Background

Instructions to Applicants: Click on the "Apply now" button. Input your information in the appropriate Sections: personal information, language proficiency, education, resume and motivation. Upon completion of the first page, please hit "submit application" tab at the end of the page. Please ensure that CV or P11 and the Cover letter are combined in one file.

The following documents shall be required from the applicants:

Personal CV or P11, indicating all past positions held and their main underlying functions, their durations (month/year), the qualifications, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate, and at least three (3) the most recent professional references of previous supervisors. References may also include peers.

A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page) indicating why the candidate considers him-/herself to be suitable for the position.

Managers may ask (ad hoc) for any other materials relevant to pre-assessing the relevance of their experience, such as reports, presentations, publications, campaigns or other materials.

Independent Evaluation Office of UNDP

The Independent Evaluation Office of UNDP supports the oversight and accountability functions of the Executive Board and the management of UNDP, UNCDF and UNV. The structural independence of the Office underpins and guarantees its freedom to conduct evaluations and report evaluation results to the Executive Board. The IEO conducts independent evaluations and other activities according to its programme of work approved by the Executive Board. The work of the IEO includes:

• Conducting thematic programmatic and other independent evaluations, ensuring strategic and representative coverage of UNDP programmes and results against national, regional and global scales;
• Developing evaluation standards, procedures, criteria and methodological guidance for UNDP evaluations, and contributing to innovation in evaluation methodology and dissemination of good practices;
• Providing UNDP and its development partners with timely knowledge and lessons drawn from evaluations that can feed into development programming at global, regional and country levels;
• Assessing the quality of decentralized evaluations of UNDP, UNCDF and UNV, and monitoring compliance with best international evaluation and data collection standards, including the UNEG norms and standards, code of conduct and ethical guidelines;
• Communicating its evaluation findings, conclusions and recommendations through multiple channels and maintaining a searchable, publicly accessible repository of all UNDP, UNCDF and UNV evaluations, and respective management responses and resulting actions;
• Supporting the development of communities of practice, and partnering with professional evaluation networks to improve evaluation utility and credibility;
• Supporting the harmonization of the evaluation function in the United Nations system, including contributing to the annual work programme of UNEG, participating in systemwide evaluations, and prioritizing joint evaluations with United Nations organizations; and
• Promoting national ownership and leadership in evaluation through country-led and joint evaluations.

Institutional Arrangement

The Research Consultants will be supervised by the Chief of Section, Knowledge and Data Management section, and will work in close collaboration with other units of IEO.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

The Research Consultant will provide direct support to the implementation of IEO’s evaluations and synthesis products being planned for 2022-2023, with particular attention to the utilisation of GIS tools to augment existing research and data analysis methods.  He/she will be responsible for supporting preliminary research and data collection and analysis, working closely with IEO evaluation managers. The work of the Research Consultant will be guided by IEO’s knowledge and data management strategy, and country programme, thematic evaluation and evaluation synthesis research and process manuals.

The specific tasks include, but not limited to, the following:

• Analyzing geographic data, UNDP project data and other data sources to design digital maps and overlays that offer evaluative insights on patterns and trends;
• Survey and gathering of UNDP corporate programme documents, results reports, country and financial data, and any other information relevant to the countries and programmes under review, as well as any externally available background material relevant to the themes, countries and programmes under review;
• Compilation of data and uploading of background material to IEO’s common document portal;

• Initial desk reviews of material, preparation of analytical material, including infographics for use in the evaluation reports as well as for other IEO knowledge products; and
• Provision of other general research support, as required by the IEO.

The research consultant will work as a member of the evaluation team, contributing to the efficient and effective execution of evaluation activities and the establishment of strong and reliable research base at the IEO.      

Competencies

Required Skills and Experience