UNDP Jobs - 61683- Technical Coordinator

Technical Coordinator

Location :

Colombo, SRI LANKA

Type of Contract :

Service Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

15-Dec-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

SB-4

Duration of Initial Contract :

One Year

Languages Required :

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

The Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority under the Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy in collaboration with UNDP will implement the ‘Promoting sustainable biomass neergy producti9on and modern bio energy technologies in Sri Lanka’ Project. The project is funded by the Global Environmental Fund and operational from 2013 till 2017.

Promoting Sustainable Biomass Energy Production and Modern Bio Energy Technologies, is a project funded through the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) through its climate change mitigation portfolio. The project consists of the following components: (1) Policy-institutional support for effective implementation; (2) Barrier removal for sustainable fuel wood production; (3) Enabling environment for fuel wood suppliers; (4) Wood-based energy technology development. The implementation partner of project was the Ministry of Environment and Renewable Energy, after January 2015, the Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment. The implementation partners are Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority and Forest Department. Monitoring and reporting to GEF is the responsibility of both UNDP (for components 1, 3 and 4) and FAO (component 2).

The goal of the project is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the use of fossil fuel for thermal energy generation in the Sri Lanka industrial sector. This goal will be realized through four interlinked components that address the full value chain of bio energy production and conversion. The project aims to remove barriers that hinder the sector growth, such as policy-to-practice gaps, sustainable biomass plantations, sustainable fuel wood processing and supply chain development, increased market share of biomass energy in generation mix and adoption of biomass-based energy technologies in Sri Lanka.

The project is expected to generate global benefits in directly avoided greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of almost 252 kilotons of CO2 due to switching from fossil fuels to wood-based technologies (over the lifetime of 10 years) and almost 756-1,432 ktCO2 as indirect emission reduction impact.

The project had a delayed start and due to end by July 2017. The mid-term review of the project has conducted recently and it has observed that the project design is still valid to support the Government’s strategy on biomass related programmes. However, given the considerable delay in the start-up of the project and other delays in implementation, the project strategy needs to be revisited to achieve the desired results and performance indicators have to be critically reviewed.

Duties and Responsibilities

Key functions are:

Support National Project Director and Project Manager to implement the project;
Provide overall technical guidance to deliver project objectives, outcomes and outputs;
Direct supervision and quality assurance of project outputs and activities with key partners ;
Coordinate between Ministry, SLSEA, project partners, and UNDP;
Support the recruitment and supervision of national and international experts;
Undertake comprehensive results based monitoring and report project progress and results as required ;
Provide programmatic guidance in energy policy and inter-ministerial coordination.

Specific Functions are:

Design three supply chain models in areas with supply or demand issues and establish multi-stakeholder platforms for their implementation;
Design and implement technology packages for fuelwood depots or supply chains including technologies for drying, chipping and pelleting;
Work closely with Regional Technical Advisor, UNDP and Technical Advisor, BM2E to review and revise the activities project’s Component 4;
Review the status of the private sector companies that had earlier expressed interest in fuel switching and review the emissions targets in view of the changes therein;
Design at least one co-generation demonstration and one tri-generation demonstration with industry specialists and private sector;
Support Technical Advisor in his initiatives in Boiler Efficiency Improvement and guidelines for industry, working with CEA to establish and implement the standards;
Support the project manager and other project team with TORs, procurement, monitoring plan and other project management related inputs;
Develop training and awareness material, including web-content, for the project and facilitate/be a resource person for awareness and training sessions;
Support the project team in any other project related activity, including baseline surveys and policy review.

Impact of Results

The key results have an impact on the successful implementation of the project ‘Promoting sustainable biomass neergy production and modern bio energy technologies in Sri Lanka’ and the timely delivery of its key outputs against the agreed work plan; and also effective monitoring of the project outcomes;

In particular, the key results have an impact on the operation and programming of activities, effective and time-bound monitoring and reporting as well as building strong partnerships with government, non-government, and private sector agencies.

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:

Development and Operational Effectiveness;
Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
Ability to lead formulation and monitoring of management projects.

Management and Leadership:

Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills;
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
Leads teams effectively and shows mentoring as well as conflict resolution skills;
Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills.

Knowledge Management and Learning:

Promotes knowledge management in the Ministry of Power and Energy/ Ministry of Environment and a learning environment in the office through leadership and personal example;
Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more Practice Areas, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Masters Degree or equivalent in the areas of engineering, energy technology, energy economics and or related field; or
A Bachelor’s degree in in the same areas with 5 years experience.

Experience:

Minimum of 3 years’ experience in the field of biomass sector, energy industry or donor-funded energy projects;
Past experience with UNDP or UN-related programmes will be of added advantage.

Language Requirements:

Fluency in English and Sinhala and/or Tamil with excellent written and oral communication skills is essential.