Evaluation Consultant for Terminal Evaluation of the UNEP Project at United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Specific responsibilities for the Evaluation Consultant:

• In close consultation with the Evaluation Manager, the Evaluation Consultant will be responsible for the overall management of the Evaluation and timely provision of its outputs, data collection and analysis and report-writing.
• More specifically:
• Inception phase of the Evaluation, including: preliminary desk review and introductory interviews with project staff; draft the reconstructed Theory of Change of the project; prepare the evaluation framework; develop the desk review and interview protocols; draft the survey protocols (if relevant); develop and present criteria for country and/or site selection for the evaluation mission ; plan the evaluation schedule; prepare the Inception Report, incorporating comments until approved by the Evaluation Manager.
• Data collection and analysis phase of the Evaluation, including: conduct further desk review and in-depth interviews with project implementing and executing agencies, project partners, and project stakeholders, (where appropriate and agreed) conduct an evaluation mission(s) to selected countries, visit the project locations, interview project partners and stakeholders, including a good representation of local communities. Ensure the independence of the Evaluation and the confidentiality of evaluation interviews; regularly report back to the Evaluation Manager on progress and inform of any possible problems or issues encountered and; keep the Project/Task Manager informed of the evaluation progress.
• Reporting phase, including: draft the Main Evaluation Report and a case study (max. 15 pages), ensuring that the evaluation report is complete, coherent and consistent with the Evaluation Manager guidelines both in substance and style; liaise with the Evaluation Manager on comments received and finalize the Main Evaluation Report, ensuring that comments are taken into account until approved by the Evaluation Manager; prepare a Response to Comments annex for the main report, listing those comments not accepted by the Evaluation Consultant and indicating the reason for the rejection; and; (where agreed with the Evaluation Manager) prepare an Evaluation Brief (2-page summary of the evaluand and the key evaluation findings and lessons).

Qualifications/special skills

• A first level university degree (Bachelor's degree or equivalent) in environmental sciences, international development or other relevant political or social sciences area is required. An advanced degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in the same areas is desirable.
• The years of experience are reduced by 2 for candidates who possess a master's degree in the related field.
• A minimum of ten (10) years of technical and/or evaluation experience preferably including experience in evaluating large regional or global programmes, or complex multi-year projects /programmes involving multiple donors, stakeholders, and components, and applying approaches such as Theory of Change and outcome harvesting is required.
• A good/broad understanding of knowledge management, global forums, environmental issues, science-based assessments/reports is desirable. Knowledge of the UN system and specifically the work of UNEP is desirable.