Background

The Governance and Rule of Law Group (GRoLG) is responsible for practice development in the areas of governance and rule of law, justice and security as they relate to crisis prevention and recovery in conflict and disaster settings. The goal of GRoLG is to provide high quality technical support to UNDP country offices for the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of programme support activities relating to governance and rule of law, justice and security. It is headed by a Coordinator reporting to the Deputy Assistant Administrator and Deputy Director. 
 
Under the supervision of the Advisor (Crisis Governance), the Programme Specialist will be responsible for providing high-quality technical assistance on post-conflict governance policy and programming issues to UNDP Country Offices, and for contributing to the development of UNDP policy and other policy processes such as the OECD International Network on Conflict and Fragility, best practices and knowledge products to aid this work.
 
The incumbent will also, where appropriate, liaise and coordinate BCPR’s post-conflict governance work with UNDP’s Bureau for Development Policy, UNDP’s Regional Bureaux and with other partners such as DPA, DESA, DPKO, World Bank, UN DOCO, OECD, other international organizations and national partners.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Key Functions:
  • Promotes integrated programming related to the restoration of governance capacities in crisis and post-crisis situations with a view to deepening national ownership, enhancing inter-agency collaboration and mobilizing donor support;
  • Provides policy advice and technical advisory services on crisis governance programming to UNDP Country Offices, including in emergency settings with a focus on state building, strategies to enhance the social contract and improve state society relations as well as advise on political governance including, inter alia, enhancing conflict sensitive dimension of support to electoral processes, support to parliamentary strengthening processes and political party development in crisis settings, support to constitution building and political dialogue as well strategies to ensure current approaches to state building and peace building are integrated into the design of responses;
  • Provides support to the team’s strategic planning and priority-setting;
  • Represents UNDP/BCPR in discussions related to state building in post-conflict settings; the restoration of governance capacities and post-crisis political governance in inter-agency forums, donor consultations, engagement with UN system, bilateral partners;
  • Contributes to knowledge management and knowledge sharing on (post)crisis governance programming.
Promotes and supports the design of integrated programming related to aspects of state building and political governance in crisis and post-crisis situations with a view to deepening national ownership, enhancing inter-agency collaboration and mobilizing donor support, focusing on achievement of the following results:
  • High-level policy advice and programmatic guidance to UNDP country offices and UN Country Teams (UNCTs), donor outreach and involvement in inter-agency processes and mechanisms;
  • Lead in the coordination and collaboration of UNDP’s support to COs on state building and post-crisis political governance as reflected in the development of national governance and state-building frameworks within CO planning and programming documents;
  • Lead in the development of joint initiatives on state building and post-conflict political governance capacities with DPA; DPKO, International Think Tanks and other relevant actors;
  • Supports the effective implementation and partnership strengthening between BCPR-BDP joint work plans on post-conflict political governance and restoration of national governance capacities and state-building.
Provides policy advice and technical advisory services on crisis governance programming (political governance and restoration of national governance capacities) to UNDP country offices, including in emergency settings, focusing on achievement of the following results:
  • Solid contribution to technical assessments and strategic planning for the development of post-crisis political governance and national governance recovery programmes and policy;
  • High-level and effective technical assistance provided for the development and implementation of post-crisis political governance and national governance initiatives by UNDP Country Offices.
Provides effective support to strategic planning and priority-setting, focusing on achievement of the following results:
  • Advice to senior management on key programme issues and programme support strategies which have a significant impact on post-crisis political governance and national governance programme and operations;
  • Collaboration with the other BCPR technical and programme support teams in developing strategic frameworks and programmatic strategies for country-specific engagement in post-crisis political governance and restoration of national governance capacities, based on thorough review and analysis of the relevant developments on the ground;
  • Coordination of programme policy development including the review and analysis of issues and trends related to post-crisis political governance and restoration of national governance capacities;
  • Liaison, coordination and collaboration with the relevant technical units of the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery when providing technical support, analyses, strategic guidance, and programmatic support to Country Offices in the area of national governance.
Supports representation of UNDP/BCPR in discussions related to post-crisis political governance and the restoration of national governance in crisis settings in inter-agency forums, donor consultations, and ensures engagement with UN system, bilateral partners, etc., focusing on achievement of the following results:
  • Lead in the development of UNDP position papers and responses to global policy development processes such as OECD’s International Network on Conflict and Fragility and other knowledge products which help further position UNDP in the areas of post-conflict/ post crisis political governance and restoration of national governance capacities;
  • Ensuring that UNDP’s methods and approaches to post-crisis political governance and restoration of national governance capacities and ensures they are more effectively communicated to key partners, including donors and Country Offices reflecting UNDP’s best practice;
  • Effective and punctual support to the Crisis Governance Advisor in formulating strategies and collaborative partnerships on post-crisis political governance and national governance capacities and in engaging with the New York-based agencies on a day-to-day basis;
  • Solid contribution to the preparation/presentation of policy papers on post-crisis political governance and national governance capacities for inter-agency meetings, academic conferences and donor consultations;
  • Effective support to development and strengthening of linkages with the Governance Community of Practice both inside and outside the UN system;
  • Effective support to the Crisis Governance Advisor with respect to donor relations and resource mobilization.
Contributes to knowledge management and knowledge sharing on post-crisis political governance and national governance capacities for programming, focusing on achievement of the following results:
  • High-level political economy analysis, capacity development approaches and prioritization, as well as sectoral governance assessments, carried out in support of integrating post-crisis political governance and national governance capacities into country office planning and programme design cycles;
  • Ensuring that Country Office capacity development programming for post-conflict political governance and national governance is better targeted for fragile and conflict affected situations; prioritized and sequenced; and tools tested and available for these purposes;
  • Lead in analyzing, consolidating and disseminating lessons learned and best practices directly linked to in-country programming on post-crisis political governance and national governance;
  • Contribution to the development of new research, policy and UNDP knowledge products/tools on post-crisis political governance and national governance issues;
  • Lead in the conduct of research and preparation of papers for presentation on post crisis political governance and national governance issues in conflict, post-conflict and recovery settings.
Impact of Results:
 
The key results have a positive impact on the development of the unit’s capacity to provide innovative, technical expertise on restoration of post-crisis political governance and the restoration of national governance capacities to country offices. This capacity will be developed in four key ways: (1) development of governance assessments, Political Economy Analysis and other relevant planning tools to allow for conflict and crisis-sensitive approaches to post-crisis political governance and national governance capacity gaps in fragile contexts; (2) implementation of collaboration framework with UNDP partners and within BCPR on post-conflict national governance support in the areas of post-conflict electoral violence, parliamentary strengthening, constitutional development and political dialogue around state building and peace building issues; (3) identification of entry points and development of programmatic operations with Country Offices, targeting political governance and state-society relations and other relevant aspects of crisis governance relevant to political governance and strengthening of national governance capacities in post-crisis settings; (4) development of UNDP HQ’s and Country Offices’ operational capacity to deliver on crisis-sensitive governance in the immediate aftermath of conflict.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:
 
Building Strategic Partnerships: Identifying and building partnerships
  • Effectively networks with partners seizing opportunities to build strategic alliances relevant to UNDP’s mandate and strategic agenda;
  • Sensitizes UN Partners, donors and other international organizations to the UNDP’s strategic agenda, identifying areas for joint efforts.
 
Promoting Organizational Learning and Knowledge Sharing: Developing tools and mechanisms
  • Makes the case for innovative ideas documenting successes and building them into the design of new approaches;
  • Identifies new approaches and strategies that promote the use of tools and mechanisms.
Job Knowledge / Technical Expertise: In-depth knowledge of the subject matter
  • Understands more advanced aspects of crisis prevention and recovery as well as the fundamental concepts of political governance and state building in crisis situations;
  • Keeps abreast of new developments in area of state-building, crisis governance both for prevention and for recovery and seeks to develop him/herself professionally;
  • Demonstrates comprehensive understanding and knowledge of the current guidelines and project management tools and utilizes these regularly in work assignments.
Conceptual Innovation in the Provision of Technical Expertise: Developing innovative and creative approaches
  • Leverages multi-disciplinary, institutional knowledge and experience of other countries and regions to promote UNDP’s development agenda;
  • Develops innovative and creative approaches to meet programme and capacity development objectives.
Client Orientation: Contributing to positive outcomes for the client
  • Works towards creating an enabling environment for a smooth relationship between the clients and service provider
  • Keeps the client informed of problems or delays in the provision of services
Core Competencies:

Ethics & Values: Demonstrating / Safeguarding Ethics and Integrity

  • Demonstrates and promotes the highest standard of integrity, impartiality, fairness and incorruptibility in all matters affecting his/her work and status
Organizational Awareness: Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment
  • Understands the structure and hierarchy of UN/UNDP, process flows throughout the organization, products and services, their measures of effectiveness, and perceptions of clients
Developing & Empowering People/Coaching and Mentoring: Self-development, initiative-taking
  • Takes appropriate risk in developing new or adapting existing methods and approaches to more effectively perform tasks or to solve problems in new and unique ways
Working in Teams: Acting as a team player and facilitating team work
  • Works collaboratively with colleagues inside UN/UNDP as well as its partners and other stakeholders to pursue common goals
Communicating Information and Ideas: Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively
  • Delivers verbal/written information in a timely, clear, organized and easily understood manner
Self-Management & Emotional Intelligence: Creating synergies through self-control
  • Tolerates conditions of stress, uncertainty or ambiguity and continues to maintain a positive outlook and to work productively
Conflict Management/Negotiating & Resolving Disagreements: Managing conflict
  • Remains calm, composed and patient, regardless of his/her own state of mind in the face of conflict
Knowledge Sharing & Continuous Learning: Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of others
  • Demonstrates commitment to ongoing professional development and keeps abreast of new developments in his/her professional field
Appropriate and Transparent Decision-making: Informed and transparent decision making
  • Accepts responsibility and accountability for the quality of the outcome of his/her decisions.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:
  • A minimum of a Master’s degree or equivalent in Business Administration, Public Administration, Economics, Political Science, Social Sciences or related field
Experience:
  • At least 7 years of relevant professional work experience at the national and/or international level in conflict prevention and recovery, as well as governance in crisis situations;
  • Able to provide project and programme management support;
  • Experience working in an international organization, preferably UNDP, and familiarity with Crisis Prevention and Recovery issues;
  • Knowledge of UNDP/UN regulations, rules, policies, procedures and practices.
Language Requirements:
  • Fluency in English, both oral and written, is required;
  • An additional UN language such as French, Spanish or Arabic is highly desirable.