UN Women Thematic evaluation experts (Retainer), Home-based

1 August 2026-31 July 2029 (Maximum 200 days of assignment period)

*UN Women does not warrant that the maximum of 200 days. The service will be purchased during the term of the Agreement).

Background/Context

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against all women and girls.

The mandate and functions of UN Women call for the promotion of organizational and UN system accountability on gender equality through evaluation, strengthening evaluation capacities and learning from evaluation, and developing systems to measure the results and impact of UN Women with its enhanced role at country, regional and global levels. The purpose and role of evaluation in UN Women is to enhance accountability, inform decision-making and contribute to learning on the best ways to achieve women’s empowerment and gender equality through operational and normative work.  

The UN Women Independent Evaluation Service (IES) of the Independent Evaluation and Audit and Investigation Services (IEAIS) serves as the custodian of the evaluation function in UN Women, in line with United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) Norms and Standards. IES evaluates the work of UN women to enhance organizational accountability, provide evidence-based information for decision-making and to contribute to learning on gender equality and the empowerment of women. IES posts Regional Evaluation Specialists in the Regional Offices of UN Women with a key task to lead independent evaluations and to support country office personnel with the management of decentralized evaluations.   UN Women hires external consultants to conduct evaluations as evaluation Team Leader, thematic expert or evaluation analysts. 

UN Women, through its Strategic Plan 2026-2029, convenes actors from all sectors to promote institutional change, positive social norms and collective action anchored in human rights obligations and commitments. UN Women has identified four impact areas through which the organization strives to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment: 

• Women’s leadership and decision-making
• Women Peace and Security, and Humanitarian Action
• Women and girls free from violence
• Women’s Economic Empowerment in resilient economies

Expressions of interest from qualified individuals for the following positions are sought on a retainer basis: 

Thematic evaluation consultant: to serve as Team leader for evaluations and/or thematic evaluation team member with thematic expertise covering at least one of the themes identified above. Additional areas of expertise should be aligned with UN Women’s Strategic Plan and could include: climate change, Disaster Risk Reduction, social norms change, human rights, etc.

Please mention your specific thematic area/s of expertise. Consultants will be engaged in a retainer contract and based on organizational needs and alignment with expertise. 

 The consultants directly supervised by the Regional Evaluation Specialist for Asia and the Pacific who is based in the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok, Thailand. The Regional Evaluation Specialist reports to the Chief of Independent Evaluation Service at UN Women headquarters. The consultants will be contracted on a retainer basis based on their availability (and in line with UN Women’s Consultant Contract Policy). The contract duration will be from 1 August 2026-31 July 2029 for up to a total of 200 working days for the contract period. 

Description of Responsibilities /Scope of Work

Thematic evaluation experts may be engaged as Team Leader or thematic expert on evaluations managed in the Asia and the Pacific region.  The work of the consultant will be home-based and they will need to connect with the team during Asia and the Pacific working hours via online platforms.  

Under the overall oversight of the Regional Evaluation Specialist, the thematic evaluation consultant will contribute to the following phases of an evaluation based on their relevant field of expertise:

• Inception phase:
  • Support the scoping and design of the evaluation by supporting document collection, management and review.
  • Conduct scoping interviews to inform the evaluation design which should be relevant and tailored to thematic nuances.
  • Lead theory of change workshops to inform the analytical approach.
  • Support stakeholder mapping for evaluations with identification of right holders and duty bearers in order to inform the human rights and gender equality stakeholder mapping.
  • Lead the design of data collection instruments including the evaluation matrix and other gender analytical frameworks from a thematic expertise lens.

• Conduct phase:
  • Lead interviews and focus group discussions with key stakeholders.
  • Lead assigned case studies and summary reports.
  • Work with team members to produce data visualization, data analysis, coding and synthesis of data.

  • Support synthesis of findings from data coding and analysis for input into evaluations reports.

• Reporting phase:
  • Preliminary analysis of data collected, including providing inputs to the evidence map and other analyses. These analyses should utilise thematic area expertise in capturing results, challenges, gaps and learning pertinent to the thematic area. 
  • Lead the drafting of assigned sections of evaluation report.
  • Support drafting of sections of the evaluation report and provide inputs to the annexes and for final evaluation report.
  • Communications with stakeholders, meeting organization, and drafting communication products.
  • The Evaluation Expert is responsible for the quality and timely submission of their specific deliverables, as specified. All products should be well written in English and have a clear, transparent and verifiable analysis process.

The guidance provided by the thematic evaluation consultants will be particularly useful to ensure that thematic expertise has been leveraged in all phases of the evaluation process and in each type of evaluation to produce concise and analytical evaluation reports. Deliverables for the thematic evaluation consultant include the following: inception presentation, inception report, data collection tools, data collection notes shared with the RES, analytical products, presentations and final synthesis reports and annexes for evaluations. Evaluation consultants must abide by the UNEG Ethical Guidelines and related code of conduct. All deliverables must be high quality and in line with the GERAAS criteria established by UN Women. The consultant shall adhere to UNEG guidance on the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI), ensuring that any AI tools used in the evaluation are applied ethically, with full transparency, appropriate human oversight, protection of sensitive data, active mitigation of bias, and explicit documentation of AI-supported processes in all deliverables. The consultant must assure independence from any organization/office/unit/programmes that have been involved in designing, executing, or advising any aspect of the intervention that is the subject of the evaluation. They must also ensure that any outside work will not interfere or pose conflict of interest and submit relevant documentation to UN Women ethics office. 

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy. 

As part of the official duty of this consultancy, the consultant may be expected to travel, which will be processed by UN Women, following the duty travel policy.

Core Values: 

• Respect for Diversity 
• Integrity 
• Professionalism 

Core Competencies: 

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues 
• Accountability 
• Creative Problem Solving 
• Effective Communication 
• Inclusive Collaboration 
• Stakeholder Engagement 
• Leading by Example 

Functional Competencies

• Good familiarity of the UN Development System 
• Strong planning, goal setting and prioritization skills 
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills 
• Ability to work well with diverse actors/individuals
• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively and working with a diverse team.
• Computer literacy and ability to effectively use computers, including advanced Excel skills and/or knowledge of related analytical software (SPSS, Stata etc.) and standard applications for concise communication and development of complex written documentation. 

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies:   https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process#_Values   

Education and Certification:

1. Master’s degree in Human Rights Law, Economics, Political Sciences, Social Sciences, Gender Studies, International Development, Data/Statistics and/or other relevant fields, is required. 

2. A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience and skills:

3. At least 10 years of demonstrable experience conducting mixed‑methods (qualitative and quantitative) gender‑responsive evaluations, including experience in analysing complex data and producing synthesis reports informed by human rights and gender equality perspectives for policy and programme decision‑making.

4. Substantial experience serving as an Evaluation Team Leader, with a minimum of 5 years in a leadership role, including responsibility for overall evaluation design, team coordination, quality assurance, and delivery of evaluation products.

5. Demonstrable experience in leveraging key global normative frameworks on gender equality and women’s empowerment to inform their analytical, research and/or programmatic work.

6. Demonstrated technical experience in one or more cross‑cutting areas such as gender equality, disability inclusion, human rights‑based approaches, and/or capacity development, within evaluation, research, or programme contexts.

7. Demonstrated experience in applying results based management (RBM) principles and evaluation methodologies, including theory of change, evaluation design, data collection, analysis, and reporting.

8. Experience in survey design and deployment, and/or gender statistics or quantitative data analysis, is considered an asset.

9. Experience in the Asia and the Pacific region is an asset. 

Languages:

10. Language proficiency in English is required. 

11. An additional language from Asia and the Pacific is desirable. 

V. How to Apply

• Application letter explaining your interest in the consultancy and why you are a suitable candidate for the consultancy position. 
• Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.

*Applicants who have been shortlisted will be asked for any other materials relevant to pre-assessing the relevance of their experience, 2-3 relevant writing samples. These samples must have been authored by the applicant. Alternatively, the applicant should be able to show that they led in the drafting of the same,  copy of biodata page of national passport and copy of the highest education certificate.

VI. Statements:

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

VII. Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)