Background
The Rural Heat and Hot Water Supply Modernization Project is an innovative partnership between the Government of Ukraine, UNDP and the private sector to address the poor heating and hot water infrastructure in many parts of rural Ukraine. The project will demonstrate the technical, social and financial feasibility of modernizing the gas supply system to end users in multi-user apartment and public buildings in selected smaller towns. It is one of the largest projects of UNDP in Ukraine with a budget exceeding US$ 30 million over 4 years.The project is directly implemented by UNDP, in close consultation with the selected municipalities, the Ministry of Regional Development and Construction, the Ministry of Environment, regional authorities and gas service providers.
Under the guidance and supervision of the Deputy Country Director, the Project Manager (PM) shall be responsible for the overall management, strategic leadership and implementation of the project. The project manager leads and guides a project management unit and technical experts (approximately 7 staff) based in Kyiv with frequent travel within Ukraine.
The project manager works in close collaboration with programme and operations teams of UNDP Ukraine, and Government Officials.
Duties and Responsibilities
Summary of Key Functions:- Implementation of UNDP programme strategies with an emphasis on project management
- Provision of primary oversight to the management of the project
- Creation of strategic partnerships for project implementation
- Provision of top quality policy advisory services to the Government and facilitation of knowledge building and management
- Project compliance with appropriate UNDP policies and procedures.
- Effective leadership of the project team (approx. 7 personnel, including 3 technical experts) and assurance of transparency, accountability and quality of services.
- Development of a progress and financial monitoring and reporting system to ensure judicious tracking of all input and output delivery.
- Preparation of the content of the Project’s Standard Operating Procedures.
- Sound management of activities; substantive, administrative and financial elements.
- Provision of project related guidance to both UNDP’s and the Project office’s tasks; administration, coordination, supervision, procurement, disbursement, accounting, financial and project management and monitoring of the project.
- Provides management oversight to the day-to-day project implementation according to UNDP rules, focusing on achievement of the following results:
- Strategic planning of the project
- Timely preparation of the Quarterly Work Plans / Project Implementation Plans / Progress Reports / Budget Forecasts, for endorsement by the Project Board;
- Monitoring and managing risks;
- Coordination between UNDP, government counterpart agencies and technical service providers
- Guided and oriented efforts / contributions of consultants, personnel, government counterparts towards the achievement of project outputs;
- Formulation of Results and Resources Framework (RRF) and monitoring of progress achieved against the indicators set in RRF;
- Organization of the meeting of Project Board and other review bodies, as necessary.
- Financial and substantive monitoring and evaluation of the project, identification of operational and financial problems, development of solutions. Participation in audit of the project.
- Evaluation of the project impact. Monitoring and analysis of the project environment, timely readjustments in project implementation.
- Leadership in advocating project objectives, and in assuring that all interested parties are well informed about project activities and outputs.
- Identification of sources of information related to policy-driven issues. Identification and synthesis of best practices and lessons learnt directly linked to Ukraine’s energy efficiency goals.
- Facilitate learning and experience sharing for government officials, local community leaders and experts
- Facilitation of knowledge codification and contribution to the UNDP and national knowledge networks in the sphere of energy and environment.
- Participate in PR and media activities. Assure project web-site update. Coordinate distribution of the project related information.
- Coordinate project objectives and activities with local partners, assuring the projects are efficiently integrated with other development efforts;
- Establish and maintain dialogue with government officials, both local and national, private sector, NGOs, partners, donors and communities to provide knowledge and understanding, ensuring accurate interpretation of the project’s mission;
- Establish and maintain dialogue with national and sub-national authorities for obtaining of licenses and standards
- Support to the resource mobilizations activities for the project further growth and geographical expansion.
Sound project management will ensure that the new partnership with the private sector (major donor) proves as an effective method to achieve improvements in the lives of Ukrainians and in the environmental situation.
The results will have impacted the lives of people in Ukraine by providing reliable and affordable heat and hot water supplies through gasification of under-serviced areas. The project will have the indirect impact of reducing CO2 emissions by replacing inefficient fuels with cleaner and more efficient gas utilization.
The project results will also demonstrate the viability of the approach and will provide a basis for an increase in investments in heat and hot water supply by government and private sector.
Lastly, the community based approach used will empower the beneficiary population to consider other environmentally friendly investments as well.
Competencies
Corporate Competencies:- Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards
- Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP
- Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability
- Treats all people fairly without favoritism
Knowledge Management and Learning
- Promotes knowledge management in UNDP and a learning environment in the office through leadership and personal example
- In-depth practical knowledge of inter-disciplinary development issues
- Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more Practice Areas, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills
- Seeks and applies knowledge, information, and best practices from within and outside of UNDP
- Development of effective liaison and relationship building with key stakeholders in the sector related to the project.
- Ability to lead strategic planning, change processes, results-based management and reporting
- Ability to lead formulation, oversight of implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development projects
- Ability to apply development theory to the specific country context to identify creative, practical approaches to overcome challenging situations
- Ability to work with a wide cross-section of partners: Government, NGO’s, communities, media and international donors;
- Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback
- Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude
- Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities
- Ability to lead effectively, mentoring as well as conflict resolution skills
- Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills
- Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure
- Proven networking, team-building, organizational and communication skills
- Mature judgment combined with a proactive, energetic approach to problem solving
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
- Strong organizational and time management skills
Required Skills and Experience
Education:- Master’s degree (or equivalent) in Business Administration, Economics, Engineering, Finance or equivalent disciplines
- 7 years of relevant experience in project management in engineering in a development setting, including 3 or more years of senior-level management responsibilities of similar size and complexity;
- Strong skills in project management and knowledge of project management procedures.
- Experience in planning and managing international technical assistance projects, including direct responsibilities for administering of project budget;
- Experience in communal energy supply sector in Ukraine or Western CIS is an asset.
- Fluency in English. Working knowledge of Russian or Ukrainian is strongly desired.