UNDP Jobs - 68072- EOI: Evaluation Consultant

EOI: Evaluation Consultant - Quality Assessments of Decentralized Evaluation Reports, Independent Evaluation Office

Location :

Home-based

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

21-Sep-2016

Application Deadline :

02-Sep-16 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

One year, renewable for 2 additional years

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

The Independent Evaluation Office is a functionally independent unit within UNDP that supports the oversight and accountability functions of the UNDP Executive Board and the management of UNDP. The work of the office includes conducting thematic, programmatic and other independent evaluations; developing evaluation standards, procedures criteria and methodological guidance for UNDP evaluations; and assessing the quality of decentralized evaluations commissioned by the various UNDP Bureaus and offices.

Decentralized evaluations include programme-level evaluations, outcome evaluations, and project evaluations. UNDP Bureaus and country offices develop Evaluation Plans, articulating the evaluations to be carried out during each 5 year planning cycle. Approximately 200 - 250 decentralized evaluations get carried out world-wide each year. UNDP Bureaus and Country Offices have discretion over which of their programmes and projects are evaluated, unless otherwise specified in partnership agreements with funders. Of particular relevance to these terms of reference, all full size projects funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) require a final (terminal) evaluation upon closure.

High-quality evaluations are critical for results-based management, knowledge generation for wider use, and for accountability to programme partners. One of the requirements of the UNDP evaluation policy is that programme units – policy, practice, regional bureaus and country offices – ensure that evaluations inform programme management and contribute to development results. Therefore, UNDP has been increasingly emphasizing the need to carry out high quality decentralized evaluations. As part of this process, the UNDP Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) assesses the quality of the decentralized evaluations carried out each year. These assessment findings are made available to the relevant UNDP Bureaus and programme units, and are reported to the UNDP Executive Board as part of the IEO Annual Report on Evaluation. The IEO has recently revised its Quality Assessment System for Decentralized Evaluation Reports, which will be used to assess the quality of evaluation reports in the coming years.

This call for expressions of interest (EOI) sets out the expected responsibilities of evaluation consultants for the QA of Decentralised Evaluations who have experience in the following areas of expertise:

Sustainable Development including - Poverty reduction, Natural resource management, Development planning and risk management;
Democratic governance - Enabling and strengthening Governance systems; Governance strengthening and innovation; Civil society engagement and inclusion; Integrity in public institutions;
Resilience - Supporting recovery in all aspects from conflict (economic and governance); Preparing for and dealing with the consequences of natural disasters; and
Environment and Energy - Water use and systems; Air pollution and quality; Land degradation; Coastal erosion; Efficient energy use.

The specific Terms of Reference for each evaluation team member will be provided at a later date to interested candidates who meet the required qualifications set out in this EOI. The duration of each consultancy will vary depending on the number of decentralised evaluations undertaken during 2016 by UNDP country offices and the sectors evaluated, and is expected to range between 30 and 50 work days annually.

For more information on IEO activities, visit undp.org/evaluation.

Duties and Responsibilities

Evaluation consultants are sought for the Quality Assessment of decentralised evaluations from all regions, and including GEF terminal evaluations. Consultants are being sought who can utilise their technical expertise and knowledge to assess the work of UNDP across multiple development sectors.

Under the supervision of the respective IEO QA Decentralised Evaluation Manager, consultants will perform the following tasks:

Familiarize him/herself with current guidelines and standards of the Quality Assessment System;
With other selected consultants, carry out a calibration exercise for the QA tool to ensure common understanding of definitions and rating scales; and
Carefully read each assigned evaluation, and when required, any additional background documentation provided by the IEO, and carry out the assessment. It is estimated that evaluation reviews will take between 0.5 and 1 day depending on the complexity of the programme being evaluated.

Deliverables

The consultant will provide a quality assessment report (in English) for each evaluation, using an on-line system.

Drafts will be submitted to the IEO for checking and then finalized.

Competencies

Excellent analytical and presentation skills and the ability to distill information.
The ability to deliver high-quality reports under short deadlines.
Excellent writing skills

Required Skills and Experience

Education

Master’s degree or higher in Social Sciences, Public Policy, International Relations, Natural Sciences or other fields relevant to UNDP’s work.

Experience

More than 5 years’ experience in project and programme evaluation in one of the areas outlined below, preferably with UNDP, GEF or other United Nations agencies and major donors.
In-depth knowledge of UNDP is required of all interested applicants.
Knowledge and experience in the Quality Assessment of evaluations would be an asset.
For consultants applying to work in the area of environment and energy, in-depth knowledge of the GEF and experience in evaluating GEF-funded projects is required.

Language

Fluency in English is essential;
Fluency in French and Spanish is an asset

Application Instructions

The following documents should be uploaded as one document onto the UNDP Jobs site:

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;
A brief cover letter (250-400 words) specifying: (a) experience in evaluation and quality assessment of evaluations (b) area of expertise within UNDP’s thematic programme areas detailed above. Several areas of expertise can be chosen.

Applications without these two components will not be considered.

When uploading onto the UNDP Jobs site, combine all documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system allows a maximum upload of one document.