Evaluation Associate – UNDP jobs in the Philippines

The NEPF provides clear guiding principles and evaluation standards that should serve as a guidepost in the conduct of public sector evaluation. NEDA, DBM, and the Office of the President-Presidential Management Staff (OP-PMS) were identified as the members of the Evaluation Task Force that will provide overall direction and coordination in the conduct of public sector evaluation. In addition, there are currently draft bills pending in the House of Representatives and the Senate, which support the creation of central evaluation units (CEUs) in agencies, the regular conduct of evaluations and use of evaluation findings in the whole of government.

NEDA and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) embarked on a partnership to support capacity development activities for NEDA and other agencies towards a more effective evaluation of the implementation of the Philippine Development Plan (PDP), Public Investment Program (PIP) and Fiscal Plan at the national and sub-national levels. The Strategic Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Project, which is funded by NEDA and implemented with full UNDP Country Office support, was designed to strengthen the evaluation culture in government. Through the provision of technical advisory and project management services, the project aims to support NEDA and select government agencies in managing and conducting evaluations and result in improved public-sector management and official development assistance (ODA) monitoring and evaluation.

While NEDA currently performs its evaluation function through the Monitoring and Evaluation Staff (MES), it is envisioned that NEDA shall undertake the central evaluation function in the Philippine government. The said vision is anchored on the premise that: (a) NEDA can develop and promulgate evaluation policies and guidelines, oversee and support government agencies in implementing the national evaluation agenda, and assure the quality of evaluation outputs and use of evaluation results; and, (b) NEDA is capacitated to undertake, directly or through commissioning, thematic evaluations and lead the conduct of program and project-level evaluations on priority investments under the PDP and the PIP.

In view of the foregoing and in line with provisions of the National Evaluation Policy Framework (NEPF), the Strategic M&E Project supports the creation of a unit within NEDA that will serve to transition towards NEDA’s Evaluation Staff under the Monitoring and Evaluation Group.

Accordingly, the Project requires the services of an Evaluation Associate who will serve as Economic Development Specialist II (EDS II) to provide technical and logistics support to the transitionary Central Evaluation Unit and in the performance of NEDA’s evaluation function

The Key Summary of Functions:

Policy and Planning Advisory

• Provide technical inputs in the development of the National Evaluation Agenda, including a pipeline of evaluation studies aligned with the PDP
• Provide inputs in the development of policies for the implementation of the NEPF, including policy papers on key evaluation topics, review and updating of the NEPF guidelines, evaluation standards, procedures, criteria, templates, recommended methods for government-commissioned evaluations, and any other supplemental guidance as deemed necessary
• Provide technical inputs on proposed legislative measures pertaining to evaluations

Project Management and Administration

• Provide technical support in the implementation and monitoring of the M&E Fund and delivery of operational and financial targets, including designing and managing thematic, sectoral, and program and project-level evaluations to support PDP implementation, as well as support in the implementation of other evaluation initiatives of NEDA
• Provide technical inputs in the preparation and monitoring of annual work plans and procurement plans, ensuring contribution to NEDA’s major final outputs, including unit and individual performance indicators, budget and human resource requirements
• Provide technical inputs in the crafting of the budget and staffing proposal to be submitted to DBM for the integration of the Central Evaluation Unit in NEDA by 2024
• Provide technical inputs on relevant documents in compliance with existing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), Partnership Agreements, Project Document (ProDoc), and other relevant documents
• Provide technical inputs in the preparation of relevant physical and financial progress reports to the as required by the NEDA Financial, Planning, and Management Staff (FPMS) and the Commission on Audit (COA)

Management, Implementation, and Quality Assurance of Evaluations 

• Provide technical support and inputs in the formulation of strategies on the design, preparation, procurement, contract management, implementation, and quality assurance of NEDA-commissioned evaluations , ensuring the strategic, programmatic, technical, financial, and contractual integrity of evaluation studies from the initiation phase to utilization of results
• Provide technical inputs in the preparation of Evaluation Plans and Terms of Reference for NEDA-commissioned evaluations
• Provide technical inputs in the preparation, finalization, and monitoring of management responses for NEDA-commissioned evaluation studies

Evaluation Capacity Development and Technical Support

• Support the coordination and implementation of capacity and competency assessments of NGAs and their staff in relation to evaluation
• Provide support in the coordination and implementation of technical assistance support for the institutionalization and compliance with NEPF guidelines, evaluation standards, and evaluation competencies
• Provide support in the coordination and implementation of technical assistance support to NGAs in developing and implementing their evaluation agenda
• Provide support in the coordination, preparation, implementation, and monitoring of responsive and continuous capacity building and learning initiatives to strengthen evaluation capacities, including the national government’s integrated evaluation system of the national government
• Provide support in the coordination, preparation, implementation, and monitoring of quality assurance process for NEDA-commissioned evaluations, ensuring compliance with NEPF guidelines and international evaluation standards
• Provide adequate technical and administrative support to the Evaluation Task Force

Coordination and Partnership for Evaluation Advocacies

• Provide support in the drafting and transmittal of communication materials, and overall documents and records management
• Coordinate activities within NEDA, different government units, and non-government stakeholders in implementing activities that will strengthen M&E and evaluation capacities.
• Provide support in partnership building activities to broaden and deepen the evaluation ecosystem, including management of and support to the M&E Network Community of Practice to strengthen the constituency for evaluation
• Liaise activities with agencies and partner institutions involved in the implementation of M&E and evaluation activities
• Provide technical and administrative support for the conduct of regular M&E Network Fora and other institutionalized learning events/activities

Communication and Knowledge Management

• Provide inputs to the reports on the use of knowledge and lessons drawn from evaluations commissioned by NEDA and national government agencies
• Provide technical support in the conduct and monitoring of knowledge management activities to support a culture of evaluation through learning events
• Support day-to-day management and monitoring of activities in the National Evaluation Portal, including the development of standard operational procedures, analysis of existing gaps and coordination of necessary improvements in the platform, provision of technical support to users, and other tasks assigned

Research and Data Analysis

• Collect, process, manage, and analyze a variety of quantitative datasets
• Perform data cleaning and assembling of analytical datasets
• Conduct economic, statistical and data analysis on collected datasets and prepare relevant reports or outputs as may be assigned.

Institutional Arrangement

The Evaluation Associate (Economic Development Specialist II) is under the general supervision of the Chief Evaluation Officer (Chief Economic Development Specialist) and some degree of supervision from the Supervising Evaluation Officer (Supervising Economic Development Specialist).

S/he shall work in close coordination with various units in NEDA Central and Regional Offices, Oversight and Implementing Agencies, and the Strategic M&E Project Team.

Completion of secondary education with six (6) years of qualifying experience is required.

First level university degree (Bachelor’s Degree) in Economics, Statistics, Data Science and other social sciences courses (e.g., Development Studies and Sociology)

Min. years of relevant work experience

Minimum of six (6) years (secondary education) or three (3) years (Bachelor’s degree) with  relevant work experience in monitoring and evaluation, and other related work.

Four (4) hours of relevant training on M&E, policy research and/or data analytics is required.

Required  skills

• Basic to intermediate experience in economic, statistical or data analytics and policy research
• Basic data management and analysis
• Basic reporting and communication
• Knowledge and understanding of government/NEDA policies and processes

Desired skills in addition to the competencies covered in the Competencies section

• Previous working experience with government and international organization at local or international level is advantageous
• Experience in performing M&E functions or evaluation-related work of government funded projects

Required Language(s)

Fluency in the English and Filipino languages is required.

Professional Certificates

Civil Service Eligibility – Professional