Vacancy Announcement Details

Org. Setting and Reporting

The post is located in the Independent Evaluation Section (IES), Office of the Executive Director (OED), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Vienna. IES is functionally and operationally independent. IES is responsible for carrying out the evaluation function of UNODC and reports directly to the Executive Director and Member States on evaluation processes and results. The Section further engages closely with all internal and external stakeholders, including Senior Management, the United Nations Secretariat, other evaluation functions within the UN system as well as oversight bodies to strengthen coordination and cooperation. The incumbent will report directly to the Chief of IES.

Responsibilities

Within assigned authority, the Evaluation Officer will be responsible for the following specific duties:

• Manage highly complex and politically sensitive in-depth evaluations at programmatic, organizational and strategic level by ensuring that evaluations are carried out in an impartial, objective and credible manner following UN standards and rules, including those provided by the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG), ensuring strong human rights and gender-responsive evaluation methodologies as well as identifying and applying innovative evaluation approaches which support the utilisation of evaluation results, also in the context of the UNODC Strategy 2021-2025.
• In close coordination with the Evaluation Officer acting as Deputy Chief of IES, contribute to the development of the UNODC normative standards and (innovative) evaluation tools – also incorporating lessons learned due to COVID-19 -, such as the evaluation management application Unite Evaluations, the evaluation policy and guidelines, in accordance with the international standards and best practices as identified by the General Assembly, other UN relevant organs and offices, including UNEG and ensure adequate involvement of UNODC Member States as per established guidelines and mainstreaming of human rights and gender equality into the evaluation process.
• In close coordination with the Evaluation Officer acting as Deputy Chief of IES and the Evaluation Officer, contribute to the evaluation capacity building efforts with internal and external stakeholders, including online and in-person delivery of different types of capacity development efforts in Field Offices and at HQ.
• In close coordination with the Chief and the Evaluation Officer acting as Deputy of IES, enhance coordination and communication with Oversight Functions in the UN system (e.g. United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), Joint Inspection Unit of the United Nations System (JIU), etc.) as well as Department of Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance/Business Transformation and Accountability in terms of evaluation planning, culture and capacity. 
• In close coordination with the Chief and the Evaluation Officer acting as Deputy of IES, guide and strengthen IES’s approach to communication with internal and external stakeholders, including the development of a wide range of dedicated communication products related to the work of IES. 
• Assist the Chief and the Evaluation Officer acting as Deputy of IES with the evaluation-related review of all UNODC project/programme approval and revision processes; all semi-annual and annual reporting requirements of IES, including (semi-) annual progress reports, annual programme implementation plans, reporting to Governing Bodies, etc. 
• Assist the Chief with the Section’s circulation of its reports, simultaneously to the Executive Director and to Member States with management responses and evaluation follow-up plans subsequently provided and updated on a regular basis.
• Identify relevant evaluation results of other international, regional or national organisations related to UNODC’s mandated area of work to feed into evaluation-based knowledge products and for sharing lessons learned and best practices within UNODC, also in the context of the UNODC Strategy 2021-2025. 
• Ensure that the nexus between evaluation and UNODC’s mandated area of work, including Gender Equality and Human Rights, is further strengthened and developed in UNODC’s evaluation methodologies, approaches, reports, as well as other related products and services, thereby offering useful evaluation results in the context of the UNODC Strategy 2021-2025. 
• Identify best practices and lessons learned, promoting their use to improve UNODC programmes’ performance. 
• Coordinate and contribute to backstopping Independent Project Evaluations, ensuring that UNEG norms and standards are met. 
• In close cooperation with the Chief, support Member States to strengthen national evaluation capacity in line with the mandate contained in General Assembly resolution 69/237 and the 2030 Agenda, when and if required. 
• Participate in the recruitment of staff, consultants, interns, etc.; provide guidance and supervision to junior staff of the Section.
• In close coordination with the Evaluation Officer acting as Deputy of IES, provide substantive support in the elaboration of the annual work-plan of the Section; 
• Assume additional responsibilities regarding the work, outreach and strengthening of IES as and when required. 
• Act as back-up to the Evaluation Officer acting as Deputy of IES when required. 
• Liaise with UNEG as well as with leading international training institutions in the area of evaluation. 
• Perform other work-related duties as required.

Full details available on the UNODC website. Application deadline 20th May.