Organization: UNICEF – United Nations Children’s Fund
Location: Nairobi
Grade: Mid level – P-4, International Professional – Internationally recruited position
Occupational Groups:
Operations and Administrations
Development Cooperation and Sustainable Development Goals
Monitoring and Evaluation
Innovations for Sustainable Development
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
Impact assessment
Closing Date: 2025-01-03

Under the direction of the Senior Evaluation Specialist (head of impact evaluation and methods), the multi-country impact evaluation specialist will identify opportunities to a) increase coverage of impact evaluations in the thematic areas of child protection and gender; and b) provide technical leadership in implementing the Impact Catalyst Fund’s multi-country thematic window/windows. Working collaboratively with the evaluation team in UNICEF Regional office in East and South Africa (ESAR), UNICEF country offices, and other UN partners based in Nairobi, the incumbent will support planned and ongoing impact evaluations, contribute to strengthening institutional and national capacities in impact evaluations, and lead on scale-up of innovative approaches in rigorous impact evaluations in fragile and humanitarian settings.

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built: we offer our staff diverse opportunities for personal and professional development that will help them develop a fulfilling career while delivering on a rewarding mission. We pride ourselves on a culture that helps staff thrive, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Responsibilities:

1. Technical leadership

• Identify opportunities for multi-country impact evaluations through rapid review of literature, synthesis and consultations with key UNICEF stakeholders, donors, and partners.
• Support the Evaluation Office and, in turn, the global evaluation function to design, manage and implement multi-country portfolios of impact evaluations in the programme areas of strategic importance.
• Serve as principal investigator and co-principal Investigator on selected impact evaluations. This includes the design and technical specifications of all impact evaluations, projects’ timelines, human resource and partnership requirements, the analysis of data collected (qualitative and quantitative) and the preparation of evaluation reports and other materials.
• Manage staff and/or consultants and collaborate closely with regional and country office evaluation specialists and programme practitioners.
• Leverage the capacity and expertise of national partners working in the thematic area and ensure visibility of UNICEF and donor efforts.
• Provide technical assistance to UNICEF regional (including but not limited to ESAR) and country offices in developing terms of reference and donor proposals for mixed-methods impact evaluations.

2. Standardization

• Lead the development of standardized methodological approaches, tools, analytical packages and processes in the thematic area of child protection, gender and social norms.
• Ensure cost-effectiveness, replication and harmonization of outcome and impact measurements in a credible manner.

3. Methodological innovation

• Contribute to and promote the diversification of methods and data to measure outcome- and impact-level change in areas with a particularly sparse impact evidence base such as fragile and humanitarian settings.
• Collaborate with global and regional evaluation teams to initiate, test and scale up innovative impact evaluation approaches in areas with recognized challenges to construct a counterfactual or reach vulnerable populations.
• Lead the development of technical guidance papers and methodological packages.

4. Learning and capacity development

• Support the development and roll-out of learning and capacity-building activities that raise awareness and promote the initiation, implementation, and better use of impact evaluations by UNICEF and its national partners, including academic and research institutions of the Global South.

6. Partnerships

• Initiate and develop internal and external partnerships, including with other UNICEF evidence divisions, multilateral and bilateral organizations, other United Nations agencies and academic institutions to increase the coverage of impact evaluations at UNICEF.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Minimum requirements:

Education:

• An advanced university degree (master or PhD) in social sciences (e.g., economics, public policy or a related field).

Work Experience:

• A minimum of eight years of technical leadership experience in mixed-methods impact evaluation (e.g., randomized controlled trials) within an international organization, a development agency, academia, government or the private or non-profit sector.
• Demonstrated thematic expertise in areas of child protection, gender, and social norms.
• Solid track record of leading and managing mixed-methods impact evaluations that rely on both qualitative and quantitative approaches and a variety of data collection modalities (mobile surveys, interviews, focus groups, direct and indirect observations, desk reviews).
• Demonstrated experience in the execution of complex multi-regional, multi-country initiatives.
• Interest/ability to keep up to date with the latest skills and organizational guidance in the field of evaluation and to explore innovative and creative ways to apply a combination of novel data and methodological approaches.
• Proven ability to work with internal and external stakeholders at multiple levels, including providing technical support and capacity building and establishing/managing external partnerships.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English; knowledge of another United Nations language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships

(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness

(3) Drive to achieve results for impact

(4) Innovates and embraces change

(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity

(6) Thinks and acts strategically

(7) Works collaboratively with others

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

How to apply

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