UNDP Jobs - 33250- Project Coordinator - Pacific Risk Resilience Prog

Project Coordinator - Pacific Risk Resilience Program

Location :

Suva, FIJI

Type of Contract :

FTA International

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

25-Oct-12 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-4

Duration of Initial Contract :

1 year

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

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

The Pacific is one of the more vulnerable regions in the world threatened by disasters such as cyclones, earthquakes, volcanoes, droughts and floods, in addition to the possible impacts of climate change, global economic fluctuations, and in more recent decades, internal conflict. In recent years there has been a marked shift in Disaster Risk Management (DRM) policy from focusing on disaster response to reducing disaster risks.

‘Reducing Risk and Building Community Resilience in the Pacific’ is a new regional programme to be implemented by UNDP with funds from AusAID. (Approx. Aus$16 million over four years). The Goal of the programme is: to strengthen the resilience of pacific island communities to disasters and climate change related risk. The programme will be centred on two components i) promote mainstreaming of risk management into national development policies, plans and budget, integrating government and community level action; and ii) strengthening community resilience through sub national and local level interventions.

The programme will aim to develop cooperative, constructive engagement and partnerships between communities (building capacity and encouraging communities to articulate their needs) and local level government (building their capacity and ability to respond to community needs) facilitated where appropriate by a range of institutional partners and local NGOs and civil society organisations. The approach proposed is basically a good governance programme with a DRM lens. To be sustainable local level action needs to be linked into national government policies and structures. The programme will aim to achieve effective coordination and integration of community risk reduction, preparedness and response to disasters with national and sub national government plans and procedures. The programme will encourage government entities to consider how they can integrate DRR into government planning and activities, particularly at the local level, integrating their plans better with community capacity and needs, and sharing information between government and communities.

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the Crisis Prevention and Recovery Team Leader and Programme Manager, the Project Coordinator P4, will be based in UNDP Pacific Centre in Suva, Fiji.

Duties and Responsibilities

Management of the programme and supervision of the programme team:

Ensure that the main objectives of the programme are achieved in the most efficient and effective manner
Provide strategic oversight of planning, budgeting, implementing and monitoring of the programme, tracking use of financial resources in accordance with UNDP rules and regulations
Design and formulation of the programme including the framing, implementation, revision and documentation of an agreed Monitoring and Evaluation Framework
Lead the preparation of monitoring and progress reports, work plans, budget and expenditure statements for approval by the Programme Board
Supervise and build the professional capacities of the programme team
Ensure that the programme enhances Government ownership, promotes institutionalisation of DRM initiatives and sustainability
Ensure the identification of clear and achievable physical and financial targets, a realistic work plan to reach them and an agreed upon monitoring and reporting system for the INGO implementing partner

Policy and Programme Services:

Ensure that the best technical assistance is provided for project implementation
Lead the analytical and policy development work of the team and ensure high quality products
Work with a number of counterparts including Governments of the targeted countries and key national and regional institutions towards strengthening DRM capacities
Encourage cross-practice work in the course of implementing the programme including considerations of the environment, gender, human rights and natural resources management
Ensure the highest UNDP standards in the provision of technical and advisory inputs, organization of workshops, seminars, training and delivery of outputs

Strategic partnerships and resource mobilization:

Work with a number of counterparts including governments of the different island countries in the region and key regional / national institutions towards strengthening DRM capacities
Coordinate with other agencies at national and regional levels to ensure effective and efficient implementation of the programme
Creation and coordination of partnerships among the various beneficiary entities, implementing partners, donors, other actors in the field of DRM and CCA and the partner governments for a timely, resource-bound and effective implementation of the project activities
Implementation of resource mobilization strategies to achieve programme outcomes

Knowledge Management:

Support knowledge management related to DRM and CCA across the PICs as well as at the regional level
Ensure that project results are captured and recorded in knowledge products to communicate project results and to promote replication
Promote a learning environment and systematic information sharing within the project team
Promote the quality of all knowledge products, reports and services, and ensure effective integration and compatibility with other practice areas
Sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice at regional and global levels

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

Functional Competencies:

Knowledge Management and Learning

Promotes knowledge management among UN and non-UN partners
In-depth practical knowledge of inter-disciplinary programmatic issues regarding DRM in general and governmental capacity development and community resilience in particular
Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills
Seeks and applies knowledge, information, and best practices from within and outside of the UN

Coordination Effectiveness

Ability to lead the design and implementation of joint programme activities, strengthening of strategic partnerships for DRM
Ability to build and sustain effective partnerships with UN Agencies and main constituents, advocate effectively, communicate sensitively across different constituencies.

Management and Leadership

Focuses on impact and results.
Leads teams effectively and shows conflict resolution skills.
Establishes priorities for self and other members of the team; schedules activities to ensure optimum use of time and resources.
In providing advice to the stakeholders, has the capacity to gather comprehensive information on complex problems or situations; evaluates information accurately and identifies key issues required to resolve problems
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude
Demonstrates excellent oral and written communication skills.
Builds strong relationships with clients and external actors.
Manages conflict and stress, remaining composed and working as a mediator in crisis or antagonistic situations.
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities.
Responds positively to critical feedback and differing points of view.
Solicits feedback from staff about the impact of his/her own behaviour.
Development and operational effectiveness

Ability to lead strategic planning, change processes, management and reporting

Ability to lead formulation, oversight of implementation, monitoring and evaluation of strategic plans/frameworks.
Strong report writing skills, including ability to edit, synthesize and summarize
Proven skills in making presentations to a range of audiences

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

A minimum of a Master’s Degree in social sciences or a discipline relevant to Development and Disaster Risk Reduction

Experience:

At least 7 years of progressively responsible professional experience in programme management and coordination, including at least 3 years proven experience in managing and coordinating disaster risk management or related programmes. Part of that experience must be in the field involved with high-level interactions and inter-agency coordination in disaster prone settings
Demonstrated experience in the methodology of mainstreaming disaster risk management into government planning
At least 2 years’ experience managing a team of programme staff
Demonstrated experience of working with non-governmental implementation partners, preferably on Community Based Disaster Risk Management initiatives
Proven Programme Management skills; an internationally recognized certification in Project Management preferred
Knowledge of community level governance and DRR international best practice
Pacific or Small Island States experience is desirable
Experience working with governments and communities in very low capacity environments with geographically dispersed communities is desirable
Familiarity with online Programme Management systems and asset

Language Requirements:

Fluency in english is essential