International Evaluation Consultant, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation section, 6.13 months, Dushanbe, Tajikistan, (Internationals only), Home based with travel

Organizational Context

UNICEF operates in over 190 countries and territories, dedicated to saving children's lives, defending their rights, and helping them fulfill their potential. We are committed, passionate, and proud of our work, viewing the promotion of children's rights not just as a job, but as a calling. UNICEF fosters diverse opportunities for professional and personal development.

Job Purpose

This consultancy seeks an International Evaluation Consultant to conduct a formative evaluation of the Joint Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and Global Partnership for Education (GPE) Project in Tajikistan. The evaluation will cover both Phase I and Phase II of the project, assessing the cumulative direction of reform and generating evidence for future programming decisions. The consultant will provide an independent, DAC-aligned assessment of three core reform models: Teaching and Learning Materials (TLM) for Mathematics and Tajik language, Continuous Professional Learning (CPL) for in-service teacher development, and the Pedagogical Practicum for pre-service teacher education. The International Consultant will be the lead evaluator, responsible for methodological rigor, analytical integrity, quality assurance, and authorship of all deliverables, working with a National Evaluation Consultant for in-country support.

Responsibilities

The International Evaluation Consultant will serve as the independent lead evaluator, responsible for the overall methodological rigor, analytical integrity, quality assurance, and authorship of all evaluation deliverables. This includes designing and leading the evaluation process, ensuring adherence to DAC evaluation criteria (Relevance, Coherence, Effectiveness, Efficiency). The consultant will conduct a formative evaluation of the Joint IsDB and GPE Project in Tajikistan, covering both Phase I and Phase II. This involves assessing three core reform models: TLM for Mathematics and Tajik language, CPL for in-service teacher development, and the Pedagogical Practicum for pre-service teacher education. The consultant will manage the National Evaluation Consultant, who will provide in-country research support, including document collection, stakeholder mapping, coordination of Key Informant Interviews (KII) and Focus Group Discussions (FGD), interpretation, note-taking, and translation. The International Consultant retains sole responsibility for analytical conclusions and recommendations. The consultant must produce high-quality, clearly written evaluation reports for international development audiences and demonstrate experience with classroom observation-based research.

Work Experience

Minimum 10 years of demonstrated experience in designing and leading independent evaluations or quality assurance studies of education programmes, including mixed-methods designs. Experience with DAC framework evaluations, contribution-plausibility designs, and CBE reform evaluations or comparable systemic education reform contexts is required.

Skills

Designing and leading independent evaluations, Mixed-methods evaluation designs, DAC framework evaluations, Contribution-plausibility designs, CBE reform evaluations, Quantitative data analysis (SPSS, Stata, R), Qualitative research skills, Report writing for international audiences, Classroom observation-based research, Management of data collection exercises, Remote data quality management, Evaluation of education programmes

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