UNDP Jobs - 49729- Re-advertisement - Area Office Coordinator 6 duty

Re-advertisement - Area Office Coordinator 6 duty stations (6 posts) -(Open to Myanmar National Only)

Location :

Sittwe (Rakhine), Myitkyina (Kachin), Hakha (Chin), Mandalay, Mawlamyine (Mon) and Taunggyi (Shan) - (Applicant has to specify duty station in order of priority), MYANMAR

Type of Contract :

FTA Local

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

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

Post Level :

NO-B

Duration of Initial Contract :

1 year

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

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

Myanmar is at an historic stage in its development. A new Constitution was adopted in May 2008 and elections were held in November 2010 with bi-elections in April 2012. Parliament and governments have been formed at the national and region/state levels. A number of reforms have already been undertaken focusing on good governance, human rights and reaching cease-fire agreements in a number of conflict areas. These reforms are seen as positive steps, which have led to increasing engagement with the international community and allowed the Executive Board of UNDP to lift mandate restrictions and agree on a UNDP country program.

Against this rapidly changing background, UNDP Myanmar is undergoing strategic repositioning of its capacities in order to effectively support national priorities of democratic transformation and reforms. After more than 20 years of working exclusively at the grassroots level through the Human Development Initiative (HDI), the country program for Myanmar (2013-2015) envisages contributions towards strengthening local governance, environmental governance and disaster/conflict resilience and democratic governance.

The country office is situated in Yangon with a liaison office in Nay Pyi Taw. At the field level the program is implemented through a network of Area Offices in selected States and Regions of Myanmar. These Area offices will be led by experienced local Area Office Coordinators, supported by a team of local experts in the respective programme areas. In Rakhine and Kachin, the Area Offices are led by international Early Recovery Managers, reflecting the particular context of these two states.

Programme implementation in each state is led by local programme staff reporting to respective programmatic staff (output leads) in Yangon. For Rakhine and Kachin, these programmatic staff in the Area office report directly to the ER Managers and maintain a second reporting line to the output leads. Area Office Coordinator will support the coordination of programme implementation in each state/region. Area Office Coordinator has three key functions; coordinating the programme in relation to national partners and stakeholders at the sub-national level, monitoring of programme activities and managing administrative and financial support to the programme staff in his /her office.

For Rakhine and Kachin, in addition to the above mentioned key functions, the Area Office Coordinator will support the ER Manager in i) Leading interagency ER coordination, ii) Leading strategic engagement with government and other humanitarian and recovery stakeholders positioning UNDP as a strategic partner, iii) leading UNDP programme design and delivery.

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the Senior Field Coordinator (for Chin, Mandalay, Mon and Shan) and the Early Recovery Managers (for Rakhine and Kachin), the Area Office Coordinator is responsible for the strategic positioning of UNDP in the area under his/ her oversight, to engage in building partnerships, contribute to the strengthening of UNDP position within the local governments and stakeholders.

The Area Office Coordinator works in close collaboration with the UNDP Strategic Planning Unit, respective output leads or team leaders, Early Recovery Unit, and Operations. He/ she directly supervises Area Office Assistant and other admin support staff in the area office and coordinates programme interventions.

Applicants should, in order of priority, state their three preferences of posting across the six different duty stations and explain why they are suited for those locations.

Duties and Responsibilities

Achieve strategic partnerships with national counterparts and other stakeholders at the sub-national level in the implementation of UNDP’s programme while focusing on the following tasks:

Develops and maintains strategic partnerships with sub-national Government entities, civil society organizations including academia and media in implementing UNDP’s programme in respective States/Regions;
Develops close cooperation and coordinates implementation of UNDP’s programme, as needed, with other UN agencies working in the State/Region. Participates in regular UN inter-agency meetings at the State level and provides inputs as needed;
Keeps UNDP Country Office regularly abreast of the evolving political, social and economic situation in the State/Region with substantive analytical inputs. This analysis includes gender, human rights and peace building perspectives of sub-national development challenges, and political processes;
Identifies and follows up opportunities for UNDP support in the respective programme areas based on assessment of partner needs, given opportunities and building on UNDPs comparative competencies and strengths;
Serves as a communication focal point in the area office working in close coordination with the communication team in Yangon and supervisor.

Monitors the implementation of UNDP’s programme in accordance with agreed baselines and targets while focusing on the following tasks:

Advises programme staff and supervisor on findings of programme monitoring;
Prepares consolidated reports of the area office;
Coordinates and monitors overall implementation of programme activities;
Advice on programme development with regards to performance indicators, targets and milestones;
Provides input on activity costs and follow up on operational and financial issues.

Ensures effectiveness, efficiency and accountability of the Area Office’s operations while focusing on the following tasks:

Manages logistics of area office in support of programme implementation. Directly supervises Area Office Assistant and other administrative employees;
Oversees operational planning and reporting processes including asset management, procurement, human resources and petty cash management and staff security;
Preparation and participation in audit of projects. Follow up on audit recommendations. All exceptions are timely reported.

Ensures provision of advisory services and facilitation of knowledge building and management focusing on achievement of the following tasks:

Identifies and shares good practices and lessons learnt directly linked to programme implementation;
Support to development of policies and institutions that will address the country problems and needs in collaboration with the Government and other strategic partners;
Sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice;
Organization of trainings for the operations staff on programme issues.

Impact of Results

The key results have an impact on the success of country programme within specific areas of cooperation. In particular, the key results have an impact on the CPAP and programming of activities, creation of strategic partnerships as well as reaching resource mobilization targets.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Results-Based Programme Development and Management:

Contributes into results through primary research and analysis

Assesses project performance to identify success factors and incorporates best practices into project work;
Researches linkages across programme activities to identify critical points of integration;
Monitors specific stages of projects/programme implementation;
Analyzes country situation at the local level to identify opportunities for project development;
Participates in the formulation of project proposals and ensures substantive rigor in the design and application of proven successful approaches and drafts proposals accordingly.

Building Strategic Partnerships:

Maintaining a network of contacts

Maintains an established network of contacts for general information sharing and to remain up-to-date on local government related issues;
Analyzes and selects materials for strengthening strategic alliances with stakeholders.

Innovation and Marketing New Approaches:

Enhancing processes or products

Generates new ideas and proposes new, more effective ways of doing things;
Documents and analyses innovative strategies/best practices/new approaches.

Promoting Organizational Learning and Knowledge Sharing:

Shares learning with team to enhance open communication and capacity development.

Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise:

Fundamental knowledge of own discipline

Understands and applies fundamental concepts and principles of a professional discipline or technical specialty relating to the position;
Possesses basic knowledge of organizational policies and procedures relating to the position and applies them consistently in work tasks;
Strives to keep job knowledge up-to-date through self-directed study and other means of learning;
Demonstrates good knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments;
Demonstrates in-depth understanding and knowledge of the current guidelines and project management tools and utilizes these regularly in work assignments.

Client Orientation:

Establishing effective client relationships

Researches potential solutions to internal and external client needs and reports back in a timely, succinct and appropriate fashion;
Organizes and prioritizes work schedule to meet client needs and deadlines;
Anticipates client needs and addresses them promptly.

Core Competencies:

Demonstrating/safeguarding ethics and integrity;
Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment;
Self-development, initiative-taking;
Acting as a team player and facilitating team work;
Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively;
Creating synergies through self-control;
Managing conflict;
Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of others;
Informed and transparent decision making.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master degree in Peacebuilding/conflict studies, Public Administration, Economics, Political Sciences, Social Sciences, Business Administration or related field;
Bachelor degree with minimum (4) years of relevant experience may be considered exceptionally.

Experience:

2 years of relevant experience (or 4 years if having Bachelor) at the national or international level, hands-on experience managing people, working with government and civil society and monitoring and evaluating projects;
Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages, experience in handling of web based management systems.

Language:

Fluency in the English, Myanmar and, on a recommendable basis, the relevant language(s) spoken at the State / Region level;
Ability to speak the local dialect is also preferred.

Note:

Candidates must apply on-line through UNDP job website together with duly filled and signed UN-P11 form, academic qualification certificates. Applications without these document will not be considered. P11 form can be downloaded here:
http://sas.undp.org/documents/P11_Personal_history_form.docx.

Applicant has to specify duty station in order of priority.