Jobs - 55204- Recovery Coordination Officer

Recovery Coordination Officer - (Open to Filipino Nationals Only)

Location :

Manila, PHILIPPINES

Type of Contract :

Service Contract

Starting Date :

20-Apr-2015

Application Deadline :

06-Apr-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

SC-9

Duration of Initial Contract :

Six Months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

Six Months

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

At the 6th Joint ICC meeting on 4 July 2014, the GoP announced the end of the Typhoon Yolanda disaster response phase and a full shift to rehabilitation and recovery. Through this declaration, the government phased out the national humanitarian cluster coordination system which it chaired, with the UN Humanitarian Coordinator as co-Chair, in favor of the recovery mechanisms under the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Recovery and Rehabilitation (OPARR), a special office created specifically for Typhoon Haiyan recovery, and regular development-oriented mechanisms at central and local government levels.

In line with the decision of the government, and after assessing the relevance, effectiveness and practicality of international humanitarian coordination arrangements in the current context, the Philippines Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) decided to close the Yolanda Strategic Response Plan (SRP) on 31 August, three months ahead of its originally scheduled end in November 2014. The closure of the SRP simply “accelerated” a transition that had already been well underway. Humanitarian clusters had, since February 2014, drawn up transition plans and were executing these plans, gradually phasing down from Yolanda-affected regions.

Phase-down notwithstanding, there continues to be a demand for “coordination” support. While fully supportive of government-led coordination mechanisms, including the Yolanda Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Recovery Plan (CRRP), international partners have observed that, in some instances, these are not yet fully operational and challenges in coordination, especially inter-sectoral coordination at sub-national levels, are anticipated. For instance, challenges have been encountered in the rehabilitation of settlements and shelter, where effective interventions require close integration with water, sanitation, livelihood, and other related social services, as well as central-local coordination for cross-cutting land use and housing policies. Coordination between OPARR, government recovery cluster leads, and the UN and development partners has likewise resumed and PARR has requested the UN to continue its coordination role with international partners moving forward, to deliver and integrate work, build capacity and pursue results. Within the UN system, the UN Resident Coordinator (RC) has the coordination mandate in the development arena, and a transition logically occurs from the HCT to the RC system as response moves from relief to recovery and development.

A RC-anchored, but field based, transition/recovery facilitation mechanism will have a 3-fold purpose:

To facilitate the interface and information sharing of UN agencies and partners with national recovery management structures, with special attention on coordination concerns involved in resettlement, livelihood, shelter, and protection;
To facilitate greater consistency and complementarity of UN-supported recovery interventions, with particular emphasis on capacity development initiatives; and
To provide a forum for the identification of issues that may require collective advocacy through the RC, e.g. issues in the implementation of the CRRP, including the management of remaining humanitarian needs, if any.

For this purpose three Liaison Teams for Yolanda Recovery have been formed to be based in Leyte/Tacloban (hosted by UNICEF), Eastern Samar (hosted by UNDP) and Capiz-Iloilo (hosted by FAO) (refer to Figure 1). The Recovery Coordination Specialist will be based in Manila, providing strategic guidance and management, as well as top level coordination support, to these three Liaison Teams for Yolanda Recovery.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Resident Coordinator, and in coordination with the designated field-based (Host Agency) official, the Recovery Coordination Officer will provide strategic supervision over, and high-level operational support for, the Liaison Teams for Yolanda Recovery. Specifically, the Recovery Coordination Officer will:

Provide strategic supervision to Teams as they facilitate the participation of UN agencies and development partners in local recovery mechanisms for Yolanda, including local recovery clusters managed at the regional and/or provincial level;
Provide strategic supervision and coordination support to Teams as they facilitate regular forums/meetings among/between UN agencies and development partners in the field which are designed to facilitate information sharing, updating of progress, shared sectoral and inter-sectoral analysis; facilitate sharing of recovery strategies and approaches; and identify opportunities for capacity support to government recovery actors;
Regularly coordinate with national government lead agencies for Yolanda recovery (e.g. OP, NEDA, DBM, other CRRP cluster leads and NG officials as identified) to address cross-cutting and coordination-related issues that are identified on the ground;
Inform the RC on the issues raised by Teams in the field and support the RC on matters requiring national support or follow up, e.g. with PARR, NEDA, NDDRMC, the UNCT, or HCT;

Perform administrative/management functions assuming accountability for the smooth day-to-day support to field-based Teams, including

Overseeing the formulation of 8-month activity plans by Team,
Monitoring implementation of plans, reporting the same to the RC on a monthly basis,
Monitoring fund releases from RCO according to Activity Plans (and in coordination with Host agencies), while ensuring that Teams are adequately provided for and activities are not impeded by resource constraints;

Maintain strong working relations with national government counterparts and development partners involved in Yolanda recovery, providing regular updates of UN agency/partner work while ensuring national ownership of the recovery process.

The Recovery Coordination Officer will assist the RC/HC identify strategic entry points for building sustainable systems and for linking Yolanda recovery activities to long term strategies, including the UNDAF, i.e. OG4 and SO3.4.

Perform other transition/recovery related functions which may be assigned by the RC.

Competencies

Corte competencies

Ethics and Values;
Working in Teams;
Communicating Information and Ideas;
Self-management and Emotional intelligence;
Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making.

Functional and technical competencies

Advocacy / Advancing Policy Oriented Agenda;
Results-based Programme Development and Management;
Building Strategic Partnerships;
Resource Mobilization;
Client Orientation.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s Degree or equivalent in development studies, management, social sciences or other related fields;
A first level university degree (Bachelor's degree or equivalent) combined with qualifying relevant professional experience (at least seven years) may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

A minimum of 5 years of experience in development planning, coordination, implementation, monitoring and evaluation at professional level;
Familiarity with and good knowledge of recovery process is strongly desired;
Previous working experience in the UN or other international organizations is an advantage, as well as established networks and familiarity with areas affected by Typhoon Haiyan;
Proficient in the use of the PCs, including Microsoft Office and Windows XP.

Language:

Fluency in the English and national language, Tagalog.

Note:

The selected candidate will receive a salary that is commensurate with his/her background and work experience. Interested applicants are requested submit their application online and complete the UN Personal History Form (P.11), available in our website http://www.ph.undp.org/content/philippines/en/home/operations/jobs/ on or before 6 April 2015. Kindly note that only completed P.11 forms will be reviewed. Please group all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.

UNDP is an equal opportunity employer.

Please note that we will contact only the short-listed candidates.