UNDP Jobs - 58406- Programme Specialist, Environmental Governance

Programme Specialist, Environmental Governance

Location :

Yangon, Republic of the Union of Myanmar, MYANMAR

Type of Contract :

FTA International

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

02-Aug-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-4

Duration of Initial Contract :

One year

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

UNDP Myanmar has developed a new programme for 2013-2017 with the aim to promote local governance, growth and sustainable development with the emphasis on rights-based, gender sensitive, inclusive and equity. This goal will be pursued through three complementary pillars, where Pillar I focuses on strengthening local governance, Pillar II on Environmental Governance and Disaster Resilience and Pillar III on strengthening responsive and inclusive governance.

Pillar II focuses on strengthening capacities at local, regional and national levels to manage and utilize natural resources in a sustainable way, to enhance resilience and adaptive capacity to long-term climate change including variability impacts and to reduce the associated risks of natural disasters. The Environmental Governance and Disaster Resilience Programme is being delivered through two output areas (Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation and environmental governance). The Programme implementation was started in 2013, and UNDP engaged with the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement and Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry and other key stakeholders for implementation of national level institutional strengthening and capacity building in disaster risk management as well as in environmental governance.

Environmental Governance Output aims to enhance capacities to sustainably manage natural resources at local, regional and national level through strengthening the Protected Area Management institutions for biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation through implementation of Myanmar REDD+ Readiness Roadmap, and mainstreaming environmental conservation in the development sectors to ensure the environmentally sustainable development results.

The Programme Specialist (Environmental Governance) will lead and provide programmatic support to Environmental Governance Output (Output 7) of the UNDP Country Programme in Myanmar.

Under the direct supervision of the Team Leader (Environmental Governance and Disaster Resilience), the Programme Specialist is responsible for implementation and overall coordination of activities under Output 7 (Environmental Governance) of the Country Programme including strategic planning, formulation of work plans and monitoring and evaluation of activities.

He/ She will work in close collaboration and coordination with project staff in both Yangon and Naw Pyi Taw and will also be responsible for identifying synergies with other outputs in Pillar 2 and across the country programme as well as the integration of cross-cutting themes, such as Gender, social cohesion, peace-building, etc. The Programme Specialist will also promote coordination and close collaboration with other parts of UNDP including the Asia Pacific Regional Centre based in Bangkok, and relevant teams in other offices.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the Team Leader, Environmental Governance and Disaster Resilience, the Programme Specialist provides strategic management, coordination and implementation in the Output Area of Environmental Governance.

Management of Environmental Governance Output Area:

Implements the overall strategic vision of Environmental Governance with a view to building national capacities, to support the overarching objectives of the Country Programme, in close collaboration with Programme, Programme Management Support Team and Operations;
Leads the Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation programme team;
Manages and supervises national officers, international and local consultants;
Manages all programmatic activities under the Environmental Governance output;
Participates in internal control mechanisms for adherence to UNDP rules and regulations in contracts, assets, procurement, recruitment, etc. as required;
Ensures the integration of cross-cutting issues, such as gender, HIV/AIDS, peace building, human rights and ICT, into the design, monitoring and evaluation of the Environmental Governance;
Contributes to wider Pillar 2 (Environmental Governance and Disaster Resilience) management processes and team cohesion.

Design and Implementation:

Development of annual workplans for the Environmental Governance component;
Oversee day to day implementation of the Environmental Governance component activities;
Analyze and monitor progress and advise on timely corrective actions for proper delivery;
Manage the delivery of the workplan and its outputs through consultants, contractors and NGOs, including developing terms of reference, participating in procurement, selection and hiring, and overseeing their delivery to ensure high quality outputs;
Together with programme counterparts, identify new areas of support and facilitate implementation of new initiatives;
Ensure the effective application of RBM tools, elaboration and implementation of coherent work plans, project and programme documents, preparation of compelling proposals and achievement of results;
Ensure compliance of operation with UNDP rules and regulations.

Monitoring and Evaluation:

Ensure that Monitoring and Evaluation data for Environmental Governance output pillars are delivered in a timely manner and in an appropriate format;
Conducts regular monitoring and evaluation visits and the participation of Programme Board and/or Steering Committee meetings;
Contribute to quarterly, mid-year and annual reporting;
Contribute to the identification of risks and issues and updating of risk logs in ATLAS.

Reporting:

Oversee partner reporting and where necessary help them to improve in line with UNDP and project reporting standards;
Provide timely inputs to donor reports on implementation, the achievement of outputs as well as contribute to reporting on progress towards outcomes and impact;
Promote information sharing and coordination with UN agencies.

Budgeting and Financial management:

Has approval authority in Atlas and 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 Environmental Governance, in coordination with Operations and Programme Management staff and other support staff;
Allocate budgets to programmatic activities and carry out timely budget revisions when necessary;
Oversee and provide quality control of financial reports submitted by counterparts and liaise with counterparts to ensure the transparent and accountable use of funds;
Advise counterparts on workplan development, develop checklists for all counterparts to assist in implementation and ensure that capacity support to counterparts are carried out in a timely and appropriate manner.

Partnerships and Learning:

Develops partnerships with other agencies providing support to the Environmental Governance;
Ensures that UNDP and wider international best practice and lesson learning is fed into programmatic and strategic development of the Environmental Governance component in UNDP Myanmar.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

Ethics and Integrity:

Promotes integrity and fairness by modeling UN values and ethical standards; shows willingness to work without bias with all persons regardless of gender, nationality, religion or culture.

Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment:

Understands the structure and hierarchy of UN/UNDP, process flows throughout the organization, products and services, their measures of effectiveness, and perceptions of clients.

Developing and empowering staff:

Helps staff to identify their unique strengths and weaknesses, training and development needs, tying those to their personal and career aspirations.

Working in teams

Builds effective teams, bringing diverse background, skills and expertise to maximize innovation and goal achievement;
Recognizes opportunities to meet organizational priorities through team work, inspires and motivates staff to achieve them collectively encouraging them to think and act co-operatively, openly and honestly;
Manages and resolves conflicts with individuals and groups both within and outside the organization to achieve win-win solutions.

Communicating information and ideas:

Expresses own ideas/interests/concerns with clarity with the intent to enhance dialogue.

Conflict management/negotiating and resolving disagreements:

Builds consensus by focusing attention on areas of agreement and by getting others to confirm them;
Remains calm, composed and patient, regardless of his/her own state of mind in the face of conflict.

Informed and transparent decision making:

Functional Competencies:

Building Strategic Partnerships: identifying and building partnerships;
Sensitizes UN Partners, donors and other international organizations to the UNDP’s strategic agenda, identifying areas for joint efforts;
Identifies needs and interventions for capacity building of counterparts, clients and potential partners;
Takes responsibility for achieving agreed outputs within set deadlines and strives until successful outputs are achieved;
Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and responds positively to constructive feedback;
Promotes UNDP’s agenda in inter-agency meetings;
Strong interpersonal and written and oral communication skills;
Ability to work well in multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams.

Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise: In-depth knowledge of the subject-matter:

Understands more advanced aspects of primary area of specialization (Environmental Governance) as well as the fundamental concepts of related disciplines (Political Economy Analysis; Development Planning; Public Financial Management; Decentralisation);
Continues to seek new and improved methods and systems for accomplishing the work of the unit;
Keeps abreast of new developments in area of professional discipline and job knowledge and seeks to develop him/herself professionally;
Demonstrates comprehensive knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments;
Demonstrates comprehensive understanding and knowledge of the current guidelines and project management tools and utilizes these regularly in work assignments.

Promoting Learning and Knowledge Sharing:

Leverages different experiences and expertise of team members to achieve better and more innovative outcomes;
Makes the case for innovative ideas documenting successes and building them into the design of new approaches;
Identifies new approaches and strategies that promote the use of tools and mechanisms;
Develops and/or participates in the development of tools and mechanisms, including identifying new approaches to promote individual and organizational learning and knowledge sharing using formal and informal methodologies;
Promotes knowledge management and a learning environment through leadership and personal example.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s Degree in Environment, Climate Change, social sciences, public administration, management, international relations or any other relevant field.

Experience:

A minimum of 7 years of experience in fields of Environment, Climate Change Mitigation, Natural Resources Management and any other related fields;
Experience in capacity development and facilitating positive transformational change.
2 years of those, relevant professional experience on Environment, Climate Change Mitigation, natural resources management and capacity building and institutional development in the related areas;
Proven management experience, preferably within UNDP or another UN agency, with sound knowledge and experience in all aspects of project cycle (design, implementation, monitoring & evaluation);
Prior experience of South-East Asia and/or countries in transition would be an asset.

Language:

Excellent command of written and spoken English.