Background

Duties and Responsibilities

• Electoral support;
• Coordination and resource mobilization;
• Reporting;
• Knowledge building and management.

• When delegated by the Chief Electoral Adviser, provide technical advice to the Somalia authorities and electoral stakeholders on the conceptualization and development of the law establishing the national electoral management body;
• Provide advice, if requested, on other electoral related issues pertaining to the development of the legal electoral framework or inception planning of forthcoming electoral operations, mainly options for voter registration, out-of-country voting, boundary delimitation, etc.;
• Facilitate discussions on the above-mentioned issues, organise information sessions, discussion workshops and seminars for election stakeholders; prepare non-papers, discussion papers, background notes, etc. As part of the UN integrated electoral assistance, support the UN efforts with the planning and the implementation of the complementary electoral activities under UNDP responsibility throughout the different phases of the electoral process;
• Provide electoral advisory support to UNDP staff: RR, CD, DCD, programme officers involved in Governance Programme within UNDP Country Office;
• Support the UN efforts to coordinate the international community’s efforts on electoral assistance to Somalia;
• Plan, coordinate and implement the project activities;
• Ensure in all circumstances that the Project does not compromise the credibility of the UN System, the country’s interests and partners implicated in the process;
• Liaise and foster strategic cooperation with other partners to reinforce the dialogue between the stakeholders of the process.

• Ensure with effectiveness the administrative and technical management of the project;
• Coordinate all project’s activities;
• Coordinate all his/her work with the UNSOM Chief Technical Adviser;
• Coordinate the project’s work with the other governance projects within UNDP;
• Facilitate information sharing on electoral support to the Somalia authorities with development partners and other electoral assistance providers;
• Serve as Secretary to the UN-led coordination mechanisms with the international community and other implementing organisations;
• Support the resource mobilization for the electoral process and appropriate operational partnership arrangements.

• Elaborate and submit periodic narrative and financial reports on the progress of the project to the UNDP and its partners;
• In collaboration with UNDP office and the Chief Electoral Adviser UNSOM prepare all necessary narrative and financial documentation for the coordination meetings with international partners.

• Promote cross-unit teamwork and skills development for the team members through coaching and mentoring;
• Capture and disseminate lesson’s learned and best practices to contribute to learning on policing and development elsewhere;
• Participate in international knowledge networks and other fora to draw on best practice and lessons learned in other similar contexts to apply to Somalia;
• Coordinate project strategies and activities with other UNDP projects to ensure the effective implementation of the Country Programme Document.

• Support to the creation of an Independent Election Commission in the Federal Republic of Somalia;
• Sound advice given to the national authorities on other specific electoral matters described in the PIP if required;
• Coordination of stakeholders’ effective support – participation to the electoral cycle;
• UNDP’s credibility as an execution agency of the UN system.

Competencies

• Advocates for the inclusion of UNDP’s focus areas in the public policy agenda;
• Brings visibility and sensitizes decision makers to relevant emerging issues;
• Builds consensus concerning UNDP’s strategic agenda with partners on joint initiatives;
• Leverages UNDP’s multidisciplinary expertise to influence the shape of policies and programmes;
• Demonstrates political/cultural acumen in proposing technically sound, fact based approaches/solutions;
• Develops internal organizational policies promoting strategic approaches to UNDP’s focus areas (HQ);
• Dialogues with national counterparts and other stakeholders to strengthen advocacy efforts, incorporating country, regional and global perspectives;
• Demonstrates cultural sensitivity, political savvy and intellectual capacity in handling disagreements with UNDP’s policy agenda in order to promote and position UNDP in complex environments.

• Identifies country needs and strategies using a fact-based approach;
• Sets performance standards, monitors progress and intervenes at an early stage to ensure results are in accordance with agreed-upon quality and timeframes and reports on it;
• Makes use of a variety of resources within UNDP to achieve results, such as cross-functional teams, secondments and developmental assignments, and collaborative funding approaches;
• Oversees and documents the process of strategy formulation for programmes at country level;
• Ensures the integration of UNDP’s strategic concern in interagency, other multilateral initiatives and multi-sectoral development frameworks such as PRSPs, and SWAPs;
• Ensures the full implementation of country programme and Financial Resources to obtain results.

• Identifies and prioritizes opportunities and obstacles in the political scene (government, civil society, parliamentarians, pressure groups) to advance UNDP’s agenda; identifies common interests and goals and carries out joint initiatives with partners;
• Makes effective use of UNDP’s resources and comparative advantage to strengthen partnerships;
• Builds partnerships with non-traditional sectors by translating UNDP’s agenda into messages that reflect the pertinence of their values and interests;
• Creates networks and promotes initiatives with partner organizations;
• Leverages the resources of governments and other development partners.

• Influences and coaches others inside and outside UNDP in developing and implementing innovative approaches;
• Creates an environment that fosters innovation and innovative thinking;
• Conceptualizes more effective approaches to programme development and implementation and to mobilizing and using resources;
• Leverages resources in support of new approaches;
• Facilitates change and influences senior decision makers to implement change strategies.

• Contributes to the development of resource mobilization strategies at regional (sub-regional) level (RSC, HQ);
• Actively develops partnerships with potential donors and government counterparts in all sectors at country level;
• Shares information with country offices concerning opportunities to tap potential donors;
• Strengthens the capacity of the country office to mobilize resources.

• Possesses expert knowledge of advanced concepts in primary discipline, a broad knowledge of related disciplines, as well as an in-depth knowledge of relevant organizational policies and procedures;
• Applies knowledge to support the unit/branch’s objectives and to further the mandate of UNDP;
• Applies a broad knowledge of best management practices; defines objectives and work flows, positions reporting relationships in such a way as to obtain optimum effectiveness for the unit/branch;
• Keeps abreast of new developments in area of professional discipline and job knowledge and seeks to develop him/herself personally;
• Demonstrates comprehensive knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments;
• Demonstrates expert knowledge of the current programme guidelines and project management tools and manages the use of these regularly in work assignments.

• Anticipates constraints in the delivery of services and identifies solutions or alternatives;
• Proactively identifies, develops and discusses solutions for internal and external clients, and persuades management to undertake new projects or services;
• Consults with clients and ensures their needs are represented in decision-making processes;
• Advises and develops strategic and operational solutions with clients that add value to UNDP programmes and operations.

• 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;
• Fair and transparent decision making; calculated risk-taking.

Required Skills and Experience

• Advanced university degree (Masters or equivalent) in international relations, anthropology, community development, or any other related field.

• 10 years of work experience in programme/project formulation, management and policy advice in the areas of governance and decentralization;
• Strong work experience in similar conflict environments is desirable;
• Working experience in Somalia is an asset;
• Previous working experience for UNDP is an asset.

• Strong written and spoken English