UNDP Jobs - 56134- Electoral Assistance Advisor and JTF Coordinator

Electoral Assistance Advisor and JTF Coordinator

Location :

Brussels, BELGIUM

Type of Contract :

FTA International

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

14-May-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-5

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

English French

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

Under the 2014-2017 Strategic Plan, UNDP’s integrated approach to supporting inclusive political processes aims to harness UNDP’s experience and comparative advantage in supporting and strengthening the capacities of political processes and institutions in order to improve citizen participation, voice and accountability and rebuild a stronger and more inclusive social contract.

The Governance and Peacebuilding Profession is managed, at HQ, by the Chief of Profession for Governance and Peacebuilding, a cluster that includes the Inclusive Political Processes. At each of the Regional Service Centres, a Governance and Peacebuilding Cluster Leader provides leadership for policy advisory and programmatic support in the region, to achieve UNDP’s overall Governance and Peacebuilding results specific to that region. , including the work in the area of inclusive political processes. This work includes all of UNDP’s work in support of the electoral cycle, meaning the enhancement of the credibility, transparency, effectiveness and sustainability of electoral institutions and processes on the African continent for those countries requesting assistance, in close cooperation with the Department of Political Affairs.

UNDP works across a variety of development contexts including stable, conflict/post conflict and transitional settings, and strives to ensure that inclusive political institutions and processes are capacitated and engaged in supporting national development efforts to achieve the MDGs and implement the post 2015 development framework.

Within the objective of supporting the “electoral cycle to enhance the credibility, transparency, effectiveness and sustainability of electoral institutions and processes,” UNDP provides support to countries to develop electoral laws, processes and institutions that strengthen inclusive participation and professional electoral administration. Elections are about much more than what happens on election day. Support includes the conceptual and programming guidance to the UN and national stakeholders alike in using an electoral cycle approach that grounds electoral administration and assistance in democratic governance. UNDP’s electoral work, at both the global, regional and national levels, is implemented in close coordination with the Department of Political Affairs’ Electoral Assistance Division (EAD).

Phase II of the Global Project for Electoral Cycle Support (GPECS) 2015-2017 builds on the achievements of and lessons learned from GPECS I (2009-2014) and is based on the findings of evaluations, including: integrating electoral assistance more into democratic governance programming; ensuring that the ‘electoral cycle’ is properly applied; connecting better UNDP’s principles-based electoral framework with Country Office realities; advocating more consistently for cost-effective and sustainable technological solutions, and; improving internal efficiencies. GPECS Phase II is aligned with the focus of the Strategic Plan and will be organized under four interlinked components: global, regional, national and gender mainstreaming. Each component addresses key issues identified in the delivery of UNDP electoral assistance.

GPECS Phase II will entail a significant amount of human and financial management, reporting and policy advisory services as well as donor liaison especially with the European Commission and EU member states.

An EC-UNDP Joint Task Force (JTF) on Electoral Assistance, composed of staff of both the European Commission and UNDP (UN/UNDP Office in Brussels) was established, in 2007, to further strengthen and facilitate the already existing EC-UNDP partnership in the field of electoral assistance and improve the overall efficiency and adherence of the projects to the common EC-UNDP strategic approach. The JTF monitors and supports the partnership, primarily via participation in the formulation missions that lead to EC financial contributions to UNDP-managed electoral assistance projects. These formulation missions both assist the EU Delegations in the preparation of their programming documents, as well as ensuring that the recommendations of EU Election Observation Missions are programmed into the eventual projects, where harmonised with both the recommendations of the UN electoral Needs Assessment Mission and the UNDP CPD/CPAP priorities. Further, the JTF assists the EC-UNDP projects to the end of the contractual obligations; seeks policy convergence in both organization’s electoral assistance, including advocating adherence to UN and multilateral norms and standards; better positions UNDP with the EC in the domain of electoral assistance and related areas; encourages the professional development of EC and UNDP staff, and improves knowledge of the institutional aspects of electoral assistance projects.

The Electoral Assistance Advisor and JTF Coordinator will report to the Electoral Advisor BPPS and to the Director of the UN UNDP Brussels Office in a matrixed arrangement.

The Advisor will provide expertise to further strengthen and facilitate cooperation between GPECS Phase II, the EC, the European External Action Service and EU member states in the field of electoral assistance. The incumbent will promote knowledge sharing and expert advice related to EC-UNDP joint electoral assistance projects to UNDP Country Offices, EU Delegations and electoral management bodies (EMBs) in post-conflict countries and transitional democracies. S/He will advise senior management on managerial, political and operational issues relating to EC-UNDP electoral assistance projects which have always high political impact.

The overall role of the Advisor will be to provide advisory and operational services to support EC-UNDP electoral assistance projects at country level, promote synergies and avoid duplications and overlap between JTF and GPECS Phase II country-level activities, as well as to help deliver global, regional and country level outputs of GPECS, as related to the EC-UNDP partnership in electoral assistance.

Duties and Responsibilities

Functions / Key Results Expected

Advice, operational guidance and implementation strategies for the management of UNDP/EC electoral assistance projects (60%)

Coordinate and manage the activities of the Joint EC-UNDP Task Force on Electoral Assistance;
Identify approaches and modalities to achieve management targets and increased cost-effectiveness of EC-UNDP projects;
Advise relevant UNDP and EC services in the drafting process of project identification fiches, financial proposals, contribution agreements and UNDP project documents (including the definition of operational procedures, selection of personnel/contractors and resource mobilization for projects);
Ensure the reinforcement of complementarities and the search for synergies between electoral observation and electoral assistance activities;
Establish links relating to electoral assistance activities between Country Offices, EU Delegations, governments, other donors and EMBs, whilst taking into consideration the lessons-learned in UNDP Country Offices and EU Delegations;
Troubleshoot and ensure contractual compliance with EC contribution agreements in the field of electoral assistance;
Liaise with UNDP BPPS, UNDP Regional Service Centres, UNDP Country Offices and relevant EC HQ services and Delegations for the monitoring and the evaluation of EC-UNDP electoral assistance projects in view of providing support and cross-fertilization of best practices;
Collaborate with the UNDP Procurement Support Office on procurement, in the drafting process of the technical specifications of electoral items and equipment, and in market studies for surveying new technologies to be integrated in future electoral assistance projects;
Develop terms of references for commonly required services and joint formulation missions (budgeting, risks assessments and planning);
Participate in joint formulation missions in consultation with the BPPS Electoral Policy Advisor, Regional Bureaux and Service Centres, and JTF members from the EC and UNDP;
Liaise with GPECS’ Regional Electoral Advisors, who often conduct monitoring and follow-up of the on-going EC-UNDP projects, and support BPPS Electoral Policy Advisor in the monitoring function.

Training and knowledge management (25%)

Disseminate and advocate for the implementation the EC-UNDP Operational Guidelines and UNDP Reporting and Visibility Guidelines for electoral assistance projects, and provide capacity strengthening and knowledge sharing activities in issues related to EC/UNDP electoral assistance issues;
Coordinate and manage the delivery of the yearly joint EC-UNDP global workshop on Electoral Assistance and for the activities of the Electoral Assistance Group of the Global Training Platform Learn 4 DEV;
Prepare coordinate and manage the development of publications on issues related to electoral assistance and electoral administration;
Prepare, coordinate the development of an e-learning curricula on electoral assistance and electoral administration;
Ensure the maintenance of the dedicated web site on the EC-UNDP Partnership on Electoral Assistance under the supervision of the UNDP Brussels office and adhering to quality control standards of BPPS;
Liaise with the EODS project dealing with EU and domestic election observation and delivery of electoral assistance training sessions for EU Electoral Observation Core Team and Long/Short-term observers missions;
Liaise with the BPPS Electoral Policy Adviser, GPECS Regional Electoral Advisors and relevant EC services in the development of knowledge tools and the dissemination of knowledge products on EC-UNDP electoral assistance, actively supporting knowledge sharing through inputs to comparative experiences and lessons learned;
Facilitate the collaboration between the EC/UNDP partnership and other electoral networks
Contribute to the evolution of the next phase of the CORE project.

Liaison, coordination and representation (15%)

Liaise with the BPPS Electoral Policy Adviser, Regional Service Centres, UNDP Country Offices and relevant EU Delegations and services for monitoring and assessing EC-UNDP electoral assistance projects in view of providing support and cross-fertilization of best practices as well as in the evaluation of previous UNDP/EC electoral assistance projects;
Liaise with the EC to reinforce synergies and complementarities between election observation and electoral assistance activities;
Liaise and work with donor agencies, especially the European Commission, the European External Action Service and EU member states, to mobilize additional resources for electoral assistance.
Coordinate, where relevant, with the EC on UN rosters of electoral administration/ assistance experts.

Impact of Results

The overarching purpose of this post is to provide specific senior expertise to further strengthen and facilitate the already established cooperation between the EC and UNDP in the electoral assistance field and to lend coherence between that partnership and the work of the GPECS. The post will enable BPPS, through the UN/UNDP Brussels office, to promote knowledge sharing and expert advice to UNDP Country Offices, EU Delegations and Electoral Management Bodies in post-conflict countries and transitional democracies. The advice to senior management will focus on management and operational decisions relating to highly political impact projects such as those on electoral assistance.

As the success or failure of operations in any electoral assistance project and EC-UNDP the partnership could affect the relationship between the EC, the EU member states and UNDP, it is crucial to ensure that mutual expectations are met and a good understanding for the future of this partnership well set out.

Competencies

Core competencies:

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

Functional competencies:

Knowledge and expertise in democratic governance, electoral assistance and democratization and in particular in strengthening inclusive participation;
Be able to work well with counterparts in government, electoral management bodies, civil society, political parties, the private sector, academia, and the donor community; and know how to contribute to building national capacity for development;
Strong communication and interpersonal skills, ability to foster networks and partnerships, and good working knowledge of information and computer technology. While representing UNDP views, the candidate should also be able to provide coordination among the UN family of agencies;
Demonstrates sound knowledge of i) UN rules, regulations, policies, procedures and best practices in the electoral assistance field; ii) the EC electoral assistance process, including EC rules and regulations on project cycle management, aid delivery methods, operations cycle and financing modalities; iii) electoral management issues, including the different steps of the electoral cycle;
Excellent negotiation and representational skills, at senior level (with international organizations and/or diplomatic missions);
Displays analytical judgment and demonstrated ability to handle confidential and politically sensitive issues in a responsible and mature manner;
Demonstrates strong intellectual and operational capacity in providing and coordinating advisory services to stakeholders in electoral processes, specifically to EMBs and civil society organizations;
Builds solid client relationships with strong networking and advocacy skills; focuses on impact and resource mobilization’s results;
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities.

Performance Management

Demonstrated ability to multitask under pressure and to meet strict deadlines often under hardship conditions;
Excellent organizational skills and ability to work effectively in teams, delivering through and with others;
Self-management, including conflict management/negotiating skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced University Degree (Masters) in Political Sciences, Law, International Relations or related field.

Experience:

Minimum 10 years specialized experience in international context, in election observation, electoral assistance and democratization, majority of which must be in electoral assistance and at least six of which involve programming, formulation, management and advice on electoral assistance/observation activities at a senior level;
Strong technical knowledge of the field of electoral assistance and election observation, as well as a general knowledge of cross-cutting democratic governance issues that are often addressed through electoral cycle or deepening democracy programmes.
Extensive practical experience in designing, managing, and monitoring electoral assistance programmes in developing countries, preferably also with UNDP and EC procedures;
The candidate should have significant experience in providing practical advice to policy makers;
Experience in donor coordination, donor-government relations and formulating and managing a multi-donor basket fund an asset;
Strong networks within the international electoral assistance community, and demonstrated leadership in the field of electoral assistance;
Experience in working with transnational and emerging democracies and post-conflict environments an asset, especially for the areas of Eastern Europe, Africa and Arab States which are the main target of EC contributions to UNDP managed basket fund in support of electoral processes.

Language:

Fluency in English and French, both written and spoken. Must be able to draft complex programming documents in both languages;
Knowledge of other UN languages an asset.