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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.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built we offer our staff diverse opportunities for professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

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

For every child, the right to Care

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programmes, in advocacy and in operations. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. UNICEF and cooperating partners and stakeholders work to secure the rights of each child and the surrounding families, communities and nations. In a rapidly evolving landscape marked by climate shocks, migration, digital transformation, and persistent inequality, the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region demands evaluation approaches that are adaptive, equity-centered, and oriented toward systemic change.

Working through the country program of cooperation and United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks, UNICEF assists countries to realize the rights of all children. This involves strategies and programs ranging from innovative and experimental to those at scale. In LAC, this increasingly includes programming and policy innovation that demands rigorous, forward-looking evaluation to inform decision-making at both national and regional levels. The effectiveness and impact of the strategies and programs must be determined. Evaluation is a critical function for understanding if development objectives have been met in a way that contributes to the progressive realization of children’s rights.

To this end, evaluation serves as a strategic lever for course correction and accountability, as well as a catalyst for institutional learning, policy influence, and transformative programming at scale. Evaluations assure partners that resources guided through UNICEF are used effectively and efficiently, and that there is a willingness to change when results can be improved. Furthermore, evaluation, together with other sources of evidence, contributes to country, organizational and global learning. Evaluation also plays a growing role in strengthening national evaluation systems and fostering a culture of evidence-informed governance across the region. Evaluation also supports civic empowerment and behavioral change goals when it is implemented in a participatory way that allows stakeholders and rights holders to acquire the skills to assess development initiatives and to hold duty bearers to account.

Job organizational context:

A Multi-Country Evaluation (MCE) Specialist post will be located in the LAC Regional Office reporting to the Regional Evaluation Adviser (P-5) for oversight and technical guidance. This role is designed to bring strategic coherence to evaluation across multiple country contexts, leveraging cross-country learning and innovation to drive higher-quality evidence generation and use. The MCE Specialist also has a matrix “dotted line” to the respective Representatives of the Country Offices that fall under his/her responsibilities, particularly in matters related to evaluation sponsorship, planning, funding and use.

The MCE Specialist works in close coordination with the Country Office evaluation staff/focal persons in the development and implementation of the Country Office costed evaluation plan, support to Country-Office-level thematic evaluations, evaluation of humanitarian action L1, evaluability assessments, and other evaluation products for which COs are accountable, and support the CO in engaging competent evaluators who conduct their work in accordance with the evaluation policy norms and standards. The MCE Specialist is also expected to champion innovative evaluation methodologies to ensure UNICEF’s evaluation practice in the region remains at the frontier of the discipline.

The incumbent works in accordance with the norms and standards of the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) and the UNICEF evaluation policy. S/he provides guidance to staff involved in managing evaluations in the countries under his/her responsibility and consults the supervisor when major policy decisions and actions must be undertaken.

How can you make a difference? 

The MCE Specialist serves as a strategic evaluation leader driving evaluation quality, innovation, and policy relevance to accelerate results for children in the LAC region. The MCE Specialist ensures credibility, impartiality, and independence of the evaluation function in the COs under her/his responsibility. He/she also facilitates the development and implementation of evaluation workplans in each Country Office and provides guidance and technical support to sectors and to the Country Management Team as well as the national government on evaluation and on related matters.

The MCE Specialist helps the Country Offices to manage its evaluation partnerships, including inter-agency relations within the UN, and collaboration with the Regional Office and Headquarters. The Specialist may also be assigned more specific duties that enable her/him to be a resource person across the region, including methodological work, resource mobilization, and procurement support for evaluations. The Specialist is expected to actively contribute to regional thought leadership on evaluation, including the application of frontier methods, digital tools, and participatory approaches that center equity and the voices of children and adolescents.

The Specialist is responsible for contributing to the design and effective conduct and uptake of evaluations in accordance with the UNICEF evaluation policy. He/she ensures that the UNEG Norms and Standards for evaluation as well as UNICEF evaluation coverage benchmarks and quality standards are upheld.

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

Minimum requirements:

• Education: An Advanced University Degree in the social sciences, economics, public policy, statistics, or in research methods is required. A degree or certification/accreditation in Evaluation is a significant advantage.
• Work Experience:
  • A minimum of 8 years of professional experience in the implementation of equity-focused evaluations and the management of the evaluation function at national and international level. Experience in development and/ or humanitarian settings is required.
  • Experience in supporting national evaluation capacity and working with professional evaluation associations.
  • Experience in evaluation design and in conducting evaluations as per-UNICEF and UNEG norms and standards for Evaluation in the UN System.
  • Familiarity with methods used in conducting both ‘up-stream’ evaluations (e.g. focusing on policies, strategies and systems), as well as ‘down-stream’ evaluations (e.g. focusing on delivery of programmes and projects) is an asset.
  • Experience in related evidence functions is an asset, including Social Policy, Public Policy, Quantitative and Qualitative Data Analysis, Research, Programme Audit, and Programme Planning and Monitoring. Experience in these areas cannot be substituted for the Evaluation experience but is an advantage.
  • Experience in the region where the post is situated is advantageous
• Skills: Professional expertise in evaluation process management, dissemination of results, and utilization.
• Language Requirements: Fluency in English and Spanish is required. Knowledge of another official UN language or a prominent language of the duty stations covered by the MCE Post is 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 promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF provides reasonable accommodation throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.

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 based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, 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, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

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 is committed to fostering an inclusive, representative, and welcoming workforce. For this position, eligible and suitable Female and Male 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.

In this role, you will collaborate with colleagues across multiple locations. For effective collaboration, we encourage flexible working hours that accommodate different time zones while prioritizing staff wellbeing.

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

Humanitarian action is a cross-cutting priority within UNICEF’s Strategic Plan. UNICEF is committed to stay and deliver in humanitarian contexts. Therefore, all staff, at all levels across all functional areas, can be called upon to be deployed to support humanitarian response, contributing to both strengthening resilience of communities and capacity of national authorities.

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.