Spotlight Monitoring & Evaluation Officer

The UN Resident Coordinator (RC) provides leadership to the Pacific Joint UN Country Team and the UN’s programming work, as outlined in the UN Pacific Strategy, in support of national priorities. The RC has a team composed of national and international staff, forming the RC Office (RCO), and is based in Suva (Fiji). The RC oversees 10 Pacific Small Island Developing States (Pacific SIDS or PSIDS), namely Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Kiribati, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. Twenty-six resident and non-resident UN entities are signatories to the UNPS and members of The Pacific Joint UN Country Team. The current UN Development Assistance Framework (Pacific Strategy) covers 14 countries and territories and outlines UN’s engagement in support of these countries’ national strategic priorities.

The RCO fulfils ten core coordination functions, namely strategic analysis and planning; oversight of the UN country programming cycle; representation of and support of UN Secretariat and UN agencies (incl. non-resident agencies); support to national coordination systems and processes; development and management of shared operational support services; crisis management preparedness and response; external communication and advocacy; human rights and development; joint resource mobilisation and fund management; and general UNCT oversight and coordination.

This position is part of the Resident Coordinator Multi-Country Office in Fiji, with focus on the Spotlight Initiative.

The Spotlight Initiative is a global, multi-year partnership between the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU), focusing on eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG). The initiative places SDG 5 at the center of efforts (as well as SDG 16) with the aim to provide an enabling environment for the implementation of all goals. Spotlight provides a model for partnership with donors, civil society, and all UN partners, to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a comprehensive manner leveraging comparative expertise.

The Spotlight initiative in the Pacific focuses on Intimate partner (physical, sexual and emotional) violence (IPV) to address the continuum of gender-based violence in the Pacific region. The Initiative aims at improving access to services, particularly for those most left behind and will build upon existing programmes, both at the country and regional level.

The Spotlight Pacific Regional Initiative builds on existing Pacific Islands Forum commitments as well as country specific commitments in Fiji, Republic of Marshal Islands and Solomon Islands to ending domestic and intimate partner violence The programme will focus on understanding the cost of violence through research, and improved planning and budget allocations to address violence and supporting CSO to advocating to governments to increase funding based on evidence and increasing the quality and availability of administrative data.

The recipient UN organizations are: IOM, UNCIEF, UNDP, UNFPA and UN Women.

The positions of Spotlight Communications Specialist and Spotlight M&E Officer are based in the RCO Fiji and report to the Spotlight Programme Coordinator. The three positions are coordinating the Spotlight initiative and supporting the recipient UN agencies in providing direction and planning in support of achieving objectives and results of Spotlight, including M&E framework, communication and visibility and high-level representation and coordination. The Spotlight coordination team is also a link between the global secretariat and the country/regional implementation. The Spotlight Team embedded in the RC Office will worki closely with EU, CROP agencies, CSOs and national entities

Under the direct supervision of Spotlight Programme Coordinator in Suva, Fiji, the Spotlight M&E Officer will lead the development and implementation of the Spotlight M&E and Reporting areas of work. These tasks will be undertaken in close collaboration with Spotlight Team Colleagues in Fiji, Vanuatu and Samoa. The assignment also includes close collaboration with EU/EC Pacific, Civil Society Organisations, national entities and CROP agencies. This includes but is not limited to:

Lead Development of M&E Plans and Strategies for Spotlight Initiative

• Lead the development and implementation of comprehensive and realistic monitoring and evaluation plans and strategies with appropriate data sources, collection methods, analysis plans, quality controls and resource requirements. 
• Continually assess methodologies and instruments for collection, documentation, analysis and reporting of data for weaknesses and potential improvements.
• Advise Spotlight Programme Coordinator and Spotlight colleagues on the development and improvement of core implementation tools, including work plans.
• Collect information on the latest developments of the use of new types of data sources and tools (e.g. big data) for sustainable development.

Coordinate Monitoring, Data Collection, and Reporting for the Spotlight Initiative

• Design and disseminate monitoring and evaluation resource materials, templates, and guidance documentation to participating UN agencies and other entities as relevant.
• Support inter-agency efforts on results and progress monitoring and reporting on the Spotlight Initiative.
• Coordinate and participate in interagency work related to the collection and use of monitoring data, as well as evaluation and reporting.
• Perform field visits to ensure the quality and accuracy of collected or reported data.
• Support the development and implementation of baseline, mid-line, end-line and periodic evaluations.
• Supervise monitoring and evaluation consultants and contractors alongside the Spotlight Programme Coordinator. 
• Coordinate evaluation validation meetings.
• Document progress of Spotlight Programme against project implementation plans, results matrix, milestones and targets.

Develop and Expand Strategic Research and Data Partnerships

• Identify synergies with other programmes and initiatives to streamline data collection and use
• Communicate and coordinate with existing partnerships and help form new partnerships with UN agencies, academia, the private sector, and governmental agencies to further the use of data science for eliminating violence against women and girls.
• Communicate and coordinate with internal and external partners on data collection and project/research implementation.

Knowledge Management, Dissemination and Use of Data

• Facilitate the efficient flow of monitoring and evaluation data within participating UN agencies, EU, government and civil society partners.
• Facilitate the sharing of best practices with the Spotlight Steering Committee, UNCT, the Spotlight Team, and participating agencies and partners.
• Support the identification of good practices and lessons learned and share findings with the UNCT,  agency colleagues, the Spotlight Secretariat, so that best practices benefit UN’s work.
• Lead in designing thematic activities and knowledge-sharing forums and encourages others to participate.

Technical Competencies:

• Design and management of evaluation processes, including with multiple stakeholders;
• Survey design and implementation;
• Social science research;
• Project/programme/policy planning, monitoring and management;
• Strong awareness and sensitivity to gender issues and EVAW programming;
• Understanding of human rights-based approaches to programming;
• Understanding of Results Based Management (RBM) principles; 
• Logic modeling/logical framework analysis;
• Quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis;
• Rapid assessment procedures; and
• Participatory approaches.

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Advocates and promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UN;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability; and
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Functional Competencies:

• Technical knowledge of policies and programmes on gender equality;
• Experiences in working on rights based approaches including intervention models to address multiple and interesting forms of discrimination;
• Demonstrates awareness and sensitivity regarding gender issues;
• Strong understanding of various methodologies in gender responsive monitoring and evaluation, both qualitative and quantitative, such as surveys, record reviews, focus groups and cases studies;
• Ability to contribute to the development of efficient and effective monitoring and evaluation methodology for programming;
• Ability to build and sustain effective partnerships with UN Agencies and main constituents, advocate effectively, communicate sensitively across different constituencies;
• Ability to work in a multicultural environment and in a team;
• Strong interpersonal skills;
• Focuses on impact and result for the client;
• Demonstrates creativity and creative problem solving;
• Schedules activities to ensure optimum use of time and resources; monitors performance against development and other objectives and corrects deviations from the course;
• In providing advice to the Resident Coordinator’s Office (RCO) and the UNCT, has the capacity to gather comprehensive information on complex problems or situations; evaluates information accurately and identifies key issues required to resolve problems;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Demonstrates excellent oral and written communication skills;
• Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure;
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities; and
• Responds positively to critical feedback and differing points of view.

Education:

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in evaluation or relevant social science or related field is required.
• A relevant Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) with two additional years of qualifying experience.

Experience:

• At least 5 years (7 for a Bachelor’s degree) of progressively responsible professional experience in monitoring and evaluation, including hands-on experience in design, monitoring and evaluation of development projects;
• At least 3 years of professional experience working on gender equality and/or human rights;
• Experience in monitoring & evaluation of programmes; and
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages, experience in handling of web based management and knowledge management/M&E systems. 

Language Requirements: Fluency in spoken and written English.

Important applicant information

All posts in the SC categories are subject to local recruitment.

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