UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.
UNICEF is a place where careers are built: we offer our staff diverse opportunities for personal and professional development that will help them develop a fulfilling career while delivering on a rewarding mission. We pride ourselves on a culture that helps staff thrive, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, a champion

In Burundi, UNICEF has a very diverse portfolio of responsibilities but all with the same objective which is to assist the Government and other stakeholders to fulfill children’s economic, social, cultural, political, and civil rights. The UNICEF country program in Burundi aims to improve the lives of children and women in the following key areas: Child and maternal health, Nutrition, Education, Child Protection, Water, sanitation and hygiene, Social Policy and Advocacy, Adolescent empowerment and community resilience, and Humanitarian response.

How can you make a difference?

Under the supervision of Chief Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, the incumbent will be accountable for the conduct of quality evaluation, research, and studies to strengthen the accountability and enable the identification of high-impact, cost-effective strategies for scale-up as well as strengthening the capacities of UNICEF staff and partners on this thematic with the following duties:

Evaluation conduct and use
• Assess the evaluability of proposed evaluation of the costed evaluation plans, as required, and make recommendations to improve the evaluability of the programmes or projects.
• Support programme partners to formulate Terms of Reference, with evaluation designs of high quality, when relevant drawing on the know-how of knowledge institutions, in compliance with the organization’s programme evaluation policies and guidelines.
• Assist with the recruitment and selection of appropriately qualified evaluation consultants, ensuring that the selection process is in compliance with UNICEF standards for performance, accountability, transparency and ethics.
• Monitor and ensure the quality of the field work and data management during the implementation phase, and the quality of the analysis and ease of understanding during the report writing phase.
• Work closely with external evaluation consultants/teams to enable them to deliver results according to the agreed Terms of Reference. Exercise sufficient oversight so that quality is assured, and any quality problems are detected soon enough that timely remedial action is possible.
• Ensure UNICEF-supported evaluations attain established UN quality standards, and the results are disseminated in a timely fashion to stakeholders for improving programme performance and contributing to national and corporate learning.
• Monitor and ensure that a management response to the findings and recommendations of the evaluation is completed, recorded, and followed up for implementation. Ensure that evaluation recommendations are submitted to the Country Management Team (CMT) and follow-up actions recorded in CMT meeting minutes.

1. Research and Studies portofolio management
• Contribute to drafting quality concept notes and Terms of Reference in close consultation with key internal and external stakeholders.
• Assist with the recruitment and selection of appropriately qualified research consultants, ensuring that the selection process is in compliance with UNICEF standards for performance, accountability, transparency and ethics.
• Coordinate the peer review process of major research projects to ensure quality and compliance with the UNICEF Policy on Research and country office research priorities.
• Organize and facilitate bimonthly meetings with the Research, Study and Evaluation taskforce, to track progress of the Integrated Monitoring and Evaluation Plan (IMEP) and ensure the sharing of information among key members of the office and to monitor the proper integration of study, research and evaluations findings into programme implementation.
• Advocate for an increased consultation and participation of children and adolescents in planning, research, study and evaluation projects. Provide technical and ethical guidance for children consultation.

2. Knowledge Management & Innovation
• Ensure that the activities in the Integrated Monitoring and Evaluation plan are recorded and updated in the Evidence Information Systems Integration (EISI).
• Disseminate evaluation, research and studies findings and recommendations to the intended audiences in user-friendly methods. In particular, to ensure that effective participatory feedback is provided to community and civil society stakeholders.
• Developing and curate content, including reports, best practices, case studies, and other knowledge resourcesfor internal and external audience on relevant platform.
• Undertake lessons-learned reviews on successful and unsuccessful evaluation practices and experience at the national level, and ensure they are shared as appropriate. Similarly, pay attention to evaluation knowledge networks to identify innovations and lessons learned that may be relevant for the CO and partners to improve their evaluation function.
• Develop an innovation strategy aligned to promote a culture of innovation throughout the Country Office. Identify emerging trends, technologies, and opportunities that can be leveraged to accelerate results for children. Capture and disseminate lessons learned, best practices, and insights from innovative projects.

3. Capacity Strengthening and Partnership Building
• Build and strengthen strategic partnerships through networking and advocacy with local/national governments and sub-regional governmental bodies, UN system agency partners, donors, NGOs, funding organizations, research institutes, including universities, and the private sector. Support interventions related to National Evaluation Capacity Development, specifically collaborate with UN partners, Voluntary Organization for Professional Evaluation (VOPE) and Government on the elaboration of a NECD plan for the upcoming CPD.
• Ensure that sufficient systems and procedures are in place within the Country Office for appropriate ethics reviews of evidence activities as per the UNICEF Procedure for Ethical Standards in Research, Evaluation and Data Collection and Analysis.
• Collaborate with Regional Evaluation Advisers and HQ Evaluation Office for overall coordination of priority evaluation activities, especially those of regional scope requiring the coordinated effort of multiple countries.
• Partner with the Regional Evaluation Adviser to ensure that current and accurate evaluation data and results are included in regional reports, multi-country studies, and knowledge sharing networks.

Performs other related duties as assigned by the supervisor to ensure the success of the team, including guiding, training, and coaching.

 JD Research and Evaluation Specialist P3 .pdf

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

The following minimum requirements:

• Education: Advanced university degree in social sciences, economics, public policy, statistics, or in research methods
• Work Experience: • A minimum of 5 years of professional experience in the implementation of equity-focused evaluations and research

• Experience in evaluation design and in conducting evaluations as per UNICEF and UNEG norms and standards for Evaluation in the UN System in an advantage
• Experience in conducting high-quality research. This includes experience with research design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, and reporting.
• Experience in supporting national evaluation capacity and working with professional evaluation associations
• Experience working with innovative and new methods, technologies, or approaches (e.g. big data analytics, mobile apps and technology) is an advantage
• Experience in developing effective and user-targeted communication materials for different audiences
• Language Requirements: Fluency in English and French. Fluency in another UN Language and in the national language of the duty station an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships (2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (3) Drive to achieve results for impact (4) Innovates and embraces change (5) Manages ambiguity and complexity (6) Thinks and acts strategically (7) Works collaboratively with others.

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority, and discrimination. UNICEF is committed to promoting the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

Remarks:

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

UNICEF’s active commitment to diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable female candidates and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.