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The wave of public protests against the incumbent regime in Yemen during 2011 culminated in the signing of an agreement on transfer of power brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and facilitated by the United Nations. In accordance with the transition agreement, a Government of National Unity was sworn in on 10 December 2011 and the presidential election took place on 21 February 2012. The transition agreement puts the entire responsibility for implementation of the transition agreement on the Government. The agreement calls on the United Nations Secretary General, in cooperation with other agencies, to provide on-going assistance for the implementation of the agreement and to coordinate the assistance from the international community to implement the initiative and its mechanism.

The transition agreement identified a number of priority tasks and related benchmarks varying from the national dialogue and constitutional reform to socio-economic reforms, transitional justice, reform of the electoral system and parliamentary elections. Whereas the government as a whole will play an indispensable role in the transition process, with different government agencies contributing to various stages of the transition, the following core institutions (CI) stand out 1) the Presidency’s Office (PO); 2) Prime Minister’s Office (PMO),3) the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (MoPIC), 4) the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and 5) the recently established National Committee for National Dialogue, as well as Ministry of Human Rights and Ministry of Industry and Trade. These institutions are particularly important for designing and maintaining a strategic focus on the transition by all national and international actors as well as for coordination of the delivery of basic services and immediate rehabilitation and reconstruction.

Therefore, UNDP in cooperation with other development partners and the Government of Yemen (GoY) set up an Emergency Capacity Development Facility (ECDF) to provide to the national leadership for the transition with immediate and catalytic support from a multi-partners perspective. The 2-year project aims at reinforcing the leadership capacities of the Core Institutions (CI) to successfully orient, lead and coordinate the achievement of key benchmarks stated in the GCC agenda as well in as the Government¡¦s Transitional Plan. The project is composed of four interrelated modules: 1. Organizational leadership. 2. Aid coordination and partnership. 3. Socioeconomic reforms. 4. National dialogue process.

In this context, ECDF facilitated the establishment and staffing of a Transition Policy Unit (TPU) in the Prime Minister Office. At the request of the Prime Minister, the Unit will led by Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad, ex-prime Minister of Malaysia, with the title of Chief Economic Advisor & Visionary (CEAV) for the Yemen Prime Minister. Within this support effort, UNDP Yemen looks to hire a Strategic Planning Expert to provide support to the executive and co-ordination function of the Prime Minister Office and of the Economic Advisory Concil. This function aims at reinforcing the executive leadership of the Prime Minister and to coordinating and supporting government departments in the execution of government policies and strategies, including helping them to build their strategic capability.

Under the guidance of the CEAV and the direct supervision of the ECDF Chief Technical Advisor, the Strategic Planning Expert will be based in the Policy Unit of the Prime Minister Office and work in tandem with relevant Ministries, UNDP, donors and other international and national partners.

Summary of key functions:

The Strategic Planning Expert will deliver results in the following areas:

• Development of a strategic framework for the transition
• Capacity development in the area of strategic planning
• Reporting and implementing requirements of the ECDF
  

Development of a strategic framework for the transition. The Strategic Planning Expert will:

• Contribute to the establishment of and provide substantive support to the work of the Economic Advisory Council;
  
• Assist in the revision and upgrading of the Government executive plans for the transition period with the view to strengthen its link to the transition implementation mechanism and to mainstream the principles of strategic planning and results-based management, including setting timelines, establishing priorities, sequencing, identifying key milestones in the transitional process to allocate resources and define responsibilities;
• Support the development and/or upgrading of strategic plans for the individual Core Institutions, focusing initially on the plan for the National Dialogue, to ensure that these plans are linked to the transition benchmarks and contribute to the achievement of the transition goals;
• Assist in the development of robust monitoring and evaluation frameworks for the government programme as a whole and the strategic plans of individual CI;
• Support the design of a series of shorter-term action plans linked to the specific tasks and benchmarks of the transition, including for the Conference on the national Dialogue;
• Assist in the design of mechanisms and systems to regularly review and upgrade the strategic planning framework.
  

Reinforced co-ordination and planning. The Strategic Planning Expert will:

• Assist Prime Ministers close staff in the organization of the flow of business to and from him;
• Provide support to the Prime Minister and his close staff in in carrying out the office daily functions;
• Ensure proper co-ordination and follow-up of the  Prime Minister’s decision.
  

Capacity development in strategic planning. The Strategic Planning Expert will:

• Based on the analysis of the strategic gaps in the CI, design a capacity building programme to enhance strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation;
• Suggest short-term and long-term external capacity development support in strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation and develop the TOR for such support;
• Design and deliver focused capacity development as necessary through formal training, coaching and on-the-job training as appropriate;
• Analyse the opportunities for knowledge sharing on strategic planning in post-crisis situations in the framework of South-South cooperation and design relevant mechanisms and events.

Project implementation: The Strategic Planning Expert will:

• Finalize a consolidated Results Resources Framework (RRF) and detailed annual work plans for the Institutional and Executive and co-ordination function of the Policy Unit in the Prime Minister's Office;
• Analyse the strategic gaps of the Core Institutions and identify their short-term and longer-term strategic needs;
• Provide technical direction to and build capacity of international and national technical staff of the Policy Unit a with regard to their work in the Prime Minister Office;
• Support UNDP efforts of resources mobilization, including planning and costing project inputs; briefing donors, and preparing donor progress reports as required by UNDP reporting rules and as requested by specific donors;
• Draft regular activity reports, as well as other documents as requested by the CTA.

• Strategic vision: high level understanding of complex bureaucratic organizations and challenges they present for effective government action;
• Leadership: proven intellectual leadership and demonstrated understanding of political and economic transitional processes;
• Strategic Planning: Demonstrated expert knowledge of strategic planning issues in post-conflict and transitional societies;
• Communication: clear and convincing communicator of ideas in writing and in person, and ability to defend and explain difficult and complex issues with respect to key decisions and positions;
• Sound management: ability to develop the potential of individuals and teams through inspired, fair and respectful management; ability to structure a task in terms of the analytic/investigative process and to produce a well-structured output;
• Integrity: Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN's values and ethical standards;
• Ability to work in a team, also across the UN agencies;
• Strong interpersonal and diplomatic skills;
• Effectively builds and maintains strategic networks and partnerships;
• Knowledgeable on culture context in Yemen; cultural, gender, religion, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Education:

• Masters in a relevant discipline, such as Political Science, Public Policy and Administration or any other related field

Experience:

• A minimum of ten (10) years of proven relevant work experience, with a minimum of 5 years of experience in government planning and programming, monitoring and evaluation at the national and/or international level; experience in crisis and post-crisis countries and in transitional contexts is essential;
• Strong technical knowledge of the field of strategic planning, particularly methods and approaches to strategic planning in the context of reforms in post-conflict and transitional societies;
• Experience in multi-stakeholder analysis and engagement;
• Knowledge and experience from working with countries in transition. Previous work experience in the Arab Region is an asset.

Language Requirements: 

• Fluency in both written and spoken English and Arabic is required.