Background

In 2012, after a long and troubled transition, a new political dispensation was found in Somalia, with the adoption of the Provisional Constitution, the selection of a new parliament, the election of president and formation of a new government. The challenges faced by the Federal and State Governments are enormous.

The challenges can be summarized as follows:

• The long civil war and looting have destroyed physical infrastructure, equipment and the institutional memory of most government agencies and ministries;
• There is a lack of clarity on the mandate and functions across Federal and State Government institutions and between the federal and subnational levels of government;
• Core work-processes in government have suffered in quality and consistency, and service delivery is in many areas virtually absent;
• Staff capacity is low across the whole spectrum of government institutions with limited mechanisms to identify and redress these capacity gaps.

As testified by the priorities indicated throughout the 2nd five year development plan, the Puntland State Government faces significant capacity challenges - at the individual, organisational and institutional level - in implementing its mandate and requires institutional support to roll out the New Deal process and implement the different reforms.

While in Puntland an overall public sector structure has been established, this structure remains volatile and is subject to frequent change. The management of the five ‘core of government’ work-processes (policy formulation, planning, budgeting, execution and regulatory oversight & enforcement) as well as key supporting functions (like HRM, performance management, M&E, legal development, archiving, and procurement) remains weak and often leads to unfinished work-processes, conflicting or incomplete legal instruments and the overall transparency and accountability situation remains open for further improvement.

The root causes behind these observations have given rise to the project structure:

• The State government requires further elaboration and clarification in roles and responsibilities of different government institutions, both horizontally and vertically;
• The State Government requires stronger harmonised and coordinated legal, regulatory and policy frameworks, in for instance civil service management;
• The State Government requires stronger capacities in policy and strategy development and subsequent monitoring and evaluation;
• The State Government requires stronger and better harmonised common public sector management functions, including Aid Management and internal coordination structures.

In line with the New Deal process, the UNDP and the World Bank jointly supported the government to elaborate the Institutional Capacity Development Flagship Programme with the objective to “enable the government to fill critical capacity gaps in the civil service and to strengthen the capacity of key ministries and agencies to perform core government functions.

The proposed Flagship Programme consists of three components focusing on:

• Developing capacity for core government functions;
• Strengthening the frameworks and procedures for civil service management;
• Strengthening capacity at the centre of government to effectively coordinate policy and lead reform.

The support programme to the Puntland State Government is in alignment with the Flagship Programme.

The Team Leader will work under the overall supervision of the UNDP Chief Technical Advisor Capacity Development and the Head of the Sub-Office in Garowe. The incumbent will be responsible for management of project activities in Puntland. The Team Leader is expected to provide technical and strategic support to the counterpart government institutions to design and initiate activities. S/he is expected to supervise and lead a team of project staff, experts, international and national consultants deployed at Garowe.

The Team Leader is expected to maintain an effective liaison and networking with colleagues from UNDP, UN Agencies, INGO/NGOs, government functionaries, multi-lateral, bi-lateral donors, private sectors, and civil society stakeholders.      

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Key Functions:

• Conceptualize, plan, design and oversee implementation of institutional capacity development initiatives in line with the reform agenda of the State Government of Puntland;
• Provide strategic policy and technical advice to the counterpart government institutions to help them develop capacity building initiatives;
• Strategically position the UNDP as a lead player in the area of civil service reform and institutional capacity development;
• Effectively coordinate with donors and development partners working in the area of public sector and civil service reforms to minimize duplications and overlapping; hence reduce the transaction cost and bring efficiency to project results;
• Promote networking and knowledge sharing within UNDP, in particular and with UN System, in general;
• Provide supervision and guidance to project staff (including consultants) deployed under his/her leadership.

Conceptualize, plan, design and oversee implementation of institutional capacity development initiatives in line with civil service reform agenda of the Puntland State Government of Somalia:

• Plan, and design institutional capacity development initiatives in consultation with counterpart government institutions and in consonance with broad thematic areas of Flagship Programme;
• Oversee implementation of project activities and consultant’s work deployed within the project;
• Monitor and evaluate the ongoing project activities and suggest course corrections, where needed;
• Prepare and oversee implementation of annual and quarterly budgets and work plans.

Provide strategic policy and technical advice to the counterpart government institutions to help them develop capacity building initiatives to be launched under Flagship Programme: 

• Strategically view the scope and contents of public sector and civil service reforms in Puntland in relation to institutional capacity development, paying particular attention to existing and foreseen system architecture (for instance legal framework, division of labor, chain of command, span of control, organizational structures, level of bureaucracy, skill set and competencies required etc.) and advise the counterpart government institutions accordingly;
• Advise the UNDP Somalia Country Office on public sector and civil service reform agenda and priorities of the State Government of Puntland;
• Develop policy briefings and participate in missions undertaken in relation to public sector and civil service reforms in Puntland;
• Plan and execute periodic reviews and assessments of project activities implemented under his/her area of supervision;
• Devise appropriate strategies and approaches to ensure optimum use of available resources thereby enhancing the impact of project activities;
• Advise on national development plans relevant to the UNDP programmatic objectives concerning institutional capacity building;
• Participate in various policy and partnership fora to garner effective support of stakeholders on UNDP initiatives;
• Develop a caucus of reform oriented government functionaries creating strong buy in for UNDP interventions aligned to civil service reform agenda of the government.

 Strategically position the UNDP as a lead player in the area of public sector, civil service reform and institutional capacity development:

• Play an active role in policy advice, strategic thinking and knowledge sharing on issues related to public sector and civil service reforms and institutional capacity development;
• Promote information sharing with donor community by organizing and participating in consultative workshops, conferences, seminars and developing communication material on civil service reform agenda of government and UNDP support;
• Promote frequent information trafficking and resources among project stakeholders particularly at various levels of government and development partners;
• Coordinate overall UNDP support in the field of public sector and civil service reforms and strengthening capacity at the center of the government to effectively coordinate policy and legal reforms;
• Undertake analytical work for instance institutional risk analysis, capacity assessment of counterpart government institutes, policy reviews in relations to public sector and civil service reforms and capacity development, highlighting UNDP support and implementation strategy.

Effectively coordinate with donors and development partners working in the area of public sector and civil service reforms and capacity development to minimize duplications and overlapping; hence reduce the transaction cost and bring efficiency to project results:

• Advise UNDP on preparation of high level consultation meetings with donors, government departments/ministries to furthering the reform agenda envisaged under Somali Compact;
• Prepare UNDP position papers and UNDP resource mobilization strategy in order to start discussion with relevant stakeholders;
• Regularly interact with development partners and INGOs/NGOs working in the field of public sector and civil service reform and institutional capacity development and advise the UNDP accordingly.

Promote networking and knowledge sharing within UNDP, in particular and with UN System, in general:

• Ensure that public sector, civil service reform and capacity development initiatives of UNDP and that of other development agencies are complementary in nature and there is no duplicity and overlapping of efforts resulting in wastage of scarce resources;
• Under the direct supervision of CTA / project manager Capacity Development, identify strategic entry points to improve UNDP interface and linkages with other development partners and counterpart government institutions to help further the public sector and civil reform and capacity development agendas;
• Be UNDP Focal Person in the area with regard to public sector and civil service reform and capacity development initiatives;
• Provide advisory support to UNDP corporate initiatives on public sector and civil service reform and institutional capacity development agenda.

Provide supervision and guidance to project staff deployed under his/her leadership:

• Overall in-charge of Garowe based project unit;
• Provide coaching, counselling and supervision to the project staff deployed at Garowe;
• Ensure an effective team building and conduct regular performance reviews of the staff at Garowe;
• Provide vision and policy direction to staff working under his/her supervision;  
• Prepare, consolidate, compile annual, quarterly work plans, progress reports and budgets of the programme in Puntland;
• Ensure effective and efficient implementation of project work plans;
• Ensure management of all contracts and agreements under implementation in Puntland;
• Comply with security and safety standards and ensure that same are being respected by the project staff under his/her supervision.

Impact of Results

The project activities aim to support the improvement of the core systems, structures and processes of the Puntland State Government, as well as the sills and competencies of the individual staff members of the government institutions. Improving these core systems (e.g. in civil service management or intra-government coordination mechanisms) and the individual skills and competencies are to stimulate more efficient and effective service delivery by the government, which in turn is expected to have a positive impact on peace and state building as well as general standards of living.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Advocacy/Advancing A Policy-Oriented Agenda:

• 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.

Results-Based Programme Development and Management:

• 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.

Building Strategic Partnerships:

• 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.

Innovation and Marketing New Approaches:

• 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.

Resource Mobilization:

• 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.

Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise:

• 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.

Client Orientation:

• 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.

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

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced (master) university degree in Law, Public Administration, Political Science or any other related field.

Experience:

• Minimum 7 years’ professional experience in the area of public administration, institutional development and governance, civil service reform and capacity development preferably in a fragile and conflict affected context;
• Proven ability to deliver results in complex and challenging environments, and to translate strategies and good practices into practical and feasible solutions;
• Demonstrated experience in managing project and consultant teams;
• Demonstrated experience in project management (minimum annual budget USD 5 Million);
• Demonstrated ability to effectively communicate orally and in writing;
• Excellent interpersonal skills, ability to build consensus and good judgement in dealing with politically sensitive issues;
• Prior experience of working in UNDP context in the field of organizational development, preferably in fragile states is an added advantage.

Language:

• Fluency in written and spoken English is required.