UNDP Jobs - 62782- Programme Specialist (Democratic Governance)

Programme Specialist (Democratic Governance)

Location :

Bogotá D.C., COLOMBIA

Type of Contract :

FTA Local

Starting Date :

22-Feb-2016

Application Deadline :

20-Jan-16 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

NO-C

Duration of Initial Contract :

1 año

Languages Required :

English Spanish

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

According to UNDP´s Strategic Plan 2014-2017, UNDP is expected to address development issues as they actually exist - complex, multi-dimensional and often unique to each society to effectively contribute to eradication of poverty and significant reduction of inequalities and exclusion. UNDP proposes to concentrate on three substantive areas of work, which are focused on a) How to adopt sustainable development pathways; b) How to build and/or strengthen inclusive and effective democratic governance; c) How to build resilience. UNDP is adopting an issues based approach to development needs and priorities in all of its areas of work.

When applied together in an integral manner, the areas of work are expected to contribute to the achievement of expected development outcomes. In case of Colombia, the three prioritized outcomes in its Country Progamme for 2015- 2019 are:

Growth and development are inclusive and sustainable, incorporating productive capacities that create employment and livelihoods for the poor and excluded;
Countries have strengthened institutions to progressively deliver universal access to basic services;
Early recovery and rapid return to sustainable development pathways are achieved in post-conflict and post-disaster settings.

UNDP´s approach to development considers the importance of being guided by national ownership and capacity, recognizing the intrinsic value of the body of economic, political, social, civil and cultural rights established by the United Nations, utilizing sustainable human development to guide our contributions, reflecting the pivotal significance of gender equality and women’s empowerment, ensuring participation and voice in pursuit of equitable access to development opportunities and gains across the population, advancing South-South and triangular cooperation and assisting countries to play an active role as global citizens. By adhering to universality, UNDP offers over 170 programme countries access to the services of UNDP and, through the effective exercise of UNDP’s coordination function, to those of the United Nations Development System.

Under the overall guidance of the Resident Representative, direct supervision of the Country Director, and the Deputy Country Director, and in close articulation with and the Coordinator of the Peace Building Area, the Programme Specialist is responsible for management of UNDP programme related to the Inclusive and effective Democratic Governance Portfolio within the Governance and Peace Building Cluster. The Programme Specialist analyzes political, social and economic trends and leads formulation, management, monitoring and management of evaluations of programme activities ensuring issues based approach and synergies with other areas of work within his/her portfolio and provides policy advice services.

Supervises and leads programme staff, coordinates activities of the project`s staff; assures coherent response as part of the Governance and Peace Building Cluster, works in close collaboration with other programme and the operations teams, project coordinators, Government officials, civil society, private sector, programme staff in other UN Agencies, UNDP HQs staff and technical advisors/experts, multi-lateral and bi-lateral donors and ensuring successful UNDP programme implementation.

The Programme Specialist will perform a variety of programme and project duties and will be responsible but not limited to guide the identification, design, formulation, results oriented monitoring and management of evaluations of programmes/projects, ensuring that they are properly implemented and contribute to the expected UNDP Country Programme (CPD) outcomes as well guaranteeing UNDP´s core principles of transparency, efficiency and quality in general.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Key Functions:

Coordination of inclusive and effective Inclusive Governance Portfolio as part of the Governance and Peace Building Cluster in close coordination and articulation with other areas of work;
Provision of top quality policy advice services on inclusive and effective inclusive governance issues to the Government at the national, regional and local levels and internally within UNDP;
Formulation, design and implementation of programme strategies within CPD framework ensuring an issues based approach, human rights based approach, gender approach and conflict sensitivity;
Creation of strategic partnerships and design and implementation of a resource mobilization strategy;
Supervision of programme staff and assurance of compliance to office strategic and operational requirements.

Coordination of inclusive and effective Inclusive Governance Portfolio as part of the Governance and Peace Building Cluster in close coordination and articulation with other areas of work to ensure effective contributions to the Country Programme Outcomes focusing on achievement of the following results:

Proactive articulation within Governance and Peace Building Cluster to assure integral and issues-based programmatic approach;
Thorough analysis and research of the political, social and economic situation in the country and preparation of substantive inputs to CCA, UNDAF, CPD, CPAP and other documents;
Collection and analysis of information about Inclusive Governance and related Sustainable Development Goals situation at national, regional and local levels for proposing public policies for improving governance;
Identification of areas for support and interventions related to Inclusive Governance area of work as part of the Governance and Peace Building Cluster in close coordination, collaboration and articulation with other areas of work;
Actively contributes to the application of issues-based approach to UNDP´s work at national, departmental and local levels to assure coherence and effectiveness of UNDP´s work in Colombia;
CO business processes mapping and preparation of the content of internal Standard Operating Procedures in Results Management;
Promotes the inclusion of cross-cutting issues (e.g. gender, human rights) where UNDP could strengthen its position to help address national challenges as part of its efforts to perform its mandate.

Ensures provision of top quality policy advice services on democratic governance issues to the Government at the national, regional and local levels:

Promotion of corporate policies on inclusive and effective Inclusive Governance, linkage with global and regional programmes in this area of work and coordination with Democratic Governance, Conflict Prevention & HIV Cluster for UNDP Regional Hub for LAC;
Identification of sources of information related to policy-driven issues. Identification and synthesis of best practices and lessons learnt directly linked to programme country policy goals;
Support to development of policies and institutions that will address the country problems and needs in collaboration with the Government and other strategic partners;
Sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice as well as knowledge building and sharing within the CO and implementing;
Organization of trainings for the operations/ projects staff on programme issues;
Enhances UNDP´s value added as a trusted partner of the local, regional and national level stakeholders.

Ensures effective and relevant formulation, design and implementation of programme strategies focusing on quality control and results:

Design and formulation of CPD within the area of responsibility, translating UNDP’s priorities into national, regional and local interventions. Coordination of programme implementation with the implementing partners. Introduction of results and performance indicators/ success criteria, cost recovery, targets and milestones;
Supervises the quality of programme/project to be presented to the local PAC by the Programme Analyst; quality control and follow up of contribution agreements; aware of the closure of projects once finalized. Programme Specialist can perform functions of Senior Manager in Atlas;
Manages the application of RBM tools, establishment of targets (BSC) for the achievement of results, and leads results oriented monitoring of the governance portfolio, including assurance of quality reporting oriented to results and management of outcome oriented evaluations.

Creation of strategic partnerships and design and implementation of a resource mobilization strategy:

Clear awareness of the bi-lateral and multi-lateral donors’ priorities, preparation of substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation in order to identify opportunities and niches for jointly development programmes/projects;
Development of partnerships with key stakeholders in the country as government institutions, bi-lateral and multi-lateral donors, private sector, civil society, Academy, IFI’s, UN Agencies in specific thematic areas based on SDGs and strategic goals of UNDP.

Supervision of programme staff and assurance of compliance to office strategic and operational requirements:

Oversees and guarantees compliance with UNDP`s rules, regulations and procedures by programme staff under his/her supervision;
Assures effective performance management, regular feed-back and implementation of learning plans of personnel under his/her supervision;
Jointly with Programme Analysts, performs systematic follow-up of annual work plans for guaranteeing their planned results as well as their overall implementation;
Risk management to mitigate its possible impact in programmes/projects;
Guarantee that programme analysts under his/her supervision contribute substantively in the audit of NIM (National Implementation) /DIM (Direct Implementation) and NGOs projects within its portfolio;
Guarantees that the programme analysts make an adequate follow up on audit recommendations. All exceptions are timely reported;
Supervises timely and substantive submission of mandatory reports to the counterparts, donors and HQ.

Impact of Results

The key results have an impact on the achievement of the Country Programme Outcomes and contribution to the SDGs in the country, which require integral programmatic approach involving different areas of work. The effectiveness of the results require close articulation within the Governance and Peace Building Cluster

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Advocacy/Advancing A Policy-Oriented Agenda:

Analysis and creation of messages and strategies

Creates effective advocacy strategies;
Performs analysis of political situations and scenarios, and contributes to the formulation of institutional responses.

Results-Based Programme Development and Management:

Contributing to results through provision of information

Provides information for linkages across programme activities to help identify critical points of integration;
Provides information and documentation on specific stages of projects/programme implementation;
Provides background information to identify opportunities for project development and helps drafting proposals;
Participates in the formulation of project proposals.

Building Strategic Partnerships:

Identifying and building partnerships

Effectively networks with partners seizing opportunities to build strategic alliances relevant to UNDP’s mandate and strategic agenda and actively seeks opportunities for coordination and articulation at national, departmental and local levels;
Identifies needs and interventions for capacity building of counterparts, clients and potential partners;
Promotes UNDP’s agenda in inter-agency meetings.

Innovation and Marketing New Approaches:

Developing new approaches

Seeks a broad range of perspectives in developing project proposals;
Identifies new approaches and promotes their use in other situations;
Creates an environment that fosters innovation and innovative thinking;
Makes the case for innovative ideas from the team with own supervisor.

Resource Mobilization (Field Duty Stations):

Implementing resource mobilization strategies

Analyzes information on potential bilateral donors and national counterparts to recommend a strategic approach;
Identifies and compiles lessons learned;
Develops a resource mobilization strategy at the country level.

Promoting Organizational Learning and Knowledge Sharing:

Developing tools and mechanisms

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.

Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise:

In-depth knowledge of the subject-matter

Understands more advanced aspects of primary area of specialization as well as the fundamental concepts of related disciplines;
Keeps abreast of new developments on complex and multi-dimensional development issues, in particular issues related to Democratic Governance area of work 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.

Global Leadership and Advocacy for UNDP’s Goals:

Analysis and creation of messages and strategies

Performed analysis of political situations and scenarios, and contributes to the formulation of institutional responses;
Uses the opportunity to bring forward and disseminate materials for global advocacy work and adapts it for use at country level.

Client Orientation:

Contributing to positive outcomes for the client

Anticipates client needs;
Works towards creating an enabling environment for a smooth relationship between the clients and service provider;
Demonstrates understanding of client’s perspective;
Solicits feedback on service provision and quality.

Core Competencies:

Promoting ethics and integrity, creating organizational precedents;
Building support and political acumen;
Building staff competence, creating an environment of creativity and innovation;
Building and promoting effective teams;
Creating and promoting enabling environment for open communication;
Creating an emotionally intelligent organization;
Leveraging conflict in the interests of UNDP & setting standards;
Sharing knowledge across the organization and building a culture of knowledge sharing and learning;
Promoting learning and knowledge management/sharing is the responsibility of each staff member;
Fair and transparent decision making; calculated risk-taking.

Selected candidate will be required to take UNDP’s mandatory training courses on Prevention of Harassment, Sexual Harassment and Abuse of Authority in the Workplace; The Gender Journey: Thinking Outside the Box; The Human Right based Approach as well as both online UN Staff Security Training courses, UNDP Legal Framework course and Ethics Training Assessment within 2 months of their assuming their functions in this position.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s Degree or equivalent in Political Sciences, Social Sciences or related fields.

Experience:

At least five years of relevant experience at the national or international level in providing management advisory services, hands-on experience in design, results oriented monitoring and management of evaluations of development programmes/projects;
Proven leadership in multicultural and multidisciplinary environment as well as good team spirit and collaborative approach;
In depth knowledge of the functioning of the state, including congress, government at national and local level, judicial systems as well as civil society, and profound knowledge of capacity development to implement strategies for inclusiveness, accountability and effectiveness at national, regional and local levels to benefit in particular vulnerable or discriminated groups as indigenous, afro-descendents, displaced, women and others.

Language:

Fluency in Spanish and English.

Important

Only on-line applications which contain a signed UNDP P11 form will be considered. You can find P-11 form at http://sas.undp.org/Documents/P11_Personal_history_form-es.docx

Only nationals from Colombia are elegible to apply.

UN/UNDP internal candidates may be applying for this position.

We strongly encourage qualified women to apply.