UNDP Jobs - 62084- Research Consultant for the Joint Assessment of UN

Research Consultant for the Joint Assessment of UNDP's Institutional Effectiveness

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

03-Jan-2016

Application Deadline :

16-Dec-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

3 January - 3 December 2016

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

In its current Strategic Plan, 2014 -2017, UNDP committed itself to help countries eradicate extreme poverty and to significantly reduce inequalities and exclusion using a sustainable human development approach. To deliver on this vision, UNDP is undergoing organizational transformation to make it ‘fit for purpose’ and to make best use of the resources entrusted to it. The intent of these changes is for the organization to become more focused, results-driven, effective and efficient. These efforts build on a range of institutional changes initiated in the previous Strategic Plan, 2008-2013.

In 2016, the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) and the Office of Audit and Investigations (OAI) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will conduct a joint assessment of UNDP’s Institutional Effectiveness. To view the terms of reference, please click here.

The objectives of this assessment is to assess the extent to which ongoing efforts towards organizational changes promoted in the Strategic Plans have already enhanced or have the potential to enhance UNDP’s institutional effectiveness and efficiency and ensure that the Organization is “fit for purpose”.

This will include to:

Identify the factors that affected UNDP contribution towards enhanced institutional effectiveness and efficiency, including, strengths and weaknesses, threats and opportunities; as well as which decisions, strategies and approaches have worked and which have not and the reasons for those; and finally;
Provide conclusions to help improve UNDP’s approach to measuring and enhancing its institutional effectiveness.

Scope of the Joint Assessment

By way of timeframe, the current assessment will bring emphasis to UNDP’s relevant work as undertaken during the period from 2010 - 2015, with particular emphasis on the latest initiatives of the current Strategic Plan and the restructuring process, where possible, and focusing on organizational measures aiming at higher quality programming.

Specific aspects will be selected within the overall focus of examining institutional effectiveness at the corporate, regional and country level, with the clear understanding that UNDP is in the midst of ongoing reforms and some initiatives may be too recent to allow conclusive findings.

The assessment will also explore focus on the implementation and management of the latest Structural Change process. This will include how the Organizational Design Guiding Principles were developed.

The Structural Change exercise was part of a larger commitment to the Executive Board that UNDP would improve its institutional effectiveness to meet the Strategic Plan's objectives.

Its goals were to promote better integration, both functionally and geographically through:

Strengthening UNDP's regional presence;
Consolidation of the policy functions;
Rationalization of management support: allowing bureaux to concentrate on programme implementation and on their core competencies; and
Improvement of management to staff ratios.

The current study will thus bring complementarity to a number of other initiatives that will look into some of these sub-areas over the same time period that this joint assessment is scheduled to take place, including the MOPAN Assessment, MAR assessment (Nov2015), various audits, the Joint Inspection Unit, the mid-term review of the Strategic Plan, and the IEO’s evaluation of the Strategic Plan, 2014-2017.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the IEO Evaluation Manager, the institutional effectiveness research consultant will be responsible for the following tasks:

Collect, organize and conduct analyses of relevant documentation required to prepare inception reports, terms of reference, and the context chapters of evaluation reports;
Set up dedicated evaluation website and Sharepoint site for sharing data, and maintain these sites during the evaluations;
Identify and abstract from the wider literature on the evaluation subject for use as background by the evaluation team, and manage this research database;
Collect and analyze relevant statistics on the subject;
Assist in the development and implementation of surveys and other fact finding methodologies as and when established in the assessment;
Provide inputs for the background, findings and conclusions of chapters as needed;
Assist in the tracking of stakeholder comments to draft evaluation reports; and
Any other task related to the evaluation and deemed necessary by the Evaluation Manager.

The assignment may require travel and the adequate UNDP Travel rules for Consultants will be applied.

In performing the above tasks, the Research Consultant will adhere to the evaluation guidelines established by the Independent Evaluation Office, including the UNDP Handbook on Planning, Monitoring and Evaluating for Development Results, the thematic evaluation guidelines, and other guidance documents produced and made available by the Independent Evaluation Office. In addition in accepting the assignment the Research Consultant will accept the administrative procedures IEO has defined for Consultants in terms of benefits, entitlements and duties.

Duration and Timeframe of Assignment

This assignment will be for 11 months (January to December 2016), with possible extension based on a performance assessment. It will largely consist of desk-based work within the UNDP Independent Evaluation Office in New York City.

Competencies

Highest standards of integrity, discretion and loyalty;
Proven oral communication and drafting skills in English with excellent analysis and synthesis skills;
Positive contribution to the working environment, looking for opportunities to learn and share knowledge, and actively requesting feedback to improve his/her performance;
Self-development, initiative-taking;
Acting as a team player and facilitating team work;
Knowledge of UNDP and its institutional arrangements and tools, advantageous;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Knowledge and expertise in evaluation;
Expertise in designing and carrying out surveys, required; and
Ability to meet deadlines of delivery outputs within the agreed time-frame.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree in social science, business administration or related field.

Experience:

Minimum of two year experience in a similar research position, required;
Previous research experience in support of evaluations, required;
Previous experience of assessing UNDP, highly desirable;
Previous experience with and knowledge of UNDP or other UN agencies, advantageous.

Language:

Fluency in English, required;
Fluency in other UN languages, advantageous.

Application Instructions

The following documents should be supplied and uploaded as one document:

A cover letter with a short description of relevant experience;
Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP which includes providing an expected daily rate; and
Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of at least three (3) professional references.

Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows a maximum upload of one document.