Consultancy: Climate change, Energy and Natural Resources Management Specialist

The Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) carries out Independent Country Programme Evaluations (ICPEs) to assess UNDP’s contributions to national development results and evaluate the effectiveness of UNDP’s strategy. The purpose of the ICPEs is to: i) support the development of the next UNDP Country Programme Document, and ii) strengthen accountability of UNDP to national stakeholders and to the Executive Board.

The IEO is hiring an independent consultant/evaluator to join the evaluation team for ICPE Jamaica (see TOR), covering the areas of Resilience to climate change and natural disasters and universal access to clean energy (outcome 3) and Natural resource management (outcome 4) under the Jamaica Country Programme for the 2017-2021 cycle. The consultant will also support the assessment of cross-cutting issues such as gender equality, partnerships, coordination, capacity development, among others.

The assignment includes home-based work as well as participation in a field mission in Jamaica only if the COID-19 situation allows it.

Note: National candidates from Jamaica are strongly encouraged to apply.

Responsibilities:

Under the guidance of the Lead Evaluator and Associate Evaluator, the consultant will:

• conduct preliminary research and desk review of relevant documents provided by IEO for the assigned thematic areas;
• develop a data collection plan including the data collection instruments to be used and a list of key stakeholders for interviews and potential partnerships for data collection;
• collect, analyse and synthesize primary and secondary data for the assigned thematic areas, through interviews and meetings (in person and/or virtual) with relevant UN staff, and key partners such as government counterparts, beneficiaries, local partners, civil society organisations, private sector and academia, to provide the core inputs for the outcome analysis paper;
• support data collection activities for the assessment of the assigned thematic areas and cross-cutting issues as might be required;
• participate fully in data collection (either mission in the country or remotely if required by the COVID-19 situation);
• collaborate effectively with other evaluation team members;
• participate and contribute to the team’s working sessions, including the analysis workshop and presentation of preliminary evaluation findings to the UNDP country office in Jamaica;  
• prepare an outcome analysis paper for the assigned thematic areas and revise it as needed, as per comments received from the IEO, CO, Regional Bureau and other stakeholders; and
• contribute to the preparation of the final ICPE report, as well as the following revisions based on comments received by relevant stakeholders.

Duties:

The consultant, working under the leadership of the lead evaluator, will contribute to ensuring the overall quality of the evaluation, including the timely delivery of the draft outcome analysis paper and of the intermediate outputs in the task areas previously stipulated. No payment will be processed until the deliverables have been fully approved by the IEO. The deliverables include:

• Desk review report: An outline will be shared and discussed at the beginning of the desk review phase. The due date is early August 2020. The report is expected to contain the following information:
  • preliminary findings of the desk review, including summary of the context and other evaluative evidence, specific theory of change for the thematic areas and indication of any data gaps to be addressed during data collection;
  • List of stakeholders to consult and any additional protocol questions, tools and instruments necessary for data collection specific to the thematic areas.
• Final analysis paper for the assigned thematic areas, as an input to the evaluation report. An outline will be shared and discussed before data collection. It is due end of September 2020.
• Comprehensive review and necessary adjustments to the outcome analysis papers and ICPE report.

The analysis paper and ICPE report will follow the standard IEO publication guidelines.

Functional competencies

• Strong analytical skills, including ability to quickly assess a diverse range of information with a discerning sense for quality of data; and
• Good mastery of information technology required for organized presentation of information.

Development and Operational Effectiveness

• Adhere to the principle of confidentiality and ethical code of conducts during the evaluation;
• Ability to work under pressure, multi-tasking skills;
• Available to travel and conduct required analysis within the agreed timelines.

Corporate Competencies

• Ability to work in multicultural and multidisciplinary teams, acting with professionalism, diplomacy, tact and courtesy.

Education

• A Master’s Degree in a field relevant to the assignment is required.

Professional Experience:

• At least 10 years of relevant experience is required;
• Substantive knowledge of environment, vulnerability and resilience to natural hazards, climate change, energy and natural resources management issues is required;
• Extensive experience in programme evaluation and/or mastery of data collection techniques and methods, interviews particularly with vulnerable groups and communities, and quantitative and qualitative analysis is mandatory;
• Knowledge of the country context, development issues, and challenge is desirable;
• Experience in gender-sensitive programming and/or evaluation is desirable;
• Familiarity with UNDP or UN operations in the country or region is desirable

Languages:

• Ability to work in English (oral and written) is mandatory.

Application Instructions

The following documents should be supplied and uploaded as one document:

• A cover letter with a short description of relevant experience;
• Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects and educaton history, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of at least three (3) professional references;
• A duly completed Confirmation of Interest and Submission of Financial Proposal Form that indicates your daily rate for this consultancy;
• National candidates from Jamaica are strongly encouraged to apply.

Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows a maximum upload of one document.