UNDP Jobs - 107718- Consultants: Quality Assessments of Decentralised

Consultants: Quality Assessments of Decentralised Evaluation Reports, Independent Evaluation Office

Location :

Home-based

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Sep-2022

Application Deadline :

27-Jul-22 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

One year, with possible extension

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 annually assessing and reporting on the quality of decentralized evaluations commissioned by the various UNDP Bureaux and offices.

UNDP Bureaus and Country Offices develop and implement evaluation plans following the requirements detailed within the 2021 updated UNDP Evaluation Guidelines. These decentralized evaluations include programme-level evaluations, outcome evaluations, thematic evaluations, and project evaluations. Approximately 300decentralized evaluations are carried out world-wide each year, of these around 120 are Global Environment Facility (GEF) final or mid-term evaluations.

UNDP Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) assesses the quality of the decentralized evaluations carried out in any given year on a quarterly basis. These quality assessment findings are made available to the relevant UNDP Bureaus and programme units to support learning and improvements in evaluation quality. Quality assessment results are also reported to the UNDP Executive Board as part of the IEO Annual Report on Evaluation. The IEO has developed a quality assessment system for decentralized evaluations to assess the quality of evaluation reports and give feedback to evaluation commissioning units.

This advertisement sets out the expected responsibilities of a pool of evaluation consultants selected for work on the quality assessment of decentralised evaluations.

Selected candidates will be issued a long-term agreement (LTA) which will be valid initially for a period of one year, and may be renewed up to a maximum of two additional years. Each consultancy will vary depending on the number of decentralised evaluations undertaken during a given year by UNDP country offices, but is expected to range between 10 and 40 work days annually. The selected consultants will, therefore, be given intermittent work on an "on call" basis.

Duties and Responsibilities

Evaluation consultants are sought from all regions and across technical areas, including GEF evaluation implementation experience. Consultants are being sought who can utilise their technical expertise and knowledge to assess the evaluation work of UNDP across multiple development sectors.

Under the supervision of the respective IEO decentralised evaluation quality assessment 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 to ensure common understanding of definitions and rating scales under the quality assessment tool.
Carefully read each assigned evaluation, and when required, any additional background documentation provided by the IEO, and carry out the quality assessment using an on-line assessment tool.
It is estimated that evaluation reviews will take between 0.5 and 1 day depending on the complexity of the programme, and evaluation being quality assessed and the amount of supporting documentation.
Summarize key findings and common issues related to the quality of decentralized evaluations, when required.
Consultants with gender expertise may also be asked to assess a set of UNDP evaluations in accordance with the guidance contained in the UNEG Guidance Document entitled “UN System Wide Action Plan on Gender Mainstreaming (UN-SWAP) Evaluation Performance Indicator Technical Note (April 2018)” and prepare a short report.
Consultants will support IEO in the selection process of the Evaluation Excellence Awards, for examples, identifying innovative evaluations.

Competencies

Excellent analytical and presentation skills and the ability to distill information.
The ability to deliver high-quality and usable 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 7 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.
Academic and/or professional background in the following areas are desired:
- Sustainable Development including;
  1. Poverty reduction and inequalities
  2. Natural resource management
  3. Development planning and risk management
- Democratic governance;
  1. Enabling and strengthening Governance systems
  2. Governance strengthening and innovation
  3. Civil society engagement and inclusion
  4. Integrity in public institutions.
- Resilience
  1. Supporting recovery in all aspects from conflict (economic and governance)
  2. Preparing for and dealing with the consequences of natural disasters
- Environment and Energy
  1. Water use and systems
  2. Air pollution and quality
  3. Land degradation
  4. Coastal erosion
  5. Efficient energy use
- Gender equality and women’s empowerment, including gender-responsive evaluation
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.
Understanding and knowledge of UNDP is an advantage.

Language

Fluency in English is essential.
Fluency in French, Spanish and other UN working languages is an asset.

Application Instructions

Applicants are invited to upload as one combined document the following documents to the UNDP Jobs site:

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 completed Confirmation of Interest and Submission of Financial Proposal Form that indicates your daily rate for this consultancy; and;
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 (more than one can be chosen).

Candidates not sending any of the requested information will be disqualified. Please note that the system can only accept one uploaded document therefore all documents must be combined into a single document for upload.