Monitoring & Evaluation

Purpose of the job:

• Lead and coordinate the Sudan CO Information Management Hub covering programme sections, crosscutting areas and operations, as well as coordination with UNICEF Led Cluster IM and AoR IM. Supervise 3 IM Officers, Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, Information Management Specialist (GIS) and Data Systems Officer (P2). Secondary reporting line for UNICEF Cluster IM Officers (Nutrition, WASH, Education, Child Protection AoR).
• Ensure the alignment and consistency of key performance indicators across all planning and programme documents, including Interagency plans and donor proposals.
• Strengthen, adapt, and maintain monitoring systems for high-frequency partner reporting against a prioritized set of key performance indicators, in accordance with the Humanitarian Action for Children (HAC) appeal and the Interagency Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP). The system should meet the needs of both the Country Office and Field Offices.
• Lead harmonization of UNICEF High Frequency Partner Reporting system with UNICEF-lead Cluster IM systems in close coordination with Cluster Leads and Cluster IMs, ensuring coherence and coordination and reducing any duplication of efforts.
• Establish and maintain a systematic approach to field monitoring across UNICEF-supported programming to ensure adequate data on the quality of programmes (use of supplies, implementation bottlenecks, equity of access, do no harm, engagement with local capacities).
• Review and maintain the program monitoring strategy and plan to ensure consistent relevance to the evolving context. Supervise CO Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist.
• Support the Programmes to ensure the prompt use of digital monitoring systems, including eTools Field Monitoring Module (FMM), and other mobile data collection tools such as Inform/Kobo, etc.
• Conduct monitoring training and relevant capacity-building activities for UNICEF staff and implementing partners.
• Support the development of periodic reports and information products, including situation reports (SitRep), and CO annual reports.
• Support and participate in need assessments and other data collection initiatives as required.
• Ensure collaboration with other agencies, organizations, and clusters to advocate for relevant disaggregated data collection and analysis plans at the interagency level.

How can you make a difference? 

Key functions, accountabilities and related duties/tasks

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

• Setting standards for, and lead country office data and monitoring function
• Situation Monitoring and Assessment
• Programme Performance Monitoring
• M&E Capacity Building
• Data and Information Management Function Leadership
• Networking and partnership building
• Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

Setting standards for, and lead country office data and monitoring function

• In close collaboration with Evaluation Manager, ensure that the Country Office and national partners use a well-prioritised and realistic plan of research, monitoring and evaluation activities that will provide the most relevant and strategic information to manage the Country Programme, including tracking and assessing UNICEF’s distinct contribution.

Duties & Tasks

• Make professional contributions to and provide technical assistance for the planning and establishing the major research, monitoring and evaluation objectives, priorities, and activities in UNICEF’s multi-year and annual IMEPs, in consultation with child-rights and implementing partners.
• Likewise, support the development of UNSDCF M&E Plans from a sound results-based programming process.
• Identify the M&E objectives, priorities, and activities required for effective CO and partner Emergency Preparedness and Response Plans,
• In humanitarian response situations, within the first month, draft and recommend a simple one-month data-collection plan to cover key data gaps as required for the initial emergency response.
• After the initial humanitarian response, support management of the medium-term response with a revised IMEP

Situation Monitoring and Assessment 

• Ensure that the Country Office and national partners have timely and accurate measurement of change in conditions in the country or region, including monitoring of socio-economic trends and the country’s wider policy, economic or institutional context, to facilitate planning and to draw conclusions about the impact of programmes or policies.

Duties & Tasks

• In coordination with other stakeholders, support the collection of SDG and other key social development indicators (through MICS or other surveys) to improve national planning.
• Support partners in the establishment and management of national statistical databases ensuring that key indicators are readily accessible by key stakeholders. Potential uses include the Situation Analysis, Common Country Assessment, Early Warning Monitoring Systems, and Mid-Term Reviews.
• Develop a Situation Monitoring and Assessment system owned by all key partners which supports the preparation of country level statistical and analytic reports on the status of children’s and women’s rights issues; and which allow,  when opportunities emerge, to influence developmental and social policies.  To include technical support to global reporting obligations including national reports on progress toward the SDGs, and toward CRC and CEDAW fulfilment.
• In humanitarian response situations, provide professional support for one or more rapid assessments (inter-agency or independently if necessary) to be carried out within the first 48-72 hours, working in close collaboration with the humanitarian clusters partners.

Programme Performance Monitoring 

• Ensure that the Country Office has quality information to assess progress towards expected results established in annual work plans.

Duties & Tasks

• Provide technical support to ensure that a set of programme performance indicators is identified and adjusted as necessary, with inputs of all concerned partners to assess progress towards expected annual and multi-year results in the context of the multi-year and annual IMEPs, the Annual Management Plan and Annual Work Plans, as outlined in the Programme Policy and Procedures Manual).
• Coordinate with partners to ensure that monitoring systems are properly designed, and that data collection and analysis from field visits are coordinated and standardised across programmes to feed into to programme performance monitoring, with special attention to humanitarian response.
• Drawing on monitoring and analysis of key program performance and management indicators, provide professional input to management reports, including relevant sections of the annual reports.

M&E Capacity Building

• Ensure that the monitoring and evaluation capacities of Country Office staff and national partners – government and civil society – are strengthened enabling them to increasingly engage in and lead monitoring and evaluation processes.

Duties & Tasks

• Promote the awareness and understanding of the shared responsibility of M& E function among all staff members through communication, training, learning and development activities organization-wide.
• In close collaboration with partners, ensure that an M&E capacity building strategy for UNICEF/UN staff national partners and institutions exists in the context of the IMEP, or UNDAF M&E plan.  Pay particular attention so the capacity needs of national partners such as professional evaluation associations will be strengthened by involvement in evaluation processes and possibly through specific capacity building initiatives.
• Collaborate to implement capacity building strategies as a joint commitment with other developmental partners. Utilize a range of appropriate skills building strategies including self-learning, seminars and workshops and practical experience in order that UNICEF and UN staff have the basic knowledge and skills in understanding and applying new M&E policies, tools, methods to fulfil their responsibilities. Similarly, design and implement strategies suited to the skills needs of national partners.
• Actively seek partnerships with knowledge institutions for the identification of capacity gaps and development of strategies to address them.

Data and Information Management function leadership

• Ensure that the IM processes effectively enable a well-coordinated, strategic, coherent, and effective programming across humanitarian-development-peace nexus by UNICEF and partners.
• Create and oversee the implementation of an IM strategy, a data collection and an analysis plan that consider the information needs of stakeholders and are compliant with standards and protocols for ethical data and information management,
• Plan, support and oversee the regular implementation of secondary data reviews and primary data collection including designing, or supervising the design of, questionnaires using appropriate tools,
• Oversee and ensure accurate data processing including organizing, cleaning, triangulating, evaluating and validating the data,
• Analyse data to meet identified information needs of UNICEF and UNICEF led Clusters and Child Protection Area of Responsibility and other stakeholders,
• Oversee the creation of accurate, quality and timely information products that are in line with agreed style guides,
• Ensure the dissemination of information and information products through appropriate channels,
• Establish, maintain and ensure the accessibility of a common and shared secure storage system,
• Ensure feedback on IM products is gathered and used to make improvements.

Coordination and Networking 

• Ensure that the UNICEF office is effectively linked to wider UNICEF M&E developments in a way that both contributes to and benefits from organizational learning on effective M&E management.

Duties & Tasks

• Collaborate with Regional M&E Advisers and HQ Evaluation Office for overall coordination of priority research, monitoring and evaluation activities, especially those of regional scope requiring the coordinated effort of multiple countries.
• Partner with the Regional Monitoring and Evaluation Adviser to ensure that current and accurate M&E data and results are included in regional reports, multi-country studies, and knowledge sharing networks.
• Undertake lessons-learned reviews on successful and unsuccessful M&E practices and experience at the national level, and ensure they are shared as appropriate.  Similarly, pay attention to M&E knowledge networks to identify innovations and lessons learned that may be relevant for the CO and partners to improve their M&E function.

Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building:

• Identify, capture, synthesize and share lessons learned from the field office monitoring efforts, for integration into the broader office knowledge development planning and management efforts. Ensure innovations are sought and implemented for planning and monitoring, especially with use of digital technology for data collection and analysis.
• Participate as resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients/stakeholders

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

The following minimum requirements:

• Education:An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required: Information Management or Information Systems, GIS Information Technologies, Computer Science, Statistics, Social Science or another subject area relevant to Information Management.
• Experience:Professional work experience in programme development and implementation including monitoring and evaluation activities as follows:
• A minimum of 8 years of relevant professional work experience. Developing country work experience (for IP) or field work experience (for NO)
• A minimum of 8 years of professional experience in information management, data management, geographical information systems, assessments, situation analysis and/or PM&E with the UN and/or NGO is required, out of which, a minimum of 2 years of experience in a humanitarian context.
• Experience in leading and managing complex high-capacity technical teams is essential for this post.
• Experience in demonstrating excellent information management skills in a professional context is essential for this post.
• Experience working in the humanitarian coordination system is considered an asset.

Source: https://jobs.unicef.org/cw/en-us/job/572163