Senior Evaluation Specialist

Under the direction of the Principal Adviser- Evaluation, the Senior Evaluation Specialist (Strategic Planning and Operations) will provide high level evaluation strategic planning support to the UNICEF Evaluation Office, as well as in support of joined-up evaluation planning with regional and country offices. The incumbent will lead planning, monitoring, and reporting efforts on behalf of an integrated evaluation function, thereby helping to move the evaluation function toward greater positive impact for children. The Senior Evaluation Specialist (Strategic Planning and Operations) will be responsible for oversight of Evaluation Office Operations including contracting, budgeting and HR. The incumbent will also be responsible for oversight of evaluation quality assurance and monitoring systems and independent quality assessment and will work closely with the Director of Evaluation and Principal Adviser-Evaluation in other evaluation function strengthening activities across the organization.

Data and evidence-informed evaluation planning leadership

• Lead on strategic planning and reporting for the Evaluation Office and in joined-up strategic evaluation planning across the three levels of the function (Headquarters, Regional Offices, Country Offices), ensuring that every evaluation conducted is of the highest strategic priority, efficiencies are maximized, complementarities are identified, and duplication of effort minimized.
• Guide the Director’s Office on the strategic conduct of evaluation at UNICEF, including issues such as horizon-scanning for emerging issues and long-term evaluation planning, optimal number of evaluations commissioned, evaluation financing and spending in order to ensure the maximum positive benefit of the evaluation function on the work of the organization.
• Guide the Director’s Office in strategic coordination with the Office of Independent Audit and Investigations to identify synergies and coherence in planning activities where there may be added value in working together or in exchanging lessons.
• Lead on creation and ongoing population of an improved risk and opportunity-based planning tool for the Evaluation Office in 2025, as well as refinement of other strategic planning tools such as for evaluation country case study selection; ongoing monitoring of the status of Evaluation Office evaluations etc.
• Proactively identify and share emerging business needs for the Evaluation function, to anticipate challenges, propose viable solutions, provide creative and innovative ideas aimed at a solutions-focused approach to include value for money strategies, all underpinned by quality assurance measures.
• Initiate and supervise development of the Evaluation Office Annual Workplan (including e-workplan), Office Management Plan, Mid Term Review processes, Plan for Global Evaluations and other consultative strategic planning processes including support to Results Based Management and implementation using Value for Money criteria.
• Identify innovative evaluation contracting modalities and instruments and strengthen the use of PCA’s, LTA’s and other long-term co-creation-based strategic partnership mechanisms with evaluation institutions and entities, particularly based in the global south.

Technical and strategic supervision of Evaluation Office budget and operations

• Lead on provision of strategic advice to the Director’s Office to ensure that evaluation financial and human resources are managed in the most financially-prudent, and policy-compliant manner possible.
• Oversee a team managing timely, efficient and effective services in the functional areas of operations support: budget, financial management and reporting, contracts management, KPI management and reporting, risk management, administration, strategic planning and human resources.
• Initiate and lead the financial oversight management, monitoring and reporting of all the office budget; make analysis and recommendations for the Evaluation Director and Deputy to take risk informed decisions balancing policy compliance and flexibility, whilst maximizing delivery of results for children.
• Steer evaluation Business Units on their role in generating and reporting on VfM with the goal of strategically expanding its use to major UNICEF functions and provide advice on best and innovative management practices to enhance office performance.
• Ensure the office is equipped with the right skills and tools and up-to-date information to make operational and programmatic risk informed decisions, manage, and adapt to emerging risks and improve performance, with the support of the enterprise Governance, Risk and Compliance (eGRC) platform.
• Lead on continued review of key Operations processes to minimize cost, simplify and reduce duplication of work and maximize efficiencies while creating an environment of smarter controls to render the organization agile, resilient, and ready to respond to programme needs.
• Oversee development of operational guidance for the Evaluation Office including oversight of ongoing content population of the Evaluation Office Operations Sharepoint site to provide up to date, summarized policy information, SoP’s and other strategic guidance to evaluation colleagues.

On-going monitoring and reporting on the evaluation function and its enabling environment

• Guide and support the Director’s Office to maximize accountability of the evaluation function, ensuring that every evaluation produced is consistently of the highest credibility and utility and that the organization is equipped with the information it needs to fulfill its responsibilities for the evaluation function and its success.
• Provide timely and strategic contributions to the preparation of reports to the Executive Director, senior management, the Executive Board, the Audit Advisory Committee and other governance bodies on key performance indicators including the results of evaluations and related evaluative products, as well as enabling environment indicators including evaluation expenditure.
• Lead on strategic evolution, design and governance of evaluation management information systems (through the EISI platform) to ensure the collection and analysis of timely, relevant and accurate monitoring and reporting of evaluation data, including development and oversight of ‘real-time’ performance dashboards for the Evaluation Office and for regional contextualization.
• Lead on piloting innovations in evaluation KPI’s such as development of qualitative indicators on the health and maturity of the evaluation function and its enabling environment, and on measures of meaningful use of evaluations beyond compliance with the management response requirement in order to help to identify the strategic contributions of the evaluation function at outcome level across UNICEF.
• Provide strategic oversight of the management of funds mobilized by the Evaluation Office for the decentralized level and monitor the utilization of such funds, including the Evaluation Pooled Fund.
• Steer processes of independent quality assurance at regional level, and manage evaluation quality assessment and related KPI’s (through the GEROS independent system).

Support to, and where applicable leadership on, other evaluation function-strengthening activities

• Facilitate human resource management for evaluation staff at the decentralized level in accordance with the revised Evaluation Policy, including the review of job profiles, reporting lines and other measures to create a conducive work environment for evaluation staff.  Work with HRBP and the Director’s Office to populate and maintain the Evaluation Skills Mapping and subsequent talent management.
• Support the linkages between the Headquarters’ Evaluation Office and other organizational units and advisers, both in UNICEF, as well as other UN agencies for the purposes described above.
• Contribute to the development of policies, procedures, guidelines, and methodologies in evaluation, including the forthcoming Evaluation Handbook.
• Undertake other activities related to the strengthening of the evaluation function as required by the Supervisor.
• Undertake other special assignments as may be assigned by the supervisor and by the Director of Evaluation.

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

Minimum requirements:

• Education: An Advanced University Degree (Master’s and above) in a social science, business management or financial management, with specialization in strategic planning and/or operations. Background in research methodology and/or evaluation including advanced statistical analysis skills essential. Programme analysis and programme management experience highly desirable.

Work Experience: 

• Significant experience specifically working in evaluation, audit, research, data and related oversight and evidence functions.
• At least 10 years in progressively responsible professional experience, at the national and international level, is required, specifically in country offices, advocating and implementing strategic organizational initiatives in one or more of the following: strategic planning, implementation, coordination, and management of monitoring/evaluation/research, audit and investigations; budget/financial management and reporting.
• Prior experience in supervision of strategic planning, operations, and human resources staff, ideally across headquarters, regional and especially country contexts and in a range of operating environments (humanitarian/development contexts and across small, medium, and large country offices).
• Demonstrated experience monitoring and reporting on key performance indicators and a strong track record in data analysis and interpretation.
• Experience in Results Based Management and its application within country programme planning and implementation is a requirement.
• Experience visualizing and communicating about data for maximum comprehensibility.
• Previous hands-on experience in strategic and managerial leadership is required, including in human resource management, particularly at country office level.
• Extensive knowledge of SAP/VISION and other UNICEF management information systems required.
• Strong oral and written communications skills, including strategic communications with a wide range of stakeholders, including regional and country offices.
• Experience of UN joint work and strategic coordination is strongly desirable, as is in-depth knowledge of UNICEF Headquarters Divisions and their working, especially Audit, DFAM and DAPM.
• Proven ability to skillfully negotiate with partners on sensitive issues.
• Strong understanding, and appreciation for, the central role and value of evaluation in a UN agency and the new strategic direction being undertaken within the revised Evaluation Policy is strongly desirable.
• Language Requirements: Fluency in English required, with French and/or Spanish as a particular asset. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese or Russian) is an asset.

Source: https://jobs.unicef.org/en-us/job/572980/senior-evaluation-specialist-strategic-planning-and-operations-p5-evaluation-office-nyhq-8731