
• Additional tasks as requested by the supervisor

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

• Advanced university degree in social sciences, statistics, development management and planning or any other relevant field.
• Professional work experience in programme development and implementation including monitoring and evaluation activities:
• Five years of relevant professional work experience in information management and monitoring is required.
• Experience in establishing and supervising large Third-Party Monitors (TPM) contracts is preferred
• Exposure to emergency programming, including preparedness planning and monitoring and active involvement in a humanitarian crisis response programme is preferred.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

Source: https://jobs.unicef.org/cw/en-us/job/572545