UNDP Jobs - 61682- Re-advertise of Socio-Economic Project Officer

Re-advertise of Socio-Economic Project Officer - (Open to Syrian Nationals Only)

Location :

Damascus, SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC

Type of Contract :

Service Contract

Starting Date :

15-Dec-2015

Application Deadline :

30-Nov-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

SC-8

Duration of Initial Contract :

One year

Languages Required :

Arabic English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

One year

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

Nearly 5 years into the crisis, the unabated hostilities and fighting have caused massive damage to every aspect of life. Most of the Syrian population has been affected by the continuing violence and hostilities and suffered tremendous losses. Families were forced to repeatedly flee violence and leave their home-towns with no significant assets or belongings. With 7.6 million Internally Displaced People (IDPs) and more than three million refugees in neighbouring countries, the crisis has caused the largest population displacement in history. A number of drivers, including the crisis, unilateral economic and financial measures imposed on Syria, deepening economic decline, harsh weather conditions and reduced access to basic services have contributed to the exacerbation of the living conditions in Syria over the past year.

As a response to the emerging needs of the Syrian population, UNDP focuses on building the resilience of the affected population in Syria through stabilizing their livelihoods and strengthening their capacities to cope with shocks and negative impact of the crisis. It focuses on rehabilitation of community infrastructure and basic services, business revival and market restoration, namely through encouraging local production and procurement, providing vocational training and support to entrepreneurship, with special focus on vulnerable groups (women headed households, people with disabilities and youth).

Under the overall guidance of the Deputy Country Director and Direct supervision of the Livelihoods Team Leader, the Socio-Economic Project Officer will identify main socio-economic priorities and ensure effective development and implementation of relevant projects in full compliance with UNDP rules and regulations and close liaison and coordination with the Early Recovery Team and field offices and operations Team as required.

Duties and Responsibilities

Development and implementation of the UNDP c strategy focusing on the following results:

Analyse sectoral recovery/ development problems and identify needs in line with UNDP mandate and national priorities, namely in the area of socio-economic recovery and livelihoods restoration;
Undertake stakeholder analysis and mapping and propose a partnership plan;
Develop and implement of a two-pronged strategy for promoting socio-economic recovery and resilience, including an area based component; and an institutional development component for concerned national entities. Develop a research agenda for evidence-based programming in the area of socio-economic recovery and livelihoods restoration;
Develop a monitoring plan to track progress and implementation of various components of the strategy;
Support resource mobilisation for socio-economic recovery and livelihoods restoration;
Assist in the preparation, monitoring and evaluation of relevant results of the Country Programme Document;
Advise on social safety networks and identify UNDP niche in support vulnerable people;
Liaise and consult with partners and stakeholders (private sector, public entities, UN, NGOs, etc.) as needed.

Support the planning, implementation and monitoring of socio-economic area based interventions, as following:

Assist in the detailed assessment of needs in governorates with a focus on small and micro small industries and enterprises;
Provide technical assistance on how to advance the restoration of disrupted businesses to field teams and support annual; planning of relevant activities, ensuring that gender, youth and other cross cutting issue are well taken into account;
Support the development of proposals and project sheets for socio-economic recovery;
Lead the development of business plans to ensure sustainability of initiatives;
Participate in developing ToRs and reviewing relevant programme reports, especially technical reports related to business revival and economic recovery and development areas;
Develop monitoring indicators and undertake monitoring mission to field locations.

Facilitation of knowledge building and knowledge sharing in the CO focusing on achievement of the following results:

Assist in the formulation of guidance notes and implementation modality for socio-economic recovery and resilience in affected communities;
Assess capacity of partners and stakeholders and identify capacity development needs in this focus area;
Organize and deliver trainings on socioeconomic recovery and resilience to CO, field personnel and partners;
Compile and document lessons learnt and best practices, and promote innovation in this area;
Contribute to communication and advocacy efforts as needed;
Any other relevant task as requested by supervisor.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Knowledge Management and Learning:

Shares knowledge and experience;
Actively works towards continuing personal learning, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills.

Development and Operational Effectiveness:

Ability to perform a variety of specialized tasks related to Results Management, including support to design, planning and implementation of programme, managing data, reporting;
Ability to provide input to business processes re-engineering, implementation of new system, including new IT based systems;
Good knowledge of Results Management Guide and Toolkit.

Leadership and Self-Management:

Focuses on result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure;
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

University degree in Economics, business administration, business development or any relevant field;
Prince2 training and certification, RMG.

Experience:

6 years of relevant experience in the area of developing SMEs at the national or international level;
Previous experience in the UN or international organisations is an asset;
Previous research experience in socio-economic development and/ or social safety networks is an asset;
Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc) and advance knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages, experience in handling of web based management systems.

Language:

Fluency in English and Arabic is a must.