UNDP Jobs - 59788- Project Expert/Coordinator

Project Expert/Coordinator

Location :

Tbilisi, GEORGIA

Type of Contract :

Service Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

17-Sep-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

SB-4

Duration of Initial Contract :

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

In 2010, the State Strategy of Regional Development (RDSS) was approved. RDSS set the legal, institutional and financial frameworks for sustainable regional development in Georgia. It also envisages designing and implementation of the national concept for training local self-government civil servants, harmonization of the sectoral legislation with the Organic Law on Local Self-government, improvement of municipal services and other local governance related activities. However, overall, RDSS has a moderate scope and modest objectives.

The current Government, elected in October 2012, is committed to further enhancing decentralization and strengthening regional governance. A new organic law and code on on local self-governance was adopted by the parliament on 5 February 2014. Among other changes, the new code established 7 additional self-governing cities, transferred the water and melioration management power to municipalities and mandated the LSGs to allocate at least 1 percent of their salary fund to training municipal officials. During 2013, the Regional Development Strategies (RDS) of 7 Georgian regions were drafted in a participatory manner with support of UNDP (4 regions) and GIZ (3 regions). All 7 Strategies were officially approved by the Government of Georgia in September 2013.

During 2014, the government launched preparation of 2 further RDS in line with the 7 adopted in 2013, preparation/adoption of a standard method for preparing project-based 3-year regional action plans (RAPs) and, with UNDP and GIZ support, regional preparation of 2015-2017 RAPs for all 9 regions (excluding the autonomous region of Adjara). A substantial number of projects from these regional action plans have been approved for funding from the MRDI Regional Development Fund and are being implemented. With EU support during 2014, the Government adopted a national Regional Development Programme (2014-2020) identifying key thematic priorities for regional development, and an associated monitoring and evaluation framework to be implemented in the second half of 2015.

Despite the progress achieved in the field of regional development and decentralization, significant challenges remain. There is scope for improving both the programming content, budgetary links and systematization of the regional development documents as well as the strategic planning processes. A strong system for resourcing the Regional Development Strategies needs to be established. Furthermore, the level of decentralization of competencies and resources is still very low and a systematized long-term vision of the local self-government reform is yet to be developed.

Overall, MRDI is enthusiastic to advance decentralization and introduce effective regional development tools. Thus, it is crucially important to strengthen its policy formulation, advocacy and implementation capacities to ensure proper achievement of the reform goals and objectives.

To address the prevailing regional and local development challenges, UNDP in collaboration with ADA and SDC and in partnership with MRDI is implementing a 2012-2017 project “fostering regional and local development in Georgia” (RLD).

Project activities focus on three interrelated outcomes

Strengthening of policy formulation and implementation capacities of MRDI and other national stakeholders. MRDI is supported to implement its commitments and assisted to upscale its relevant policy coordination function. The legislature, especially the parliamentary Committee on Regional Policy and Self-Government is supported to make it active participants of the reform process. The policy dialogue among different governmental and non-governmental stakeholders is facilitated promoting improvement of the local governance and regional development related policies. Deficiencies mentioned above are being addressed through two further legal acts being prepared by MRDI with legal and policy assistance from the RLD project and an intensive collaboration between MRDI and other Ministries to amended existing laws to maximize decentralization of national powers to LSGs and generally harmonise these sectoral laws with the 2014 Law and Code on Local Self-Governance. The first stand-alone Law will oblige municipalities to establish down-stream assemblies and consultative bodies and will set out clearly the responsibilities and powers of officials and institutions at national and decentralized levels for planning consulting and implementing regional development strategies, action plans and projects and for provision of government services to improve the quality of life of peoples and communities at all levels in Georgia. The second legal act will amend and expand the 2014 Law and Code on Local Governance concerning municipalities’ preparation and agreement with their civil communities of plans stating which economic, social and environmental sectors should have priority for local development and associated resources over 4-year planning periods starting from 2016.

Strengthening role and capacities of regional and local authorities for intensifying their efforts for development. For this purpose, selected regional administrations and municipalities will be supported in the preparation and consultation on strategic development plans, regional action plans and a pilot series of municipal priority documents and, through the provision of small grants implemented by NGOs in selected regions and funded by the project, in implementing selected actions from their respective regional/municipal development plans. Specific emphasis is to be placed on reflecting the municipal development plans in programme budgets.

Introducing an effective, nation-wide training system for regional administrations and local authorities to strengthen their planning, budgeting, management and service delivery capacities. The training system pursing a long-term impact effectively addresses the training needs at regional and local levels. An innovative mechanism coordinating demand and supply flows is to be set up. As a result, the regional governors’ administrations and LSGs will benefit from a wide range of quality trainings, as well as practical assistance to be used in the regional and local development processes.

The project has a budget of over USD 6 Million and is scheduled to end in July 2017.

The original project team 0f project manager, 2 long-term local experts, an administrative assistant and a driver/logistician is being expanded as recommended by an independent project review in 2014 to include an international technical expert (now recruited) and an additional Project Officer (now recruited) to supplement the Project Expert/Coordinator for Outputs 1 and 2.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the UNDP Project Manager, he/she carry out the following tasks and responsibilities: In close coordination with the Project Manager and the International Technical Advisor:

Oversee effective implementation of the project activities under Output 1 (National systems in support of regional and local governance reform and development strengthened) and Output 2 (Effective regional and local systems in place to steer sustainable regional and local development) as per the Project Document;
Support the Project Manager in developing the annual work plan of the project;
Ensure consistency of the project activities with the project work plan;
Ensure provision of the top quality expertise and consultancy services to UNDP, Project Manager and National, Regional and Local authorities on the issues of Regional and Local Development;
Establish and maintain effective cooperation with national counterparts and other stakeholders;
Ensure effective coordination of the workshops, seminars, trainings and other relevant events for the implementation of the project activities;
Prepare RFQs/RFPs, ToRs and other relevant documents for contracting the companies and recruiting experts/consultants for the implementation of the relevant project activities;
Monitor the impact of the project activities and report to the Project Manager on regular basis;
Support the Project Manager in preparing regular reports as envisaged by the Project Document;
Perform other duties as required.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

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

Functional Competencies:

Knowledge Management and Learning;
Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more Practice Areas, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills.

Development and Operational Effectiveness:

Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
Ability to lead formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development programmes and mobilize resources;
Strong IT skills.

Management and Leadership:

Focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
Builds strong relationships with clients and external actors;
Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure;
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree or equivalent in Management, Public Administration, Business Administration, Policy or related field.

Experience:

At least 5 years of relevant experience at the national or international organization in coordinating programmes or actions;
Demonstrated understanding of local self-governance, and regional development issues;
Computer literacy (MS Word, MS Excel, MS Power Point etc.).

Language:

Fluency in Georgian and English.