UNDP Jobs - 46456- Senior Operations Specialist (Transparency)

Senior Operations Specialist (Transparency)

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Jul-2014

Application Deadline :

30-May-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

6 months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

6 months with possibility of extension

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 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has a long-standing commitment to transparency, with UNDP country offices publishing financial, procurement and programme information on respective websites for more than four years.

UNDP has increasingly taken key actions on improving aid effectiveness and getting greater impact of UNDP operations. In 2011, UNDP published its first Data set following the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) Standard and developed a portal where more than 8000 UNDP project information is available for 2010 . Since then UNDP has moved towards the full adoption of the IATI standard in a phased and cost-effective way and the development of a central place - open.undp.org to find consistent and updated information about UNDP projects.

Given our tremendous efforts in the area of transparency, UNDP, as part of a consortium, has been selected to take over as the new hosts of the initiative (IATI). This new responsibility hosting the IATI Secretariat confirms not only UNDP’s commitment to making information about its own programmes and operations available to the public, but also its leadership in spearheading transparency across the development community.

Such actions involve a major exercise of data quality assurance both by Country Offices and by HQ departments. The senior operations specialist will support Country Offices and HQ in their work of ensuring that documents and data have the highest quality so that they can be used internally or externally.

The senior operations specialist will report to the Chief, Online Communications, executing the project work plan and manage day-today operational aspects of IATI implementation. S/he will work closely with the Office of Finance and Resource Management and the Office of Information.

Duties and Responsibilities

The senior operations specialist will specifically be called upon to support UNDP’s Transparency team in the following areas:

Provide assistance in reviewing and managing project documents posted by Country Offices in the Project Document Centre;
Review, enhance and improve other project related data fields;
Provide support to Country Offices data quality drive;
Provide support in the development of transparency related organization-wide training and communications material;
Test the project portal service and report bugs and possible inconsistencies;
Support geographic data entry with the aim of including the location of all UNDP active development projects;
Attend to all transparency/IATI related queries;

In addition, expected deliverables/outputs for 2014 include:

Monitor data quality and advice on data quality improvements;
Ensure UNDP data publication is updated with 2014 IATI standards and compliant with required publication format (XML);
Update existing geolocation database and support OIST in implementing the Sharepoint based geolocation data entry system. Develop guidance material on geolocation data standards and data entry instructions;
Maintenance and improvements to the GitHub repository;
Participation in the Open Aid Partnership with the World Bank;
Develop requirements and test enhancements to the open.undp.org portal;
Liaise with “Publish What You Fund” (PWYF) in 2014 transparency index process and review the tracker and survey results to confirm the accuracy of UNDP index;
Work closely with OIST in automating the IATI data publication process;
Meet UNDP commitments made in IATI implementation Schedule for 2014 data publications;
Define results criteria for public disclosure and implement publication accordingly;

The timeline and payment schedules for these deliverables will be:1 August – Finalize results criteria;

1 September – Begin implementation of results;
1 October – With technology resource, implement presentation of results
1 November – Performance quality assurance of results data;
1 December – Ensure compliance with transparency criteria as defined in the UNDP Balanced Scorecard;
1 January – Ensure publication of a complete set of data with 95 compliance on all transparency criteria;

Corresponding payments shall be made following certification by UNDP that the services related to the TOR have been satisfactorily performed and Deliverables have been achieved by the or before the due dates.

Competencies

Excellent quantitative and analytical skills;
Demonstrates strong IT skills, and specific knowedge of PeopleSoft and Sharepoint;
Strong experience in using web related tools such as Jekyll and Github;
Demonstrates knowledge in online geographic tools;
Good MS Office package knowledge;
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
Excellent problem solving and very effective at multi-tasking;
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced university degree in Business Administration.

Required Skills & Experience:

Minimum 7 years experience in relevant field required;
Demonstrated knowledge and experience with the International Aid Transparency Initiative is required;
Demonstrated experience with PeopleSoft ERP systems is required;
Familiarity with UNDP financial management systems is a distinct advantage;
Strong knowledge of project management – PRINCE II is an asset;
Demonstrated experience in entering and reviewing data and following routines quickly and accurately;
Ability to analyses problems and present clear options for solution;
Familiarity with open data and transparency polices is an asset;
Familiarity with mapping and geocoding experience is an asset;

Language Requirements:

Fluent in English;
Fluency in at least one other UNDP working language (French, Spanish) an asset.

Application Requirements:

All interested applicants should submit the following documents. Incomplete submission can be a ground for disqualification.

Updated P11 or Resume/CV;
Statement of Interest (cover letter) with a brief narrative addressing the competencies mentioned above;
Financial Proposal for the assignment stating your “all-inclusive(*)” daily fee (please include as part of your cover letter);
Candidates short-listed for this position will be requested to submit a “Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability” (which will be provided at the time of notification)

(*)“all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, travel costs, living allowances, communications, consummables, etc.) that could possibly be incurred by the Contractor are already factored into the final amounts submitted in the proposal.