Background

Iraq is facing its most severe crisis in years, with the country on the brink of break-up amid lightning offensives by armed groups.  Several key Iraqi cities, most notably Mosul and Ramadi,  fell  under full control of the armed groups, led by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) - an al-Qaeda breakaway. This has unleashed widespread violence across the country, especially in the disputed territories of Iraq, resulting in huge displacement of populations and a humanitarian crisis. This has led to a new displacement of around 2 million Iraqi’s, half of them concentrated in Kurdistan region. In addition, Kurdistan hosts the vast majority of the Syrian refugees in Iraq (around 230,000 Syrian refugees in total). The majority of the IDP’s and refugees in Kurdistan are hosted in Dohuk Governorate. The burden on the local government, as well as the UN and international community, to provide assistance for the displaced population has increased dramatically, but the capacity of aid-providing bodies (government, NGOs, UN) has already been stretched to the limit. The current UNDP support is focusing on resilience of affected population, including host communities and it advocates for institutional sustainability for the provision of the emerging assistance needs.

In order to respond to this situation, UNDP has formulated the Iraqi Crisis Response and Resilience Program complementing the humanitarian response which is composed of 5 areas of support:

• Improved Crisis Response coordination, management, structures and mechanisms;
• Improved participatory decentralized basic service delivery, , institutional responsiveness and accountability;
• Improved livelihoods opportunities for crisis-affected communities;
• Protection mechanisms strengthened for vulnerable communities, specifically women and youth;
• Strengthened Social Cohesion through dialogue and capacity development of local and national stakeholders.

UNDP’s support takes into consideration the situation of the IDPs, refugees as well as the highly stretched capacities of the host communities and has been framed from a resilience lens, looking at longer term durable solutions.

Following this new wave of displacement in Iraq, a L3 emergency has been declared for Iraq and the cluster system has been activated. UNDP has been asked to lead the Social Cohesion and Livelihoods cluster, which has been activated by the IASC.

The UNDP crisis response program consists of various different project which are part of a wider programmatic vision to build longer term resilience. The position of Program Coordinator has been put in place in order to provide for the overall direction and coherence of UNDP’s interventions in this domain. In order to be a relevant player, UNDP is working closely with the Iraqi authorities, including the Kurdistan Government, to support a longer developmental lens to respond to the crisis. In this regard, UNDP has been asked to provide the development thinking and conceptual leadership in advising the Government in its development planning, from the early stages of the humanitarian response. Specific emphasis is put on social cohesion as the huge strain on available, but limited, resources is creating additional tensions among population groups.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the UNDP Iraq Deputy Country Director, the Programme Coordinator leads UNDP’s programmatic vision and its translation into programmatic interventions, in close collaboration with Government and UN counterparts. The Programme Coordinator has secondary supervisory responsibilities over project staff who work directly on crisis support, though Project managers retain primary supervision over their project staff who have a direct project implementation role. The Coordinator provides also leadership and guidance to the Social Cohesion and Livelihoods cluster and acts as the Co-lead of the refugee resilience response plan, jointly with UNHCR. The Coordinator also liaises closely with a wide array of partners with respect to post conflict recovery assessments and recovery planning. Finally, the Coordinator plays a key role in mobilizing resources for the program, in close coordination with the External Relations Advisor. The main functions of the incumbent are:

• Strategic direction and leadership in ensuring programmatic coherence for the program team involved in the UNDP crisis response;
• Programmatic oversight over the Crisis Response program and ensure programmatic interventions are in line with UNDP corporate standards;
• High level advisory services to the Government and close liaison with UN partners on recovery, social cohesion and resilience;
• Substantive leadership to the Social Cohesion and Livelihoods cluster and acts as the Cluster Coordinator with accountability of cluster responsibilities towards the Humanitarian Coordinator;
• Partnership building and resource mobilization;
• Knowledge Management.

Provides strategic direction and leadership in ensuring programmatic coherence:

• Provides leadership and an overall strategic vision in UNDP’s crisis response with a view to building national capacities, advising on the transition from humanitarian to more developmental planning, supporting the overarching objectives of the UN in Iraq;
• Provides coordination of the various UNDP projects which support the Crisis Response and ensures coherence and synergies in its interventions;
• Ensures the integration of cross-cutting issues, such as gender, HIV/AIDS, peace building and human rights into the crisis response program;
• Ensures systematic and effective analysis, monitoring and evaluation, including but not limited to regular field visits, as appropriate, and participation in Project Board and/or Steering Committee meetings;
• Directly supervises the program assistant and acts as secondary supervisors to project staff directly working on crisis response and provides effective leadership in overall direction and guidance for crisis response;

Ensure programmatic oversight over the Crisis Response program and ensures programmatic interventions are in line with UNDP corporate standards:

• Oversees and monitors work plans and budgets for all activities in the program portfolio;
• Works closely with the Communications Specialist and External Relations Advisor in ensuring that appropriate visibility and public awareness is provided to UNDP’s crisis response interventions;
• Liaises with UNDP program and project managers in other programmatic areas to ensure appropriate linkages and synergies in UNDP’s interventions;
• Ensures timely and adequate reporting against plans, including timely and articulate progress reports;
• Identifies risks and challenges to the ongoing operations of the Crisis Response programme and provide advice to Deputy Country Director on mitigation strategies;
• Ensures the integrity of financial and administrative operations as well as the consistent application of UNDP rules and procedures for programme and operations issues related to the programme;
• Participates in internal control mechanisms for adherence to UNDP rules and regulations in contracts, assets, procurement, recruitment, etc., as required.

Provide high level advisory services to the Government and close liaison with UN partners on recovery, social cohesion and resilience:

• Builds solid relationships with key national and regional partners and promotes longer term developmental thinking and emphasizes strengthened resilience in responding to the crisis;
• Provides high level policy advice to Government counterparts on transition related issues from an immediate crisis response to more longer term developmental and resilience thinking, including recovery assessments and medium term recovery planning;
• Represents UNDP, as requested by the Country Director or Deputy Country Director.

Provide substantive leadership to the Social Cohesion and Livelihoods cluster and acts as the Cluster Coordinator with accountability of cluster responsibilities towards the Humanitarian Coordinator:

• Assumes the substantive responsibilities of the Cluster Coordinator for the Social Cohesion and Livelihoods cluster in line with the generic job description for Cluster Coordinator;
• Directly supervises the Social Cohesion and Livelihoods cluster coordination staff such as the cluster specialist and the information management officer;
• Builds the capacity of the national Cluster coordinator to ensure longer term national capacity in leading the Social Cohesion and Livelihoods cluster.

The Crisis Response Program Coordinator supports partnership building and resource mobilization for UNDP for the Programme:

• Ensures sufficient resource mobilization for the project in close consultation with Senior Management and is responsible for reaching the annual resource mobilization targets;
• Advocates for UNDP Iraq’s role in the crisis response, as developmental actor amidst the humanitarian actors, emphasizing a developmental lens on crisis response and advocates for RM for the cluster as well as for UNDP’s specific interventions;
• Liaises regularly and forges close linkages with other UN programmes, agencies and entities, as well as other international and national stakeholders concerned with or providing assistance to the IDP/refugee crisis in Iraq;
• Ensures that quality of reporting to government partners and donors involved in the program, from a substantive perspective;
• Contributes to the harnessing of effective partnerships and competitive selection of partners for implementation of the UNDP program;
• Promotes joint programming and UN reform, and collaborates effectively in established frameworks for UN and other international coordination.

Ensures knowledge management focusing on achieving the following results:

• Promotes identification and synthesis of best practices and lessons learned from the project area for organizational sharing and learning as well as external information;
• Actively participates in UNDP knowledge networks and takes advantage of best practices and lessons learned that are available in the region and globally, and encourages project staff to do so by creating a culture of knowledge sharing and learning;
• Uses and promotes the use of the Regional Center;
• Promotes the participation of UNDP Iraq in regional programmes and regional activities related to the project area as appropriate;
• Supports capacity and knowledge building of national counterparts;
• Any other tasks as assigned by the Deputy Country Director and/or Country Director.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:             

Advocacy/Advancing A Policy-Oriented Agenda

Influencing the public policy agenda

• Builds consensus concerning UNDP’s strategic agenda with partners on joint initiatives;
• Dialogues with national counterparts and other stakeholders to strengthen advocacy efforts, incorporating country, regional and global perspectives.

Results-Based Programme Development and Management

Achieving results through programme design and innovative resourcing strategies

• Identifies country needs and strategies using a fact-based approach;
• 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;
• Ensures the full implementation of country programme and Financial Resources to obtain results.

Building Strategic Partnerships

Building strategic alliances

• Makes effective use of UNDP’s resources and comparative advantage to strengthen partnerships;
• Creates networks and promotes initiatives with partner organizations.

Innovation and Marketing New Approaches

Fostering innovation in others

• Creates an environment that fosters innovation and innovative thinking;
• Conceptualizes more effective approaches to programme development and implementation and to mobilizing and using resources.

Resource Mobilization (Field Duty Stations)

Developing resource mobilization strategies at country level

• Contributes to the development of resource mobilization strategies at CO level;
• Actively develops partnerships with potential donors and government counterparts in all sectors at country level;
• Strengthens the capacity of the country office to mobilize resources.

Promoting Organizational Learning and Knowledge Sharing

Participating in the development of policies and innovative approaches and promoting  their application throughout the organization

• Promotes UNDP as a learning/knowledge sharing organization.

Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise

Expert knowledge of own discipline

• 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;
• For managers: 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.

Global Leadership and Advocacy for UNDP’s Goals

Influencing global and national initiatives

• Advocates for increased priority given to human development issues internationally and in national planning frameworks;
• Advocates for increased resources at international and national level.

Client Orientation

Meeting long-term client needs

• 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;
• Advises and develops strategic and operational solutions with clients that add value to UNDP programmes and operations.

Technical skills required:

• Functionally-related professional coordination or management skills;
• Plan and prioritises work activities to meet organizational goals and organizes and oversees work processes efficiently to achieve quality results.

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:

• Master degree in Social Science, Political Science, Economics or other relevant fields.

Experience:

• At least 10 years of relevant experience in development program/projects and a minimum of 5 years of experience in crisis countries;
• Experience in providing coordination in transition contexts or substantive leadership in cluster coordination;
• Experience in design, monitoring and/or evaluation of development projects is required;
• Proven experience in working on post conflict recovery issues and crisis response;
• Minimum of 5 years working in a crisis country (either in post conflict or transition country) in an international position;
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.);
• Experience from previous UN assignments and/or multilateral banks (World Bank, Regional Development Bank etc.) and bi-lateral aid organizations would be an asset;
• Previous UNDP experience would be highly desirable.

Language Requirement:

• Fluency in the English both written and oral;
• Good working knowledge of Arabic would be an asset.

Note:

• Female candidates are encouraged to apply;
• Knowledge of Results Based Management methodologies and Atlas would be an asset;
• Knowledge of Post Conflict Needs Assessments or Cluster coordination would be an asset.