JOB DESCRIPTION

H (no hardship)

Family

Family

PR4

Professional

Reason

Regular > Regular Assignment

2025-10-01

August 8, 2025

Senior Evaluation Officer

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships

The Senior Evaluation Officer job may exist in Headquarters or in a Regional Bureau. In HQ, the job is in the Evaluation Office (EvO) in UNHCR Headquarters in Geneva. Working under the supervision of the Head of Office, the position focuses on normative and operational aspects of evaluation work, norms, standards and guidance. This requires contributing to the technical support for both centralized and decentralized evaluation, and to the design, commissioning, management and follow up of a range of different types of evaluative work undertaken by the Office. It includes UNHCR’s contributions to inter-agency evaluation initiatives and thereby requires interaction with key external actors in the UN agency, donor, NGO and wider evaluation communities.

In a Regional Bureau working under the overall leadership of the Senior Evaluation Coordinator, the position will complement existing HQ evaluation capacity to lead on the development of organizational norms for evaluation, guidance and tools, planning and delivery of country strategy and decentralised evaluations with UNHCR regional bureau and country operation colleagues (including the development of evaluation Terms of Reference, procurement and contract management of evaluation services, and providing quality assurance of evaluation deliverables). The incumbent directly participates in decentralised evaluation processes at a Regional Bureau and country operation level as relevant and required. S/he supports the design and delivery of UNHCR evaluation-related capacity building efforts in UNHCR Regional Bureaux and Country Offices. S/he also supports the Regional Bureau, Multi-Country Office and Country Office to identify key evidence gaps and priorities and develop appropriate evaluative strategies and plans to address these.

All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR’s core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.

Duties

In Headquarters

• Lead the design and timely management of global independent strategic, thematic and/or Level 3 Emergency Response Evaluations.
• Lead and participate in the selection and procurement of quality evaluation services (evaluation firms and individual consultants).
• Lead the dissemination and follow-up activities on global and/or L3 Emergency Response Evaluations. Deploy on mission as needed, notably scoping and draft report/ recommendation co-creation phases to build stakeholder involvement and ensure products are developed to standard.
• Contribute to the enhancement of the technical quality of UNHCR’s evaluation approaches, methodologies and tools.
• Provide technical assistance and quality assurance for decentralized evaluations commissioned by divisions.
• Respond to requests for details of the evaluation work programme and activities.
• Participate in conferences, workshops, and seminars relevant to UNHCR’s evaluation work and contribute to UN professional evaluation practice through active participation in UN Evaluation Group working groups and events.

In a Regional Bureau

• Lead the design and management of independent Country Strategy Evaluations (CSEs).
• Deploy on mission as needed, notably scoping and draft report/ recommendation co-creation phases for CSEs and technical assistance in commissioning and design of decentralized evaluations to build stakeholder involvement and ensure products are developed to standard.
• Lead the dissemination and follow-up activities of independent CSEs.
• Contribute to the enhancement of the technical quality of UNHCR’s evaluation approaches, methodologies and tools.
• Contribute to the preparation of other technical evaluation products including evaluation syntheses.
• Lead the development and strengthening of the evaluation function within the region, including generating awareness and demand among senior management at bureau and operation levels, establishing a regional work programme, building a network of focal points, generating resources, and supporting decentralized evaluation conduct in line policy requirements.
• Ensure that the technical aspects (both quantitative and qualitative) of decentralised evaluations commissioned by UNHCR are improved through expert advice and guidance.
• Contributed to the design of evaluation-related training modules and materials for the decentralized function, and deploy to facilitate evaluation-related awareness raising, training and/or capacity building sessions as required.
• Respond to requests for details of the evaluation work programme and activities.
• Participate in conferences, workshops, and seminars relevant to UNHCR’s evaluation work and contribute to UN professional evaluation practice through active participation in UN Evaluation Group working groups and events.

• Support risk assessment and discussions within the Evaluation Office team and proactively manage risks related to evaluation conduct and use for evaluations for which the S/M is responsible, escalating the risk to the Head of Evaluation Office, as needed.
• Perform other related duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications

Years of Experience / Degree Level

For P4 – 9 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 8 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 7 years relevant experience with Doctorate degree

Field(s) of Education

Social Science;                                 Economics;                                      

Law; International Development;              

or another relevant field.

Certificates and/or Licenses

Research and Evaluation Methods

(Certificates and Licenses marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Relevant Job Experience

Essential

Proven track record of managing large/complex projects from end to end. Experience in the conduct of evaluation. Good knowledge of qualitative and quantitative research and evaluation methods/approaches, statistics, data collection tools and analytical approaches. Experience of working with and influencing senior decision makers, including in delivering challenging, or potentially contested, key messages. Experience of building effective working relationships with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures.

Desirable

Substantial experience in a humanitarian or development context. Knowledge of UNHCR programmes and other humanitarian operations in a variety of geographical locations. Ability to write publications with minimal editorial supervision. Relevant work experience in field contexts, ideally including in refugee and displacement response contexts. Monitoring and evaluation related training.

Functional Skills

SO-Research

DM-Data Collection and Analysis

IM-Statistics Analysis

EL-Evaluation of humanitarian operations

MG-Policy Development, Evaluation, Research, Publication

CO-Strategic Communication

(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Language Requirements

For International Professional and Field Service jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English.

For National Professional jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language.

For General Service jobs: Knowledge of English and/or UN working language of the duty station if not English.

Competency Requirements

All jobs at UNHCR require six core competencies and may also require managerial competencies and/or cross-functional competencies. The six core competencies are listed below.

Core Competencies

Accountability

Communication

Organizational Awareness

Teamwork & Collaboration

Commitment to Continuous Learning

Client & Result Orientation

Managerial Competencies

Empowering and Building Trust

Judgement and Decision Making

Leadership

Managing Performance

Managing Resources

Strategic Planning and Vision

Cross-Functional Competencies

Analytical Thinking

Planning and Organizing

Policy Development and Research

All UNHCR workforce members must individually and collectively, contribute towards a working environment where each person feels safe, and empowered to perform their duties. This includes by demonstrating no tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, harassment including sexual harassment, sexism, gender inequality, discrimination, and abuse of power.

As individuals and as managers, all must be proactive in preventing and responding to inappropriate conduct, support ongoing dialogue on these matters and speaking up and seeking guidance and support from relevant UNHCR resources when these issues arise.

This is a Standard Job Description for all UNHCR jobs with this job title and grade level. The Operational Context may contain additional essential and/or desirable qualifications relating to the specific operation and/or position. Any such requirements are incorporated by reference in this Job Description and will be considered for the screening, shortlisting and selection of candidates.

As a senior evaluation professional and a manager, the incumbent must:
– possess strong leadership, organizational and managerial skills to supervise staff with experience in planning, budgeting and reporting on results
– demonstrate a high level of technical expertise in one or more research methods used in evaluation practice
– be able to coordinate and engage with different levels of staff and management within the organization e.g. from working technical level to Director level;
– promote team spirit, functional collaboration and diversity;
– demonstrate behavioral independence and integrity as it applies to research activities
– be flexible with a high degree of political and diplomatic astuteness. Be pro-active in anticipating and managing stakeholders (internal and external) and different situations;
– create effective networks, relationships, and synergies with UN agencies, NGOs and academic institutions;
– communicate effectively (in particular complex data), orally and in writing, and be capable of establishing an enabling working environment;
– be able to travel on missions to remote field locations with challenging working conditions and security concerns;
– have experiences and demonstrated coaching abilities, capacity building skills and ease in teaching, mentoring and facilitating;
– have experience in the UN system is highly desirable for the position
– the position requires a good level of written and oral English to ensure effective communication. A working knowledge of at least one other official UN language facilitates coordination with a broader range of stakeholders and supports effective collaboration.
Field(s) of Education
Social Sciences (economics, political science, sociology), Sciences (statistics, computer science, mathematics, public health/epidemiology)

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Operational context

Occupational Safety and Health Considerations:

Nature of Position:

The Senior Evaluation Officer position forms part of the Evaluation Office (EvO) in UNHCR, and is located in Geneva (may be home based from the beginning of the assignment). Evaluation is a growing function in the Organization, as reflected increased engagement with operations, increased professional staffing, budget and outputs. UNHCR conducts evaluations that are strategic, operation-specific or thematic. The EvO includes staff with expertise in qualitative and quantitative research methods, communications skills and an ability to apply behavioral science approaches in the conduct of evaluations.  UNHCR ‘s Evaluation Office is active in international, inter-agency and UN evaluation communities of practice and networks.

Living and Working Conditions:

 

Additional Qualifications

Skills

CO-Strategic Communication, DM-Data Collection and Analysis, EL-Evaluation of humanitarian operations, IM-Statistics Analysis, MG-Policy Development, Evaluation, Research, Publication, SO-Research

Bachelor of Arts: Economics, Bachelor of Arts: Law, Bachelor of Arts: Social Science

Certifications

Research and Evaluation Methods – Other

Competencies

Accountability, Analytical thinking, Client & results orientation, Commitment to continuous learning, Communication, Empowering & building trust, Judgement & decision making, Leadership, Managing performance, Managing resource, Organizational awareness, Planning & organizing, Policy research & development, Strategic planning & visions, Teamwork & collaboration

https://icsc.un.org/Home/SalaryScales

Compendium

Add. 2 to the Bi-Annual 2025 Compendium – Part B

Additional Information

This position doesn”t require a functional clearance