The Institutional Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation Unit (IPME) is a team situated in the Corporate Services under the Deputy Director-General. The unit's purpose is to support IUCN's strategy and programme execution at all levels. As such, it drives greater accountability, performance, assurance and overall organisational effectiveness.

As the organisation's centre of expertise and excellence on programme, portfolio and project management, strategic planning and implementation, performance management, assurance, and risk management, the unit leads on these functions from establishing normative and operational frameworks to ensuring their optimal implementation. The unit is therefore the custodian of many IUCN policies, normative/operational frameworks and guidelines. It is responsible for ensuring their relevance to institutional needs through continuous monitoring, improvements and change management. It ensures that owned policies and frameworks are appropriately implemented by monitoring their respective level of compliance, making continuous improvements, and providing direct support and capacity building to relevant IUCN staff.

The unit takes a holistic approach by addressing staff skills, mindsets, and behaviours alongside processes, methodologies and tools through the use of business analysis, solution development and monitoring and evaluation. Through the development of performance and assurance management capability, the unit assists IUCN in achieving greater impact.

The Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation and Risk Management Unit (PME&R) is responsible for coordinating PM&E activities across the IUCN Secretariat, including the maintenance and implementation of project guidelines and standards. It works with Senior Management to prepare M&E workplans and reporting. It ensures PM&E tools are in line with international best practice.

The Unit works with the IUCN Council, through the Programme and Policy Committee, which is responsible for overseeing the evaluation function, including approving the M&E Policy as well as receiving and considering evaluation reports. The Committee is also responsible for overseeing the IUCN Global Programme and approving annual workplans and programme monitoring reports.

Working closely with the Information Systems Group (IS), the Portal Working Group, Global Finance Group, Global Programme Operations Unit and other units as required, on all aspects of the Programme and Project Portal (PPP) “project” as defined in the project charter (s) and workplan, the project manager is required to complete the following tasks:

Manage the development of the Project Management Information System (PMIS)

1. Manage, coordinate and facilitate the implementation of a Project Management Information System (PMIS) building on the current, global online Project and Programme Portal aligning with industry best-practice and donor benchmarking. This to include:
a) Further develop current online project information to include project implementation (including workflows), planning and results and impact data;
b) Incorporation and rollout of the Project Appraisal and Approval System (PAAS);
c) Development and incorporation of Portfolio and Programme Management within the system, beyond single projects and aligned with the new Global Programmes, other initiatives as may be developed and the next IUCN intersessional programme 2021-2024;
d) Procurement Management in coordination with the Global Finance Group and the Procurement Officer;
e) Project and Portfolio Risk Management as this is developed within PME&R;
f) Integration with a global, accessible Data and Knowledge Repository;
g) Extension and alignment of Portal data with the IUCN public website.

2. Support management decision-making and portfolio reviews at corporate, programme and country levels. This to include:
a) Supporting the development of data analysis and visualisation capabilities of PMIS;
b) Create and facilitate portfolio review processes and tools.

3. Maintain a coordination role in the development of the Time Management System (TMS) to include time tracking, budgeting and scheduling with linkages with the PMIS as appropriate.

4. Ensure and facilitate further Integration with other systems such as the Financial Management (Nav), Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) and other systems as they develop.

5. Develop and maintain the Project workplan, timelines and charter(s) and other required documentation as the PMIS further develops and new versions are released.

Develop project management capacity and quality

6. Support the unit’s project management capacity building function through training and coaching on the project life cycle (as set out with the IUCN Project Guidelines and Standards – PGS) and the PMIS. This to include:
a) Preparing an annual PGS-PMIS training work plan;
b) Developing training approaches in response to the needs of Programme staff, which may include training workshops, visual communication tools, and coaching;
c) Tracking deployment of the PGS-PMIS capacity building;
d) Supporting programme staff in the use of the online project appraisal and approval system;
e) Facilitating individual and project learning within a global network of staff with responsibilities for planning, monitoring, evaluation and learning at HQ and in the regions.

7. Improve and further develop strategies for data quality control and transparency (aligned with International Standards such as IATI).


8. Monitor and support compliance with PGS. This to include:
a) In collaboration with the Evaluation Officer, advise programme staff on quality at entry;
b) Support the integration of corporate commitments and cross-cutting issues that affect the quality of the portfolio (such as gender mainstreaming, citizen engagement);
c) Conduct quality assurance of project workflows;
d) Coordinate quality control of project management products.

Deliver project management innovation

9. Seek user feedback on PGS-PMIS to inform system improvements and efficiencies, and capacity development needs;

10. Identify internal best practices, develop and maintain a ‘lessons learnt’ register to link with, and inform organisational recommended practises.

11. Coordinate and organise regular meetings of the Project Portal Working Group, compile decision minutes and ensure follow-up on decisions.