DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS 29 April 2026-23:59-GMT+01:00 Central European Time (Rome) WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status or disability. ABOUT WFP The World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity, for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change. At WFP, people are at the heart of everything we do and the vision of the future WFP workforce is one of diverse, committed, skilled, and high performing teams, selected on merit, operating in a healthy and inclusive work environment, living WFP's values (Integrity, Collaboration, Commitment, Humanity, and Inclusion) and working with partners to save and change the lives of those WFP serves. To learn more about WFP, visit our website: https://www.wfp.org and follow us on social media to keep up with our latest news: YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok. WHY JOIN WFP? - WFP is a 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. - WFP offers a highly inclusive, diverse, and multicultural working environment. - WFP invests in the personal & professional development of its employees through a range of training, accreditation, coaching, mentorship, and other programs as well as through internal mobility opportunities. - A career path in WFP provides an exciting opportunity to work across the various country, regional and global offices around the world, and with passionate colleagues who work tirelessly to ensure that effective humanitarian assistance reaches millions of people across the globe. - We offer an attractive compensation package (please refer to the Terms and Conditions section of this vacancy announcement). JOB TITLE: Evaluation Specialist (Consultant Level 1) TYPE OF CONTRACT: Consultant [When Actually Employed] UNIT/DIVISION: Decentralized Evaluation unit/Office of Evaluation DUTY STATION (City, Country): Home based [with potential travel to support country offices in Southern Africa if required] DURATION: 65 days between April and December 2026 BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT: The World Food Programme (WFP) is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters, and the impact of changing climate. In line with WFP’s Evaluation Policy 2022, the evaluation function aims to contribute to global knowledge and support decision making and Sustainability Development Goal (SDG) achievement at the global, regional and national levels, ensuring that evaluation evidence consistently and comprehensively informs decisions on WFP policies, strategies, plans, and programmes. The evaluation function includes evaluations commissioned and managed by various parts of the organization. The three primary categories of evaluation at WFP include centralized, decentralized and impact evaluations. Decentralized evaluations are commissioned and managed by country offices (COs) and functions within Global headquarters (other than OEV) and are designed to meet the needs of the commissioning units. Within the Office of Evaluation (OEV), a dedicated unit is responsible for supporting COs and Global headquarters functions other than OEV in planning, commissioning and managing decentralized evaluations. The Decentralized Evaluation Unit is composed of staff based in Rome and Regional Evaluation Technical Teams (RETTs) outposted in five regional offices. This position is based in the Decentralized Evaluation Unit and reports to the Head of the decentralized evaluation. The purpose of this assignment is to support decentralised evaluations and ensure that they are impartial, of good quality and useful. While the consultant will primarily support decentralized evaluations across East and Southern Africa to cover gaps that have emerged due to early reassignment of the regional evaluation officer, he/she may be requested to support decentralized evaluation in other regions depending on the operational requirements. The Head of the Decentralized Unit will allocate the evaluations to the Evaluation specialist who will then be expected to work closely with the RETTs yet with a high level of autonomy. ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES: Within this context, the evaluation specialist is required to provide support and contributions to the following workstreams: Evaluation Planning and Budgeting In close collaboration with regional program monitoring staff and the regional evaluation officer: - Review Assessment, Monitoring and Evaluation (AME) tools summited by country offices and provide feedback on evaluation plans and budgets across a range of evaluation categories (ongoing/planned centralized, decentralized and impact evaluations). - Review budget revisions to identify implications on planned evaluations and raise any issue with the relevant regional evaluation officer; - Support other planning and budget tasks, as and when appropriate Support Management and Quality assurance of Decentralized Evaluations - In consultation with the staff within the DE unit supporting specific DEs, review specific draft deliverables and provide timely and quality feedback as appropriate. This includes: - Check first draft Terms of Reference (TOR) submitted by CO evaluation managers to ensure that they have followed the required template, that all elements are present and that the TOR is ready for systematic DE Quality Review and Feedback (DERF); - Review final TOR submitted by the CO to confirm whether earlier comments (including from the evaluation reference group) were adequately addressed, identify potential outstanding issues to be addressed before ToRs are finalized and approved - Support, as appropriate, contracting of evaluation teams through reviewing proposals submitted by evaluation firms, consultations with Procurement officer and providing documented feedback; - Check first drafts inception reports (IRs) submitted by evaluation teams to ensure that they followed the required template, that all elements are present and that the draft IR is ready for systematic DE Quality Review and Feedback (DERF); - Review final IRs submitted by the evaluation teams to confirm whether comments provided by evaluation reference group (ERG) were addressed, identify potential outstanding issues to be addressed before the IR is finalized and approved. - Support DE evaluation managers, as appropriate, to plan for and support evaluation data collection missions - Check first drafts of evaluation reports (ERs) submitted by evaluation teams to ensure that they followed the required template, that all elements are present and that the draft ER is ready for systematic DE Quality Review and Feedback (DERF); - Review final ERs submitted by the evaluation teams to confirm whether comments provided by evaluation reference group (ERG) have been addressed, identify potential outstanding issues to be addressed before the ER can be finalized and approved. - Support any other DE management tasks as shall be allocated by the officer in charge of ESARETT Information Management, Coordination and Engagement - Ensure that information on all supported evaluations is up to date in the Management Information System (MIS) - Attend ESARETT and DE unit monthly meetings, as/when appropriate, and engage with others to ensure coordinated support to country offices. - Engage with the evaluation function, as appropriate DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT: - Timely comments and feedback on Assessment, Monitoring and Evaluation (AME) Tools and/or draft country strategic plans and budget revisions - Written feedback on decentralized evaluations draft TORs on readiness for DERF - Written feedback on decentralized evaluations draft inception reports (IR) readiness for DERF - Written feedback on decentralized evaluations draft evaluation reports (ER) readiness for DERF - Updated TOR comments matrix reflecting whether stakeholder comments were addressed - Updated IRs comments matrix reflecting whether stakeholder comments were addressed - Updated ERs comments matrix reflecting whether stakeholder comments were addressed - Up-to-date information in the Evaluation Management Information System (MIS) for all supported evaluations QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED: Education: University Degree in relevant social science disciplines Experience: Five years of relevant professional work experience in Monitoring and Evaluation; At least 2 years of professional experience managing evaluations, preferably at decentralized level Knowledge & Skills: - Knowledge of Monitoring and Evaluation approaches including differences and complementarities; - Solid knowledge of UNEG norms and standards for evaluation - Quick to learn, able to take initiative with minimal supervision. - Ability to read and assimilate a large amount of information within a short time. - Ability to draft clear and succinct reports and other products by bringing together information from different sources - Strong communication skills (oral and written) including ability to present ideas and generate feedback from a variety of audience. - Ability to work in a multi-cultural environment. - A strong team player, with ability to coordinate and work collaboratively with others to achieve common goals. - Self-confidence, creative and ability to work with minimal supervision - Demonstrated flexibility and ability to adapt to a changing context. - Ability to take initiative and be proactive in managing own work, as well as raise issues with functional and line managers when needed. - Commitment to confidentiality and sound understanding of key ethical issues associated with evaluation work - Fully computer-literate with excellent skills in Word, Excel, Power Point and database management. Languages: Proficiency / Level C English WFP LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK WFP Leadership Framework guides to the common standards of behavior that guide HOW we work together to accomplish our mission. Click here to access WFP Leadership Framework REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION WFP is committed to supporting individuals with disabilities by providing reasonable accommodations throughout the recruitment process. If you require a reasonable accommodation, please contact: global.inclusion@wfp.org NO FEE DISCLAIMER The United Nations does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web. REMINDERS BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION - All applications must be submitted exclusively through our online recruiting system. We do not consider CVs or applications sent by email, LinkedIn, or any other channel. - We strongly recommend that your Workday profile is accurate and complete, and that all sections are filled in, including your employment history, academic qualifications, language skills, and UN grade (if applicable). Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application. - If you experience technical issues while submitting your application, you may contact us at global.hrerecruitment@wfp.org. Please note that this email is only for technical issues with an application - unsolicited applications or documents sent to this inbox will not receive a reply. - At the application stage, the only required documents are your CV and Cover Letter. Additional documents (passport, certificates, recommendation letters, etc.) may be requested later in the process. - Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and invited to proceed to the next stage of the recruitment process. All employment decisions are made on the basis of organizational needs, job requirements, merit, and individual qualifications. WFP is committed to providing an inclusive work environment free of sexual exploitation and abuse, all forms of discrimination, any kind of harassment, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. Therefore, all selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks. No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.