WFP seeks to recruit a Monitoring, Evaluation & VAM Officer P4 – Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 

WFP seeks to recruit a Monitoring, Evaluation & VAM Officer P4 – Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 

Apply here

About  WFP :

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 :

This job is found in WFP Ethiopia Country Office, based in Addis Ababa Country Office.  Under the guidance and supervision of the Head of Programme and working in close collaboration with the VAM and MEAL (Monitoring, Evaluation, Accoutability and Learning) teams, the position holder will serve as Team Lead for the MEAL Team and will retain accountability for the  accountable for linkages between the MEAL and VAM functions towards a consolidated analysis capacity for the Country Office.

WFP Ethiopia is working with the government and other humanitarian partners to strengthen the resilience of Ethiopia’s most vulnerable population and to chart a more prosperous and sustainable future for the next generation. The Country Office also supports programmes that use food assistance to empower women, transform areas affected by climate change and keep children in school. It aims to contribute to Ethiopia’s five-year development agenda, the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP), through which the Government combats food insecurity.

Job purpose :

As stated above, the job holder will lead the country office’s MEAL team and support linkages with the VAM Team.  S/he develops and implements Monitoring, Evaluatio, Accountability and Learning strategies and approaches, and enriches VAM plans in support of linkages with MEAL team’s efforts. S/He ensures alignment to WFP corporate standards and supports the two teams to generate quality evidence on the outcomes and effects of WFP’s interventions on the lives of beneficiaries, and inform policy, strategy and programme design and implementation. This includes coordinating monitoring activities, including outreach to and coordiantion with the sub-offices, managing decentralized evaluations, and thematic/mid-term reviews and positions WFP as a reliable partner for governments interested in their building monitoring and evaluation capacity. S/he advises managers on strategic and operational matters related to the generation of evidence and data management, and provides technical leadership to country offices counterparts.

Key accountabilities (not all-inclusive within the delegated authority) Monitoring, Evaluation & VAM

1. Lead a team of technical MEAL experts and VAM staff, providing coaching and guidance to enable high performance and support career development ;
2. Lead the development and implementation of MEAL and VAM operational plans that will provide the most relevant and strategic information to manage progress towards achieving expected results (as set out in the Country Strategic Plan and other global and regional plans), while being compliant with WFP evaluation and monitoring requirements ;
3. Ensure that adequate MEAL and VAM costs are budgeted for, and advocate for both appropriate financial and human resourcing ;
4. Provide feedback on the formulation of sub-office MEAL and VAM Strategies and support their operationalization ;
5. Develop a CO MEAL and VAM strategy, aligned with corporate strategies, standards and guidelines.
6. Advise and support evidence-based analysis and decision-making on programme design and implementation, notably through making monitoring, review and evaluations findings accessible, and developing innovative, user-friendly and informative products ;
7. Support WFP Management in addressing recommendations from monitoring, reviews and evaluations to ensure that follow-up actions are taken as required ;
8. Build Monitoring, Evaluation and VAM capacity of WFP staff and partners, through the design and delivery of training and information-sharing. Manage and mentor junior staff members and guide them as required to enable their high performance ;
9. Contribute to the development and implementation of national government and inter- agency monitoring, reporting and evaluation frameworks, including United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) aligned with nationally-owned sustainable development goals ;
10. Represent WFP at national/inter-agency meetings and contribute to technical discussions, exchange of best practices, identify opportunities for strengthening national monitoring and evaluation capacity and develop strategic partnerships ;
11. Take responsibility for supporting the integration of protection and gender perspectives in all areas of work, to ensure equal participation of women and men.

Standard minimum qualifications :

Experience:

• Minimum of eight years of relevant professional work experience in international development or humanitarian work ;
• Minimum of four years of experience in managing complex monitoring and/or evaluation activities spanning a range of policies and programme initiatives ;
• Experience in managing diverse teams of M&E staff.

Education:

Advanced University degree in social sciences, statistics, development economics, performance management, monitoring and evaluation or other related fields, or First University degree with additional years of relevant work experience and/or training/courses.

Language:

• Fluency (level C) in English language. Intermediate knowledge (level B) of a second ;
• official  UN  language:  Arabic,  Chinese,  French,  Russian,  Spanish,  and/or WFP’s ;
• working language, Portuguese.

Desired experiences for entry into the role :

1. Experience building strategic partnerships in Monitoring, Evaluation and VAM with multiple stakeholders, including governments, multilateral, bilateral and academia ;
2. Leading multi-functional and diverse teams ;
3. Management of complex Monitoring and/or VAM activities, spanning a range of policies and programme initiatives ;
4. Cultivating constructive and sustainable relationships with national authorities, UN agencies, NGOs, donors and academia ;
5. Developing recommendations to senior leaders on ways to improve timely access to food assistance.

Specific job requirements :

Specific to VAM function :

1. Provide expert advice to country offices and support WFP and its partners on matters pertaining to food security, markets, monitoring frameworks and nutrition and resilience strategies, and ensure the timely and productive use of related outputs ;
2. Contribute to the development of systems and tools for the assessment and monitoring of vulnerability to food insecurity and malnutrition in line with innovative methodologies and best practice ;
3. Lead complex food security, nutrition, markets and resilience analysis and oversee the preparation of timely reports in line with wider VAM and Monitoring corporate guidance, policies, procedures and standards to enable effective programme and policy decision-making and contribute to the development of Country Strategies and plans ;
4. Provide technical advice and quality assurance to the country office to ensure that programmes are designed based on the best information available and sound assessment and monitoring systems are built in ;
5. Keep up to date with global and regional issues affecting food and nutrition security and the potential impact upon WFP activities and advise on food assistance strategies and policies to enable timely and appropriate programme evolution and intervention ;
6. Take responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives in all areas of work, to ensure equal participation of women and men ;
7. Act in an assigned emergency support capacity as required to meet emergency food assistance needs.
8. Other as required.

Other specific job requirements :

Specific to the monitoring function :

1. At the Country Strategic Plan (CSP) design stage, support the development of a Theory of Change outlining how the expected results are likely to occur and listing key assumptions and risks ;
2. Ensure that CO monitoring systems and tools are in place and compliant with corporate standards, including the minimum monitoring requirements (MMR), standard operational procedures (SOP) and establishment of baselines and targets in alignment with the updated corporate result framework (CRF) ;
3. Coordinate and oversee the production of monitoring and operational reports, clearly showing results and implementation progress ;
4. Lead mid-term reviews and support thematic reviews, intended for internal learning, strategic and operational decision-making.

Specific to the evaluation function :

1. Provide oversight and ensure effective management of decentralized evaluations to high professional standards, in line with WFP Evaluation Policy and Decentralized Evaluation Quality Assurance System (DEQAS). This entails managing evaluation processes from planning to completion; sourcing, hiring and supervising external evaluators; engaging stakeholders appropriately in the evaluation process and managing communications and budgets ;
2. Contribute  to and support centralized evaluations managed by the Office of Evaluation, joint UNDAF evaluations and donor-led evaluations in country ;
3. Other duties as required.

4Ps Core organisational capabilities :

Purpose :

• Understand and communicate the Strategic Objectives: Utilizes understanding of WFP’s Strategic Objectives to communicate linkages to team objectives and work ;
•  Be a force for positive change: Proactively identifies and develops new methods or improvements for self and immediate team to address work challenges within own work area ;
•  Make the mission inspiring to our team: Identifies opportunities to further align individual contributions with WFP’s mission of making an impact on local communities ;
•  Make our mission visible in everyday actions: Helps colleagues to see the link between their individual tasks and the contributions of their unit’s goals to the broader context of WFP’s mission.

People :

• Look for ways to strengthen people’s skills: Is able to identify, support and encourage focused on-the-job learning opportunities to address gaps between current skillsets and needed future skillsets for WFP ;
•  Create an inclusive culture: Recognizes the contributions of teammates, and encourages contributions from culturally different team mates to recognise the value of diversity above and beyond just including it in programming for beneficiarie ;
•  Be a coach & provide constructive feedback: Provides and solicits ongoing constructive feedback on strengths and development opportunities to help develop individual skills, whilst also helping others identify areas for improvement ;
•  Create an “I will”/”We will” spirit: Sets clear targets for self and others to focus team efforts in ambiguous situations (e.g., unprecedented issues and/or scenarios).

Performance :

• Encourage innovation & creative solutions: Thinks beyond team’s conventional approaches to formulate creative methods for delivering food aid and assistance to beneficiaries ;
•  Focus on getting results: Maintains focus on achieving individual results in the face of obstacles such as volatile or fragile environments and/or organizational roadblocks ;
•  Make commitments and make good on commitments: Takes personal accountability for upholding and delivering upon team’s commitments and provides assurance to stakeholders ;
•  Be Decisive: Demonstrates ability to adjust to team’s plans and priorities to optimize outcomes in light of evolving directives, while also responding quickly in high-pressure environments, such as in emergency settings.

Partnership :

• Connect and share across WFP units: Demonstrates an understanding of when and how to tactfully engage other units in conversations on impact, timing, or planning ;
•  Build strong external partnerships: Networks regularly with key external partners using formal and informal opportunities to understand each partner’s unique value proposition, and to build and strengthen relationships ;
•  Be politically agile & adaptable: Demonstrates ability to adapt engagement approach in the context of evolving partner circumstances and expectations ;
•  Be clear about the value WFP brings to partnerships: Demonstrates ability to articulate to internal and external audiences the value that individual contributions and immediate teams bring to partnerships.

Functional capabilities :

Capability Name	Description of the behaviour expected for the proficiency level
Food Security Analysis	Leverages in-depth understanding of the food security challenges at household and community level to help implement holistic solutions ranging from preventive to resilience building interventions. Provides strategic direction for problem identification and analysis that underlies programme response.
Food Security Monitoring	Leads management, design and implementation of food security monitoring systems. Ensures that such analysis is timely and responsive to programmatic needs and adjustments.
Technical Specialized Knowledge (e.g., Economics, Statistics, Public Health, Remote Sensing, GIS, etc.)	Demonstrates holistic understanding of inter-disciplinary linkages underlying food security concepts and their application. Provides leadership and guidance for building food security information systems that track changes at the global, regional, national and community level, linking results to key decisions and internal and external actors.
Food Security Assessment	Manages independent, multi-agency and multi-sector assessments to ensure appropriate coverage of food security topics. Ensures analytical rigor, relevance of the findings and timeliness of the report.
Strategic Operational Understanding	Leverages thorough understanding of operational needs and food security analyses to ensure evidence based policy formulation and programmatic response at the country level.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

14 June 2019

Apply here