UNDP Jobs - 50636- Re-advertisement - Chief Technical Specialist

Re-advertisement - Chief Technical Specialist

Location :

Port-au-Prince, HAITI

Type of Contract :

FTA International

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

31-Oct-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-4

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

English French

Expected Duration of Assignment :

One Year

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

Haiti is one of the countries least resilient to disasters in the world. Risks include cyclones, floods, landslides, drought and epidemics, as well as earthquakes and tsunamis. In 2012 Haiti was named the country most at risk from climate change. High levels of fragility exacerbate the threat raised by natural hazards. Development challenges include: sustained environmental degradation; widespread poverty and inequality; high levels of unemployment; poor water and sanitation and limited health service outreach; food insecurity and malnutrition; weak institutions with limited decentralization; limited social safety nets; political fragility and the lack of social cohesion. All of these render the country highly exposed and vulnerable to disasters, whilst putting significantly strain national coping capacities.

Three years after the devastating 2010 earthquake, and following approximately USD 6 billion investment in recovery and humanitarian aid, lives have been saved and urgent needs met. Equally, government has shown repeated commitment to the issue of disaster resilience at the most senior levels. This has born important results and signs of interest since the earthquake including: reestablishment of capacities for preparedness and response in the aftermath of the earthquake; promotion of seismic risk reduction e.g. through targeted government funding for risk assessments and the validation of seismic risk reduction road-map in 2013; and agreement that disaster risk should be one of the priorities for the new Aid coordination framework (CAED).

However, levels of exposure and vulnerability to disaster risk remain critical. Chronic development problems, including underlying fragility and high levels of exposure to disaster risk, remain largely unaddressed. Combined with rising indebtedness and high levels of aid dependency, these factors demand a rethinking of international engagement in Haiti.

Focused efforts and sustained engagement are required to:

Build capacity to reduce vulnerability of Haitians to disasters;
Help Haiti and its population to develop in a way that reduces rather than adds to disaster risk; and
Reduce exposure to stress and respond to and recover from disasters and related shocks.

The modalities of development aid need to be rethought to ensure that they address the root causes of disasters and the underlying causes of weak coping capacities. Further focus on the decentralized/local level is needed and community-based coping mechanisms need to be strengthened. In turn, humanitarian action and development aid strategies also need revisiting to ensure that they contribute to the capacity and resilience of Haiti’s institutions and communities rather than supplanting existing national capacities and mechanisms; or exacerbating to disaster risk.

In this regard, UNDP Haiti has been providing key support to the Haitian government over the past few years to:

(i) strengthen its national system for disaster risk management;
(ii) increase coherence and complementarity between DRR actors through coordination platforms;
(iii) set up a formal mechanism for development aid coordination. However, more needs to be done in order to mainstream disaster reduction within the development plans, programs and projects of line ministries, and to bridge the gap between humanitarian and development aid.

Haiti has been selected as a focus country of the Political Champions for Disaster Resilience. This initiative calls for greater coherence and leadership on disaster related issues by the government and its partners in Haiti. It is envisaged that the planned Thematic Table for Disaster and Risk will help to lead coordination of efforts in support of the Political Champions moving forward – under the overall authority of the Prime Minister, the Minister of Interior and the Minister of Planning.

The objective of the Terms of Reference is to recruit a DRM Chief Technical Advisor (CTA) to provide advisory support and technical assistance to the Government of Haiti on disaster resilience and disaster risk reduction. The Chief Technical Advisor have a leadership role in the technical secretariat of the Haiti Thematic Table on Disasters and Risk. In addition to the Government of Haiti, the CTA will provide relevant technical advice to the UNDP Country Office, Programme Management Unit, and various disaster management agencies in Haiti including donors and other UN agencies.

Duties and Responsibilities

Working under the overall authority of the Head of the Secretariat of the Thematic Table for Disaster and Risk and the supervision of the Head of Unit for DRR in UNDP, and in close collaboration with relevant the Government counterparts, the DRM Chief Technical Advisor will:

Secretariat of the Thematic Table for Disaster and Risk:

The CTA’s primary responsibility will be in supporting the Secretariat of the new Thematic Table for Disaster and Risk;
Assist the coordination of the Thematic Table for Disaster and Risk in support of better coherence and complementarity of all actors involved in the sector, and ensure this platform is well connected to the overall development aid coordination platform set by the government and its partners.

Tasks will include but not be limited to:

(a) ensuring that the Thematic Table and the Secretariat that supports it, has a clear strategic direction and a clear workplan;
(b) supporting the timely implementation of the workplan in close collaboration with priority ministries and other critical partners; and
(c) ensuring that the Table holds regular, timely and well prepared meetings that have a critical role in moving forward the agenda of DRR and disaster resilience in Haiti;
Support a timely feedback loop on the Political Champions process.

Government support:

Provide technical and strategic support to the Ministry of Planning and the Ministry of Interior for the integration of risk reduction into development programs and sectors, for bridging the gap between humanitarian and development aid, and for updating the national plan for disaster risk management and its framework;
Facilitate interaction between National disaster risk management institutions and international actors;
Contribute to projects formulation and implementation, and provide support for the elaboration of new initiatives between national authorities and international partners;
Determine the need for additional external technical assistance and develop ToR for short term technical consultants required by the project, guide these consultants, and reflect their recommendations into action plans for implementation;
Assist National authorities in participating to regional or international workshops or conferences;
In situation of crisis, provide strategic and technical support to the Government of Haiti and facilitate interaction with HC office and the international community;
Help to support the government in developing a sustainable strategy for financing and resource mobilization of the National System for Disaster Management.

Program support:

Facilitate relationships between national DRM authorities and UNDP programs and projects;
Develop synergies between DRM projects and other projects or programs within UNDP Haiti;
Contribute to the preparation of annual work plans and monitor the programme implementation in close collaboration with the DRM Unit, the head of projects and the government agencies;
Supervise and mentor the technical experts hired to implement UNDP DRM projects and ensure a high quality of projects implementation as needed;
Provide strategic and technical support to UNDP in the development of DRM related programs and projects;
Review and provide input to periodic progress reports and outputs produced by the project;
Represent UNDP and act as a resource person in workshops, conferences and in meetings with the Government of Haiti, and the wider donor community in Haiti;
Ensure that implementation is in accordance with UNDP procedures and regulations.

Impact of Results

The position will enhance and sustain UNDP’s role and influence in the DRM area, development of national and CO capacities, and significant improvement in the DRM programme achievements as it relates to the use of corporate resources in the following areas:

Strategic advisory: Provide strategic advices and guidance to the government of Haiti.

Strategic partnerships:

Establishes and maintain relationships with a broad range of people to understand needs, identify resources and gain support.

Teamwork:

Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals.

Planning and organising:

Develops clear goals consistent with agreed strategies.

Judgment: Ability to identify key issues in a complex situation and comes to the heart of the problem quickly.

Any other task requested by supervisor.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
Displays strong cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Functional Competencies:

Knowledge Management and Learning:

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, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills;
Demonstrates skills and ability to coordinate and manage the work of others, work to tight deadlines.

Development and Operational Effectiveness:

Ability to conduct results-based management and reporting:

Excellent conceptual knowledge of and good practical experience in the relevant area, i.e., particularly DRM, CRM;
solid knowledge of risk and vulnerabilities in Pakistan;
Strong analytical skills and ability to conduct comprehensive research on a range of issues related to DRM.

Management and Leadership:

Interacts, establishes and maintains effective working relations both as a team member and as a task manager, with people of different national and multi-cultural backgrounds;
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 excellent communication skills, including the ability to convey complex concepts and recommendations at senior levels, both orally an in writing, in a clear and persuasive stile tailored to match different audiences;
Demonstrates strong negotiating and interpersonal skills;
Leads teams effectively and shows mentoring as well as conflict resolution skills;
Empowers others to translate vision into results;
Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure;
Is able to anticipate and resolve conflicts by pursuing mutually agreeable solutions.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

A Master Degree in Environmental Sciences, Management, Disaster Risk Management and/or relevant fields.

Experience:

Minimum of 7 years of extensive working experience in the area of DRM and Natural resources management;
At least 3 years experience in managing Disaster Risk Management/Reduction projects and/or working as DRM adviser;
Experience in working in developing countries is an asset;
Experience in working with Government Institutions is a strong asset;
Previous UN experience is an asset;
Experience in working in Haiti is an asset.
Good computer skills are essential.

Language:

Proficiency in French and English, with excellent writing skills;
Knowledge of Créole is an asset.