Impact Evaluation – Field Coordinator Roster

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status or disability.

ABOUT WFP

The World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity, for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

At WFP, people are at the heart of everything we do and the vision of the future WFP workforce is one of diverse, committed, skilled, and high performing teams, selected on merit, operating in a healthy and inclusive work environment, living WFP's values (Integrity, Collaboration, Commitment, Humanity, and Inclusion) and working with partners to save and change the lives of those WFP serves.

To learn more about WFP, visit our website: https://www.wfp.org and follow us on social media to keep up with our latest news: YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter.

WHY JOIN WFP? 

• WFP is a 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.

• WFP offers a highly inclusive, diverse, and multicultural working environment.

• WFP invests in the personal & professional development of its employees through a range of training, accreditation, coaching, mentorship, and other programs as well as through internal mobility opportunities.

• A career path in WFP provides an exciting opportunity to work across the various country, regional and global offices around the world, and with passionate colleagues who work tirelessly to ensure that effective humanitarian assistance reaches millions of people across the globe.

• We offer an attractive compensation package (please refer to the Terms and Conditions section of this vacancy announcement).

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF ASSIGNMENT:

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetimes. Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

The WFP Office of Evaluation (OEV) provides global leadership, standard-setting and oversight of WFP’s entire evaluation function and is accountable for setting and enhancing the framework of norms and standards, accountabilities, and coverage for the different categories of evaluations (centralized, decentralized and impact); as well as maintaining the high quality of WFP’s evaluation function with continued innovation and improvement in evaluation quality and relevance.

The WFP Impact Evaluation Strategy (2019-2026) aims to achieve four main objectives:

1) contribute to the evidence base for achieving global goals;

2) deliver operationally relevant and useful Impact Evaluations;

3) maximize Impact Evaluation responsiveness to rapidly evolving contexts; and

4) harness the best tools and technologies for Impact Evaluation.

New programmes, technologies and data sources present great opportunities for WFP to harness the full potential of impact evaluation as a tool for learning. Impact evaluations are aligned with corporate evidence priorities through impact evaluation “windows”, which are OEV coordinated portfolios of country-specific impact evaluations. Current windows focus on 1) Cash-based transfers and gender equality and women's empowerment (GEWE), 2) Climate change and resilience, and 3) School-based programmes, and a potential fourth window on nutrition is currently under consideration.

Within this context, Field Coordinators carry out an important role, connecting the evaluation and programme teams at a country office level, and ensuring that the evaluation design is in line with programme implementation.  We are looking for dynamic, collaborative and highly motivated individuals to join the Field Coordinator Roster for positions ranging from 4 - 11 months duration (renewable), across the Latin America, Africa and Asia Pacific regions.

SCOPE OF WORK/TASKS & RESPONSIBILITIES:

The consultant will directly report to the head of monitoring and evaluation in the relevant WFP country office, and work under the technical supervision of the Evaluation Manager (EM) in the  Impact Evaluation Team established by the WFP Office of Evaluation. He/she will oversee the day-to-day implementation of the impact evaluations and liaise with the survey firm, the cooperating partner and the evaluation team. This can include dialogue with the governments and other stakeholders, supervision of data collection activities, analysis, and preparation of papers and reports.

Generally, the position of Field coordinator involves the following activities/outputs:

Effective Coordination

• Provide daily coordination between the impact evaluation team and local counterparts (including the data collection firm and project implementing partners), ensuring that concerns are effectively communicated between parties, flagging emerging issues that may be of potential concern to one or both parties, and ensuring that effective and productive collaboration is maintained;

• Help ensure that targets are met on time, and that all activities are carried out in accordance with the study design;

• Cooperate effectively with all co-workers, as well as national, provincial, and local government officials, and any other stakeholders or external collaborators;

• Interact and coordinate with relevant stakeholders and partners (including implementing agencies, relevant Ministries ) on evaluation-related issues;

• Interact with local authorities on matters related to the impact evaluation.

Impact Evaluation Field Support and Supervision

• Work closely with the implementing organization to ensure compliance with randomization protocols and treatment assignments are administered according to the agreed upon protocols and plans;

• Ensure that evaluation activities that need to take place prior rollout of interventions (e.g., baseline data collection; randomization) are effectively carried out;

• Visit as many study communities as possible to ensure that they have the assigned program status and gather general information about the implementation process;

• Attend training sessions (as relevant); take notes on discussions/participation;

• Monitor implementation activities so that the evaluation team understands and has documented the details of implementation across study areas

• As requested, gather observational data on key contextual factors (e.g., data on other development organizations operating in study communities);

• Take notes on problems with implementation issues and challenges that deviate from the study protocols and alert the evaluation team as soon as possible.

Survey Design and Data Collection Supervision

• Assist in the design and revision of survey questionnaires and survey manuals; and liaise with technical support staff for survey software as necessary;

• Lead enumerators’ training and field-testing of questionnaires;

• Run pilot survey exercises, provide feedback on field operations and survey instruments, and make and monitor improvements;

• Conduct daily monitoring and supervision of the firm contracted to carry out data collection, helping to ensure that sampling strategies are implemented adequately and that activities are carried out in a timely manner per the TOR;

• Assist the survey firm to prepare weekly progress reports of field work;

• Assist the survey firm in setting up data entry;

• Verify that data entry is following a double-entry protocol and provide data quality control—conduct spot-checks, household re-visits, and cleaning of data;

• Ensure data quality, integrity of analysis, and adherence to budget throughout the fieldwork and data entry phases;

• As requested, conduct data analysis and support drafting of reports;

• As requested, clean collected data with accompanying Stata do-files and documentation and contribute to reports, academic papers, and policy briefs.

Data analysis and report writing

• Keep the impact evaluation team and relevant members of the project implementation team routinely updated on activities, concerns, and decisions that need to be made;

• Prepare written reports on findings from qualitative investigations on particular matters;

• Prepare written reports with feedback and analysis of how the progress of program implementation;

• Prepare written reports with feedback and analysis on the piloting and fielding of survey instruments;

• Assist in the analysis of the survey data, and the writing of project reports and policy memos.

Whilst the above provides a general overview of the role, specific Terms of Reference will contain the exact country and evaluation specific background and requirements.

REQUIREMENTS:

Field Coordinators need to possess the following minimum Qualifications, Skills & Experience:

Essential:

• Master’s degree in economics, political science, sociology, public policy, or related fields, including training in econometrics and statistics;

• Strong oral and written communication skills in English and local language;

• Work experience on managing impact evaluations of aid and development interventions in low- or middle-income countries;

• Ability to work independently and as part of a team;

• Well organized, detail-oriented, and able to prioritize and manage multiple tasks simultaneously with minimal supervision;

• Experience in providing research assistance and record of strong performance;

• Demonstrated ability to coordinate multiple teams of people, organizations and activities concurrently;

• Experience in the analysis of quantitative survey data;

• Experience using Stata;

• Willingness to undertake regular and extended field visits and interact with different stakeholders.

Desirable Experience:

• At least two years of relevant work experience in the field.

• Previous experience with:

• Designing original data collection protocols and large multi-topic survey instruments;

• Panel survey data collection;

• Paper and/or electronic data collection management;

• Electronic data collection software;

• Geo-spatial data collection;

• Randomized impact evaluations.

Proficiency in a second UN language and other local languages in countries where WFP works is desirable.

Assessment & Roster Selection Process Overview:

Applicants will be required to specify their geographical area of interest and indicate their period of interest at the time of application.  Successful candidates will be required to pass the shortlisting, technical assessment, and interview phases before being included on the roster.  Inclusion on the roster is valid for 24 months, with a possible further 6 months extension depending on the evolving activities of the Impact Evaluation Unit.  Candidates will be contracted through the WFP offices where the evaluation is being carried out.

Applications submitted without a cover letter will not be considered.

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REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION

WFP is dedicated to fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion. Our recruitment process is inclusively crafted to welcome candidates of all backgrounds, celebrating diversity and ensuring a respectful environment for all. We aim for an accessible and fair recruitment journey. Should you need any reasonable accommodations or have accessibility concerns, please reach out to us confidentially at global.inclusion@wfp.org. Our DEI team is here to ensure your full participation in our recruitment process.

NO FEE DISCLAIMER

The United Nations does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web.

REMINDERS BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION

• We strongly recommend that your profile is accurate, complete, and includes your employment records, academic qualifications, language skills and UN Grade (if applicable).

• Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application.

• Please make sure you upload your professional CV in the English language

• Kindly note the only documents you will need to submit at this time are your CV and Cover Letter

• Additional documents such as passport, recommendation letters, academic certificates, etc. may potentially be requested at a future time

• Please contact us at wfprecruitment@wfp.org in case you face any challenges with submitting your application

• Only shortlisted candidates will be notified

All employment decisions are made on the basis of organizational needs, job requirements, merit, and individual qualifications. WFP is committed to providing an inclusive work environment free of sexual exploitation and abuse, all forms of discrimination, any kind of harassment, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. Therefore, all selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.