Evaluation and Research Assistant

On 15 July 2015, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) issued the Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) No. 2015 - 01 or the National Evaluation Policy Framework (NEPF) of the Philippines. The JMC is widely considered as one of the reform initiatives to engender results-orientation in the Philippine bureaucracy. More specifically, the policy sets the framework for the conduct of evaluation of all government programs and projects in the public sector to (1) support good governance and evidence-based decisions; (2) promote program improvement; and (3) ensure accountability and transparency. 

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.  Moreover, NEDA is currently spearheading the investment programming activities of the government through the formulation of the Public Investment Program (PIP).  The NEDA Investment Programming Group (IPG) is pursuing efforts to further strengthen the linkage between planning, investment programming, and budgeting processes for the infrastructure program of the government towards improving the regional equity of infrastructure investments in the country, among others. However, the government recognizes that there is a need to reinforce monitoring work and data system linkages to support the aforementioned efforts of NEDA.

In view of the foregoing, the Project requires the services of an Evaluation/Research Assistant who will serve as Economic Development Specialist I (EDS I) to: (a) assist the transitionary Central Evaluation Unit and (b) collect, process, and analyze a variety of quantitative datasets to help determine the effectiveness of infrastructure spending in public investment policies.

Scope of Work 

Under the general supervision of the Chief Evaluation Officer (Chief Economic Development Specialist) and the Supervising Evaluation Officer (Supervising Economic Development Specialist), the Evaluation and Research Assistant (Economic Development Specialist I) shall provide technical support to effective day-to-day operations, delivery of operational and financial targets, including managing of thematic, sectoral, and program and project-level evaluations and analysis to support PDP implementation.

Key Summary of Functions:

Policy and Planning Advisory

• Assist in the provision of technical inputs in the development of the National Evaluation Agenda, including a pipeline of evaluation studies aligned with the PDP
• Assist in the provision of technical 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.
• Assist in the provision of technical inputs on proposed legislative measures pertaining to evaluations

Project Management and Administration

• Assist in the provision of 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 (e.g., Policy Window Philippines/Philippines Evidence Program, among others)
• Assist in the preparation and monitoring of annual work plans and procurement plans (i.e., of the CEU work plan, M&E Fund, and the Strategic M&E Project), ensuring contribution to NEDA’s major final outputs, including unit and individual performance indicators, budget and human resource requirements
• Assist 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 2023 
• Assist in the provision of technical inputs on relevant documents in compliance with existing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), Partnership Agreements, Project Document (ProDoc), and other relevant documents
• Assist in the provision of 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 

• Assist in the provision of 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
• Assist in the provision of technical inputs in the preparation of Evaluation Plans and Terms of Reference for NEDA-commissioned evaluations
• Assist in the provision of technical inputs in the preparation, finalization, and monitoring of management responses for NEDA-commissioned evaluation studies.   

Evaluation Capacity Development and Technical Support 

• Assist in the coordination and implementation of capacity and competency assessments of NGAs and their staff in relation to evaluation.  
• Assist in the coordination and implementation of technical assistance support for the institutionalization and compliance with NEPF guidelines, evaluation standards, and evaluation competencies.  
• Assist in the provision of technical and administrative support in the coordination and implementation of technical assistance support to NGAs in developing and implementing their evaluation agenda.  
• Assist in the provision of technical and administrative 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
• Assist in the coordination, preparation, implementation, and monitoring of quality assurance process for NEDA-commissioned evaluations, ensuring compliance with NEP guidelines and international evaluation standards.  
• Assist in the provision of adequate technical and administrative support to the Evaluation Task Force.

Coordination and Partnership for Evaluation Advocacies

• Assist in the drafting and transmittal of communication materials, and overall documents and records management
• Support in coordinating activities within NEDA, different government units, and non-government stakeholders in implementing activities that will strengthen M&E and evaluation capacities.
• Assist 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.  
• Support in liaising activities with agencies and partner institutions involved in the implementation of M&E and evaluation activities.
• Assist in the provision of administrative and logistical support for the conduct of regular M&E Fora and Webinars

Research and Data Analysis

• Collect, process, manage, and analyze of a variety of quantitative datasets to help determine the effectiveness of infrastructure spending;
• Create outcome measures, restructure data files, perform data-cleaning operations, and conduct of various forms of statistical and data analysis on collected datasets; and,
• Review of existing project evaluation methods (economic and financial).

Institutional Arrangement

The Evaluation/Research Assistant (Economic Development Specialist I) 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.

CORE COMPETENCIES:

Achieve Results:  

LEVEL 1: Plans and monitors own work, pays attention to details, delivers quality work by deadline

Think Innovatively: 

LEVEL 1: Open to creative ideas/known risks, is pragmatic problem solver, makes improvements 

Learn Continuously: 

LEVEL 1: Open minded and curious, shares knowledge, learns from mistakes, asks for feedback

Adapt with Agility: 

LEVEL 1: Adapts to change, constructively handles ambiguity/uncertainty, is flexible 

Act with Determination: 

LEVEL 1: Shows drive and motivation, able to deliver calmly in face of adversity, confident

Engage and Partner: 

LEVEL 1: Demonstrates compassion/understanding towards others, forms positive relationships

Enable Diversity and Inclusion: 

LEVEL 1: Appreciate/respect differences, aware of unconscious bias, confront discrimination 

CROSS-FUNCTIONAL & TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES  

Business Management: Communication

Ability to communicate in a clear, concise and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience.

Ability to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media and other appropriate channels

Business Management: Monitoring

Ability to provide managers and key stakeholders with regular feedback on the consistency or discrepancy between planned and actual activities and programme performance and results

Digital & Innovation: Data Analysis

Ability to extract, analyze and visualize data (including Real-Time Data) to form meaningful insights and aid effective decision making

Finance: Budget management

Ability to support budgetary aspects of work planning process, drawing and management of team budget

Procurement: Procurement management

The ability to acquire goods, services or works from an outside external source

Administration & Operations: Events management (including retreats, trainings and meetings)

Ability to manage events, including venue identification, accommodation, logistics, catering, transportation, and cash disbursements, manage and execute of public and private events to ensure that they support and amplify individual communications and advocacy initiatives, as well as UNDP's overall brand and mandate.

Administration & Operations: Documents and records management

Overall document (hard or electronic) management; registry and retention policy including storing and archiving

Minimum Education requirements:

A first level university degree (Bachelor’s Degree) in Economics, Statistics, and other social sciences courses (e.g. Public Administration, Development Studies, Sociology) in combination with an additional one (1) year of qualifying experience. 

Completion of secondary education in combination with an additional four (4) years of experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the Bachelor’s degree. 

Minimum years of relevant work experience 

One (1) year (with Bachelor’s degree) or four (4) years (with secondary education) of relevant work experience in monitoring and evaluation, economic, statistical or data analytics, and policy research.

Required skills  

• Basic to intermediate experience in economic, statistical or data analytics and policy research. data tracking, management, and analysis 
• Basic reporting and visualization skills, including mapping of datasets and statistical modelling.

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 
• Knowledgeable about basic concepts on evaluation, data/statistical methods/modelling and other relevant software packages.
• Knowledge and understanding of government/NEDA policies and processes
• Experience in performing M&E functions or evaluation-related work of government funded projects

Required Language(s)

Fluency in the UN and national language of the duty station (i.e., English and Filipino)

Professional Certificates 

Civil Service Eligibility - Professional 

The following documents shall be required from the applicants:  

1. Personal CV or P11, indicating all past positions held and their main underlying functions, their durations (month/year), the qualifications, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate, and at least three (3) the most recent professional references of previous supervisors. References may also include peers. 
2. A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page) indicating why the candidate considers him-/herself to be suitable for the position. 
3. Transcript of Records and Diploma 
4. Certificate of Civil Service Eligibility 
5. Copies of relevant training certificates (if applicable)