UNDP Jobs - 16467- Programme Advisor (Early Recovery and Livelihoods)

Programme Advisor (Early Recovery and Livelihoods)- re-advertised

Location :

Port-au-Prince, Haiti, with extensive travel throughout the country, HAITI

Type of Contract :

FTA International

Starting Date :

01-Jul-2010

Application Deadline :

07-Jul-10 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-5

Duration of Initial Contract :

1 year

Languages Required :

English French

Expected Duration of Assignment :

1 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

Prior to the earthquake of January 2010, UNDP Haiti was working in six main areas: Rule of Law and Security, Poverty Reduction, Democratic Governance, Disaster Risk Reduction, Early Recovery and Environment and Energy.

On 12 January 2010, the strongest earthquake in more than 200 years, measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale, rocked Haiti at 4.53 p.m. The earthquake struck hardest in the Ouest Province with an estimated population of 2.2 million, and the epicenter was located only 17 km from Port-au-Prince. By mid-February, the Government had estimated the toll of the earthquake to have reached over 217,000 killed and more than 300,000 injured, with over 97,000 houses completely destroyed and over 188,000 damaged.

Damage to public and private institutions and essential infrastructure, including the seaport, was widespread and severe, with much ministerial and other government infrastructure having been completely destroyed. The country’s civil service and security units lost numerous staff, which has severely limited national capacity for coordination and response.

Hundreds of thousands of people are now living in spontaneous settlements near the remains of their homes throughout the region directly affected by the earthquake, while the Government estimates that over 500,000 people have left the Capital. In total, relief agencies estimate that up to a third of Haiti’s total population, or 3 million people, were directly affected by the disaster, including 1 million left homeless and 2 million in need of food and other humanitarian assistance.

In responses to the devastating effects of the earthquake, UNDP Haiti will now be re-directing its efforts to respond to the crisis and its aftermath prioritizing short term employment opportunities including the link to debris management, to support livelihoods and those who lost their livelihood assets; as well as protection of vulnerable groups especially female-headed households. Such schemes will also indirectly inject cash into local economies thus stimulating local businesses and promoting early recovery at community level.

The UNDP Haiti Early Recovery and Livelihoods project will focus activities in three key areas:

recovery of livelihoods and reduction in poverty through provision of short term employment opportunities - ‘Cash-for-work’ (CFW) schemes - for the most affected sectors of the population, including specifically targeted ‘food for work’ programmes for certain beneficiaries.
disaster risk management through the rehabilitation of flood control and other small infrastructures such as irrigation channels thus creating opportunities for improving community livelihoods, and expanding local agricultural production, and
support to the re-emergence of the private sector with an impact on job creation and recovery of local economies through the provision of cash grants for micro, small and medium enterprises and business development.
The programme combines upstream and downstream approaches, currently with the aim to increase successful implementation methodologies at community level and increase partnership with other UN agencies (notably WFP and UNICEF), local authorities, NGOs and community organizations.
It is hoped that all of the above will contribute socio-economic and political stability thus laying the foundations for longer-term economic recovery.
Under the overall guidance and direct supervision of the Deputy Country Director for Programme, the Programme Management Advisor is responsible for technical leadership of the livelihoods activities of UNDP Haiti.
Furthermore, the incumbent will provide guidance to project managers in the Early Recovery and Livelihoods programme area and ensure cross-unit cooperation and coordination. The Programme Management Advisor is expected to spend a reasonable percentage of his/her time in the provinces outside Port-au-Prince most affected by impact of the earthquake.

Duties and Responsibilities

Within the Early Recovery and Livelihoods programme area, the Programme Management Advisor supervises UNDP ERL activities and provides substantive guidance to senior management and national counterparts:

Drive the development of UNDP Haiti ERL strategies and programmes, in consultation with the Government of Haiti and national and international partners;
Analyze the livelihoods activities and advise senior management on opportunities and overall direction;
Build strong relations with national counterparts and ensure that UNDP ERL activities respond to national priorities.

The Programme Management Advisor provides strategic direction and supervision of the Early Recovery and Livelihoods Programme section:

Programme Management:

Provides leadership for all projects under ERL;
Leads the programme team of ERL, supervises staff and ensures team spirit;
Maintains regular contact with project and programme staff on programmatic issues and support and oversees the work of the project managers of the various projects;
Ensures, in close consultation with the Programme Support Management Unit, the effective application of RBM tools, elaboration of coherent work plans, project and programme documents, preparation of compelling proposals and monitors unit work plans, programme effectiveness and achievement of results;
Ensures the highest possible quality of delivery and ensures value for money;
Manages sensitive issues with great tact and positions UNDP as a neutral actor with high quality policy advice;
Devises strategies for increased programme delivery and quality programming;
Ensures monitoring and evaluation of the projects, including regular field visits and the organization of Project Board and Steering Committee meetings;
Ensures that national counterparts, at local and central level, endorse and participate in the identification of priority interventions, building national capacity and ensuring growing responsibilities of counterparts
Ensures the promotion and application of the UNDP drivers of development effectiveness (promotes national ownership and the development of national capacities; fosters policies and partnerships and promotes gender equality) for enhanced programmatic results, and other
development standards as per UNDP’s corporate multi-year strategy;
Ensures that all programming is founded on the Human Rights Based approach and that programme resources are used in a balanced way and are “conflict sensitive”, ensures adherence to the Do-No-Harm principle and any joint UN operating principles in Haiti relevant to the programme area;
Ensures the integration of cross-cutting issues, such as gender, HIV/AIDS, peace building, human rights and ICT, into the design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of programme/projects of the Livelihoods program;

Financial Management:

In close consultation with the Programme Support Management Unit (PMSU), the elaboration of coherent work plans and budgets for all activities in the programme portfolio and the continuous monitoring of project work plans,
Review of high quality project documents and proposals, and encouraging adequate peer review of the same through established mechanisms;
Integrity of financial and administrative operations in the programme area by oversight of financial and budgetary aspects of the projects, under advice of the Deputy Programme Manager, Operations staff, and other support staff;
Strict and consistent application of UNDP rules and regulations (including the fast track procedures approved for Haiti) and ensuring the implementation of clear accountability mechanisms throughout the programme portfolio.

Team Work:

Promotes cross-unit team work and the professional development of the team members, through coaching and mentoring. Promotes coordination among the various components of the Livelihoods programme area.

Resource Mobilization:

Supports overall resource mobilization for the programme area;
Advocates for UNDP with government counterparts, donor community, international financial institutions and the UN;
Liaises continually with and forge close linkages with other UN offices, programs, agencies and entities, and other international and national stakeholders concerned with or providing assistance on Livelihoods issues to Haiti.

The Programme Management Advisor ensures knowledge building and management focusing on achievement of the following results:

Identification and synthesis of best practices and lessons learned from the Early Recovery and Livelihoods Programme for organizational sharing and learning;
Actively participates on the knowledge networks and takes advantage of best practices and lessons learned that are available in the region and globally;
Supports capacity-building of national counterparts;
Promotes a knowledge sharing and learning culture in the CO and, in particular, within the ERL programme

The Programme Management Advisor ensures the active participation of the ERL team in the Early Recovery Cluster and other coordination mechanisms related to livelihood issues.

Assist inter-agency resource mobilization in support of Early Recovery response plans;
Any other tasks as assigned by the supervisorsThe key results have an impact on the overall success of the Country Programme by reaching Programme Specific goals. The Incumbent is responsible for contact with national counterparts and monitoring of the UNDP programme and for recommendations to the DCD Programme on necessary course correction in response to changes in the country context, new treats and opportunities. When requested by the DCD Programme, the incumbent represents UNDP in inter-agency and national fora, liaises with external clients and a broad range of constituencies, UNDP counterparts in the Government and other international organizations.

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:

Has specialist knowledge in the area of Early Recovery and Livelihoods;
Has specialist knowledge in the area of cash for work and private sector development;
Promotes knowledge management in UNDP and a learning environment in the office through leadership and personal example;
In-depth practical knowledge of inter-disciplinary development issues
Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more Practice Areas, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills
Seeks and applies knowledge, information, and best practices inside and outside UNDP
Ability to lead strategic planning, change processes, RBM and reporting
Ability to lead formulation, oversight of implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development projects
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 openness to change and ability to manage complexities
Ability to lead effectively, mentoring as well as conflict resolution skills
Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills
Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure
Proven networking, team-building, organizational and communication skills

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced university degree (or equivalent) preferably in political science, international studies, development studies or any other related field.
Minimum of 10 years of relevant experience in development in a governmental, UN, multilateral or civil society organization in a multi-cultural setting and/or post-conflict setting;
Prior experience with UNDP in Recovery and Livelihoods programming (including cash for work) highly desirable;
Specialist expertise in the area of Recovery and Livelihoods, preferably with recent experience in Early Recovery from conflict
and/or disaster recovery or disaster risk management including experience in managing ‘Cash for work’ schemes
Demonstrated effectiveness in policy advisory services to Government counterparts
5 or more years of management responsibilities of similar size and complexity.

Language requirements

French and English

It would be desirable for applicants to have had prior experience in crisis countries, although this is not a requirement.