EVALUATION SPECIALIST (SEVERAL POSITIONS)

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FAO is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender and nationality

People with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply

All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality

The incumbent may be re-assigned to different activities and/or duty stations depending on the evolving needs of the Organization

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Organizational Setting

The Office of Evaluation (OED) anchors the evaluation function in the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Evaluation in FAO provides results accountability to member countries and FAO’s Director-General, providing the evidence base to guide their decision-making and oversight. Evaluation also contributes to corporate learning, by offering a basis for improvements in the Organization's programmes in terms of their relevance to countries, definition of objectives, design and implementation. OED also participates in system-wide evaluation initiatives, thereby contributing to assessments of development effectiveness by the United Nations (UN) system.

Within OED, a dedicated team carries out evaluations of FAO’s humanitarian crisis response activities and resilience programmes in protracted and conflict contexts, natural disasters and food chain crises. Current and planned evaluations of FAO’s work in crisis settings includes thematic evaluations on food and nutrition security analysis and resilience measurement, food chain crises, forced migration, peacebuilding funds, and cash-based responses, while country evaluations will cover countries such as South Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan and others.

Beyond conducting evaluations, OED also collaborates with decentralised offices and other technical divisions as well as the other Rome-Based Agencies in assessing FAO’s contribution and work on resilience with activities other than evaluations: these may include light reviews, backstopping of country-led evaluative type exercises, workshops and/or contributions to other events. Furthermore, OED contributes to the work conducted by the Inter Agency Humanitarian Evaluation steering group under the IASC, the Humanitarian Evaluations Interest Group under UNEG and contributing to humanitarian evaluations learning platforms and groups such as ALNAP.

Purpose of the Call

In 2021-22, OED will conduct several humanitarian and resilience evaluations and requested by FAO’s Governing bodies, Management and resource partners. FAO has also recently completed a major evaluation of its role and work on the Humanitarian Development Peace (HDP) Nexus, prompting an interest in the provision of additional evidence on the HDP approach in FAO’s programming and strategic positioning. To support these evaluations, FAO will require specialists with global, regional and country-level expertise, including in the following technical areas:

Food security and resilience: FAO assists countries to increase the resilience of households, communities and institutions to more effectively prevent and cope with threats and disasters that impact agriculture, food security and nutrition. Upcoming evaluations will cover FAO’s work in resilience, which includes humanitarian assistance and development actions to assist countries more effectively prevent and cope with threats and disasters that impact agriculture, food security and nutrition as well as support to countries in regular information and early warning against potential, known and emerging threats.

Cash programming: FAO cash-based programmes provide immediate relief to farmers, while contributing to strengthening the resilience of livelihoods to future shocks, increasing agricultural production, thus improving food security and nutrition. They also support the transition from humanitarian assistance to development including through enhanced linkages with social protection systems that can be leveraged to respond to shocks and crises. These include a variety of cash-based interventions based on specific objectives and context: cash transfers, cash , cash for work, voucher programmes, and input trade fairs.

Reporting Lines

The evaluation specialists will be under the supervision of the evaluation manager (OED) assigned to the specific evaluation.

Technical Focus

The evaluation specialists will work in programme evaluations in various FAO’s priority areas. Technical areas of expertise include, but are not limited to:

• Agriculture (including fisheries, livestock, natural resources management)
• Climate, disaster preparedness and management
• Humanitarian and resilience programming
• Food security and nutrition
• Food security information systems
• Resilience measurement and programming
• Early warning early action
• Cash and voucher programming
• Gender and inclusion
• Risk-sensitive social protection
• Localization agenda

Tasks and Responsibilities

The evaluation specialists will carry out specific tasks in accordance with the evaluation’s Terms of Reference, including:

• Draft of inception reports;
• Lead and/or contribute to the development of the evaluation methodology;
• Participate in field missions (when feasible) and/or briefings and debriefings;
• Conduct data collection and analysis;
• Lead and/or contribute to the drafting of the evaluation report and/or relevant sections;
• Produce evaluation syntheses

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced university degree in evaluation, agriculture, environmental studies, social and economic development, public policy, international affairs or related fields;
• Relevant experience in policy, programme or project evaluation, as follows:
  • At least one year for a junior specialist
  • At least five years for a mid-level specialist
  • At least ten years for a senior specialist
• Working knowledge of English or French, limited knowledge of another relevant language (Spanish, Arabic, Russian, Chinese, Portuguese) would be a plus.

FAO Core Competencies

• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

• Extent and relevance of experience in designing, planning, leading, and conducting development and humanitarian evaluations
• Knowledge of technical work in areas such as food security, nutrition, rural development, agriculture, livestock, fisheries and forestry, climate change adaptation and mitigation, etc.
• Extent of familiarity and experience in the humanitarian sector and across the HDP nexus
• Proven knowledge/experience on the theme under evaluation (for senior specialists only)
• Experience on gender analysis and social inclusion

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Please note that all candidates should adhere to FAO Values of Commitment to FAO, Respect for All and Integrity and Transparency

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