Background

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the Project Officer / Team Leader, the Social and Civic Development Officer is  responsible for achievement of results in various projects such as the Youth for Change Joint Initiative Phase III, Youth Re-entry, Alternative Livelihood to Piracy, Community Based Reconciliation and any additional social and civic development related projects. Within agreed constraints in the detailed work plan, the Social and Civic Development Officer is fully accountable for the delivery of project activities and the achievement of project outputs in her / his area.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Effective provision of specific support to project activities at the area level;
• Objectives of the project guiding documents and annual work plans are reached at area level;
• Effective and efficient management of financial resources at the area level;
• Effective and efficient support of procurement and logistical services at the area level;
• Facilitation of knowledge building and knowledge sharing on Social and Civic Development at the area level.

• In all areas, remains abreast of conceptual basis and technical advancements for programming, more specifically in the conceptual areas of (a) crime and criminality (drivers and profiling), (b) social and civic development (trauma healing, social skills development and transformation, (c) peacebuilding and reconciliation; and (d) community protection, development and cohesion;
• Supports the promotion of community acceptance and social and civic development of beneficiaries;
• Actively participates in the strategy meetings, giving expert level technical guidance where and when required;
• Advises in the identification of the target communities for activities;
• Supports the international and national consultants (where applicable) with technical and logistical guidance;
• Oversees agreements with implementing partners and counterparts to ensure objectives are met.
• Supports the development of agreements for the government and NGO counterparts in forms of LoAs / MCGAs / Responsible Party Agreements;
• Monitors activities of partners closely, feeding challenges back to Project management.

• Oversees activities of the Community Security Project and particularly the social and civic development initiative, ensuring objectives as stipulated in AWP are met, and relationships are strategically managed with sensitivity;
• Remains abreast of the Community Security and Social and Civic Development trends and applied concepts, advising on the possible new opportunities for intervention and associated risks;
• In close consultation with Project Officer / Team Leader and Support Team, ensures the effective application of RBM tools, elaboration of coherent work plans, regular donor progress and impact reports;
• Monitors the project work plans, project effectiveness and achievement of results and provides inputs to the strategic results framework and Results Oriented Annual Report.

• In close consultation with the Project Officer / Team Leader and relevant operations colleagues, contributes to the elaboration of budgets for all activities in the programme portfolio and the continuous monitoring of project work plans;
• Ensures integrity of financial and administrative operations in the project through oversight of financial and budgetary aspects of the projects;
• Ensures strict and consistent application of UNDP rules and regulations and ensures the implementation of clear accountability mechanisms throughout the project portfolio;
• Participates in internal control mechanisms for adherence to UNDP rules and regulations in contracts, assets, and procurement.

• Liaises with all UNDP counterparts, government authorities, and other stakeholders regularly ensuring project compliance with corporate human resources policies and strategies.
• Ensures project compliance with corporate rules and regulations in the management of procurement processes and logistical services.
• Ensures monitoring and evaluation of the projects, including regular field visits and support to the organization of project board and outcome board meetings and reports on project progress and constraints.

• Contributes to the identification and synthesis of best practices and lessons learned from the Project for organizational sharing and learning;
• Actively participates in the knowledge networks and takes advantage of best practices and lessons learned that are available at the zonal, national, regional and global levels;
• Supports capacity-building of national counterparts.

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.

• Promotes knowledge management in UNDP and a learning environment in the office through leadership and personal example;
• Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more Practice Areas, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills.

• Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
• Ability to lead formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development programmes and projects, mobilize resources;
• Ability to formulate and manage budgets, manage contributions and investments, manage transactions, conduct financial analysis, reporting and cost-recovery;
• Ability to implement new systems and affect staff behavioral/ attitudinal change;
• Strong IT skills and knowledge of Atlas;
• Excellent knowledge of financial rules and regulations, accounting;
• Excellent knowledge of Results Management Guide and Toolkit.

• 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 good oral and written communication skills;
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities.

Required Skills and Experience

• Master’s degree in Psychology, Peace & Conflict Management, Economics, Political or Social Science, Law, International Studies, or any other related field with 2 years of relevant work experience in Project Management;
• A first level university degree in Psychology, Peace & Conflict Management, Economics, Political or Social Science, Law, International Studies, or any other related field; with a combination of 4 years of work experience may be accepted in lieu of the master’s degree.

• Proven experience in project administration and finance;
• Technical expertise in community security, social cohesion, peace and/or conflict and/or other directly related fields;
• Experience in inter-agency coordination of development or humanitarian assistance, and working with the United Nations, is desirable;
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and advance knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages;
• Experience in working with public institutions and within the UN or INGOs an asset.

• Fluency in written and spoken English and Somali.