SENIOR EVALUATION OFFICER, Geneva, Switzerland

Organizational Setting and Reporting

The position is located in the Strategic Planning, Programme Management, Evaluation and Change Management Service of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva, Switzerland. The incumbent reports to the Chief of the Service.

Responsibilities

Within delegated authority, the incumbent will be responsible for the following duties:

• Ensures evaluations are conducted in an impartial, independent and credible manner;
• Leads the design and management of all process and programme evaluations in collaboration with the relevant Divisions/Branches;
• Ensures the integration of gender and other cross-cutting issues into the OHCHR's evaluation System;
• Provides guidance and technical support to staff members for conducting evaluations, assessments and reviews and conducts them him/herself when required;
• Ensures that evaluations meet the highest professional standards, in accordance with the United Nations evaluation Norms and Standards and are informed by emerging innovative evaluation practices;
• Participates in Human Rights and OHCHR performance and impact evaluations conducted by other entities when appropriate, e.g., donor evaluations;
• Cooperates with other UN evaluation units and professional evaluation bodies and networks to ensure the sharing of lessons learned and good practices. This may include but not be limited to representing OHCHR in the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG);
• Ensures evaluation results are systematically used to inform decision-making at the strategic and programme levels; prepares reports and briefings to the Senior
• Executive Team (SET) on evaluation recommendations and lessons learned of strategic importance;
• Coordinates with relevant Divisions to prepare and finalize all management responses to evaluation results;
• Prepares follow-up action plans to closely monitor the implementation of evaluation recommendations across OHCHR;
• Maintains effective liaison with all Divisions and Branches responsible for implementing evaluation recommendations
• Prepares progress reports to the SMT and other relevant entities such as the General Assembly when required on progress made towards the implementation of evaluation recommendations;
• Prepares progress reports to the SET, OG and other relevant entities such as the General Assembly when required on progress made towards the implementation of evaluation recommendations;
• In collaboration with Divisions and Branches, ensures that evaluation results are taken into account for the design and appraisal of strategies, policies and new projects/programmes;
• Ensures evaluation principles, prerequisites and benefits are widely known and recognized in the organization;
• Designs and implements an evaluation capacity development programme as part of the OHCHR capacity building strategy on Results Based Management (RBM);
• Participates in conducting the RBM training for staff Office-wide; ensures continuous methodological improvement of and support to self-evaluation,
• Contributes to maintaining a network of evaluation focal points across the organization;
• Provides effective supervision for evaluation colleagues, assists in planning the human and financial resources needed for a fully operational monitoring and evaluation function;
• Selects and supervises evaluation consultants effectively.
• Provides leadership, guidance and direction for the effective application of the evaluation function at the strategic and policy-related levels;
• Ensures that the evaluation function serves as an effective feedback loop, within OHCHR’s RBM system, supplementing the self-assessment in the Performance Monitoring System with office-wide evaluative evidence;
• Ensures the effective linkage and synergies between information provided through the Performance Monitoring System and the evaluation functions;
• Provides guidance and support for the Office-wide implementation of the Performance Monitoring System;
• Supports field presences and Divisions at the headquarters level with the design of baseline studies, action research and surveys to systematically collect data/evidence for reporting on progress;
• Leads the preparation and update of evaluation tools and guidance for all staff;

Education

An advanced university degree (Master’s or Doctorate degree, or equivalent) in social sciences, international relations, development studies or related fields is required. A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying work experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Job - Specific Qualification

Not available.

Work Experience

A minimum of ten years of progressively responsible experience in programme management is required A minimum of seven years of recent experience as an Evaluation Officer within the UN system or similar international organization is required. A minimum of five years of experience related to evaluation and programming in the field of human rights is desirable. Experience in knowledge management, results-based management (RBM) and organizational change is desirable

Languages

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this job opening, English is required. Either French or Spanish is desirable. The table below shows the minimum required level for each skill in these languages, according to the UN Language Framework (please consult https://languages.un.org for details).

Required Languages

Desirable Languages

Assessment

Evaluation of qualified candidates may include an assessment exercise which will be followed by a competency-based interview.