UNDP Jobs - 72977- International Project Start-up Advisor

International Project Start-up Advisor

Location :

Phnom Penh, CAMBODIA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

06-Jul-2017

Application Deadline :

12-Jul-17 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

45 days, and from July 06, 2017 to October 12, 2017

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

45 days, and from July 06, 2017 to October 12, 2017

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

Land degradation is a serious issue in Cambodia posing a direct threat to food and water security since it affects agriculture productivity and water retention capacity of watersheds. It is linked with deforestation and forest degradation, and exacerbated by climate change perpetuating increased vulnerability to climate related risks in turn. The project title “Collaborative Management for Watershed and Ecosystem Service Protection and Rehabilitation in the Cardamom Mountains, Upper Prek Thnot River Basin (CoWES)” is designed to reduce pressures on upland watershed areas from competing land uses by demonstrating collaborative management and rehabilitation of agriculture lands and forest areas by promoting sustainable land management and stabilizing watershed catchment functions in a priority degraded area, Upper Prek Thnot watershed in Kampong Speu Province as identified by the draft National Action Plan to Combat Land Degradation 2011 - 2020. The project aims to achieve three main outputs: i) On-farm soil conservation and agro-forestry practices improved; ii) Community forest areas restored and sustainably managed; and iii) Watershed management and monitoring capacity improved. They are consistent with UNDP Cambodia’s Country Programme Document (CPD) 2016-2018 as it specifically requires “building resilience” by contributing to strengthening environmental services and the system of forest management and protected areas, including sustainable land and watershed management.

Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) is the Implementing Partner (IP), with support from a number of key relevant Ministries. To ensure effective engagement of stakeholders in order to establish institutional arrangements at provincial and district levels to lead watershed management programs and host M&E system in partnership with relevant stakeholders at various levels, various capacity development and trainings for communities as well as for national, provincial and district government officials will be provided by the project through consultation meetings and workshops to promote sustainable land and forest management practices in the targeted area.

During the inception phase of the Project (starting from the approval until approximately two months after the official launch of the Project), it needs technical support from Internatioal Technical Expert for additional consultations and coordination to develop a detailed work plan, procurement/recruitment plan, terms of refrences, identify specific target sites, initiate procurement/recruitment activities, prepare for the official launch event and produce an inception report capturing activities during the inception phase. To this end, UNDP is seeking to recruit a Project Start Up Advisor who will provide such services to ensure a smooth start-up of the project.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Project Start-Up Advisor will work closely with the National Project Director (NPD) and Manager from MAFF, the IP of the Proejct to ensure the smooth start up of the Project during the inception phase in coordination with key stakeholders identified in the Project Document:

The specific tasks of the Project Start Up Advisor will include:

Preparation of an inception report

Coordinate with and support the IP in preparation of stakeholder consultations to get their feedback and comments on the initiative and ensure they are reflected in the inception report;
Support the IP to prepare the multi-year and annual work plans for 2017-2020. Multi-year work plan should include a list and sequence of Outputs and Activities to be carried out by responsible agencies. The annual work plan includes more detailed quarterly work plan, detailed budget, procurement plan, stakeholder engagement/consultation plan, Gender Mainstreaming Work Plan communication plan and data collection needs for sex-disaggregated information;
Finalize Terms of References (TORs) for all positions to be recruited for the project implementation after the project formal launch in close consultation with IP and relevant stakeholders. Formulation of these TORs require consultations with relevant focal government institutions;
Update the project Theory of Change (ToC) based on the up-to-date data available including the results of ethnograpy study commissioned by UNDP in the project site;
(If necessary), update the Project Results Resources Framework (RRF) with the inclusion of the updated/refined indicators, baseline information and targets. Based on the updated Project Results Framework, produce a detailed M&E plan which include data/variables to be collected for each Output, frequency and method of data collection, and responsible agency(ies) for data collection. Update project monitoring and evaluation plan including updating project risks, issues and lessons learned;
Keep key stakeholders abreast of the updates and adjustments in the work plan, M&E plan, stakeholder engagement plan, etc.

Preparation for the Inception Workshop

Develop a brief concept note for the Inception Workshop. The concept note should include the recommended list of participants, objective, proposed agenda;
Prepare presentation and communication materials for the Workshop;
Prepare opening remarks for key speakers.

Follow up on the Inception Workshop

Produce an Inception Workshop Report which captures the discussions during the Workshop that results in change in scope of the project as well as the results of the consultations prior to the Workshop (the template of the Inception Report will be provided). All documents that are updated prior to the Workshop should be included as Annexes to the Report;
Organize and facilitate an internal meeting (involving the National Project Director & Manager, National Project Advisor, and UNDP Programme Analyst) to handover the project implementation responsibilities.

Interested Offerors must visit this link http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=38511 to download Individual Consultant Procurement Notice, Terms of Reference, and Document Templates to be included when submitting this online application.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Strong interpersonal and communication skills;
Excellent English written communication skills, with analytic capacity and ability to synthesize project outputs and relevant findings for the preparation of quality project reports;
Ability to speak, read and write technical and conversational English;
Ability to understand new terminology and concepts easily and to synthesize information from different sources into a coherent project document;
Skill in negotiating effectively in sensitive situations;
Skill in achieving results through persuading, influencing and working with others;
Skill in facilitating meetings effectively and efficiently and to resolve conflicts as they arise;
Maturity and confidence in dealing with senior and high-ranking members of international, regional and national institutions;
Displays sensitivity and adaptability to different cultures, genders, religions, races, nationalities and age groups;
Good oral communication skills and conflict resolution competency to manage inter-group dynamics and mediate conflicting interests of varied actors;
Good team player, self-starter, has ability to work under minimum supervision and maintain good relationships.

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;
Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree in natural resource management, agricultural development, climatology/meteorology, water resources management, environmental sciences, disaster management, in development or related fields

Experience:

At least 5 years relevant work experience in the management/oversight of projects;
Proven experience in managing project financed by GEF-Land Degradation and/or Sustainable Forest Management Fund; the Adaptation Fund, GEF-Least Developed Country Fund and/or Special Climate Change Fund;
Experience in developing log-frames and SMART-based indicators for GEF financed projects;
Proven experience in UNDP Programming cycle, applied rule and regulation;
Experience in project design and start up.

Language Requirement:

Fluency in English

UNDP reserves right to reject any applications that is incomplete.

Please be informed that we don’t accept application submitted via email.

Interested Offerors are required to submit application via UNDP jobsite system as the application screening and evaluation will be done through UNDP jobsite system. Please note that UNDP jobsite system allows only one uploading of application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into a single file. Your on-line applications submission will be acknowledged where an email address has been provided. If you do not receive an e-mail acknowledgement within 24 hours of submission, your application may not have been received. In such cases, please resubmit the application, if necessary. Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.

Any request for clarification/additional information on this procurement notice shall be communicated in writing to UNDP office or send to email dalis.heng@undp.org and cc procurement.kh@undp.org . While the Procurement Unit would endeavor to provide information expeditiously, only requests receiving at least 5 working days prior to the submission deadline will be entertained. Any delay in providing such information will not be considered as a reason for extending the submission deadline. The UNDP's response (including an explanation of the query but without identifying the source of inquiry) will be posted in Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice page as provided above. Therefore, all prospective Offerors are advised to visit the page regularly to make obtain update related to this Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice.