Programme Coordination and Evaluation Officer

Org. Setting and Reporting

UNRWA, the largest United Nations operation in the Middle East with over 30,000 staff working across five areas of operation, is looking for highly committed personnel wishing to make a change.

If you are looking for a rewarding opportunity to make a tangible difference for one of the most vulnerable communities in the world, UNRWA would like to hear from you.

The Programme Coordination and Evaluation Officer reports to the Field Programme Support Officer.

Responsibilities

- Programme planning and coordination:

• Develops the overall framework of field emergency programming planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation and reporting, including the Emergency Appeal.

• Coordinates emergency programme planning with relevant programme departments; prepares relevant proposals, log frames, work plans and detailed budgets.

• Supervises the work of emergency programme support staff; provides guidance and technical support to programme teams.

• Leads the development of the Emergency Programming Plan, ensuring alignment with Field /HQ strategy, agreement on programme indicators and inclusion of monitoring and evaluation activities in the work plan.

• Establishes contacts and liaises with other humanitarian stakeholders such as UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, UN agencies, and INGOs; Represents and actively participates in humanitarian coordination fora.

• Reviews and provides feedback to programmes on emergency response methodologies, monitoring data, and reporting.

• Supports Field Office management with ad hoc emergency planning, including preparedness, contingency and business continuity plans.

- Programme monitoring, evaluation and learning:

• Oversees and executes the monitoring and evaluation activities in the emergency programme.

• Develops the framework for the monitoring, evaluation, and learning of emergency programme activities.

• Promotes a results-based approach to monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning.

• Coordinates the preparation of emergency programme reports; guides staff and partners in preparing reports in accordance with approved reporting formats and ensures timely submission.

• Ensures that monitoring data are discussed in appropriate fora and in a timely manner for future action.

• Undertakes regular visits to the fields to support implementation of monitoring and evaluation, check the quality of data produced, and identify where adaptations might be needed; monitors the follow up of evaluation recommendations with Programme teams.

• Fosters participatory planning and monitoring; organizes and provides refresher training in monitoring and evaluation for programme and partner staff, and primary stakeholders, promoting the development of local monitoring and evaluation capacity.

• Facilitates, acts as a focal point, and participates in, as required, external supervision and evaluation missions.

• Identifies the need and develops TORs for monitoring and evaluation activities; recruits, guides and supervises consultants or organizations contracted to implement.

- Accountability:

• Develops field complaints mechanisms, related processes and procedures to ensure that departments and programmes have access to, and are able to respond to, community feedback.

• Coordinates with departments and programmes the implementation of complaints mechanism, including the quality and timeliness of responses to complaints.

• Provides regular summaries of key issues raised through complaints mechanisms to the field office Management and senior staff of departments, with recommendations.

• Supports departments and programmes to internalize the feedback received through complaints system to enhance the quality of activities and services.

• Conducts studies and research on specific inter-departmental and cross-cutting issues on the causes and roots of problems identified through complaints mechanism or other sources.

• Promotes a culture of learning throughout the emergency programme by utilizing relevant research, facilitating reflection exercises to promote evidence-based planning, and coordinating participation in relevant fora.

Competencies

UN Core Values of Integrity, Professionalism and Respect for Diversity, and Core Competencies of Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results apply by default. Default managerial competencies may apply.

Leading and Supervising
Applying Technical Expertise
Analyzing
Planning and Organizing
Adapting and Responding to Change

For guidance on how to prepare for competency-based interviews: https://careers.un.org/lbw/home.aspx?viewtype=AYI.

Education

An advanced university degree (Master’s or Equivalent) from an accredited educational institution in social sciences, development studies, statistics, economics or a related field.

Work Experience

A minimum of 5 years of relevant experience in emergency programme planning and coordination processes, team management, monitoring, evaluation and learning, and capacity building, in large governmental or international organization, is required.

Unless already serving as an international staff member in the UN Common System, at least two continuous years of relevant international experience outside UNRWA, and outside the country/ies of which the candidate is a national or holds citizenship, a passport or a national identity number is required.

A solid understanding of the management of cross-cutting issues, with a focus on participatory processes, integrated programming, protection and gender mainstreaming, is desirable.

Comprehensive understanding of local and regional political, social and economic issues is desirable.

Experience with UNRWA, or other UN/humanitarian agencies, is desirable.

Knowledge of Arabic language is desirable

Languages

- Excellent command of written and spoken English, is required.
- Knowledge of Arabic Language, is desirable.

Assessment

Evaluation of qualified candidates may include an assessment exercise which may be followed by competency-based interview.

Special Notice

Type of Contract and duration: 2 years, with the possibility of further extension.

The Programme Coordination and Evaluation Officer may be required to travel throughout the Agency’s area of operations in the Middle East.

Applicants have to complete the Personal History Profile (PHP) in inspira in order to be considered. The PHP should be completed with full relevant work experience as per the requirements in the Job Opening, in order to be considered.

UNRWA welcomes applications from qualified candidates with disabilities.

A roster may be created from the selection exercise, and successful candidates may become eligible for a temporary appointment to the same post or a similar post.

Equivalency may apply.
NB: work experience alone or formal qualifications with no relevant work experience are not considered an acceptable combination.

UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions from UN member states, regional bodies, business foundations and individual contributions. The mission of UNRWA is to help Palestine refugees achieve their full potential in human development under the difficult circumstances in which they live.

For more details on UNRWA, please visit: https://www.unrwa.org/

United Nations Considerations

Staff members are subject to the authority of the Commissioner-General of UNRWA and to assignment by him or her.

UNRWA is committed to achieving gender parity at all levels of staffing under the current UN-wide gender agenda and strongly encourages applications from qualified applicants from under-represented groups.

At UNRWA, the paramount consideration in the recruitment and employment of staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity, with due regard to geographic diversity. All employment decisions are made on the basis of qualifications and organizational needs. UNRWA is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. Reasonable accommodation for applicants with disabilities may be provided to support participation in the recruitment process when requested and indicated in the application.

UNRWA Considerations
UNRWA staff are expected to uphold the highest standards of efficiency, competence, neutrality, impartiality and integrity. This includes respect for and commitment to human rights, diversity and non-violent means of dealing with all kinds of conflict. Only persons who fully and unconditionally commit to these values should consider applying for UNRWA jobs. Candidates will not be considered for employment with UNRWA if they have committed violations of international human rights law, violations of international humanitarian law, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment, or if there are reasonable grounds to believe that they have been involved in the commission of any of these acts. Candidates who have committed crimes other than minor traffic offences may not be considered for employment. The Agency may disqualify applicants who have separated for reason of misconduct, who left a UN Agency while misconduct processes were pending, or who appear on the UN Sanctions List.
UNRWA is a non-smoking work environment.

Applicants are urged to follow carefully all instructions available in the online recruitment platform, inspira. For more detailed guidance, applicants may refer to the Manual for the Applicant, which can be accessed by clicking on “Manuals” hyper-link on the upper right side of the inspira account-holder homepage.

The evaluation of applicants will be conducted on the basis of the information submitted in the application according to the evaluation criteria of the job opening and the applicable internal legislations of the United Nations including the Charter of the United Nations, resolutions of the General Assembly, the Staff Regulations and Rules, administrative issuances and guidelines. Applicants must provide complete and accurate information pertaining to their personal profile and qualifications according to the instructions provided in inspira to be considered for the current job opening. No amendment, addition, deletion, revision or modification shall be made to applications that have been submitted. Candidates under serious consideration for selection will be subject to reference checks to verify the information provided in the application.

Job openings advertised on the Careers Portal will be removed at 11:59 p.m. (New York time) on the deadline date.