Senior Evaluation officer P5, Head of Impact Evaluation Team

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status or disability.

ABOUT WFP

The World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity, for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

At WFP, people are at the heart of everything we do and the vision of the future WFP workforce is one of diverse, committed, skilled, and high performing teams, selected on merit, operating in a healthy and inclusive work environment, living WFP's values (Integrity, Collaboration, Commitment, Humanity, and Inclusion) and working with partners to save and change the lives of those WFP serves.

To learn more about WFP, visit our website: https://www.wfp.org and follow us on social media to keep up with our latest news: YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok.

WHY JOIN WFP? 

• WFP is a 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.

• WFP offers a highly inclusive, diverse, and multicultural working environment.

• WFP invests in the personal & professional development of its employees through a range of training, accreditation, coaching, mentorship, and other programs as well as through internal mobility opportunities.

• A career path in WFP provides an exciting opportunity to work across the various country, regional and global offices around the world, and with passionate colleagues who work tirelessly to ensure that effective humanitarian assistance reaches millions of people across the globe.

• We offer an attractive compensation package (please refer to the Terms and Conditions section of this vacancy announcement).

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

The Office of Evaluation (OEV) aims to contribute to ending global hunger by generating a strong evidence base of WFP’s successes and failures which can be incorporated into future policies, programmes and decision-making. OEV is responsible for delivering and supporting the quality of all WFP impact evaluations as per its quality assurance and assessment procedures and building organizational capacity to deliver them.

There are three categories of evaluation at WFP: i) Centralized evaluations are commissioned and managed by OEV and presented to the Executive Board for consideration. ii) Decentralized evaluations are commissioned and managed by country offices and Global headquarters divisions other than OEV iii) Impact evaluations are managed by OEV at the request of country offices.

As per the 2022 WFP Evaluation policy, impact evaluations measure changes in development outcomes of interest for a target population that can be attributed to a specific WFP programme through a credible counterfactual. They are usually undertaken during programme implementation over a multi-year period. Impact evaluations are not presented to the Executive Board. Impact evaluations are commissioned by OEV in line with corporate evidence priorities through impact evaluation “windows”. These windows are portfolios of impact evaluations in specific priority evidence areas, agreed with WFP management, that will be updated over time as the organization’s evidence priorities change.

Locating this global leadership position at the Asia and the Pacific Regional Office (APARO) in Bangkok positions WFP’s impact evaluation function at a critical intersection of inter-agency collaboration and academic excellence. Bangkok serves as the regional hub for a very large number of agencies (OCHA, FAO, IOM, UNDP, UNDRR, UNEP, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNFPA, WFP, World Bank, etc.) offering unparalleled opportunities to align evidence priorities and implement joint UN impact evaluation windows. Alongside this multilateral density, the region boasts a large network of world-class academic and research institutions with impact evaluation capacity. The unique combination of UN partners, regional donors (e.g. ADB, NDB, GCF, JICA, KOICA, etc.), and local research capacity makes the Bangkok office a highly strategic base.

THE ROLE

The position is based in Bangkok, Thailand and reports to the Director of Evaluation. The Senior Evaluation Officer Head of Impact Evaluation Team will provide independent impact evaluation evidence, assessing the performance and results of programmes and activities of WFP for accountability and learning to inform future direction. Reporting to the Director of Evaluation, you are expected to lead the Impact Evaluation Unit overseeing the planning and delivery of high-quality impact evaluations. You will be managing staff co-located in Rome, Regional Offices, and Country Offices (field coordinators). Your role will bridge technical and operational divisions, ensuring a unified, global approach to high-quality impact evaluation.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive, within delegated authority):

• Contribute to the development of the evaluation function including supporting policy, strategy and plans to ensure: a) timely and effective approaches to evaluating the performance and results of programmes and activities; b) application of the normative framework, quality support, assessment mechanisms and reporting on evaluation function performance.

• Contribute to OEV’s leadership, management and corporate performance by supporting management planning, staffing arrangements and budgeting, as well as the development and use of OEV’s internal systems.

• Lead the development and implementation of the impact evaluation workstream of the Office of Evaluation work-plan, provide strategic and operational leadership to a global Impact Evaluation Unit; manage and provide direct line management and/or functional supervision to team members based in Rome, Regional and Country Offices; foster a unified, high-performing global practice across diverse geographic locations. Provide coaching and guidance to staff to ensure appropriate development and enable high performance, and second level quality assurance of impact evaluations.

• Oversee and support WFP impact evaluation capacity development globally throughout the organization.

• Lead global impact evaluation resource mobilization and partnership efforts; leverage Bangkok as a strategic hub to cultivate closer, institutional relationships with major regional donors, to co-design joint impact evaluation windows and secure sustainable, multi-donor funding.

• Lead WFP engagements with other UN partners to develop multi-agency impact evaluation windows, ensuring cross-functional and inter-agency collaboration.

• Position and deliver impact evaluations as a demand-driven service for national government partners, ensuring research questions align with national public policy priorities, social safety nets, and SDG targets to facilitate direct uptake of evidence into national systems.

• Represent the Office of Evaluation by reporting annually to the WFP Executive Board on impact evaluation evidence, strategic progress, and thematic findings.

• Drawing from good practice, oversee development and use of quality support tools for WFP impact evaluations, as well as post-hoc quality assurance processes, as part of a coherent Impact Evaluation Quality Assurance System (IEQAS) which meets high professional and academic standards in line with norms and standards and codes of conduct for evaluation in the UN system to ensure the production of independent, credible impact evidence and recommendations for future directions.

• Oversee and provide second-level quality assurance and guidance for impact evaluations managed by the impact evaluation unit.

• Manage high profile and/or highly complex impact evaluation processes and budgets directly, from preparation and design through to completion, meeting IEQAS requirements and ensuring the production of independent, credible evidence and recommendations for future directions.

• Oversee OEV’s impact evaluation function budgeting, financial reporting, and management information systems.            

• Coordinate function-wide governance mechanisms for impact evaluation; oversee coordination and participate in window-level and individual impact evaluation-level governance mechanisms.

• Ensure engagement & coordination with other OEV units, the global HQ Offices and Country Offices.

• Promote WFP’s evaluation culture of accountability and learning through analyzing evidence and lessons; preparing summaries of evaluation findings and recommendations and presenting these, tailoring messages to specific audiences and platforms, and working with internal and external stakeholders to enhance learning from and use of evaluation evidence in policy, programme and project design.

• Contribute to strengthening use of evaluative evidence through preparation and dissemination of innovative evidence products.

• Lead specific evaluation expertise group(s) to enable sharing of experience and development of good practice.

• Represent the Office of Evaluation as required in inter-agency forums, in professional bodies and networks, developing strategic relationships, as appropriate, to enhance WFP performance and results.

• Effectively mainstream cross-cutting issues (equity, gender, inclusion of persons with disability, human rights, humanitarian principles, protection, accountability to affected population) into WFP impact evaluation processes and support the organization in mainstreaming these approaches in programme design and implementation to help ensure that the most vulnerable benefit from WFP services.

• Other as required.
   

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

Education: Advanced University degree in International Development, Economics, Social Science or other relevant fields including advanced data analysis course work, or First University degree with additional 2 years of related work experience. A doctoral degree in development studies, economics, political science, or related fields is strongly desired.

DESIRED EXPERIENCES FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE:

• 11 years or more (of which at least four international) of relevant professional experience both in the field and in Headquarters in international development or humanitarian work, evaluation and/or policy studies.

• At least 8 years of experience in conducting/managing impact evaluations in diverse humanitarian and/or development contexts, including joint evaluations.

• Extensive experience managing the interface between technical evaluation functions and high-level governance, including a history of reporting to Boards and providing strategic advice to senior management on the use and implications of impact evaluation evidence.

• Extensive experience building and maintaining professional networks within the global research and evaluation communities, including active representation at international academic conferences, high-level global events, and donor forums to enhance the organization’s visibility.

Language: Fluency (level C) in English language. Intermediate knowledge (level B) of a second official UN language: Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish, and/or Portuguese (a WFP working language).

MORE ABOUT YOU:
You have:

• Strong team management skills and proven ability to produce results to deadlines.

• In-depth, up-to-date understanding and knowledge of global geopolitical issues relevant to WFP’s mandate and the implications for evaluation policy and practice to achieve Agenda 2030

• In-depth, up-to-date understanding and knowledge of rigorous impact evaluation methods, both quantitative and qualitative, experimental and non-experimental

• Broad knowledge of other types of evaluation (process evaluations, strategic evaluations, formative evaluations, developmental evaluations etc.) and diverse evaluation methods, practices, concepts, and principles.

• In-depth, up-to-date understanding and knowledge of advancing international professional evaluation standards to define and adapt evaluation functions that support and aligns with WFP’s strategic goals.

• Strong understanding of competencies, skills and methodologies required to conduct robust and credible impact evaluation.

• Ability to communicate knowledge and skills effectively and conduct remote coaching

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

• This is an International Professional position and is open to all nationalities.

• Mobility is and continues to be a core contractual requirement in WFP. This position is however classified as “non-rotational” which means the incumbent shall not be subject to the regular reassignment process unless the position is reclassified as rotational.

• The selected candidate will be employed on a fixed-term contract with a probationary period of one year.

• This position is open to both internal and external candidates.

• WFP offers an attractive compensation and benefits package in line with ICSC standards (http://icsc.un.org) including basic salary, post adjustment, relocation entitlement, visa, travel and shipment allowances, 30 days’ annual leave, home leave, an education grant for dependent children, a pension plan, and medical insurance.

• The selected candidate will be required to relocate to Bangkok, Thailand to take up this assignment.

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REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION

WFP is committed to supporting individuals with disabilities by providing reasonable accommodations throughout the recruitment process. If you require a reasonable accommodation, please contact:  global.inclusion@wfp.org

NO FEE DISCLAIMER

The United Nations does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web.

REMINDERS BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION

• All applications must be submitted exclusively through our online recruiting system. We do not consider CVs or applications sent by email, LinkedIn, or any other channel.

• We strongly recommend that your Workday profile is accurate and complete, and that all sections are filled in, including your employment history, academic qualifications, language skills, and UN grade (if applicable). Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application.

• If you experience technical issues while submitting your application, you may contact us at global.hrerecruitment@wfp.org. Please note that this email is only for technical issues with an application - unsolicited applications or documents sent to this inbox will not receive a reply.

• At the application stage, the only required documents are your CV and Cover Letter. Additional documents (passport, certificates, recommendation letters, etc.) may be requested later in the process.

• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and invited to proceed to the next stage of the recruitment process.

All employment decisions are made on the basis of organizational needs, job requirements, merit, and individual qualifications. WFP is committed to providing an inclusive work environment free of sexual exploitation and abuse, all forms of discrimination, any kind of harassment, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. Therefore, all selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.