Output Monitoring Technical Officer
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Job Title: Output Monitoring Technical Officer
Type of Contract: Consultancy
Division: RAM-M Field Monitoring Services/RAM
Duty Station (City, Country): HQ-Rome
Duration: 11 months
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:
The Corporate Monitoring Team within the RAM division is entrusted to strengthen WFP’s capacity to implement the 2022-2025 Corporate Results Framework (CRF) which is the operational tool for the implementation of the new strategic plan (2022-2025). The CRF establishes what WFP will deliver – with programmatic outcomes, output and crosscutting results that inform the design of country strategic plans (CSPs) and their associated logframes and provide a basis for corporate monitoring, performance assessment and reporting. One of the bigger shifts associated to the 2022-25 CRF was the introduction of standard outputs and the expansion in the number of output indicators in order to ensure a greater focus on WFP’s performance at the output-level and be able to better account for different contexts, activities, modalities, and targeted groups.
WFP Country offices need to select within their respective CSP logframes output indicators that are part of this CRF in as far as they are applicable for the activity (ies) they plan to implement. They can also add additional country-specific output indicators to if the list CRF output indicators do not adequately reflect the type of intervention planned under their CSP outputs. Once introduced in their logframes, Country offices need to establish yearly planning values against these indicators within their respective Needs-based Plans (in as far as these indicators relate to resource transfers or the number of beneficiaries reached), or in the Other Output Plan – OOP (for the other output indicators). These planned values are then used for comparison with the actual values that come from the completion reports received by the partners or produced by WFP and are reported in the Annual Country Reports – ACR. They are also the source of detailed output indicator-related data that is aggregated and reported on against a selected number of CRF output indicators in the corporate Annual Performance Report – APR.
Though the Other Output Plan is currently reviewed, validated and submitted by the head of programme at CO level (often supported by M&E Officer), related guidance on its design/use has in the past been limited to that provided by the COMET team which manages the corporate online system to design, implement and monitor programmes (and which the OOP is part of). This has contributed to a certain lack of coordination with and between the relevant technical units that are the owners of the relevant CRF output indicators as well as in unclear business rules for the OOP, with limited oversight at corporate level over the quality of the detailed output indicators that are part of this tool. This has also contributed to an increasing lack of coherence associated to the number and variety of detailed output indicators that were part of this tool, and which were then used to report on the Other Outputs in ACRs and the APR.
In view of the operational launch of the 2022-25 CRF from January 2023 onwards, the greater emphasis on output monitoring and reporting at a corporate level, and the fact that COs will need to prepare their respective OOPs for 2023 (including additional CRF output indicators that are part of their new CRF aligned CSP logframes) there is a pressing need to review the business rules and system requirements associated to this tool, as well as revise the detailed output indicators that are registered within it, in close coordination with all relevant stakeholders. There is also a widely recognized need to reinforce WFP’s capacity to provide supplementary guidance and technical assistance to the end users of this tool at the Regional Bureau and Country Office level, during this critical transitional period, through the incorporation of an output monitoring technical officer into the RAM Monitoring Unit (RAM-M).
ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:
Based in RAM-M, the output Monitoring Technical Officer will support RAM-M’s priorities, with a focus on enhancing output monitoring and the Other Output Planning tool. The Output Monitoring Technical Officer will work under the supervision of the Head of RAM-M Corporate Monitoring team. The expected tasks and deliverables are as follows:
Process and System Analysis
- Carry out a comprehensive analysis of the current functions played by the detailed output indicators and the Other Output Plan, user needs in the framework of planning, monitoring, and reporting and the interlinkages of this tool with other planning/monitoring/reporting components/systems (ie Logframe, ACR/APR, partnership reports)
- Engage in consultations with relevant stakeholders and users of the OOP, including M&E staff and COMET focal points from Bureaus/COs, representatives of Technical Units at HQ level that are the custodians of the relevant CRF Output indicators and their associated detailed output indicators, as well as other HQ units that are involved in the design of the business requirements/rules associated to the OOP (ie CPP Reporting unit, COMET team and Partnerships unit).
- Prepare a detailed RACI (responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed) matrix establishing the roles and responsibilities of the different technical units at HQ, RB and CO levels associated to the OOP, including the longer-term support and oversight requirements associated to this cross-functional process.
Business requirements and rules
- Develop, with relevant stakeholders, revised guidance/business rules for RBs/COs on how to prepare OOP in 2023 and translate these into business requirements for system enhancements in COMET associated to the OOP. Revise these rules and requirements, on the basis of lessons learnt, for 2024
- Establish with relevant technical units and end users the lists of detailed output indicators that will be included in the OOP and which will aggregate towards values associated to CRF Output indicators as well as the list of other detailed output indicators that will need to be converted into Country Specific indicators and included in CSP logframes/ACR reporting.
Roll out plan and technical assistance
- Develop and implement a roll-out plan for the successful delivery, governance, and maintenance of the enhanced OOP plan and the revised list of detailed output indicators, including through the dissemination of the updated guidance and organization of end-user training in coordination with Regional Bureaux and other technical units at HQ level
- Provide, as required, technical assistance/guidance to the end users of the OOP at the regional Bureau and Country office level and ensure an adequate oversight/quality assurance over the output indicators and related data (ie targets) that is included by these end users into their respective OOPs.
- Keep track/update of the detailed output indicators/metrics and other country specific output indicators that are being registered in the OOP
- Ensure that the OOP and its other output indicators and related data adequately respond to the needs of other Corporate Information Management tools that also use data associated to the these indicators (ie Logframe module, partnership agreements and reports, ACR/APR Spring and other reporting dashboards).
- Additional ad hoc tasks as required.
DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT:
The key outputs of the consultant are expected to be:
- Comprehensive analysis of other outputs user needs and OOP functions
- Detailed RACI matrix with roles/responsibilities of technical units at HQ, RB and CO levels
- Guidance/business rules for RBs/COs on how to prepare OOP in 2023 (revised for 2024)
- Business requirements for system enhancements in COMET associated to the OOP (2023 and 2024)
- Updated list of detailed output indicators/metrics and country Specific other output indicators
- End-user trainings and provision of on demand technical assistance to RBs and COs
STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
Education:
Advanced University degree in one of the following fields: social sciences, statistics, development economics, performance management, monitoring and evaluation or other related fields, or First University degree with additional years of relevant work experience and/or training/courses.
Experience:
Minimum of five years of relevant professional work experience including in international development or humanitarian work. Minimum of three years of experience in monitoring and/or evaluation, including strong experience using a variety of quantitative analytical tools and methods including at the country level.
Knowledge and Skills:
- Knowledge of results-based management principles and practices as well as corporate accountability frameworks, preferable in the United Nations;
- Proven knowledge, abilities and skills in the areas of Monitoring and Evaluation, including experience in preparing logframes and defining indicators;
- Familiarity with programing design, implementation and operational challenges in food assistance;
- Practical knowledge on how monitoring data, and in particular output data, is collected, compiled, analysed and presented for management decisions, programme adjustment and donor reporting;
- Practical experience working with a technology platform/data repository; use of WFP’s Country Office Monitoring & Evaluation Tool (COMET) and how to design logframes in this tool is an asset
- Excellent cross-functional collaboration skills and ability to effectively communicate.
Languages:
International Professional: Fluency (level C) in English language. Intermediate knowledge (level B) of a second official UN language: Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish, and/or WFP’s working language.
Terms and Conditions:
WFP offers a competitive compensation package which will be determined by the contract type and selected candidate’s qualifications and experience.
Please visit the following websites for detailed information on working with WFP.
http://www.wfp.org Click on: “Our work” and “Countries” to learn more about WFP’s operations.
Deadline for applications: 27January 2023
Ref.: VA No. 295791
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