International Trade Centre is looking for a Senior Evaluation Officer

Org. Setting and Reporting

The International Trade Centre (ITC) is the technical cooperation agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization (WTO). With the vision 'Transforming Trade, Changing Lives', ITC assists developing countries and economies in transition in expanding sustainable trade and generating inclusive income opportunities in small firms. The Independent Evaluation Unit (IEU) is the custodian of the evaluation function at ITC, supporting organizational learning and accountability. Evaluations provide insights into what works and what doesn't, and help to improve ITC policies, programmes, and projects by informing decision-making. Evaluations provide evidence of the results achieved by ITC and are part of the framework for holding managers accountable for the use of resources. Ultimately, the IEU's results are assessed by the contributions evaluations make to decision-making and to ITC's performance. ITC's senior leadership and governance bodies determine the priorities of IEU's work. IEU is functionally situated in the Office of the Executive Director (OED) with direct communication and reporting lines to the Executive and Deputy Executive Director. Operationally, it is part of the Strategic Planning, Performance and Governance (SPPG) section of the OED, with a focus on generating synergies with other parts of SPPG - strategic planning, project design support, corporate performance monitoring and reporting, external relations and governance, diversity and inclusion. The Senior Evaluation Officer will discuss priorities, objectives and content of IEU's work with the Executive and Deputy Executive Director, and with the ITC's Senior Management Committee, for final endorsement. They will approve the workplan of the IEU, and management responses to IEU evaluations. The Senior Evaluation Officer will report to the Chief SPPG on the IEU's workplan execution and use of resources.

Responsibilities

• Strategic leadership

  • Leads the development, implementation, review and update of the evaluation policy and strategy, and corresponding guidance, ensuring alignment with ITC priorities and international evaluation standards such as the UNEG Norms and Standards and OECD DAC Quality Standards for Development Evaluation;
  • Advises and supports ITC senior management and staff on evaluation matters, promoting a culture of accountability, learning and knowledge management within the organization and safeguarding the evaluation policy standards and provisions;
  • Prepares an annual evaluation workplan in view of ITC's goals and priorities, risks, accountability and learning needs for Senior Management's approval, and reports on the workplan implementation;
  • Keeps abreast of developments in evaluation practices and in ITC's area of work.

• Team leadership and evaluation capacity building

  • Supervises IEU personnel, providing guidance, support, and facilitating IEU staff's professional development;
  • Manages the IEU resources, providing technical leadership, quality assurance, and fostering a culture of excellence, collaboration, innovation, and continuous learning;
  • Leads the development of evaluation procedures, technical guidance and tools for ITC evaluations;
  • Leads and guides capacity development activities for ITC staff on matters related to evaluation, in cooperation with planning, monitoring and reporting functions;
  • Supports ITC teams, whose projects are evaluated by external parties and who undertake evaluations, with professional guidance and advice;
  • Fosters cooperation with evaluation functions in the UN system, through interaction with other agencies' evaluation units, through contribution to the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group System-wide evaluation policy and programme and the participation in UN Evaluation Group activities;
  • Contributes to evaluation capacities in programme countries by involving them in ITC evaluations.

• Evaluation management

  • Manages and quality assures the design and implementation of IEU evaluations in line with the evaluation policy, approved workplan and budget, including scoping, developing terms of reference, selecting and contracting evaluation teams, ensuring stakeholder engagement, overseeing inception reports, data collection and analysis, and evaluation reports;
  • Ensures that responsible units prepare Management Responses to evaluation recommendations in consultation with relevant ITC teams and partners, and the responses include concrete actions and timelines for implementation;
  • Ensures the timely dissemination of evaluation findings and promotes their use;
  • Ensures IEU works effectively as the ITC focal point for OIOS-evaluations, JIU reviews and other external ITC evaluations;
  • Manages ITC contributions to joint and system-wide evaluations;
  • Manages evaluation partnerships with key networks and organizations;
  • Leads reporting on evaluation results and provides recommendations to Senior Management and other stakeholders.

• Supporting the use of evaluation findings

  • Leads evaluation-related meta-data collections, analyses, syntheses, visualization and reporting to identify trends or patterns. Identifies lessons learnt and recommendations that inform policy formulation, strategic and interventions-level planning and that enable ITC to replicate successful interventions and avoid ineffective approaches;
  • Leads the preparation of the annual evaluation synthesis and presents the results to Senior Management, and ITC governing, advisory and consultative bodies;
  • Leads the dissemination of evaluation results through multiple communication channels and products (briefs, thematic syntheses, evidence repository, presentations, workshops etc.), selected to be effective in view of the target audiences. Ensures that diverse users can easily access specific lesson-learnt and recommendations that matter for their current decision needs;
  • Monitors the implementation of evaluation recommendations, tracking progress and reporting on results;
  • Contributes to the efficiency and effectiveness of all SPPG functions by engaging in feedback loops for increasing synergies and improving work processes.

• Other duties

  • Performs other duties as required.

Competencies

• Professionalism: Up-to-date knowledge of international standards and practices in evaluation and respective evaluation methodologies; proficiency in the use of qualitative and quantitative evaluation methodologies, data analytics and related software, with knowledge of innovative data collection approaches and data visualization is desirable; ability to propose and formulate a strategic approach to evaluations within the overall framework of the relevant international instruments; knowledge of the United Nations system evaluation standards and practices; knowledge of technical cooperation and development assistance; ability to produce evaluation reports and papers; ability to review and edit the evaluation work of others; ability to synthesize and communicate evidence-based findings that contribute to improved decision-taking; demonstrates good judgment and initiative, creativity and resourcefulness, diplomacy and tact; ability to ensure an effective work structure to maximize productivity and achieve the goals of the Division; shows pride in work and in achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations; takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work. The ability to analyze and interpret data in support of decision-making and convey resulting information to management.
• Accountability: Takes ownership of all responsibilities and honours commitments. Delivers outputs for which one has responsibility within prescribed time, cost and quality standards. Operates in compliance with organizational regulations and rules. Supports subordinates, provides oversight and takes responsibility for delegated assignments. Takes personal responsibility for his/her own shortcomings and those of the work unit, where applicable.
• Building Trust: Provides an environment in which others can talk and act without fear of repercussion. Manages in a deliberate and predictable way. Operates with transparency, has no hidden agenda. Places confidence in colleagues, staff members and clients. Gives proper credit to others. Follows through on agreed upon actions. Treats sensitive or confidential information appropriately.
• Judgement/Decision-making: Identifies the key issues in a complex situation and comes to the heart of the problem quickly. Gathers relevant information before making a decision. Considers positive and negative impacts of decisions prior to making them. Takes decisions with an eye to the impact on others and on the Organization. Proposes a course of action or makes a recommendation based on all available information. Checks assumptions against facts. Determines that the actions proposed will satisfy the expressed and underlying needs for the decision. Makes tough decisions when necessary.

Education

Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in Law, Business Administration, Social Sciences, Public Administration, Programme Evaluation, International Affairs, Economics, International Development or a related field is required.
A first-level university degree in the above subjects in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Job - Specific Qualification

An advanced professional certificate in evaluation and/or membership in a professional evaluation association is desirable.

Work Experience

• A minimum of seven years (nine with a first level degree) of progressively responsible experience in evaluation of international projects and programmes is required.
• At least five years of experience in managing an evaluation function and leading and managing evaluations and evaluation teams is required.
• At least three years of experience in developing information products and services to share evaluation results and to ensure the up-take of lessons-learnt in future decision-making is required.
• Two years or more of proven experience in applied knowledge management and/or results based management is desirable.
• Experience in the evaluation of trade-related technical assistance and/or private sector development assistance is desirable.
• Experience in managing or implementing development projects in developing countries 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

• English: UN Level III (Reading, Writing, Listening, Speaking)

Desirable Languages

• French: UN Level III (Reading, Writing, Listening, Speaking)
• Spanish: UN Level III (Reading, Writing, Listening, Speaking)

Assessment

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

While we do our best in sharing high quality job postings, Jobs in Geneva can't guarantee or be made responsible for the content in the postings (e.g. specified deadlines or links).