UNDP Jobs - 19277- National Expert to the Strategic Planning and Coor

National Expert to the Strategic Planning and Coordination Unit of the Regional Development Agency of Crimea, SC (EU/UNDP Support to the Regional Development Agency of the ARC)

Location :

Simferopol, UKRAINE

Type of Contract :

Service Contract

Starting Date :

11-Oct-2010

Application Deadline :

04-Oct-10 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

SB-4

Duration of Initial Contract :

1 year

Languages Required :

English Russian

Expected Duration of Assignment :

1 year with the possibility of extension

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

In August 2010 the UNDP launched a two year European Union funded Technical Assistance project in Crimea to build the capacity of a newly created Regional Development Agency set up by the Crimean Government.
The overall objective of the “Support to the Regional Development Agency of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea” (further the Crimean RDA Support Project) is to build the institutional capacity of the Regional Development Agency endorsed by Crimean development actors, so it is able to effectively coordinate and contribute to the sustainable regional development of the peninsula. Its specific objectives are:
(1) To build the Agency's governing, human and operational capacities in order to ensure its viability and sustainability after project end
(2) To establish the Agency's coordinating role and mechanism for regional development, enabling it to interact effectively with other institutions at republican and local levels
The key partners of the project are the Chairman of ARC Council of Ministers and the Speaker of the Crimean Parliament.
Key project’s outputs will include:
• a clear concept of effective and viable Regional Development Agency which will be endorsed by the relevant republican and district authorities. The successfully tested RDA model is recommended to other regions of Ukraine in the context of a redefined regional development policy as a state-of-the-art institution,
• the RDA Governing Board, Agency’s management, specialists and staff are trained and coached to fulfill their functions effectively,
• the RDA operational and administrative processes and procedures, and partnership mechanisms, are in place and used by relevant parties.
It is expected that by the end of August 2012, the RDA will be in a position to effectively ensure the coordination of all development actions in the peninsula, to establish and maintain strong partnerships with Crimea’s various development actors at republican, district, and municipality levels, and to be capable of successfully promoting the region to foreign investors, thereby attracting to Crimea by itself no less than $ 100 ml annually.

Organizational Context:
The core staff of the TAT will be the following:
- 1 international team leader (with recognised expertise in setting up RDAs in Europe)
- 1 deputy team leader (national), specialising in regional development and strategic planning
- 3 national experts who will be full-time specialists and coachers in the three units of the RDA-ARC (one expert per unit)
- 1 M&E, Reporting & Visibility Specialist (national)
- 1 Administration and Finance staff (national)
- 1 Project assistant (receptionist/secretary)
The main tasks of the core staff of the TAT will be:
- Project management and implementation
- Coordination with stakeholders groups
- Monitoring of implementation and quality assurance
- Reporting to UNDP and EU
- Ensuring visibility of actions and outputs.
Three Units’ full-time experts will be Ukrainian citizens and will need to demonstrate practical experience in coaching on Regional Strategic Planning, Investment Promotion work and Development Projects’ work. Together with the Deputy Team Leader, they will be responsible for the procedural development of the RDA-ARC, the design of operational plans for each Unit and the production of an Operational and Business Processes manual as well as other relevant materials for future reference by the RDA-ARC’s staff. In collaboration with the DTL, they will develop their respective Unit’s capacity building programme and will manage and supervise its implementation. They will need to be able to provide concrete and practical advice linked to the Unit’s activities.
The present Terms of References relate to the position of National Expert to the Strategic Planning and Coordination Unit of the Regional Development Agency of Crimea who, under the overall supervision and guidance of the Head of the UNDP sub-office in Crimea and the immediate supervision of the Team Leader and/or Deputy Team Leader, will be responsible for building up the professional capacity of the Strategic Planning Unit of the Agency.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Strategic Planning and Development Expert will be responsible for organising and coaching RDA staff on carrying out socio-economic situation analysis and market intelligence, organising training/coaching programmes in relation to strategic planning and strategy drafting competencies, monitoring of strategies implementation, non budgetary funds’ attraction to strategies’ implementation; providing expert inputs to strategic planning coordination and strategy drafting.
His/her responsibilities will include:
a) provide coaching on and inputs to the preparation of operational plans of the RDA unit
b) organise and provide inputs to the on-going analysis of the socio-economic development situation (situation analysis) of the region (districts and municipalities)
c) prepare a coaching programme on strategic planning and strategy drafting for relevant RDA staff and other key stakeholders outside the RDA
d) identify coacher/trainer to implement the programme
e) contribute inputs to the implementation of the training/coaching programme
f) provide coaching and inputs to the coordination and drafting of Regional Development Strategies
g) provide advice and inputs to the monitoring of strategies’ implementation
h) provide advice and inputs to the attraction of non-budgetary resources to support the implementation of the regional development strategies & projects
i) to provide advice and inputs to development of the Strategy management and monitoring system
j) to provide coaching on and inputs to the preparation of regular written reporting on the RDA unit’s activities and results to the Governing Board
k) to provide coaching on and inputs to the preparation of ad hoc presentations on the RDA unit’s activities and results to key Crimean stakeholders as well as to international organisations
l) preparation of regular progress reports for UNDP and EU
m) perform any other tasks as required by the Team Leader/Deputy Team Leader and/or the Head of the Sub-Office in Crimea.

Measurable outputs of the work assignment:
The key results expected by the National Expert are:
- timely and well written reports for RDA, UNDP and EU and other strategic documents;
- coherent operational plans practically used to control the implementation of the Team’s work and the implementation of the Project;
- timely and well written ToRs for external contractors/Team’s staff;
- developed network of reliable republican and local stakeholders;
- quality controlled staff and external experts’ outputs;
- team’s budget planned and used effectively;
- staff under the supervision of the incumbent gradually developed to implement the RDA strategy effectively;
- qualitative coaching and inputs provided to the coordination and drafting of Regional Development Strategies;
- prepared a coaching programme on strategic planning and strategy drafting for relevant RDA staff and other key stakeholders outside the RDA;
- all tasks are delivered on time and of high quality.

Performance Indicators for evaluation of results:
The service monitoring and evaluation will be carried out twice a year as part of a process to provide regular feedback about individual performance and progress achieved against agreed terms of reference and in accordance with the below mentioned indicators:
- Initiative
- Interpersonal effectiveness and team work
- Communication and listening skills
- Leadership and supervisory ability
- Planning, self-organization and administration
- Decision making/problem solving
- Work delivery
- Networking
- Work attendance
- Political neutrality
- Learning, self-development

Competencies

- Excellent analytical, communication, writing and presentation skills;
- Team player, self-motivated and initiative taking, dedicated, creative, resourceful, flexible, energetic with sound judgment;
- Capacity to work under pressure and manage stress; remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure;
- Results focused and client orientated;
- Demonstrates commitment to EU/UNDP’s mission, vision and values;
- Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Required Skills and Experience

- Masters Degree in Business or Public Administration, Economics, Political Sciences, Social Sciences or other related fields;
- At least 2-3 years previous work experience in strategic planning and strategy design or other related fields;
- Experience of training/coaching in a public administration/civil service environment;
- Experience in the use of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc) and knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages;
- Fluency in English and Russian languages; knowledge of Ukrainian language is an asset.