On 15 July 2015, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) issued the Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) No. 2015 – 01 or the National Evaluation Policy Framework (NEPF) of the Philippines. The JMC is widely considered as one of the reform initiatives to engender results-orientation in the Philippine bureaucracy. More specifically, the policy sets the framework for the conduct of evaluation of all government programs and projects in the public sector to (1) support good governance and evidence-based decisions; (2) promote program improvement; and (3) ensure accountability and transparency.
The NEPF provides clear guiding principles and evaluation standards that should serve as a guidepost in the conduct of public sector evaluation. NEDA, DBM, and the Office of the President-Presidential Management Staff (OP-PMS) were identified as the members of the Evaluation Task Force that will provide overall direction and coordination in the conduct of public sector evaluation. In addition, there are currently draft bills pending in the House of Representatives and the Senate, which support the creation of central evaluation units (CEUs) in agencies, the regular conduct of evaluations and use of evaluation findings in the whole of government.
NEDA and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) embarked on a partnership to support capacity development activities for NEDA and other agencies towards a more effective evaluation of the implementation of the Philippine Development Plan (PDP), Public Investment Program (PIP) and Fiscal Plan at the national and sub-national levels.
The Strategic Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Project, which is funded by NEDA and is under National Implementation Modality (NIM) with UNDP Country Office support. It was designed to strengthen the evaluation culture in government. Through the provision of technical advisory and project management services, the project aims to support NEDA and select government agencies in managing and conducting evaluations and result in improved public-sector management and official development assistance (ODA) monitoring and evaluation.
While NEDA currently performs its evaluation function through the Monitoring and Evaluation Staff (MES), it is envisioned that NEDA shall undertake the central evaluation function in the Philippine government. The said vision is anchored on the premise that: (a) NEDA can develop and promulgate evaluation policies and guidelines, oversee and support government agencies in implementing the national evaluation agenda, and assure the quality of evaluation outputs and use of evaluation results; and, (b) NEDA is capacitated to undertake, directly or through commissioning, thematic evaluations and lead the conduct of program and project-level evaluations on priority investments under the PDP and the PIP.
In view of the foregoing and in line with provisions of the National Evaluation Policy Framework (NEPF), the Strategic M&E Project has a Project Management Unit within NEDA that serves to transition towards NEDA’s Evaluation Staff under the Monitoring and Evaluation Group.
To further support the PMU within NEDA for effective implementation of the Stategic M&E project, UNDP seeks to hire an Evaluation Officer who will serve as Senior Economic Development Specialist for an initial period of six (6) months, to provide technical support to the Central Evaluation Unit and in the performance of NEDA’s evaluation function. This position will be based in the NEDA Central Evaluation Unit (CEU).
UNDP will administer the overall contract management of this post and with a direct functional reporting line to the Supervising Evaluation Officer (Supervising Economic Development Specialist). UNDP’s General Conditions for Personnel Services Agreement (NPSA) will apply for the duration of the contract. The day to day support to effective implementation of the Strategic M&E project outlined in section 3- Scope of Work will be undertaken under the supervision of the Supervising Evaluation Officer (Supervising Economic Development Specialist).
The Evaluation Officer (Senior Economic Development Specialist) based in the NEDA CEU Office, to provide technical support to effective day-to-day operations, the management of M&E Fund, and delivery of operational and financial targets, including designing and managing of thematic, sectoral, and program and project-level evaluations to support PDP implementation, as required by the approved project Annual Work Plan. S/he shall work in close coordination with various units in NEDA Central and Regional Offices, Oversight and Implementing Agencies, the Strategic M&E Project Team, and relevant UNDP Philippines Country Office staff.
The Key Summary of Functions:
Policy and Planning Advisory
Project Management and Administration
Management, Implementation, and Quality Assurance of Evaluations
Evaluation Capacity Development and Technical Support
Coordination and Partnership for Evaluation Advocacies
Communication and Knowledge Management
Research and Data Analysis
Institutional Arrangement
The Evaluation Officer will be under the general supervision of the Supervising Evaluation Officer. S/he shall work in close coordination with various units in NEDA Central and Regional Offices, Oversight and Implementing Agencies, the Strategic M&E Project Team, and relevant UNDP Philippines Country Office staff.
Achieve Results
LEVEL 1: Plans and monitors own work, pays attention to details, delivers quality work by deadline
Think Innovatively:
LEVEL 1: Open to creative ideas/known risks, is pragmatic problem solver, makes improvements
Learn Continuously:
LEVEL 1: Open minded and curious, shares knowledge, learns from mistakes, asks for feedback
Adapt with Agility
LEVEL 1: Adapts to change, constructively handles ambiguity/uncertainty, is flexible
Act with Determination:
LEVEL 1: Shows drive and motivation, able to deliver calmly in face of adversity, confident
Engage and Partner:
LEVEL 1: Demonstrates compassion/understanding towards others, forms positive relationships
Enable Diversity and Inclusion:
LEVEL 1: Appreciate/respect differences, aware of unconscious bias, confront discrimination
CROSS-FUNCTIONAL &TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES
Business Development: Knowledge Generation
Ability to research and turn information into useful knowledge, relevant for context, or responsive to a stated need
Business Management: Communication
Ability to communicate in a clear, concise and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience
Ability to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media and other appropriate channels
Business Management: Monitoring
Ability to provide managers and key stakeholders with regular feedback on the consistency or discrepancy between planned and actual activities and programme performance and results
Business Management: Evaluation
Ability to make an independent judgement based on set criteria and benchmarks
Ability to anticipate client’s upcoming needs and concerns.
Business Management: Working with Evidence and Data
Ability to inspect, cleanse, transform and model data with the goal of discovering useful information, informing conclusions and supporting decision-making
Business Management: Digital Awareness and Literacy
Ability and inclination to rapidly adopt new technologies, either through skilfully grasping their usage or through understanding their impact and empowering others to use them as needed
Digital and Innovation: Data Analysis
Ability to extract, analyse and visualize data (including Real-Time Data) to form meaningful insights and aid effective decision making
Minimum Education Requirements:
Completion of secondary education is required.
First level university degree (Bachelor’s Degree) in Economics, Statistics, Data Science, Management and other relevant social sciences courses
Minimum years of relevant work experience:
With seven (7) years (secondary education) or four (4) years (Bachelor’s degree) relevant work experience in monitoring and evaluation, or related field.
Eight (8) hours of relevant training on M&E
Required skills
Experience in managing, designing and/or implementing evaluations, including but not limited to quantitative or impact evaluations
Report writing and communicating evaluation results
Desired skills:
Working knowledge in data tracking, analytics and management and application of various quantitative research and evaluation methodologies is advantageous.
Knowledge in using data analysis software (e.g., R, STATA, SPSS, among others) is advantageous
Knowledge and understanding of government/NEDA policies and processes is advantageous.
Previous working experience with government and international organizations at local or international level is advantageous.
Required Language(s)
Fluency in English and Filipino languages is required.
Professional Certificates
Civil Service Eligibility – Professional required