Principal Evaluation Officer – Syntheses, Learning, Uptake and Communications Work Stream

Principal Evaluation Officer – Syntheses, Learning, Uptake and Communications Work Stream

Grade IS – 5 Senior Specialist Duty station Songdo, Incheon - Korea Contract type 3 years Number of posts 1 Recruitment type International

Unit Independent Evaluation Unit (IEU) Closing date 8 November 2017 Reporting to Head of Independent Evaluation Unit Vacancy code GCF/Recruit/237 The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is a multilateral fund created to make significant and ambitious contributions to the global efforts to combat climate change. The GCF contribu tes to achieving the objectives of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and th e Paris Agreement. In the context of sustainable development, the GCF aims to promote a paradigm shift towards low-emission and climate-resilient development pathways by providing support to developing countries to limit or reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to climate change, while accounting for their needs and supporting particularly those that are vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. The GCF is governed by a Board, composed of an equal number of members from developed and developing countries. It is operated by an independent Secretariat headed by an Executive Director.

The Independent Evaluation Office (IEU) of the GCF, is mandated by the GCF Board under paragraph 60 of its governing instrument inform its decision making. Specifically, the governing instrument states “… the Board will establish an operationally independent evaluation unit as part of the core structure of the Fund. The head of the unit will be selected by, and will report to, the Board. The frequency and types of evaluation to be conducted will be specified by the unit in agreement with the Board.”

The IEU has several objectives:

(a) Informing decision-making by the Board and identifying and disseminating lessons learned, contributing to guiding the GCF and stakeholders as a learning institution, providing strategic guidance; (b) Conducting periodic independent evaluations of GCF performance to objectively assess the results of the GCF and the effectiveness and efficiency of its activities;

(c) Providing evaluation reports to the Conference ofthe Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement for purposes of periodic reviews of the Financial Mechanism.

Position description

The incumbent will participate in and manage the ‘Syntheses, Learning, Uptake and Communications’ work stream of the IEU. The incumbent will play a key role in engaging IEU stakeholders, synthesizing lessons from evaluative evidence (internal and external) and ensuring that the IEU is using state of the art methods to assure uptake and use of evaluative evidence using behavioral insights and communication techniques. He/she will also play a key role in  

ensuring that IEU’s communication strategy is state of the art and multi-platform and speaks with a diversity o f audiences while advocating for the need and use of high-quality credible evidence. She/he will also lead in generating lessons learned, good practices and recomm endations that can further strengthen the design and implementation of GCF operations. Theincumbent will disseminate outcomes ofevaluation syntheses while keeping abreast of developments in the field. The position requires that the incumbent has both types of skills – evaluation skills and the technical training to recognize and aim for high quality synthesis work, as well as good communication skills. It is expected that the scope of this role willexpand to include some management work depending on the needs of the Unit and gaps as the IEU grows. The incumbent should have a keen instinct to learn and train him/herself in skills that he/she may not have at the beginning.

Duties and responsibilities

• Participate in and manage as required the ‘Syntheses, Learning, Uptake and Communications’ work stream while also participating in IEU managed evaluations as required to ensure that workstreams are not siloes and that the IEU works as one cohesive unit, under the overall guidance of the Head of the Independent Evaluation Unit;
• Identify key insights with qualitative and quantitative approaches to synthesize findings from evaluation reports and related sources;
• Engage with experts to help meta-synthesise evaluation related evidence;
• Create and successfully deliver knowledge products and processes that help consolidate evaluation knowledge and share and strengthen IEU’s evaluation feedback and learning objectives;
• Be able to think creatively while using key insights fr om behavioral insights to help construct knowledge related communication products that go the extra mile to ensure take-up and use;
• Inspire and feed into IEU’s syntheses, learning, communication and uptake sub-strategy with key insights from various disciplines while ensuring that the IEU is at the forefront of this thinking and practice;
• Be able to use and leverage creative methods to ensure high participation events such as conferences, workshops, seminars and other IEU related events;
• Be an excellent advocate for high quality credible evaluative evidence in climate change and be IEU’s representative internally within the GCF and externally;
• Highlight the strategic implications of findings and raise strategic issues for further consideration for GCF Secretariats and governing bodies;
• Be able to build a wide network that responds to and uses IEU’s work;
• Be a good team member with an excellent attitude, ethic for hard work and be able to troubleshoot;
• Work closely with key stakeholders including the Head of IEU and other consultants and staff to develop sensitivity and understanding around key concepts of evaluation including summative evaluations, implementation/process evaluations, and impact evaluations;
• Draft documents/products that will be used as a disseminating agent of lesson learned from the independent evaluation around GCF operations with incorporating comments from key stakeholders; and
• Perform other related duties including travel, as required.

Expected experience and qualifications*

• Master’s degree in climate change related subject, statistics or fields related to evaluation;
• 11 years of relevant experience or equivalent combination of relevant education and experience including evaluation and communication;
• Experience and knowledge of behavioral insights to help think about uptake and behavior change;
• Excellent vision related to communication, advocacy for high-quality evaluations and evidence and evidence-based action and policy;
• Deep knowledge of key advances in the evaluation field including in data, evaluation methodologies, evaluative research and evidence based assessment. Deep familiarity with participatory approaches, quantitative methods;
• Familiarity with climate change topics and international politics is desirable;
• Familiarity with processing information requests from a range stakeholders is an advantage;

• Ideal candidates will require analytical and organizational skills, sound judgement, decision making abilities, be tactful and diplomatic, and be capable of working with pressing timelines and competing demands on time;
• Ability to deal with large volumes of work under time pressure with a high level of accuracy and attention to detail; to exercise tact and discretion in dealing with governing bodies;
• Strong teamwork and interpersonal skills, and highly developed cultural sensitivity in communicating with all levels of staff and external clients, both orally and in writing; and
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English are essential for this position; knowledge o f another UN language an advantage.

*The person assessed by the Selection Panel as most suitable for the position will be proposed for appointment. The above criteria should be seen as indicators of the experience and skills that would qualify candidates fo r consideration. Selection among short- listed candidates will also take into account performance at interview, appropriate testing, and references.

Required competencies

• Communication
• Teamwork
• Planning & organizing
• Accountability
• Client orientation

How to apply

Interested candidates are requested to send their CV and a letter of interest in asingle PDF file to: recruitment@gcfund.org

File name: “[last name], [first name]” (e.g. Peterson, Anna)

Subject line: “Principal Evaluation Officer – Syntheses and Communication Work Stream”

Upon submission of your application, you will receiv e an automatic e-mail acknowledging receipt of you r application. Should you not receive a response, however, please check your spam/clutter mail before resubmitting your application. Please also ensure to use the correct spelling for the subject line of your e-mail. Thank you. Applications from women and nationals of developing countries are strongly encouraged.