UNDP Jobs - 77260- Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist (Electoral Su

Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist (Electoral Support)

Location :

Lusaka, ZAMBIA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Mar-2018

Application Deadline :

23-Feb-18 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

9 months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

9 months

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 project Consolidation of the Electoral Process in Zambia: Support to the Electoral Cycle 2015-2017, extended to 2018, aims to consolidate the gains of previous electoral support projects and broader UNDP programmatic support in the area of democratic governance. The outcomes, outputs and activities described are the response to and result of detailed discussions with the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) and other national stakeholders.

The project was designed to support the ECZ and other stakeholders in supporting the organisation of 2016 elections and also to ensure support beyond the elections for all phases of the electoral cycle. The overall support provided by this project targets improvements in i) Enhanced institutional and functional efficiency of the ECZ to conduct quality and cost effective elections; ii) Integrity of outcome of elections; iii) Political party management and planning capacities and women in leadership in political parties enhanced; iv) Institutional effectiveness of early warning, incident mapping and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms and v) Enhancing media’s credibility in the electoral process. Focus for the coming year will include supporting the ECZ in implementation of its election lessons learned and 2016-2020 strategic plan, strengthening the institutional and organizational capacity of the ECZ, support to the relevant authorities in review of applicable legislation, and initiatives relating to the involvement of media and CSOs in electoral processes.

The project started in February 2016 and will run to the end of December 2018. It is financed through a basket fund supported by the European Union, DFID, Irish Aid, USAID and UNDP. In the light of recommendations of evaluations of past electoral assistance programmes implemented by UNDP in Zambia, an emphasis is placed on effective monitoring and evaluation of the impact of the project on beneficiaries and on the electoral process as a whole. It also aims to provide sustainable institutional development support through transferring M&E know-how to relevant staff within the ECZ. To support this work, the project seeks a Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist to apply appropriate monitoring and evaluation for all project-related endeavours according to best practices and advise on the establishment of monitoring and evaluation mechanisms within the ECZ.

Duties and Responsibilities

Project Monitoring and Evaluation

Develop and maintain the project’s monitoring and evaluation plan, based on the project document log frames and indicators, particularly the M&E plan developed with the EU which needs to be updated with the current Annual Workplans. This will include the following:

Identify sources of data, collection methods, who collects data, how often, cost of collection and who analyzes it;
Develop criteria and an evaluation scheme for the project impact, benefit and sustainability;
Prepare a detailed M&E budget and calendar of M&E activities.

Monitoring and Evaluation of Project Activities

Oversee and execute M&E activities included in the Annual Work Plan and the M&E plan, with particular focus on results and impacts. This will include following:

Based on the AWP and the programme budgets, design the framework for the physical and process monitoring of project activities;
Promote a results-based approach for monitoring and evaluation, emphasizing results and impact;
Prepare consolidated progress reports for project management including identification of problems, causes of potential bottlenecks in project implementation, and providing specific recommendations;
Check that monitoring data are discussed in the appropriate fora and in a timely fashion in terms of implications for future action. If necessary, create such discussion fora to fill any gaps;
Undertake regular visits to the field to support implementation of M&E and to identify where adaptations might be needed;
Facilitate, act as resource person, and join if required any external supervision and evaluation missions;
Monitor the follow up of evaluation recommendations.

Technical Advice on Monitoring and Evaluation

Work with ECZ to assist in providing them with an M&E plan that will monitor and evaluate the progress in implementing its strategic and annual workplans:

Based on the ECZ strategic and annual workplans, and in particular the relevant operating budgets, design the framework for the physical and process monitoring of all ECZ activities;
Support ECZ in defining the most relevant baseline data, indicators and sources of verification;
Provide relevant staff in ECZ with comprehensive M&E training, including establishing monitoring frameworks and understanding how to report against them;
Ensure that ECZ has physical and electronic copies of documentation that will act as a knowledge resource base for all future M&E activities that ECZ will wish to undertake in future.

Lessons Learned

Design and implement a system to identify, analyze, document and disseminate lessons learned;
Ensure that TOR for consultants recruited by the project also incorporate mechanisms to capture and share lessons learned through their inputs to the project, and to ensure that the results are reflected in the reporting system described above;
Facilitate exchange of experiences by supporting and coordinating participation in any existing network of projects sharing common characteristics;
Identify and participate in additional networks, for example scientific or policy-based networks that may also yield lessons that can benefit project implementation.

Support to Project Management

Be responsible for writing project reports, such as interim and final reports, and other reports requested by the Project Manager and by the UNDP Country Office;
Contribute to the preparation of annual and quarterly workplans;
Act as a facilitator or trainer in areas of his/her knowledge as required;
Other duties as required by the Project Manager or the UNDP Country Office.

Impact of Results

The quality of UNDP reporting on the project is timely, comprehensive and of high quality;
The direction of the project is brought into focus by the setting of relevant targets and benchmarks;
Donors are satisfied with the quality of the information they are receiving on the impact their funds are having on the electoral process;
The global principles of UNDP's Results Based Management are strengthened in the project.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards
Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability
Treats all people fairly without favouritism

Functional Competencies:

Demonstrates a solid understanding of development initiatives – preferably in the field of democratic governance, with a focus on participatory processes, joint management, and gender issues;
Is familiar with and shows a supportive attitude towards processes of strengthening local organisations and building local capacities for self-management;
Displays good personal organization, interpersonal and communication skills.

Knowledge Management and Learning

Promotes knowledge management in UNDP and a learning environment in the office through leadership and personal example
Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more practice areas, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills

Development and Operational Effectiveness

Able to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting
Able to lead formulation and monitoring of management projects

Management and Leadership

Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and results for the client and responds positively to feedback
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude
Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities
Leads teams effectively and shows mentoring as well as conflict resolution skills
Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills
Remains calm, in control and good humoured even under pressure
Willingness to undertake regular field visits and interact with different stakeholders, especially primary stakeholders.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

A Master's degree or equivalent in political science, international relations, social sciences, public administration or related field.

Experience:

A minimum of seven years’ relevant professional experience, including:

Experience in planning, design and implementation of M&E systems;
Experience in application of the logical framework, other strategic planning approaches, M&E methods and data/information analysis;
Experience in the area of electoral support is desirable;
Experience working at national and sub-national levels on national development issues an asset;
Experience working with UNDP, other UN entities, donor organizations or development organizations is an asset.

Must have a high level of computer literacy (competent in MS Office) and good technical report writing skills.

Language:

Fluency in English, with good verbal and written skills.