UNCDF Jobs - 53083- Programme Specialist (UNCDF)

Programme Specialist (UNCDF)

Advertised on behalf of

UNCDF

Location :

Port Moresby, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Type of Contract :

FTA International

Starting Date :

02-Mar-2015

Application Deadline :

28-Jan-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-3

Duration of Initial Contract :

One year (renewable)

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

Least developed countries (LDCs) include some of the world’s fastest growing economies as well as countries whose growth in real terms is limited. Not all are growing at the rate required to keep pace with population increases. The balance of LDC economies and the growing sectors is unevenly spread across their territories and inequitably distributed through their societies, often producing relative disparities and disequilibria. These structural problems present serious challenges for equitable and sustainable development as well as resilience to shocks.

To support LDCs facing this challenge, UNCDF has developed LoOKING (Locally Owned Knowledge = Inclusive Growth), a diagnostic and policy roadmap to reduce poverty and vulnerability through local economic development. LoOKING combines three root assessments to produce a consolidated picture of local development:

LoOKING at the big picture

A mapping of the distribution of public expenditure and of economic and social functions across a territory to identify bottlenecks and potential efficiency gains. Various tools can be combined for this mapping, however in all cases the Local Public Sector Initiative (LPSI) tool is used to provide a baseline. Other tools, depending on the context, can include the Climate and Public Expenditure Institutional Review (CPEIR).

LoOKING at the local institutional and financial potential

An assessment of local government’s own revenue potential and existing capacities of local governments and local public institutions combined with a systematic review of their public expenditure management capacity. It will be applied to a sample of local governments, both rural and urban. Depending on the size of the local authority, two types of tools can be applied:

The subnational Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) tool for municipalities of 150’000 inhabitants and above, and the Local Financial and Institutional Assessment (LAFIA) for those below.

LoOKING at the local economic potential

An assessment of the local economy, employment, growth patterns and capital availability, with a focus on the public and private infrastructure gaps and strategic and transformational local investments. It will be applied to a sample of local government jurisdictions. Tools used for this assessment include the Local Economic Actors Diagnosis (LEAD) and LAFIA economic assessment.

The overall aim is to develop realistic solutions to strengthen local management and governance and devise a plan of action to improve delivery of services and local economic development.

Objective and purpose

Based on UNCDF’s experience of implementing and refining local diagnostic tools in a number of programme countries, the Programme Specialist will have responsibility for the implementation of LoOKING in Papua New Guinea (PNG) within the context of the LoOKING Programme Initiation Plan (PIP).

The overall outcome of the LoOKING PIP is to increase the local fiscal space and/or gross fixed capital formation in PNG. The Programme Specialist will contribute to Outcome 2 related to the execution of the PIP component in PNG. In particular, he/she will be responsible for:

The application of LAFIA in selected local governments;
The implementation of the Local Economic Assessment;
The conduct of the Local Public Sector survey.

The Programme Specialist will work in close collaboration with the PNG government and the local governments involved in the LoOKING exercise. He/she will also work closely with the national Programme Officer, the LDFP Practice area, consultants conducting the local assessments and the LDFP team based at headquarters. He/she will work under the supervision of the Deputy Director for LDFP acting as interim Programme Manager.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of key functions:

Undertake project implementation role, including planning activities, cost budgeting, project reporting, risk identification and compliance with UNCDF rules and regulations;
Take on a quality assurance role, including quality control of deliverables, timely planning and implementation;
Provide technical support and oversee strategic direction of project implementation;
Promote organizational learning and knowledge management through communications planning and information dissemination;
Ensure strategic advocacy and resource mobilization activities for the LoOKING programme;
Take responsibility for any and all other duties, as required by the Director of the Practice and the (interim) Programme Manager.

More specifically the Programme Specialist is responsible for:

Undertake project implementation role, including planning activities, cost budgeting, project reporting, risk identification and compliance with UNCDF rules and regulations

Participate in the formulation of the Annual Work Plan (AWP), the planning of and budgeting for the activities of LoOKING in PNG;
Review purchase orders and requisitions to ensure these are in accordance with the AWP;
Provide regular progress reports detailing the state of implementation of LoOKING in PNG, including Quarterly and Annual Reports as requested;
Identify potential risks in programme implementation and proactively seek solutions or mitigation efforts;
Support consultants in the field with data collection and facilitate links with the national and local governments.

Take on a quality assurance role, including quality control of deliverables, timely planning and implementation

Review and ensure quality of deliverables submitted by consultants;
Timely formulation of the AWP and implementation of planned activities;
Provide support for the monitoring of project progress against the overall objectives and the annual work plan;
Ensure regular budget revision exercises are completed and contribute to meeting the annual programme resource expenditure targets.

Provide technical support and oversee strategic direction of project implementation

Contribute to government’s debate on decentralisation, institutional capacities, private-public partnerships, local economic development, resilience, etc.;
Provision of technical support to forums and workshops to reinforce the implementation of LoOKING activities;
Provisions of technical support for the generation of good practices and ensure their incorporation into national policies, systems and processes;
Oversee the development and implementation of the national and local capacity initiatives to support decentralization, local public financial management, local resilience to shocks, etc.;
Provide technical support to the local authorities, local economic actors and other relevant stakeholders to ensure progressive implementation of work plans and budgets.

Promote organizational learning and knowledge management through effective communication and information dissemination

Liaise regularly with the UNCDF Regional Advisor for information sharing;
Document experiences/ successes, compile lessons learned and build them into design of new approaches and/or the development of the LoOKING tool;
Keep abreast of new developments in the area of local development finance/ municipal finance/ public-private partnerships;
Support the communication strategy on LoOKING by providing and disseminating information on progress and milestones achieved using a variety of communication tools.

Ensure strategic advocacy and resource mobilization activities for the LoOKING programme

Liaise with relevant ministries and local governments to promote the LoOKING tool and use of diagnostic tools at the local level;
Initiate and support discussions across and within ministries on decentralized service delivery, capacity development, fiscal decentralization and funding of local economic development;
Maintain working relationship with key Government counterparts to ensure their continuing engagement with and understanding of the LoOKING programme;
Effectively network with partners seizing opportunities to build strategic partnerships relevant to UNCDF’s mandate;
Promote the LoOKING tool and UNCDF’s agenda at inter-agency meetings.

Take responsibility for any and all other duties, as required by the management of LDFP Practice aera and the (interim) Programme Manager

Be responsive to ad hoc requests and opportunities for contributing to other initiatives to which the post holder is qualified;
Expand partnerships with local, national, regional and international partners in the interest of UNCDF LDFP and the UN in general.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNCDF;
Displays strong cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Ability to mainstream gender equality and empowerment of women in the programmatic and policy work of UNCDF;
Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Functional Competencies:

Knowledge Management and Learning

Ability to provide top quality policy advice services on development issues;
In-depth practical knowledge of inter-disciplinary economic development or local development issues;
Promotes knowledge management in UNCDF 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.

Development and Operational Effectiveness

Ability to conduct strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
Ability to go beyond established procedures and models, propose new approaches which expand the range of programmes;
Ability to work with minimal supervision;
Ability to lead formulation, implementation and evaluation of parliamentary development programmes and projects;
Solid knowledge in financial resources and human resources management, contract, asset and procurement, information and communication technology, general administration.

Management and Leadership

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 openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
Leads multi-cultural teams effectively and shows mentoring as well as conflict resolution skills;
Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master degrees in Economics, Business Management, Development Studies, and Public Financial Administration or a related development discipline.

Experience:

A minimum of 5 years of progressively responsible experience at local, national and international level, dealing with decentralization, fiscal management, local economic development and capacity development through local authorities;
Demonstrated programmatic experiences in resource mobilization strategies and initiatives, preferably within the UN system;
Substantive knowledge and understanding of local development financing mechanisms;
Understanding of the UN coordination, Delivering as One pilot frameworks, and UN country strategies;
Effective presentation and report-writing skills; strong analytical skills as well as good written and oral communication skills.

Language Requirements:

Fluent in English;
Another UN official language is an asset.

Note:

Applicants are strongly encouraged to upload (as a *pdf attachment) the completed and signed UNDP Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded fromhttp://sas.undp.org/Documents/P11_Personal_history_form.docx Completion of all the fields is required.

Please group all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.