Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

18 December :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:  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).

JOB TITLE: Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist - Nutrition
TYPE OF CONTRACT: Regular Consultant CST II
UNIT/DIVISION: Nutrition and Food Quality Service PPGN
DUTY STATION (City, Country): Rome , Italy
DURATION: 5 months (1 Feb-30 Jun 2026)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:
The World Food Programme (WFP) is the leading humanitarian organization fighting hunger worldwide, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience. In 2022, WFP assisted a record 160 million people across over 120 countries and territories, providing food or cash distributions in emergencies, nutrition support, and diverse programs, including general food assistance, school meals, resilience, and capacity strengthening in both development and humanitarian contexts.

In 2022, WFP provided food and cash assistance to more than 25 million people through wasting treatment and malnutrition prevention programs in 54 countries. Of these, 12 million people received services aimed at preventing malnutrition, including wasting, stunting, and micronutrient deficiencies, while 13 million individuals suffering from wasting were treated.

In 2024, WFP's nutrition programs addressed the immediate determinants of malnutrition, such as poor diet and disease in 55 countries. To tackle the underlying causes, WFP integrated nutrition into complementary sectors including agriculture, social protection, and school-based programming in 72 countries. These efforts aimed to improve access to healthy, adequate diets, prioritizing young children, pregnant and breastfeeding women and girls (PBWG), and people living with HIV and TB. Through these interventions, over 27.6 million people received nutrition-specific services in 2024, including: 16.5 million children aged 6–59 months; 9.4 million pregnant and breastfeeding women and girls and 1.7 million other adults and adolescents By combining life-saving nutrition support with longer-term strategies, WFP worked to prevent malnutrition and strengthen resilience, ensuring that the most vulnerable populations had the nutrition they need to survive and thrive.

Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems depend on appropriately defined indicators, quality data collection, appropriate interpretation, and use of the information generated. The information collected allows WFP to assess progress towards stated objectives, as well as identify whether any aspects of the operation need adjustment. An effective M&E system will ultimately improve the quality of activities; improve management-oriented decision making; improve accountability to donors, partners, host governments and beneficiary communities; and improve WFP and partners' ability to conduct evidence-based advocacy. Lesson learning activities also support programme quality improvement.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:
Under the direct supervision Team Lead Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, Learning and Innovations in Nutrition (MERLIN), the Nutrition Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Specialist, working in close collaboration with the M&E team and will take a supervisory and technical role in supporting the Headquarters, Regional and Country Office in building an effective M&E system in the Nutrition and Food Quality Service. This role focuses on providing technical support in improved and continuous M&E of nutrition specific and sensitive programming. This includes representation of nutrition within and beyond the Cooperate Results Framework and providing guidance to Regional and Country offices to establish comprehensive M&E frameworks for improved nutrition programming. This role includes providing technical support in design and implementation of quality nutrition-sensitive programmes including the nutrition integration and the scale up of the demand, availability and access to healthy diets across WFP operations and countries food, health, social protection and education systems.

The Nutrition M&E specialist will be responsible for the following tasks:

1)    Provide technical and leadership support in M&E for Nutrition
-    Provide technical leadership in nutrition M&E across regional and country offices, ensuring development and roll-out of the new WFP's Corporate Results Framework and country-specific program designs.
-    Guide development of theories of change and M&E frameworks, including context-adapted indicators and pathways for emerging and ongoing strategies.
-    Strengthen data systems and quality by operationalizing nutrition M&E guidance, improving data collection, analysis, and reporting for results tracking.
-    Lead corporate frameworks and strategies, including: 
o    Integration of nutrition requirements into the Corporate Results Framework.
o    Development of measurement and analytical frameworks for the Nutrition Strategy (2024–2030), with indicators, theory of change, and monitoring guidance.
-    Support joint initiatives (e.g., GAP, JuniPr, UNICEF-WFP JASW partnership) through tailored monitoring systems and guidance.
-    Enhance evaluative capacity by designing and reviewing internal and external evaluations.
-    Champion data utilization for evidence-based decision-making and program improvement.

2) Provide technical support the HQ, RB and CO's in the design and implementation of quality nutrition-sensitive programmes including the nutrition integration across systems
    Provide technical support in design and development of an effective M&E mechanism that allows a timely analysis of the situation in the areas where WFP works on nutrition-sensitive interventions.
    Provide technical support to HQ in developing Theory of Change including the M&E
framework for nutrition-sensitive programming
    Provide technical support in developing key nutrition-sensitive indicators are well defined, collected and analyzed in the overall M&E system.
    Technical support to HQ, RB, CO on nutrition related M&E, assessments, studies, evaluation, analysis including on transfer modalities (in-kind/CBT/rations' optimization, nutritional adequacy), SBCC formative research and food fortification.
    Contribute to knowledge management around nutrition integrated approach, including the documentation of processes, good practices, and learnings.
    Advice on indicator socialization of Nutrition Integration as cross-cutting priority
    Gather evidence on nutrition-sensitive interventions drawing lessons from research.

3) Capacity building, knowledge management and innovation at regional and country
offices
    Support in design and capacity building on nutrition M&E for nutrition, M&E and programme specialists as part of building and strengthening national and WFP nutrition monitoring systems and processes.
    Support in enhancing acquisition of nutrition programme knowledge through systematic collection of country programme M&E experience (lessons learned, best practices, reviews, evaluations)
    Support in learning and practice on nutrition data in the field by disseminating and tracking relevant shifts in nutrition programme design and implementation.
    Promote critical thinking and innovative approaches in M&E for ending all forms of malnutrition at regional and country office levels.

4) Maintain M&E framework and results globally
    Provide technical support in consolidation, implementation and reporting on a robust nutrition M&E system at regional and country office levels that is aligned with the Corporate Results Framework and consolidate and ensure quality of corporate nutrition data
    Support in tracking and documenting developments and trends in nutrition data including the quality, analysis, utilization, visualization and course correction for country offices
    Participate in M&E exercises at regional and country office level to assess progress and engage Regional and Country offices to take required actions to achieve nutrition results.
    Support in developing/ updating direction on coverage and targeting for nutrition within WFP.
    Provide support and leadership to the M&E team within the nutrition service

5) Advocacy and partnership building at headquarters, regional and country level
    Support Regional and Country offices in developing and maintaining inter-agency collaborations in nutrition M&E frameworks
    Provide technical support to ensure that monitoring systems are properly designed, and that data collection and analysis from field are coordinated and standardized across programmes with inputs of all concerned partners such as governments, UN agencies and NGOs
    Proactively build and strengthen strategic partnerships through networking and advocacy with governments, UN agencies, development partners, NGOs, research institutes and the private sector to achieve results for nutrition
    Support Regional and Country Offices in forums to advocate for organizational positioning in nutrition and M&E

DELIVERABLES BY THE END OF THE ASSIGNMENT (on top of routine duties as indicated above):

The following deliverables will be expected:

    Nutrition programme/project results based-management approaches and methodology, standards of performance, CRF theory of change and frameworks according to regional and country office plans developed for the new Strategic Plan
    M&E capacity needs of regional and country offices nutrition specialists identified and addressed
    Extrapolated Nutrition M&E data from different countries/contexts and programme strategies to identify trends, learnings and gaps
    Collaborated with key partners at Regional and Country office level for overall coordination of priority nutrition research, monitoring, and evaluation activities.
    Provided technical support to HQ on designing M&E framework for nutrition-sensitive
programming
    Others as needed

________________________________________
QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education:    Advanced University degree in one of the following fields: nutrition, 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. M&E experience is required, nutrition an added value.

Experience:    

Extensive experience with monitoring and evaluation systems and tools; strong understanding of nutrition programme portfolio.

Minimum of 6 years of relevant professional work experience including in international development or humanitarian work. Experience with WFP M&E systems is desired.

Knowledge & Skills:    

Technical knowledge:

•    Developing M&E system including preparation of data collection tools; and conduction of analysis

•    Development and maintenance of monitoring database

•    Capacity development for staff; analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data;

•    Performance reporting of operations; developing training materials and training facilitation methods.

Skills and Abilities:

•    In-depth knowledge of results-based management principles and practices, preferable WFP's corporate accountability frameworks;

•    Proven knowledge, abilities and skills in the areas of Monitoring and Evaluation and Nutrition;

•    In-depth knowledge of monitoring and evaluation methods, metrics, statistical applications and reporting systems;

•    Proven ability to network effectively with multiple work units;

•    Familiarity with nutrition programing design, implementation and operational challenges;

•    Practical knowledge on how monitoring data is collected, compiled, analysed and presented for management decisions, programme adjustment and donor reporting; WFP knowledge preferred;

•    Proven ability to develop quality reports and analyses with minimal direction;

•    Excellent cross-group collaboration skills;

•      Good knowledge of UN system policies, rules, regulations and procedures;

•    Ability to effectively communicate orally;

•    Ability to work with relevant technology and procedures (e.g.: web-based databases and other statistical applications) to collect, organize, share and use corporate information including SPSS.

Languages:    
Fluency (Level C) in English language, working knowledge of French language (Level B) desirable.
 

WFP LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK

 

WFP Leadership Framework guides to the common standards of behavior that guide HOW we work together to accomplish our mission.

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: 

NO FEE DISCLAIMER

 

The United Nations does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web.

REMINDERS BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION

• All applications must be submitted exclusively through our online recruitment system. We do not accept CVs or spontaneous applications by email.

• If you experience challenges while submitting your online application, please contact us at for technical support only.

• Please note that applications sent to this email address cannot be considered.

• We strongly recommend that your profile is accurate, complete, and includes your employment records, academic qualifications, language skills and UN Grade (if applicable).

• Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application.

• Please make sure you upload your professional CV in the English language

• Kindly note the only documents you will need to submit at this time are your CV and Cover Letter

• Additional documents such as passport, recommendation letters, academic certificates, etc. may potentially be requested at a future time

• Only shortlisted candidates will be notified

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.

---