Terminal Evaluator

The UNOPS Water and Energy Cluster

UNOPS Water and Energy Cluster (WEC) supports the design and management of multi-stakeholder initiatives by providing services in financial and grant management, procurement, human resources, and project management.The cluster has supported projects in the areas of water resource management, climate change adaptation, mitigation and transparency, energy access and distribution and environmental conservation under the Paris Agreement. 

The WEC has also supported operations and financial management services, in Vienna, the rest of the ECR region and beyond.The main partners include UN agencies, bilateral agreements (with the Nordics, Germany, and Italy ), the Green Climate Fund and several NGOs (such as CIFF and CWF).

The UNDP/GEF “CLME+ Project”

The Caribbean and North Brazil Shelf Large Marine Ecosystems (jointly referred to as CLME+) are two of the world’s 66 Large Marine Ecosystems. Together, they cover a total marine area of ± 4.4 million km2. This vast marine space is a major contributor to regional socio-economic development and is key to many globally important ecological processes. The CLME+ region is bordered by over 35 States and Territories, and is therefore considered one of the most geopolitically diverse and complex marine regions in the world.

A US$ 12,5 million grant was released by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) -through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)- to support the execution of a new 5-year Project (the “CLME+ Project”; 2015-2020). This project is seeking to catalyze the implementation of the larger 10-year, region-wide “CLME+ 10-year Strategic Action Programme (SAP) which provides Governments and Inter-Governmental Organisations (IGOs) with a roadmap to reverse degradation of the marine environment and to secure its important resource base. The SAP had been endorsed at the political level by 35 Ministers representing 25 countries and 6 overseas territories from the region.

The CLME+ Project consists of five complementary and inter-linked components. The 5 components reflect the Project Rationale and Strategy, and are designed to collectively deliver the Project’s objective: Facilitating EBM/EAF (Ecosystem-based Management/ Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries) in the CLME+ for the sustainable and climate resilient provision of goods and services from shared living marine resources.

• Frame the evaluation effort using the criteria of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, and impact, as defined and explained in the UNDP Guidance for Conducting Terminal Evaluations of  UNDP-supported, GEF-financed Projects.
• Provide evidence‐based information that is credible, reliable and useful.
• Amend, complete and submit this matrix (Evaluation question Matrix) as part of an evaluation inception report, and shall include it as an annex to the final report.
• Follow a participatory and consultative approach ensuring close engagement with government counterparts, in particular Project Focal Points, the GEF operational focal point, project team, UNDP GEF Technical Adviser based in the region and IGO’s with an oceans mandate and the national focal points to the IGO’s whose work programs the project has been supporting.
• Conduct a field mission to Cartagena, including any potential required project sites.
• Held the interviews with project’s co-executing partner organizations and individuals at a minimum.
• Review all relevant sources of information, such as the project document, project reports – including Annual PIR, project budget revisions, midterm review, progress reports, GEF focal area tracking tools, project files, national strategic and legal documents, and any other materials that the evaluator considers useful for this evidence-based assessment.
• Assess the extent to which the project is achieving impacts or progressing towards the achievement of impacts.

Education and Experience

• Advanced University degree in Natural Resource Management, Marine and/or Environmental Sciences or Policy, or Environmental Law on Marine Transboundary Issues, Fisheries, Marine Biology, Oceanography or related fields is required.
• At least 7 years of work experience in IW/LME related matters and with substantial practical experience regarding Large Marine Ecosystem and/or associated Governance/Fisheries/Biodiversity Projects financed by the GEF is required. Preferably a fisheries expert, governance expert or an environmental expert.
• Competence in adaptive management, as applied to international waters GEF focal area, as well familiar with both Caribbean mainland and islands is desired.
• Demonstrated and recent experience with result-based management evaluation methodologies. Experience applying SMART targets and reconstructing or validating baseline scenarios is desired.
• Experience working with the GEF or GEF-evaluations is desired.
• Experience working in CLME+ region is desired.
• Project evaluation/review experiences within United Nations system will be considered an asset.
• Demonstrated understanding of issues related to gender and experience in gender sensitive evaluation and analysis is desired.
• Excellent communication skills; sufficient exposure to the issues, alert to the cultural, political and social sensitivities of the region is desired.
• Demonstrable analytical skills, attention to detail and respect for deadlines is desired.
• The evaluators selected should NOT have participated in the project preparation and/or implementation and should not have conflict of interest with project related activities is required.

Language Requirements

• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of Spanish will be considered an asset.

Travel Requirement

The incumbent is expected to travel to the locations where the CLME+ project presence is. The necessary VISA formalities/work permit are expected to be taken up by the incumbent as per policy.

Contract type:  International Individual Contract Agreement (IICA)
Contract level: ICS-11/IICA-3

Contract duration: The total duration is 37 days spread across 11 months (January -November 2020).

• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time.
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.
• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• UNOPS seeks to reasonably accommodate candidates with special needs, upon request.
• Work life harmonization - UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands. We have a progressive policy on work-life harmonization and offer several flexible working options. This policy applies to UNOPS personnel on all contract types.
• UNOPS seeks to reasonably accommodate candidates with special needs, upon request.
• The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.

It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential recruits.
Recruitment in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.