Background

• “Strengthening the Capacity of Budget Oversight for People’s Elected Bodies in Vietnam” with the Committee for Finance and Budgetary Affairs (CFBA) as implementing partner and the NA Ethnic Council and 30 PPCs as co-implementing partners;  and
• “Strengthening the Provision and Exchange of Legislative Information among Agencies of the National Assembly in Vietnam” with the ILS as implementing partner and the Committee on Law and Committee for Judicial Affairs as co-implementing partners.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Effective adoption and implementation of a capacity development strategy that responds to the Vietnamese socio-cultural and institutional context;
• Compilation, analysis and interpretation of data, thorough research on capacity development in parliaments and production of relevant analysis reports and other written materials that contribute to the adoption or revision of suitable capacity development strategies;
• Mobilisation and management of project technical advisers and consultants in a manner that ensures achievement of project capacity development goals and priorities;
• Effective annual and quarterly work planning and reporting, and application of a suitable monitoring and evaluation framework;
• High quality of project technical work;
• Assessment of National Assembly’s progress in achieving institutional development objectives and production of relevant reports to counterparts and donors as well as facilitation of discussions on project evolution;
• End-of-assignment report which focuses on key lessons learned and best practices drawn from project management and capacity building processes as well as major substantive issues that have merged and that would require further assistance from UNDP in the future.

Advocate sustainable parliamentary development strategies, share parliamentary development experiences/good practices that have been acquired elsewhere and make use of similar experiences and practices in Vietnam and share them with relevant stakeholders elsewhere focusing on achievement of the following results:

•  Policy advise for National Assembly partners and UNDP in the areas of substantive activities that are being addressed by the project;
• Top quality analysis and substantive inputs to project documents, reports, concept notes and other strategic documents, considering national and global trends on policies and development issues related to democratisation in transition countries, as well as international best practices of democratic governance assistance and parliamentary support;
• Facilitation of policy dialogue on parliamentary issues with the National Assembly, Government, donors, civil society; contributions to development of policies as relevant;
• Provision of policy options, particularly in the role of the parliament in poverty reduction, fight against corruption, achievement of the MDGs and gender equality among other relevant thematic areas;
• Sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice through identification of best practices and lessons learned.

• Consistent UN/DP approach to capacity development of elected bodies ensuring synergies and coherence among projects;
• Maintenance of NA donor network and coordination forum

Impact of Resutls:

• Provided high quality advice on capacity building needs and plans
• High quality inputs into project progress reports and work plans, and review-comments of high quality and relevance
• Project management advice (planning, monitoring, evaluation) of high quality and relevance
• Appropriate international and national consultants mobilised and research-partnerships established by the project, and effectively coordinated and used in project implementation
• Appropriate and high quality inputs to policy/programme development and implementation, and advocacy works at appropriate events/forums.
• Provided effective communication, with appropriate styles in different situations
• Policy and technical advice of high quality and relevance
• Effective and active (knowledge, coordination relevant) networking

Competencies

• Creates effective advocacy strategies
• Contributes to the elaboration of advocacy strategies by identifying and prioritizing audiences and communication means
• Uses the opportunity to bring forward and disseminate materials for advocacy work

• Sensitizes UN Partners, donors and other international organizations to the UN’s strategic agenda, identifying areas for joint efforts
• Promotes One UN Communication agenda in inter-agency meetings

• 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

• Understands more advanced aspects of primary area of specialization as well as the fundamental concepts of related disciplines
• Continues to seeks new and improved methods and systems for accomplishing the work of the unit
• Keeps abreast of new developments in area of professional discipline and job knowledge and seeks to develop him/herself professionally
• Demonstrates comprehensive knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments

• Develops promotional activities based on monitoring/evaluation information identifying areas requiring higher visibility
• Develops messages for use by UN staff when working with partners, internationally and nationally
• Reviews documents and materials intended for use within and outside the organization in order to ensure consistency and validity of messages

• Creates effective global advocacy messages/strategies
• Contributes to the elaboration of a global advocacy strategy by identifying and prioritizing audiences and messages

• Leverages different experiences and expertise of team members to achieve better and more innovative outcomes

• Anticipates client needs
• Works towards creating an enabling environment for a smooth relationship between the clients and service provider
• Demonstrates understanding of client’s perspective

Core Competencies:

• Promoting ethics and integrity, creating organizational precedents
• Building support and political acumen
• Building staff competence,  creating an environment of creativity and innovation
• Building and promoting effective teams
• Creating and promoting enabling environment for open communication
• Creating an emotionally intelligent organization
• Leveraging conflict in the interests of UN & setting standards
• Sharing knowledge across the organization and building a culture of knowledge sharing and learning. Promoting learning and knowledge management/sharing is the responsibility of each staff member.
• Fair and transparent  decision making; calculated risk-taking
  

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master's degree in law, political science, public administration, or related field

Experience:

• Minimum 7 years of international practical working experience in coordination and facilitation of substantive parliamentary work and parliamentary development issues.
• Sound technical knowledge in the field of parliamentary development including in legislation, representation and political/budgetary oversight, as well as a general knowledge of cross-cutting democratic governance issues.
• Monitoring and evaluation certificate in project management (especially in technical assistance projects) is an asset.
• Strong knowledge of gender analysis and practical experience of gender mainstreaming in the activities of elected bodies.
• Experience in conducting trainings and coaching on gender budgeting processes for government agencies and/or legislatures.
• Strong knowledge of and experience with externally-supported project planning and management skills.
• Knowledge and experience from working with countries in transition. Previous work experience in Viet Nam is an asset.
• Excellent knowledge of donor policies and funding modalities. Knowledge of UNDP programming practices is an asset.
• Strong inter-personal skills; results driven, ability to work under pressure and to meet strict deadlines. Ability to deal with politically sensitive and complex issues. Strong communication, networking and team-building skills

Language Requirements:

• Excellent spoken, report writing and presentation skills in the English language. Knowledge of Vietnamese is an asset.