Senior Evaluation Officer P5 at World Food… · Rome

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS 28 June 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).

We are seeking to fill the position of Senior Evaluation Officer at the P5 level, based in the Office of Evaluation (OEV) at our Global Headquarters in Rome. This is a senior leadership role requiring deep technical expertise in evaluation

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT The Office of Evaluation aims to contribute to ending global hunger by generating a strong evidence base of WFP’s successes and failures which can be incorporated into future policies and programmes.

There are three categories of evaluation at WFP: i) Centralized evaluations are commissioned and managed by OEV and presented to the Executive Board for consideration. ii) Decentralized evaluations are commissioned and managed by country offices, regional bureaux and headquarters-based divisions other than OEV iii) Impact evaluations are managed by OEV at the request of country offices.

To broaden WFP’s culture of accountability and learning, The Office of Evaluation helps and guides Country Offices, Regional Bureaux and other HQ divisions to do evaluations. In Headquarters, the Office of Evaluation continues to carry out a centralized evaluation programme and present its results to the Executive Board.

JOB PURPOSE The Senior Evaluation Officer P5 his is a senior leadership role requiring deep technical expertise in evaluation. It provides independent evaluation evidence, assessing the performance and-results of policies, programmes and activities of WFP for accountability and learning to inform future direction. The Senior Evaluation Officer P5 is expected to take the lead on evaluation activity associated with a particular approach and/or thematic area.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

• Contribute to the development of the evaluation function including supporting policy, strategy and plans to ensure: a) timely and effective approaches to evaluating the performance and results of policies, programmes and activities; b) application of the normative framework, quality support, assessment mechanisms and reporting on evaluation function performance.
• Contribute to OEV’s leadership, management and corporate performance by supporting management planning, staffing arrangements and budgeting, as well as the development and use of OEV’s internal systems.
• Manage high profile and/or highly complex evaluation processes and budgets from preparation and design through to completion, meeting high professional standards in line with norms and standards and codes of conduct for evaluation in the UN system, embodied in WFP's Evaluation Quality Assurance System (EQAS) to ensure the production of independent, credible evidence and recommendations for future directions.
• Lead, motivate and develop a complex team of professionals to enable high performance.
• Drawing from good evaluation practice, contribute to further enhancing EQAS guidance and approaches and methodologies for WFP evaluation
• Source, recruit, manage and quality assure the work of external consultants to ensure the production of evaluations that meet EQAS requirements.
• Engage stakeholder groups, both internal and external to WFP, appropriately in the evaluation process and manage communications.
• Provide second level quality assurance of evaluations managed by evaluation officers in OEC from the preparation to completion.
• Promote WFP's evaluation culture of accountability and learning through analyzing evidence and lessons; preparing summaries of evaluation findings and recommendations and presenting these, tailoring messages to specific audiences and platforms, and working with internal and external stakeholders to enhance learning from and use of evaluation evidence in policy, programme and project design.
• Strengthen the use of evaluative evidence through preparation and dissemination of innovative evidence products
• Lead development and implementation of a specific stream of Office of Evaluation work-plan, as assigned by the Director, providing functional supervision and/or line management to other staff working on that stream
• Provide coaching and guidance to staff to ensure appropriate development and enable high performance, especially for WFP rotational staff
• Lead specific evaluation expertise group(s) to enable sharing of experience and development of good practice.
• Represent the Office of Evaluation as required in inter-agency forums on monitoring and evaluation issues and in professional bodies and networks, developing strategic relationships, as appropriate, to enhance WFP performance and results.
• Effectively integrate cross-cutting issues related to equity, inclusion, human rights and humanitarian principles into WFP evaluation processes, and support the incorporation of these principles into programme design and implementation to help ensure that the most vulnerable population benefit from WFP services.
• Other as required.

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS Education: • Advanced University degree in International Development, Economics, Social Science or other relevant fields, or First University degree with additional years of related work experience and/or training/courses.

Language: • Fluency (level C) in English language and either French or Spanish is mandatory. Intermediate knowledge (level B) of another UN language: Arabic, Chinese, Russian, and/or Portuguese (a WFP working language) is desirable.

Experience: • Strong team management skills and proven ability to produce results to deadlines. • 11 years or more (of which at least four international) of relevant professional experience both in the field and in Headquarters in international development or humanitarian work, evaluation and/or policy studies. • At least 8 years' experience in conducting / managing complex, global and country-specific evaluations including inter-agency and joint evaluations.

Other job specific requirements:

• First-hand experience in managing or conducting as team leader complex global and country-specific evaluations (under time and financial constraints), in diverse contexts, assessing policies and programs including subject areas relevant to WFP • Excellent teamworking skills, with proven ability to engage constructively with colleagues and stakeholders at different levels and from diverse professional backgrounds • Demonstrated ability to coach, support and guide staff, fostering high performance while promoting and inclusive, equitable and respectful work environment • First hand experience in evaluation quality assurance and assessment mechanisms. • In-depth, up-to-date understanding and knowledge of global geopolitical issues relevant to WFP's mandate such as the UN80 reform and the humanitarian reset and the implications for evaluation policy and practice to achieve Agenda 2030. • In-depth, up-to-date understanding and knowledge of advancing international professional evaluation standards to define and adapt evaluation functions that support and aligns with WFP's strategic goals. • Broad knowledge of diverse evaluation practices, concepts, and principles • Demonstrated ability to communicate knowledge and skills effectively and remote coaching skills. • Membership in professional evaluation association and/or professional certificate in evaluation is highly desired.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS • This is an International Professional position and is open to all nationalities. • Mobility is and continues to be a core contractual requirement in WFP. This position is however classified as “non-rotational” which means the incumbent shall not be subject to the regular reassignment process unless the position is reclassified as rotational. • The selected candidate will be employed on a fixed-term contract with a probationary period of one year. • This position is open to both internal and external candidates. • WFP offers an attractive compensation and benefits package in line with ICSC standards (http://icsc.un.org) including basic salary, post adjustment, relocation entitlement, visa, travel and shipment allowances, 30 days’ annual leave, home leave, an education grant for dependent children, a pension plan, and medical insurance. • The selected candidate will be required to relocate to Rome, Italy to take up this assignment.

WFP LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK

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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

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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.