Batch Vacancy - Monitoring & Evaluation Officer, NO-2, Recife, Manaus & Sao Paulo, Brazil

Under the overall coordination of the Chief of Territory and technical supervision of the Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer will be accountable for the accomplishment of key end-results by providing professional expertise and assistance. This is a batch Vacancy Announcement and the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer posts will be based in the locations at each of the three Zonal Offices of Brazil Country Office (Recife, Manaus & Sao Paulo).

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you.

For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

Purpose of the Position

Under the overall coordination of the Chief of Territory and technical supervision of the Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer will be accountable for the accomplishment of key end-results by providing professional expertise and assistance in:

1. Information/data collection;
2. Statistics and data analysis;
3. Programme monitoring & evaluation (M&E);
4. Preparation of reports;
5. Documentation of evidence for communication and partnerships;
6. Implementation of capacity development initiatives for national and sub-national partners in the areas of data collection, monitoring, evaluation and research;
7. Implementation of tools and mechanisms to guarantee special attention to the interest, concern and participation of primary stakeholders in all monitoring, evaluation and research initiatives.

Key Expected Results

1. Monitoring, Evaluation and Research activities, especially the ones included in the Integrated Monitoring, Evaluation & Research Plan (IMEP), are developed, implemented and monitored, providing a strategic and realistic plan of activities for M&E, focusing on national and territorial needs.
2. Changes influenced by programme or policies in the country or in specific territories are monitored and measured, in a timely manner and with the participation of relevant partners.
3. Evidence is collected, organized and provided to support the Country Office and national partners in planning, implementing, assessing and reporting on the impact of country-level and territorial programmes and policies.
4. Country Office performance is systematically monitored, with adequate data collection and analysis of indicators of the Country Programme, Annual Management Plan and specific projects and initiatives developed at the territorial level. 4. Evaluations are designed and implemented with quality process and products in line with priority and strategy, with effective participation and contributions from major stakeholders. Evaluation findings, recommendations and reports are used to improve programme performance and are effectively disseminated to the intended audience. 
5. The monitoring and evaluation capacities of Country Office staff and national partners are strengthened, enabling them to increasingly engage in and lead monitoring and evaluation processes.
6. Effective communication and partnerships are achieved in carrying out integrated planning of research, monitoring and evaluation activities within the Country Office and with all other stakeholders, including sub-national partners, and the results are shared with all partners to stimulate joint engagement.
7. Country Programme Document (CPD) indicators monitored, and analyse and reports prepared in fashion and compressible approach, including disaggregated data and with equity approach regularly.
8. Information about the programme implementation (Result based approach) organized regularly, and inputs for the Result Assessment Module (RAM) prepared twice a year as per organization's required.
9. SMART indicators for donor proposal identified and updated during the reporting period (official data and programme implementation data).

Key Accountabilities and Duties & Tasks

1. Monitoring, Evaluation and Research Activities

Provide technical support to ensure that the Country Office and sub-national partners and stakeholders use well-prioritised and realistic plans of research, monitoring and evaluation activities that will provide the most relevant and strategic information to manage the Country Programme, including tracking and assessing UNICEF's distinct contribution.

Duties & Tasks

• Make professional contributions to and provide technical assistance for the planning and establishing of major research, monitoring and evaluation activities, including multi-year and annual IMEPs, and subnational Monitoring & Evaluation Plans.
• Participate in and manage strategic studies and evaluations to improve programme and organizational effectiveness, including public policy evaluations and joint evaluations of UNICEF or of multi-partner programs.
• Support studies and evaluations conducted by UNICEF Brazil and partners, in order to guarantee high-quality data collection, analysis and evidence that support advocacy for results for children.
• Support the planning and implementation of emergency data collection and M&E plans when needed.

2. Situation Monitoring and Assessment

Provide technical support to ensure that the Country Office and national partners have timely and accurate measurement of change in conditions in the country or region, including monitoring of socio-economic trends and the country's wider policy, economic or institutional context, to facilitate planning and to draw conclusions about the impact of programmes or policies.

Duties & Tasks

• Provide technical support to ensure that the Country Office (CO) has the necessary information for UNICEF to effectively report on and advocate for children's rights through the appropriate channels.
• In coordination with other stakeholders, support the collection and analysis of country-level and disaggregated data related to the CRC, Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and other international commitments.
• Coordinate with the Country Office and partners and provide assistance in their using up-to-date information in, inter alia, Situation Analyses, Common Country.
• Assessments, Early Warning Monitoring Systems, Annual Reviews, Mid-Term Reviews, Annual Reports and other progress reports.
• Contribute to data collection and quality assurance of global databases, such as CRING.
• Support management of available baseline information on national and disaggregated statistics and key indicators. Maintain easily accessible databases, through reliable, user-friendly systems and formats (e.g., DevInfo, Fact Sheets, and Web-based Infographs).
• Keep monitoring the situation of children's and women's rights with national partners and keep updated with information from quality research that address issues and challenges affecting children and their families. Identify and monitor rapidly emerging situations affecting children, such as epidemics and other types of emergency.

3. Programme Performance Monitoring

Provide technical support to ensure that the Country Office has quality information to assess progress towards expected results established in its Country Programme and Annual Work Plans.

Duties & Tasks

• Monitor the Country Programme indicators systematically and prepare periodic disaggregated, equity-focused analyses and reports.
• Provide support to programme section to compile and organize the information about the programme implementation (Result based approach) and prepare inputs for the Result Assessment Module (RAM) twice a year as per organization's requirement.
• Provide technical support as necessary to identify and adjust SMART programme performance and donor proposal indicators, in the context of the Country Programme, the Annual Management Plan and Annual Work Plans, in accordance with the Programme Policy and Procedures Manual.
• Provide technical support to ensure that programme monitoring systems are in place and that key annual programme indicators are tracked and analysed. Ensure that up-to-date data feed into territorial and country-level reporting.
• Carry out data collection and analysis from field visits and ensure that they feed into territorial and country-level reporting.
• Support other initiatives of similar nature to monitoring and evaluation, such as management reports, studies on good practices and systematizations.

4. Evaluation

Provide technical support to ensure that a well-prioritised and strategic selection of evaluations at programme or Country Office strategy level is managed in order that each evaluation is designed and carried out with quality process and products and that evaluation results are useful to the intended audience.

Duties & Tasks

• Provide technical and managerial support to the evaluation function in the country office, by actively participating in the selection, design, implementation, dissemination and response to public policy, programme and specific project evaluations.
• Provide support to ensure that evaluation design and management meet quality standards as outlined in UNICEF Programme Policies and Procedures, UNICEF Evaluation Policy and UNEG Norms and Standards for Evaluation.
• Provide support to ensure that the relevant programme partners participate in all phases of the evaluations.
• Contribute to the effective dissemination and sharing of knowledge, findings, conclusions, recommendations and lessons from evaluation to the intended audience, with a view to improving programme performance and contributing to wider learning.
• Assist in feeding evaluation results into key UNICEF programme planning processes including the Annual Reviews and the Mid-Term Reviews, and formulation of the Country Programme Document, the Country Programme Action Plan and the Annual Work Plans. Support effective participatory feedback, including to community and civil society stakeholders.
  

5. M&E Capacity Development

Provide technical support to ensure that the monitoring and evaluation capacities of Country Office staff and national partners – government and civil society – are strengthened, enabling them to increasingly engage in and lead monitoring and evaluation processes.

Duties & Tasks

• Contribute to the formulation and implementation of an equity-focused M&E capacity development strategy for national and subnational partners, with special attention to: i) the analysis of capacity gaps; ii) the identification of and collaboration with knowledge institutions to strengthen such areas; and iii) the interest, concern and participation of primary stakeholders.
• Support the implementation of learning and training initiatives aimed at the development of Country Office staff capacities in monitoring and evaluation.

Promote and provide support to ensure that Country Office staff and national partners are aware of and have access to UNICEF monitoring and evaluation learning resources.

6. Communication and Partnerships

Provide technical support to ensure that all of the above tasks are carried out and accomplished through effective communication and partnerships.

Duties & Tasks

• Facilitate or contribute to integrated planning of research, monitoring and evaluation activities within the Country Office, with national and subnational partners and stakeholders.
• Provide technical support to Country Office staff and national partners on data collection, data management and data analysis for basic monitoring and evaluation.
• Provide syntheses of M&E results in the territory to inform the country office senior management and territory team.
• Ensure that the recommendations of specific evaluations are communicated to the relevant territorial partners for implementation, with advice on the Implementation Plan and follow-up action for future programming.
• Facilitate learning from the results of monitoring and evaluation within the territory team and among territorial partners and stakeholders.
• Work in collaboration with the SPM&E Team to ensure the delivery of results for which the Unit is accountable.
  

Qualifications of Successful Candidate

Education:

• First level university degree (Bachelor's) in social sciences, development studies, statistics, research or other related areas is required. 

Experience:

• At least two (2) years of relevant professional work experience in programme development and implementation, including monitoring and evaluation is required.
• Previous experience in data collection and analysis, and knowledge of data management tools is considered an asset (e.g. Excel, R, Stata, etc.).
• Past work experience in a context of results-based management is desirable.
• Work experience in the region and/or experience working on distance/remotely basis is considered an asset.

Language:

• Fluency in Portuguese and English is required. Knowledge of an additional UN Language (Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Spanish) is considered an asset. 

Competencies of Successful Candidate

Core Values:

• Commitment
• Diversity and Inclusion
• Integrity

Core competencies

• Communication (I)
• Working with People (II)
• Drive for Results (I)

Functional Competencies

• Formulating strategies and concepts (I)
• Analyzing (II)
• Applying technical expertise (II)
• Planning and Organizing (II)

To view our competency framework, please click here. 

Please note that this Vacancy Announcement is open for competition to Brazilian nationals only.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all religious and ethnic backgrounds, representing the diversity of Brazil, such as black and indigenous people, to apply to become a part of our organization. Candidates will be treated equally regardless of gender, sexual orientation, special needs, social and HIV/aids status. UNICEF is a smoke-free environment.