TYPE OF CONTRACT: CSLT Regular (Level 2)

UNIT/DIVISION: Office of Evaluation, Impact Evaluation Unit

DUTY STATION (City, Country): Nairobi, Kenya

DURATION: 6 months (August 2026 – January 2027) with possibility of extension subject to funding availability

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

The WFP Evaluation Policy 2022 reinforces WFP's commitment to evidence-based decision-making and a culture of learning and accountability. Impact evaluations, as defined in the policy, play a pivotal role in assessing the attributable changes in development outcomes resulting from WFP's programs and policies. Impact evaluations are managed and conducted by the Impact Evaluation Unit in WFP’s independent Office of Evaluation (OEV), in partnership with external experts.

In late 2025, OCHA and WFP formalized a strategic partnership through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly strengthen the evidence base on the effectiveness of humanitarian programming. The MoU responds to the growing scale and complexity of humanitarian operations and the shared recognition that more rigorous and comparable impact evidence is needed to inform decision-making for programme design, resource allocation, and global policy dialogue.

Under this partnership, the two agencies are piloting a coordinated model for planning and delivering impact evaluations during 2026–2027, aligning methodological approaches, pooling resources, and leveraging complementary expertise across programmes and approaches such as anticipatory action, rapid response and needs based programming.

Anticipatory action programming has been rapidly expanding in recent years, with WFP emerging as a leading implementing agency supported by the WFP Office of Evaluation’s Impact Evaluation Unit  in generating some of the earliest and most rigorous evidence on its effectiveness.

The consultant will support the operationalization of the joint evaluation agenda by serving as the primary liaison between OCHA and WFP. The consultant will lead engagement with stakeholders and Country Offices to design and set up the impact evaluations and will oversee the implementation of these evaluations throughout the pilot phase.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

The main accountabilities and responsibilities are:

• Act as the liaison between the WFP and OCHA impact evaluation units.

• Engage with OCHA and WFP Country teams, as well as other United Nations agencies, to assess opportunities and feasibility for impact evaluations.

• Hold regular engagements with WFP Anticipatory Action team within WFP Climate and Resilience Service to identify priority countries and impact evaluation designs that align with the service’s priorities.

• Develop impact evaluation designs for priority countries in coordination with country and global headquarter teams.

• Lead the day-to-day engagement with stakeholders at country and regional office level.

• Prepare progress updates, donor reports, briefing notes, and presentations on partnership

• Document lessons learned, good practices, and partnership results.

• Contribute to joint planning, resource mobilization efforts, and proposal development for partnership.

• Provide analysis and recommendations to strengthen coherence between implementing partners.

• Coordinate joint communication materials, success stories, and visibility products on partnership. Ensure consistent messaging aligned with OEV communication guidelines.

• Support organization of public events, field missions, and donor visits as required.

·         Doctoral degree in academic disciplines relevant to the assignment (economics, political science, development studies, etc.).

·         A minimum of 6 years’ professional experience supporting the delivery and quality of impact evaluations, and preferably with exposure to climate/resilience impact evaluations or research.

·         Experience managing RCTs in the field; experience in hardship duty stations is considered a plus.

·         Experience working with UN and multilateral agencies; experience working on multi-agency impact evaluations is considered a plus.

·         Excellent research skills

·         Solid knowledge of quantitative methods used for identifying and measuring impacts (e.g. survey design, implicit association tests, etc.).  

·         Proficiency in using statistical software packages (Stata, R, SPSS, etc.). 

·         Fully computer-literate with excellent skills in Word, Excel, Power Point and database management.  

·         Strong interpersonal skills with demonstrated ability to work effectively and sensitively in diverse teams. Experience working with government partners is desirable.  

·         Strong organizational and planning skills to manage multi‑partner workplans. Ability to track implementation progress and ensure timely follow‑up.

·         Adapt in bringing together diverse stakeholders and facilitating collaborative decision‑making

·         Problem‑solving skills to address bottlenecks and operational challenges. Ability to analyse partnership dynamics, identify synergies, and propose strategic adjustments.

·         Excellent written, verbal and visual communication skills. Ability to effectively bridge academic and practitioner audiences.  

·         Well organised and systematic. 

·         Fluency (level C) in English language and level B in French.