UNICEF Mixed-Methods Impact Evaluation Consultant 2026: Adolescent Girls and Violence Against Children

UNICEF is inviting qualified professionals to apply for the Mixed-Methods Impact Evaluation Consultant – Adolescent Girls & Violence Against Children consultancy within the UNICEF Evaluation Office (EO) in New York, United States. The opportunity is designed for an experienced impact evaluation specialist with strong expertise in quantitative and qualitative research, violence against children, adolescent girls, child protection, and rigorous evaluation methodologies.

The consultancy will be undertaken remotely, with travel to selected project locations when required, and will run for 12 months. The successful consultant will contribute to important UNICEF impact evaluation initiatives addressing issues such as child marriage, social norms, violence in and around schools, and the agency, health and wellbeing of adolescent girls.

This opportunity may be particularly relevant to experienced researchers, evaluators, development professionals, public health specialists, economists, social scientists, and policy experts who have a strong record of conducting rigorous impact evaluations in low-income settings.

Opportunity Overview

• Organization: UNICEF
• Office: UNICEF Evaluation Office (EO)
• Position: Mixed-Methods Impact Evaluation Consultant – Adolescent Girls & Violence Against Children
• Job Number: 595428
• Contract Type: Consultant
• Level: Consultancy
• Duty Station: New York, United States
• Work Arrangement: Remote, with travel to project locations
• Duration: 12 months
• Advertised: 28 August 2026
• Application Deadline: 13 September 2026
• Primary Language: English
• Additional Languages: French, Spanish or Arabic are assets

About UNICEF

UNICEF works across more than 190 countries and territories to protect children’s rights, save children’s lives and support children and adolescents in reaching their full potential.

The organization works across a broad range of areas, including child protection, education, health, nutrition, water and sanitation, adolescent development, gender equality, social policy and humanitarian response.

The UNICEF Evaluation Office plays an important role in strengthening evidence-based decision-making throughout the organization. Its work supports organizational learning and accountability by helping UNICEF understand what works, what does not work, why interventions produce particular outcomes, and how programs can be improved.

Through its network of regional evaluation teams, the Evaluation Office supports UNICEF country offices in generating and using evidence to improve programs for vulnerable children and communities.

About the UNICEF Evaluation Office

The Evaluation Office is one of UNICEF’s core evidence functions. It is responsible for supporting high-quality evaluations that can improve organizational performance, accountability and learning.

The office conducts several types of evaluations, including:

• Strategic global evaluations
• Institutional effectiveness evaluations
• Humanitarian evaluations
• Impact evaluations
• Demand-driven evaluations

The Evaluation Office also develops and promotes standards, guidelines, norms and processes designed to strengthen the quality and use of UNICEF evaluations.

A major focus is the generation of rigorous impact evidence that can help UNICEF understand whether interventions are actually producing meaningful changes in the lives of children and adolescents.

The organization has emphasized impact evaluation as an increasingly important function, particularly as governments, donors and development organizations face increasing pressure to demonstrate results and make effective use of limited financial resources.

What Is the Purpose of This Consultancy?

The successful consultant will support UNICEF’s work on several important impact evaluation initiatives involving adolescent girls, child marriage, social norms, violence against children and child protection.

The consultancy will primarily support the implementation of the Impact Catalyst Fund (ICF) thematic windows and the demand-driven evaluation portfolio under the Power4Girls initiative.

The consultant may also support the scoping, development and implementation of broader impact evaluation opportunities involving:

• Adolescent girls
• Violence against children
• Child protection
• Child marriage
• Social norms
• Violence in schools
• Girls’ agency
• Girls’ health and wellbeing

This means the position requires more than general research experience. The successful candidate should be capable of applying rigorous mixed-methods evaluation approaches to complex and sensitive issues affecting children and adolescents.

Key Areas of Work

The consultancy is connected to several significant UNICEF initiatives.

1. Impact Catalyst Fund

The Impact Catalyst Fund is a flagship initiative designed to strengthen UNICEF’s ability to generate rigorous impact evidence.

The first thematic window was developed through a partnership with the Global Program to End Child Marriage (GPECM), focusing on child marriage and social norms.

The consultant will support work associated with this thematic area and contribute to strengthening evidence around interventions designed to address child marriage and related social and behavioral factors.

2. Preventing Violence in, Through and Around Schools

A further Impact Catalyst Fund initiative is being launched in 2026 around Preventing Violence in, Through and Around Schools.

This work is being undertaken in partnership with the Safe to Learn Initiative and focuses on understanding approaches that can prevent violence affecting children in school-related environments.

The consultant may therefore be involved in evaluation activities examining interventions, outcomes and implementation processes related to violence prevention.

3. Power4Girls

The Evaluation Office is also working with UNICEF’s Adolescent Girls Hub on demand-driven impact evaluations under the Power4Girls initiative.

These evaluations focus on increasing girls’:

• Agency
• Health
• Wellbeing

The consultant will support this portfolio and help generate evidence that can inform programs designed to improve outcomes for adolescent girls.

Why This Consultancy Is Important

Violence against children, child marriage and challenges affecting adolescent girls are complex development issues. Effective responses require strong evidence about which interventions work, for whom, under what circumstances and at what cost.

Impact evaluation can help answer these questions.

Through rigorous quantitative and qualitative research, the consultant will contribute to evidence that can potentially influence program design, implementation, resource allocation and policy decisions.

The work is therefore closely connected to UNICEF’s broader mission of promoting the rights, safety and wellbeing of every child.

Who Is UNICEF Looking For?

UNICEF is seeking a highly experienced impact evaluation professional with an advanced academic background and substantial practical experience in rigorous evaluations.

The successful candidate should be comfortable working with both quantitative and qualitative research methods and should have experience dealing with sensitive research involving children and adolescents.

The position requires a combination of academic knowledge, research experience, technical evaluation skills, subject-matter expertise and strong communication abilities.

Educational Requirements

Applicants must have an advanced university degree at Master’s level or above in a relevant field.

Acceptable areas of study include:

• Economics
• Public Health
• Public Policy
• Political Science
• Evaluation
• Development Studies
• Sociology

Applicants should ensure that their academic background demonstrates clear relevance to impact evaluation, development research, public policy, social science, public health or a closely related discipline.

Professional Experience Requirements

Applicants must have more than five years of professional experience leading or contributing to rigorous impact evaluations.

The required experience should include involvement in areas such as:

• Evaluation design
• Evaluation preparation
• Study implementation
• Impact measurement
• Quantitative research
• Qualitative research
• Data collection
• Data analysis
• Research in low-income settings

Experience should demonstrate the ability to contribute meaningfully to evaluations rather than simply having general administrative or program-support experience.

Candidates who have designed studies, managed field research, analyzed evaluation data or contributed to published evaluation findings may be particularly well positioned for this consultancy.

Experience With Violence Against Children Research

A major requirement is experience collecting primary data on violence against children.

Applicants should have experience using quantitative and/or qualitative methods to collect information relating to violence against children and should understand the ethical considerations involved in such research.

Because research involving children can involve significant safeguarding concerns, candidates should understand appropriate:

• Research ethics
• Child safeguarding procedures
• Referral protocols
• Human-subject protections
• Sensitive data collection practices
• Participant protection procedures

Applicants are also expected to have basic ethics certification for facilitating primary studies involving human subjects, such as a CITI certificate or a similar qualification.

This requirement is particularly important because research involving violence against children requires careful consideration of participant safety and confidentiality.

Knowledge of UNICEF’s Work

Candidates should be familiar with UNICEF’s programmatic mandate.

They should also understand evidence-generation standards and processes relevant to child-focused impact evaluations.

Experience working with UNICEF, United Nations agencies, international development organizations, governments, research institutions, NGOs or other organizations involved in child-focused development programs may be relevant, although applicants should ensure that their specific experience meets the stated requirements.

Technical Evaluation Skills

The successful candidate must demonstrate strong technical expertise in both quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods.

This includes methods used to:

• Identify impacts
• Measure impacts
• Answer complementary evaluation questions
• Understand implementation and contextual factors
• Combine quantitative and qualitative evidence
• Assess cost-effectiveness

The ability to work across different methodological approaches is particularly important because the consultancy specifically focuses on mixed-methods impact evaluation.

Statistical and Research Software Skills

Applicants should be proficient in relevant statistical and qualitative analysis software.

UNICEF specifically identifies experience with:

Quantitative analysis

• Stata
• R

Qualitative analysis

• NVivo
• ATLAS.ti

Candidates should be able to use appropriate software to manage, analyze and interpret research data and produce high-quality evaluation findings.

Subject-Matter Knowledge

Applicants should demonstrate current knowledge of evidence and research relating to:

• Child marriage
• Violence against children
• Adolescent girls
• Child protection
• Social norms
• Girls’ agency
• Health and wellbeing
• Violence prevention

This means applicants should be able to demonstrate more than general research experience. They should understand the existing evidence base and major research questions within these thematic areas.

Academic Publications

UNICEF also requests a demonstrated track record of authorship or co-authorship in peer-reviewed journals.

Applicants should therefore highlight relevant publications in their CV and, where appropriate, explain how their published research demonstrates expertise in impact evaluation, adolescent girls, violence against children, child protection, public health, development or related areas.

Language Requirements

English is required for this consultancy.

Knowledge of additional languages is considered an asset.

These include:

• French
• Spanish
• Arabic

Strong written and spoken English will be particularly important because the consultant will be expected to analyze evidence, prepare reports, communicate technical findings and participate in consultations with multiple stakeholders.

Additional Desirable Skills

Beyond the minimum requirements, UNICEF identifies several additional capabilities that would strengthen an applicant’s profile.

Ability to work under tight deadlines

The consultant should be able to deliver data analysis and evaluation outputs within demanding timelines.

Impact evaluations often involve multiple stages, stakeholders and deliverables, making effective time management essential.

Multi-stakeholder coordination

The consultant should be comfortable working through multi-stakeholder consultative processes.

This can require coordinating with researchers, UNICEF teams, program specialists, implementing partners, government stakeholders and other relevant actors.

Communicating technical information

A particularly important skill is the ability to explain complex technical information to non-technical audiences.

The successful candidate should be able to translate statistical and evaluation findings into clear conclusions and recommendations that policymakers, program managers and other stakeholders can understand and use.

Strong writing and presentation skills

Excellent drafting and presentation skills in English are desirable.

Candidates should be capable of preparing clear technical documents, reports, presentations and other evaluation outputs.

International collaboration

The consultant should be willing and able to coordinate across different time zones.

The position may require collaboration with teams primarily located in:

• Rome
• Nairobi
• Beirut
• Kolkata

The identified impact evaluation locations include Beirut and Kolkata.

Work Arrangement and Duration

This is a 12-month consultancy.

The duty station is listed as New York, United States, but the position is described as remote, with travel to project locations.

Therefore, applicants should be prepared for remote international collaboration as well as potential travel connected with evaluation activities.

The role may require flexibility because teams and project locations are distributed across different geographic regions and time zones.

UNICEF Core Values

Applicants are expected to demonstrate alignment with UNICEF’s organizational values.

UNICEF identifies its Core Values as Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS).

These values underpin how UNICEF works and how it engages with children, communities, partners, colleagues and other stakeholders.

Candidates should therefore demonstrate professional conduct, integrity, accountability and a strong commitment to safeguarding and human rights.

Diversity and Inclusion

UNICEF states that it welcomes qualified candidates regardless of:

• Race or ethnicity
• Disability
• Gender identity
• Sexual orientation
• Religion
• Nationality
• Socio-economic background
• Minority status
• Other personal status

The organization also encourages applications from people with disabilities, including neurodivergent applicants.

Reasonable accommodation may be available during the recruitment process for candidates with disabilities.

Applicants who require accommodation are encouraged to contact UNICEF through the appropriate accessibility channel on the UNICEF Careers webpage.

Safeguarding and Background Checks

Because this consultancy involves work related to children and potentially sensitive research topics, safeguarding is a particularly important aspect of the recruitment process.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy toward conduct that is incompatible with its aims and objectives.

This includes:

• Sexual exploitation and abuse
• Sexual harassment
• Abuse of authority
• Discrimination
• Other misconduct

Selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

These checks may include verification of:

• Academic credentials
• Employment history
• References
• Other information necessary for the recruitment and safeguarding process

Selected candidates may also be required to provide additional information to facilitate the background-check process.

Documents Required to Apply

Qualified applicants are required to submit their application through UNICEF’s online Talent Management System (TMS) Here

The application should include the following:

1. Updated TMS Profile and CV

Applicants should ensure that their UNICEF TMS profile is complete and up to date.

The CV should clearly demonstrate:

• Academic qualifications
• Relevant professional experience
• Impact evaluation experience
• Research experience
• Violence-against-children research experience
• Technical software skills
• Publications
• Relevant language skills
• International or low-income-setting experience

2. Cover Letter

Applicants should provide a cover letter explaining their suitability for the consultancy.

A strong cover letter should connect the applicant’s experience directly to the requirements of the position.

Candidates should emphasize their most relevant impact evaluation projects, methodological expertise, research publications and experience involving adolescent girls, violence against children or related themes.

3. Financial Proposal

A separate financial proposal is required.

UNICEF states that the financial proposal must be submitted using the specified template.

Applicants should therefore pay careful attention to the required format and avoid submitting the financial proposal in an alternative format if the official template is available.

Important Note About the Terms of Reference

The vacancy refers applicants to the complete Terms of Reference (TOR) for additional information about the consultancy.

Candidates should review the full TOR before submitting an application because the vacancy announcement may not contain every technical detail relating to the consultancy’s deliverables, methodology, timelines and responsibilities.

The vacancy also provides a financial proposal template that applicants are expected to use.

If the TOR or financial proposal documents cannot be downloaded through certain recruitment platforms, UNICEF advises applicants to visit its official vacancies page.

How to Apply

Applicants interested in the consultancy should:

1. Review the vacancy and complete Terms of Reference carefully.
2. Confirm that they meet the Master’s-level education requirement.
3. Verify that they have more than five years of relevant impact evaluation experience.
4. Ensure they can demonstrate experience in low-income settings.
5. Review their experience with violence-against-children research and ethical data collection.
6. Confirm proficiency in the required quantitative and qualitative analysis tools.
7. Update their UNICEF TMS profile.
8. Prepare an up-to-date CV.
9. Prepare a tailored cover letter.
10. Complete the required financial proposal template.
11. Submit all required materials through UNICEF’s online recruitment portal before the deadline.

Application Deadline

The application deadline is:

13 September 2026, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).

The position was advertised on 28 August 2026.

Applicants should avoid waiting until the final hours to submit their applications, particularly because the application requires multiple documents, including a separate financial proposal.

For more information visit the UNICEF website HERE

More UNICEF opportunities are on the OFY Website HERE

Important Fraud Warning

UNICEF clearly states that it does not charge a processing fee at any stage of recruitment, selection or hiring.

Applicants should not be asked to pay money for:

• Application processing
• Interviews
• Validation
• Appointment
• Training
• Recruitment

UNICEF also states that it will not ask applicants for their bank account information during the recruitment process.

Applicants should be cautious of individuals or websites falsely claiming to represent UNICEF and requesting payment or sensitive financial information.

Selection Process

As with other UNICEF vacancies, all positions are advertised through the organization’s recruitment system.

Only candidates who are shortlisted will be contacted and advanced to the next stage of the selection process.

Meeting the minimum requirements does not automatically guarantee selection.

Candidates should therefore make sure their applications clearly demonstrate how their education, professional experience, research expertise, technical skills and publications correspond with the consultancy requirements.

Who Should Consider Applying?

This consultancy is particularly suited to experienced professionals working in areas such as:

• Impact evaluation
• Monitoring and evaluation
• Development research
• Economics
• Public health
• Public policy
• Political science
• Sociology
• Development studies
• Child protection
• Adolescent development
• Gender development
• Social policy
• Research and evidence generation
• Violence prevention
• Child marriage research

It is not primarily an entry-level opportunity. The requirement for more than five years of professional impact evaluation experience, combined with the advanced degree and technical research requirements, makes this a specialist consultancy aimed at experienced professionals.

How Applicants Can Strengthen Their Applications

Candidates should make their applications evidence-based and directly connected to the vacancy.

When preparing a CV and cover letter, applicants should consider highlighting:

• Specific impact evaluations they have led or contributed to
• Their role in evaluation design and implementation
• Quantitative and qualitative methodologies they have used
• Experience collecting primary data
• Experience researching violence against children
• Experience working with children or adolescents under appropriate ethical protocols
• CITI or equivalent human-subject research certification
• Experience in low-income settings
• Experience with Stata or R
• Experience with NVivo or ATLAS.ti
• Relevant peer-reviewed publications
• Research involving child marriage or social norms
• Experience evaluating education or school-based interventions
• Experience with adolescent girls’ programs
• Cost-effectiveness or economic evaluation experience
• Experience communicating technical findings to non-technical audiences
• International and multi-stakeholder collaboration

Applicants should avoid relying on generic descriptions of their responsibilities. Instead, they should demonstrate measurable contributions and outcomes wherever possible.

Conclusion

The UNICEF Mixed-Methods Impact Evaluation Consultant – Adolescent Girls & Violence Against Children consultancy offers an opportunity for an experienced evaluation professional to contribute to evidence generation on some of the most important challenges affecting children and adolescent girls.

Through the UNICEF Evaluation Office, the consultant will support impact evaluation activities connected to child marriage and social norms, violence prevention in and around schools, and the Power4Girls portfolio focused on girls’ agency, health and wellbeing. The work will also contribute to the broader development and scoping of impact evaluations involving adolescent girls, violence and child protection.

The position requires a strong combination of academic qualifications, professional impact evaluation experience, quantitative and qualitative research expertise, knowledge of violence against children, ethical research capabilities and strong communication skills. Familiarity with statistical and qualitative analysis software, relevant peer-reviewed publications and experience working in low-income settings are also important.

The consultancy is for 12 months, is primarily remote, and may involve travel to project locations. Interested and qualified professionals should prepare their UNICEF TMS profile, CV, cover letter and financial proposal carefully and submit their applications before the 13 September 2026 deadline.

Applicants should also review the complete Terms of Reference and ensure that every required document is submitted in the correct format.