Background

Organizational Context

UNDP is the UN's global development network, an organization advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. We are on the ground in 166 countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges. As they develop local capacity, they draw on the people of UNDP and our wide range of partners
 
The UNDP Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) works to enhance the development effectiveness of UNDP to help men and women build a better life. IEO strengthens accountability and learning through evaluation and partnership. The mandated responsibility of IEO is to support the Administrator in her substantive accountability function and to contribute to organizational learning. IEO provides systematic and independent assessment of results, effectiveness and impact of the substantive activities of the programme, including the special purpose funds under the Administrator’s responsibilities. The Independent Evaluation Office conducts strategic, thematic, programmatic and country level evaluations. It assures the quality and use of UNDP evaluations by establishing norms, standards and guidelines and by knowledge sharing and networking. The Office advances innovation in development evaluation through a global partnership.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Key functions

The Deputy Director reports to the Director of IEO and holds key oversight, managerial, and supervisory responsibilities over all professional and operational staff. Operating with critical delegation of authority from the Director for operations, the main responsibilities of the incumbent will be in the following key areas:

Leadership and Strategic Planning:

The Deputy Director supports the Director in providing intellectual and organizational leadership and strategic guidance to UNDP’s evaluation function and the implementation of the UNDP evaluation policy. He/she develops the annual workplan for the office which encompasses all streams of work including approximately 20 evaluations, corporate support and evaluation knowledge management. He/she will be responsible for fostering an environment of methodological rigor and professional empowerment of IEO’s team to live up to the high standards expected by the stakeholders. He/she will support the Director in managing interactions with the senior management, the executive Board and other external/ internal stakeholders.

 Management Oversight and supervision:

The incumbent will exercise management oversight in the implementation of the substantive overall programme of work of the office. The DD supervises the senior staff including team leaders and the GEF Evaluation Advisor and provides direct inputs to policy and methodological positions of IEO. He/she is responsible for early engagement in evaluation process to assure quality and substance, provision of substantive guidance as the work progresses and management of issues relating to policy, political sensitivity, credibility and use of evaluations.

Administrative, Financial and human resource management and accountability:

The incumbent is responsible for oversight and accountability of core resources currently at 8 million USD per year and extra budgetary funds mobilized from donors. In managing the accountability and ensuring smooth functioning of the office, the incumbent will exercise oversight and executive responsibility over the office budget, recruitment of staff and consultants, all financial expenditure and procurement, and operations support. He/she directly supervises the Operations Manager, the IT Specialist and one senior support staff working on operations.

Partnership and support to UN Evaluation Group:

The incumbent provides strategic support and inputs to the Director in enhancing partnerships within and outside the UN when the responsibility of the Executive Coordinator of UN Evaluation Group (UNEG) is delegated to him/her. She/he provides leadership in IEOs participation in substantive activities of UNEG and manages the Secretariat.

Specific duties will include, but not limited to, the following:

Maintain and ensure adherence to UNDP’s Evaluation Policy.
Supervise or task manage of evaluations or assessments of UNDP programmes, themes or policies of key importance at  Introduce innovative and cutting edge evaluation methodologies to enhance the rigour of evaluations carried out by IEO.
Ensure IEO’s high quality methodological and process standards through strict guidance to IEO professionals and evaluation consultants.
Foster and sustain productive partnerships for evaluation with UN system evaluation offices/units and multilateral institutions on the one hand and with leading evaluation institutions, networks and regional/national professional associations on the other.
Provide strategic advisory support and guidance on evaluation matters to country offices and HQ units.
Coordinate responses to any corporate requirements or demands from external parties.
Coach and mentor staff as required, more particularly the mid managers to maintain a sustainable delivery capacity in IEO.

The Deputy Director’s key results also have a considerable impact on overall economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of office operations as it relates to the use of corporate resources in the following areas:

•     Financial services;
•     Human Resources;
•     Procurement and logistics.

Impact of Results

• The key results have an impact on the overall effectiveness and success of UNDP’s interventions and activities in achieving UNDP mandate at the country levels;
• Effective implementation of evaluation policies and strategies, as well as efficient management of the evaluation process;
  
• Enhance the organization’s capacity and credibility to provide leadership and high-quality technical advice on the formulation of innovative programme strategies and projects which address specific needs of the country in the UNDP Practice Areas.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates commitment to UNDP's mission, vision and values;
• Displays adaptability, understanding and respecting for differences in culture, local customs, religious beliefs and practices, gender roles, disability, age and ethnicity, and is skillful in incorporating these when undertaking and managing evaluations as well as when leading staff;
• Displays a thorough understanding of the Standards of ethical conduct for evaluators, are able to promote a strong ethic work environment in the office, have integrity and honesty in all working relationships and act as a role model for staff with regard to ethical behavior. 
  

Functional Competencies:

Evaluation:

• Broad based development experience , in particular knowledge of UNDP and practice areas of UNDP;
• Excellent knowledge of emerging global issues and evaluation trends that impact on the work of their office and the skills necessary to advance the evaluation profession within the United Nations as well as within the larger evaluation community;
• Knowledge of the role of evaluation in the organization , advances and important directions in evaluation, including important partnerships to be forged;
• Knowledge of capacity development and of the current efforts in evaluation capacity development;
• Have good technical knowledge of the different components of evaluation, including evaluation design, data collection and analysis, and reporting, and the skills needed to provide substantive guidance to staff on evaluation design methodology and reporting.

Leadership, management and Communication:

• Strong ability to plan and implement an effective office strategy for systematic follow-up to evaluation recommendations and in developing an effective dissemination and outreach strategy for evaluation reports;
• Strong networking skills, representing the office at senior level meetings, and cultivating good relationships with Member States, donors, programme managers, Country Offices and Corporate Bureaux, while maintaining accountability and independence;
• Excellent ability for facilitation of learning about evaluation and its purpose, including guiding the distilment, communication and reporting of best practices and lessons learned;
• Demonstrated openness to change ,  ability to manage complexities  to develop and support the implementation of systems and change management models;
• Effective team leadership and conflict resolution skills; demonstrating excellent coaching and mentoring competencies;
• Excellent leadership skills in promoting a positive work environment in IEO, by empowering staff, fostering creative problem-solving, ensuring transparent communication and participatory decision-making, and promoting open and effective interpersonal relationships among staff;
• Excellent negotiation skills that can be applied to complex situations, within and outside the office, on all issues related to evaluation;
• Excellent presentation skills and the ability to represent the evaluation office at senior level meetings and other high level fora;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, and the ability to effectively communicate complex information in a clear and concise manner to all audiences, as well as to provide guidance to staff on all written products and oral presentations.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced (Masters) University Degree in Social sciences , Economics, Business or Public Administration. PhD in a relevant area is desirable.

Experience:

• A minimum of 15 years experience in progressively responsible and relevant professional experience in development with substantial experience in conducting and managing evaluations an international level;
• Experience in managing multi-disciplinary multi-cultural teams in evaluation;
• Understanding of UNDP and UN system operations both at the corporate and the country level.

Language:

• Working language is English;
• Fluency in Spanish and/or French or other UN official language is strongly advantageous.