Background

The 18th amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan was passed in 2010, with the full support of all political parties. The amendment has wide-ranging impacts for the Government of Pakistan at federal level, legislating for much demanded provincial autonomy in legal, executive, fiscal and administrative spheres. As a consequence of the amendment, there have been significant results including 100 articles in the constitution being reviewed, 47 subjects and 17 federal ministries being devolved to the provinces, federal and provincial constitutional purviews (through two Federal Legislative Lists) being clearly demarcated, and holding of elections for local governments by Election Commission of Pakistan being constitutionally mandated.
 
UNDP Pakistan has been leading efforts to analyze the emerging challenges and opportunities as a result of the devolution process, enhancing understanding of the amendment. In this regard, UNDP commissioned two assessments to learn more about the impacts of the amendment; an initial assessment in 2010 and a detailed follow up assessment in 2011-2012. In addition, UNDP has held provincial and national consultations in collaboration with the Forum of Federations (FOF), which works on strengthening federal systems. FOF is an Intergovernmental body comprising of 10 member states and is mainly funded by the Canadian government. Pakistan became an official member of FOF in March 2012; other members include Canada, Australia, Switzerland, Germany and Brazil.
 
In light of the findings and recommendations of the assessment missions, a project of support for strengthening the implementation of the 18th Amendment has been formulated to build capacities of provincial authorities in improving governance, enhance inter-provincial coordination and public service delivery as a result of devolution process under the 18th amendment. The project will be implemented using the UNDP Direct Implementation (DIM) arrangements under the supervision of a Project Review Board (PRB).
 
A Project Management Unit (PMU) will be established to act as a secretariat for the PRB and to assist in the implementation of the project, provide technical assistance to government stakeholders, and assist in the coordination, management and reporting of donor assistance. The PMU will be headed by a Chief Technical Specialist (CTS) who will be an international expert recruited for the duration of this project and who will report to the UNDP Deputy Country Director Programmes and Assistant Country Director Governance.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Chief Technical Specialist (CTS) will be responsible for project implementation and achievement of project results. The CTS will head the Project Management Unit (PMU) and provide leadership and guidance to the PMU team, which will include An Operations Manager, project support staff and professional experts and will report to Assistant Country Director Governance.

Ensures effective management of the programme and supervision of the Programme team focusing on quality control of the full cycle of programming from formulation to implementation achieving the following results:
  • Plan, initiate, facilitate and manage project activities and measure performance and report on programme results and outcomes to the PRB;
  • Ensure the establishment and equipment of the PMU at the outset of the project operations. Manage the recruitment of PMU team and local consultants, as well as identifying short-term international and local experts as necessary;
  • Strategic oversight of planning, budgeting, implementing and monitoring of the programme, tracking use of financial resources in accordance with UNDP rules and regulations;
  • Effective monitoring, measuring the impact of the programme and evaluation. Constant monitoring and analysis of the programme environment, timely readjustment of programme, finalization of contribution agreement, determination of required revisions, coordination of the mandatory and budget re-phasing exercises, closure of projects through review. Performs functions of Manager Level 1 in Atlas for POs and vouchers approval. Follow up on audit recommendations. All exceptions are timely reported;
  • Coordinate and supervise the activities of the project staff, experts and consultants working as part of the technical assistance team;
  • Provide technical support to train and build capacities of Council of Common Interests and Inter-Provincial Coordination Departments to enhance coordination and improve service delivery of devolved subjects;
  • Coordinate and guide functional reviews of select provincial government departments that have been devolved and present the findings for approval of respective provincial Cabinets;
  • Assist provincial governments in finalizing and implementing Local Government Laws along with collecting data on Human Development Indicators at the local level;
  • Facilitate citizen engagement, initiatives for open government, dissemination and awareness of Right to Information laws to raise awareness about the impact of 18th Amendment;
  • Prepare project work plans, progress reports and terminal report;
  • Be responsible for the timely preparation and quality control of all substantive technical outputs, briefs and required documents, ensuring timely production and submission of outputs and reports by all members of the project team, contractors and project partners;
  • Liaise with the UNDP country office, IPC departments, provincial government stakeholders, donors and all other partners on all matters concerning the implementation of the project;
  • Support coordination of all 18th amendment related-activities through regular contacts with the donors and by organizing regular donor briefings;
  • Organize PRB, donor coordination and project review meetings. Prepare background documents, briefs, issues papers, and progress reports for the PRB meetings and for donor reporting. Follow-up on the implementation of PRB decisions and recommendations;
  • Manage process for the selection of suppliers, contractors and partners. Supervise procurement of goods and services including preparation of equipment specifications, Terms of Reference (TORs) and Request for Proposals (RFPs) according to approved UNDP procedures;
  • Conduct field visits to supervise, coordinate and monitor field-level activities of the project;
  • Supervise outsourced 18th amendment / federalism research and dissemination of research findings;
  • Organize end of project evaluation in close coordination with UNDP Country Office;
  • Coordination with other partners, forge relationships, mobilize resources, liaise with UNDP New York and regional capabilities;
  • Develop and nurture broader partnerships in the areas of democratic governance and elections, communicate and advocate the international partners’ positions and engage with Pakistani partners accordingly;
  • Build and maintain strong cooperative relationships with relevant local networks and contacts, including partner organizations, stakeholders and beneficiaries. 
Impact of Results
 
The key results achieved will have a direct impact on the success of the Participatory Federalism and Decentralization Programme especially in resource mobilization, engagement with partners, and activity implementation.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Professional
  • Background and experience in federal systems of governance, especially inter-governmental relations, local government, and citizen engagement;
  • Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of approaches, tools and methodologies related to planning, executing and monitoring the implementation of technical assistance projects.
Planning and Organization:
  • Excellent analytical and organizational skills required; ability to plan own work, manage conflicting priorities, report on work progress and deliver outputs in a punctual manner.
Coordination:
  • Ability to effectively interact and coordinate with donors and senior officials.
Technological awareness:
  • Fully proficient computer skills and use of relevant software and other applications, e.g. word processing, PowerPoint or equivalent, internal databases, Internet, etc.
Communication:
  • Strong communication (spoken and written) skills and ability to articulate ideas in a clear, concise style.
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 UNDP & 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:
  • A minimum of an advanced university degree in the field of political science, law, economics or other social science related subject.
Experience:
  • A minimum of 7 years’ experience in federalism and devolution Specialist positions and project management with demonstrated project management and strong communications skills.
  • The candidate should be familiar with the work of UNDP, and possess extensive experience in dealing with devolution assistance and federalism projects;
  • Previous experience in Pakistan or the Asian region will be an asset.
Language:
  • Fluency in English is a must.

Note:

Pakistan is a non family duty station.