Emplois au PNUD - 57676- Chief Technical Advisor (Stregthening the Electora

Chief Technical Advisor (Stregthening the Electoral Cycle in Solomon Islands)

Lieu :

Honiara, ILES SALOMON

Type de contrat :

FTA International

Date de commencement :

01-Sep-2015

Date limite de candidature :

10-Jul-15 (Minuit New York, États-Unis)

Niveau du poste :

P-5

Durée du contrat initial

1 year

Langues requises :

Anglais

Durée prévue de la mission :

Renewable subject to performance and availability of funding.

Le PNUD s’engage à recruter un personnel divers en termes de genre, de nationalité et de culture. Nous encourageons de même les personnes issues des minorités ethniques, des communautés autochtones ou handicapées à postuler. Toutes les candidatures seront traitées dans la plus stricte confidentialité. Le PNUD ne tolère pas l’exploitation et / ou les atteintes sexuelles, ni aucune forme de harcèlement, y compris le harcèlement sexuel, et / ou toutes formes de discrimination. Tous/tes les candidats/tes selectectionnes /ées devront ainsi se soumettre à de rigoureuses vérifications relatives aux références fournies ainsi qu’à leurs antécédents.

Historique

Solomon Islands achieved its independence from the United Kingdom in 1978. The country has gone through some critical test of sustainability since independence due to ethnic tensions that emerged from 1999-2002. While national general elections were held peacefully in August 2010, with the support of the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI), the tenure of the Government lasted only until November 2011. The Prime Minister was obliged to resign, prior to the tabling of a non-confidence motion, and the former Finance Minister became the current Prime Minister.

The Office of the Solomon Islands Electoral Commission (OSIEC) is an administrative body that acts as the secretariat to the Solomon Islands Electoral Commission (SIEC) and is regulated by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The OSIEC is responsible for organizing and supervising the voter registration and the election for the Members of Parliament.

On 24 November 2011 the Speaker of the Parliament and Chairman of the SIEC requested the United Nations (UN) to develop a partnership with OSIEC- with the objective of providing advice and support in implementing the 2011-2015 operational plan. A UN Needs Assessment Mission recommended in June 2012 to develop an electoral support project for the period 2012-2015 and an extension of the project is being discussed.

The UNDP Strengthening the Electoral Cycle in the Solomon Islands Project focuses on supporting the electoral cycle in the Solomon Islands between 2012 and 2015, and has provided support to national elections in 2014. A major focus has been to assist and coordinate with other development partners and electoral stakeholders in the development of a sustainable, cost effective and inclusive voter registration system to ensure the integrity of the 2014 vote. Strengthening the institutional and management capacity of the OSIEC, through the improvement of the electoral administration as a whole, is also a key priority.

The project has four key outputs which aim to assist the Solomon Islands Electoral Commission in the timely and effective implementation of its five-year operational plan, including capacity development initiatives, civic education development and outreach and legal and electoral reform.

The project also aims to develop synergies and partnership with a range of national partners to ensure that the enabling environment is also supported, with a view to elections contributing to broader development.

Under the overall guidance and in coordination with the UNDP Sub-Office in the Solomon Islands, the Office of the Solomon Islands Electoral Commission and the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Chief Technical Advisor (CTA) will implement the project's activities and ensure that project objectives are reached as set out in the project document. The CTA will report directly to the UNDP Deputy Resident Representative and be responsible to support the SIEC. The CTA will also serve as a project manager of the SECSIP.

Devoirs et responsabilités

The CTA will be responsible for the overall management and administration of the project in close consultation with the Chief Electoral Officer and will have the following responsibilities under the guidance of the project board:

In close consultation with the Chief Electoral Officer, provide high level lead and senior technical advice in all Electoral matters, including electoral reform;
In close consultation with the Chief Electoral Officer, provide technical lead and senior level advice for strategic project planning, management and implementation;
In close consultation with the Chief Electoral Officer, provide technical lead and senior level advice on policy dialogue and advocacy;
In close consultation with the Chief Electoral Officer, provide technical lead and senior level advice regarding capacity building and capacity development;
Maintain strategic partnerships and ensure coordination of stakeholders.

The CTA’s tasks will entail support to formulation, implementation issues, evaluations and lessons learned exercises. The lessons learned in this project will feed into the implementation of the electoral assistance project.

The incumbent will assist OSIEC through an electoral cycle approach with a particular focus on capacity and organizational development. S/he will assist the OSIEC in coordinating with the donor community and other stakeholders (civil society organizations, media sources, political parties and international partners).

Key Responsibilities:

Provide high level lead and senior technical advice in all Electoral matters:

Lead the strategic planning, formulation and monitoring of programmatic issues and is the key senior policy advisor to the OSIEC, based on specialized mapping and knowledge accumulation in all Electoral matters including voter registration and conduct of elections;
Provide political, institutional and policy advice on all aspects of electoral capacity building, administration and management of the OSIEC in close consultation with the Chief Electoral Officer;
Identify programme development challenges and highlights key election issues and provides policy advice based on best global experiences and practices;
Provide substantial advice in formulating policy options for OSIEC on electoral issues.

Provide technical lead and senior level advise for project planning, management and implementation:

Ensure soundness in the design, organization and implementation of agreed activities, including by preparing and/or reviewing ToR for specific activities and assisting in the identification of short-term experts on specific subject areas;
In coordination with OSIEC provide direct guidance to national and international technical staff working with the project;
Ensure the overall relevance, and performance of the project, the effective realization and quality of outputs, and adherence to applicable UNDP and SIG standards, rules and regulations;
Promote gender equality and women’s political participation in the electoral process;
Ensure gender mainstreaming within the project, OSIEC and other project partners;
Ensure strong partnerships and coordination between the project, OSIEC, Ministry of Home Affairs, donors, and other stakeholders, by facilitating communication and exchange of lessons learned and good practices;
Provide technical advice to the project in developing baselines and indicators for project monitoring and evaluation, as well as in preparing project reports focused on capturing results, lessons learned and good practices for possible wider application;
Exercise overall responsibility for planning, implementation, management, monitoring and coordination aspects of the project operations and personnel;
In close consultation with the Chief Electoral Officer, ensure the efficient functioning of the project office within the framework of the OSIEC;
Coordinate with Electoral Assistance Division, UNDP Regional Centre for Asia-and the Pacific (APRC) and other UN agencies providing Electoral assistance;
Coordinate with other international organizations that provide support to the electoral process;
Manage the activities of the project team, as well as local and international experts;
Manage UNDP support and advise the OSIEC in all areas of election preparations;
Ensure timely production and submission of progress reports to UNDP and donors;
Support coordination of all electoral support activities through regular contacts and briefings with the donor(s), project support and assurance structures;
Organize the Project Board Meeting , project review and/or evaluation meetings;
Follow-up on the implementation of Project Board decisions and recommendation;
Perform other duties as required.

Provide technical lead and senior level advice on policy dialogue and advocacy:

Serve as an advocate for UN core values and UNDP’s policies on democratic governance in the dialogue with the OSIEC and facilitate the practical implementation of this dialogue through the project activities, particularly with regard to the promotion of women’s political participation;
Provide substantive inputs to the preparation of OSIEC, Government and UNDP policy notes, and statements for important events.

Provide technical lead and senior level advice regarding capacity building Capacity Development;

Identify priorities and capacity development needs in the design of the multi-year (2012-2015) technical assistance project, quarterly work plans, and establish a timely and participatory work planning process;
Provide technical advice to enhance the capacity of the OSIEC;
Provide technical support and technical expertise to the Chief Electoral Officer and the OSIEC to develop capacity with regard to the holding of credible, transparent and inclusive elections, including the development of appropriate materials and training programs for officers and staff and ensure the institutionalization of the capacity being developed.

Maintain strategic partnerships and ensure stakeholder coordination:

Proactively engage with donors and stakeholders with a view to strengthen communication and supporting coordinated strategic planning;
Network with experts in the international development community, government partners, UN Organizations and appropriate institutions, if required.

Compétences

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates high moral integrity by modeling the UN's values and ethical standards, sound political judgment, as diplomacy, impartially and discretion and proved capacity of initiative, leadership and autonomy;
Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic, goals of UNDP;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitively and adaptability;
Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Functional Competencies:

Strategic Policy Direction

Be able to lead the strategic planning, formulation and monitoring of programmatic issues and is the key senior policy advisor to the OSIEC, based on specialized mapping and knowledge accumulation in the subject areas;
Capacity to provide political, institutional and policy advice on all aspects of electoral capacity building, administration and management of the OSIEC in close consultation with the Chief Electoral Officer;
Ability to identify programme development challenges and highlights key election issues and provides policy advice based on best global experiences and practices;
Demonstrates capacity to provide substantial advice in formulating policy options for OSIEC on electoral issues.

Programme Support

To be able to advise OSIEC leadership on strategies in preparing a long-term capacity building strategy for the institution;
To be able to provide advice and recommendations to the UNDP Country Office on how UNDP can further strengthen and support the OSIEC;
To be able to guide and advise, in close consultation with the Chief Electoral Officer, the Project team in preparation of the project activities and budgets of the project.

Management

Demonstrates proven team-working skills, specific experience of mentoring colleagues and of other aspects of capacity development;
Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
Effective communication skills and ability to establish good working relationships with national and local authorities, and donor partners;
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure;
Ability to work and act under pressure and with discretion in a politically sensitive environment, with a minimum of comfort;
Proven negotiation, analytical, networking and organizational skills.

Development and Operational Effectiveness

Demonstrates capacity to plan, prioritize and deliver tasks on time to meet goals in a highly pressured environment and to support other colleagues in achieving similar goals;
Demonstrates capacity to respond flexible and positively to change through active involvement and generation of innovative, practical solutions to challenging situations;
Ability to facilitate strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
Ability to facilitate implementation, monitoring and evaluation of project interventions as well as resource mobilization in close consultation with local counterparts and transferring knowledge, particularly to the Chief Electoral Officer.

Knowledge Management and Learning

Promotes knowledge management and a learning environment in the office through leadership and personal example: Excellent knowledge of capacity building theory and the application of methodology: good understanding of capacity assessment methodologies;
Excellent ability to identify significant capacity building opportunities, ability to get capacity built, excellent ability to demonstrate national capacities built (mastery of the tools and their application);
Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more Practice Areas, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills;
Display understanding of the relevant contemporary ICT tools and continuously act towards personal capacity building;
Excellent communication skills (written and oral): Sensitivity to and responsiveness to all partners, particularly the Chief Electoral Officer and OSIEC; Respectful and helpful relations with all UN/UNDP staff.

Communications and Networking

Has excellent oral communication skills in English and conflict resolution competency to manage inter-group dynamics and mediate conflicting interests of varied actors;
Has excellent written communication skills in English, with analytic capacity and ability to synthesize project outputs and relevant findings for the preparation of quality project reports;
Maturity and confidence in dealing with senior and high ranking members of national and international institutions, government and non-government.

Qualifications et expériences requises

Education:

Masters Degree in Law, Political Sciences, International Relations, Management or a related field. Post graduations, Specific study and publications in governance and electoral matters are an asset.

Experience:

At least ten years of progressive experience in election field, preferably in a post-conflict environment, in the area of electoral reform and capacity development of democratic institutions.
Extensive experience working within a Government Electoral Institution at a senior or high level
Past experience in working with the UN – and UNDP in particular – would be preferable. Knowledge of UNDP electoral assistance procedures and best practice and past experience from the Pacific region would also be an asset;
Experience in working, liaising and collaborating with election officials, governments' representatives, civil society organizations, and public international organizations;
Experience in donor coordination, donor-government relations and managing a multi-donor basket fund is an asset;
Computer proficiency, including working knowledge of MS Office products (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Front Page, Adobe In-Design; web-based management systems.

Language:

Fluent in English.