Senior Evaluation Officer (Impact Evaluations)

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The length of appointment for internal FAO candidates will be established in accordance with applicable policies pertaining to the extension of appointments

• 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

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger.
Our goal is to achieve food security for all and make sure 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 more than 130 countries worldwide.

To this end, FAO implements a wide portfolio of projects, programmes, and initiatives across multiple sectors. These include animal production and health, fisheries, food and nutrition, food systems and safety, forestry, social protection, inclusive rural development, information management systems / data systems for monitoring and decision making, land and water, plant production and protection, and others. FAO has a growing portfolio of work in the development and humanitarian (emergency and resilience) sectors.

FAO evaluates the strategic alignment, implementation, efficacy, and efficiency of its portfolio of work through its independent Office of Evaluation (OED), which is led by a Director who reports to the FAO Governing Bodies and to the Director-General.

OED evaluates FAO strategies, initiatives, programmes, and projects at global, regional, and national levels. OED seeks to generate credible and useful evidence and insights to inform decisions, support oversight, and help FAO achieve its mission. In so doing, OED advances knowledge and provides results accountability to both Member nations and the Director-General. OED also participates in system-wide evaluation initiatives, thereby contributing to assessments of development and humanitarian effectiveness by the UN system.

OED values candidates who are highly motivated to excel and want to join OED colleagues in generating transformative knowledge for FAO, its Member nations, and others working in the fields in which FAO operates to achieve its mission of ending hunger!

The position is located in OED at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy.

Reporting Lines.

The Senior Evaluation Officer (Impact Evaluations) reports to the Director of the Office of Evaluation.

Technical Focus.

Leadership in promoting high quality research and evaluations and serving as Senior Liaison Officer with donors and FAO Members.

Key Results

Designs and conducts evaluations of outcomes and impacts; provides quality assurance to enhance the quality of OED research and evaluations; publishes and serves as liaison with donors/Member nations and represents OED in national and international events thereby contributing to enhanced results-accountability to the Director-General, the Governing Bodies, and donors; enriched learning by FAO and others working in the fields in which FAO operates; and mentoring of junior evaluation staff.

Key Functions.

Provide technical leadership in research and evaluations.

• Design and lead rigorous evaluations of projects, programmes, and operations, especially impact evaluations.

• Apply (and enforce in others) rigorous analytic thinking in leading/conducting analyses (qualitative and quantitative) and

• preparing dissemination materials (reports, papers and journal articles, presentations, and so on).

• Participate actively and productively in multidisciplinary evaluation teams, often with internal and external partners.

• Provide substantive leadership and expertise in at least one area of FAO's work such as agriculture, agrifood systems,

• climate change, nutrition, water, women's economic empowerment, and other areas in development and emergency settings

• and one cross-cutting theme or accelerator of change per FAO's Strategic Framework, such as private sector engagement,

• data and technologies, and innovations.

Serve as liaison officer

• Represent the Office of Evaluation before donors and Member Nations

• Strengthen relationships with donors and Member Nations through the conduct of the work

• Promote use of evaluation findings and response to recommendations

Provide quality assurance across the portfolio of evaluations.

• Review evaluation outputs and provide detailed feedback (such as evaluation designs and reports)

• Assess evaluation outputs to provide approval (for release or publication, payments to partners, and so on)

• Maintain technical leadership

• Keep abreast of methodological developments in evaluation

• Perform other duties as required.
  
  
  

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CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in a social science field (such as economics, sociology, or psychology) or evaluation, with a focus on research and evaluation methods.

• Ten years of experience conducting rigorous evaluations, especially impact evaluations.

• Three publications in peer-reviewed journals.

• Working knowledge (proficiency - level C) of English.

• Intermediate knowledge (intermediate - level B) of another official FAO language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish).

Competencies

• Results Focus

• Leading, Engaging and Empowering

• Strong Communications Skills

• Partnering and Advocating

• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

• Strategic Thinking

Technical/Functional Skills.

• Ph.D. is highly desirable

• A career focused on conducting evaluations is required

• Extent and relevance of technical expertise in leading and conducting rigorous evaluations (that is, using designs that are well aligned with the evaluation questions and, seeking to measure impacts, using designs that establish cause and effect relationships) as demonstrated by at least 3 publications in peer-reviewed journals.

• Extent and relevance of work experience conducting evaluations in substantive fields related to FAO's mission (agriculture, agrifood systems, climate change, nutrition, water, women's economic empowerment, and other areas in development and emergency settings) and in other key elements of FAO's Strategic Framework (such as private sector engagement, data and technologies, and innovations), especially considering priorities of FAO donors in the locations of the duty stations and as demonstrated by the publication record.

• Proven ability to deliver clear and concise reports and presentations as demonstrated through\: (1) a writing sample of an impact evaluation conducted, (2) a presentation based on that writing sample, and (3) a brief justification for the writing sample selected (all to be uploaded and submitted with the application).

• Candidates considered qualified may be asked to deliver a presentation on a topic to be provided.

• Work experience in more than one location or area of work.

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HOW TO APPLY

• To apply, visit the recruitment website at Jobs at FAO and complete your online profile. We strongly recommend that your profile is accurate, complete and includes your employment records, academic qualifications and language skills;
• Candidates are requested to attach a letter of motivation to the online profile;
• Once your profile is completed, please apply and submit your application;
• Your application will be screened based on the information provided on your online profile;
• Please note that FAO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http\://www.whed.net/. These qualifications should be in alignment with the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) mappings.
• Candidates may be requested to provide performance assessments and authorization to conduct verification checks of past and present work, character, education, military and police records to ascertain any and all information which may be pertinent to the employment qualifications;
• Incomplete applications will not be considered;
• Personal information provided on your application may be shared within FAO and with other companies acting on FAO’s behalf to provide employment support services such as pre-screening of applications, assessment tests, background checks and other related services. You will be asked to provide your consent before submitting your application. You may withdraw consent at any time, by withdrawing your application, in such case FAO will no longer be able to consider your application
• Only applications received through the FAO recruitment portal will be considered;
• Your application will be screened based on the information provided in your online profile
• We encourage applicants to submit the application well before the deadline date.

If you need help or have queries, please create a one-time registration with FAO’s client support team for further assistance\: https\://fao.service-now.com/csp

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