UNDP Jobs - 3006- Chief Technical Advisor

Chief Technical Advisor - Re Advertised

Location :

Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia

Type of Contract :

ALD International

Starting Date :

15-Dec-2007

Application Deadline :

27-Nov-07 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

ALD-4

Duration of Initial Contract :

12 months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

12 months

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 main objective and focus of the One-Voter One-Ballot programme is to help strengthen the democratic character of Macedonian elections and promote women’s electoral rights in communities where irregularities are traditionally observed. Through working with national and international partners - mainly the State Election Commission (SEC) and local non-governmental organizations, political parties and international organizations that have activities in the filed of election support and election reforms. The programme aims at strengthening democratic institutions, improving the standards of local electoral practices and change of deeply-rooted cultural practices.

The programme – which essentially is a multi-donor integrated programme with various components – consists of distinct components (each of them with a scope/complexity and eventual size (when fully funded by prospective donors) of what could constitute a separate project) that require strong coordination to ensure coherence of the deliveries and impacts in the programme’s entirety. More specifically, the programme is an amalgamation of the following semi-independent components: capacity building of multiple stakeholders and governmental organization for long and mid term strategic planning; design and implementation of civic education programme for 4 different types of target groups; coordination of legal reform pertaining to the laws governing election procedures; and capacity building of governmental and non governmental partners. The programme is intended to provide a dynamic forum to raise public awareness, sensitize leaders and target vulnerable and marginalized groups on women’s disenfranchisement in It has been designed as a framework through which proxy and family voting will be addressed and active collaboration sought among stakeholders, principally the State Election Commission, to eradicate the problem.

At the same time, the programme will be implemented in a highly politicized environment in a post-conflict multi-ethnic state on a matter that is politically very sensitive, as some has assessed proxy and family voting in as a means for political mobilization of votes along the ethnic/political lines. The Chief Technical Advisor – while implementing the programme – will be required to make strategic assessments and judgments, which would lead to his/her effort to direct and manage the group of highly professional experts to engage in capacity building/awareness raising activities in a way that the programme – in its entirety –addresses the above systemic constraints that the elections in Macedonia faces.

Because of the high political stake of this issue for the country’s successful democratic transition, and therefore for its progress towards EU accession, the interest in this programme is already high among the international community. While the programme is currently funded solely by the UN Democracy Fund, additional donors have already expressed interest to finance the programme to enable it to achieve its intended objectives in full, which will immediately increase the size of the programme by 4 fold. Donor relations – both substantive and in terms of resources mobilization – will be an important part of the work of the Chief Technical Advisor.

There are three main outputs intended to be achieved by the programme:

1. Seminars to place the problem of proxy and family voting firmly on the political agenda. This will be achieved through a series of annual seminars envisaged to (1) provide a high public profile for the other project activities and (2) encourage acknowledgement of the problem by stakeholders and commitment to addressing it. This will involve strategic planning and effective organization of what could be (and perhaps ought to be) highly politically sensitive events, in direct consultation with UNDP senior management, high-level officials from the Government and international communities, as well as other political leaders.

2. Strengthening of Election Authorities and Other Stakeholder Capacity. This will be achieved through: (1) Management of professional experts for Training-of-Trainers Programme with the State Election Commission to integrate consideration of proxy and family voting into their enforcement and voter education activities and to strengthen their capacity in this issue. (2) Management of professional experts for Training-of-Trainers Programme for political party observers and domestic observer groups to acknowledge the problem and increase the commitment to solve it. (3) Management of professional experts for raining of Municipal Gender Equality Commission at the targeted areas and (4) Management of professional experts for Capacity building of the Media through the roundtable discussions and (5) Management of professional experts for Capacity building of the State Election Commission to co-ordinate reforms to the legal, regulatory and organizational framework (voter list) governing elections.

3. Strengthening of Voter Awareness. The aim of this component of the programme is to develop the voter education capacity of (1) Macedonia’s civil society organizations through establishing a CSO Stakeholder Forum on Electoral Integrity, (2) Develop a capacity of State Election Commission for a state-wide media-based voter information and education, and (3) Engage with the initiatives undertaken in schools and universities to raise citizen’s awareness, with special emphasis on female new voters. This will involve management of group of highly experienced CSO groups/members to deliver the desired outcomes.

Duties and Responsibilities

Job Summary

Under the overall guidance of the Resident Representative and supervision of the Deputy Resident Representative, and in close collaboration with the UNDP Programme Officer and the designated member from the State Election Commission, the Chief Technical Advisor will be responsible for implementation of the multi-donor integrated programme of “One Voter One Ballot - Addressing family and proxy voting in Macedonia”. S/he will be responsible to manage the broad range of areas related to evolving strategic planning of the programme activities, identification of innovative measures to overcome issues as they arise, and management of groups of professionals who will provide technical assistance (and to ensure they generate mutually reinforcing and coherent impact). They should be built on his/her excellent political judgments skills, ability to build relations with high-level officials and donors, ability to undertake timely coordination of activities with all necessary stakeholders, in addition to his/her capacity to exercise oversight on operational and administrative aspects of programme management.

S/he will be based at the premises of the State Election Commission and is expected to provide support to the Commission in the implementation of the project activities. This will facilitate the ownership and leadership of the State Election Commission.

Function / Expected Results: Advisory and Coordination

Advise on innovative means and alternatives to address the ways to systemically improve the current practice of family and proxy voting in the country. Also develop the project strategy, which identifies and mobilizes key stakeholders and target groups, defines timeframe and resources made available;
Advocate (and suggest ways to best advocate) against proxy and family voting, in direct consultation with UNDP senior management and in partnership with the members of the international community.
Lead, coordinate and manage a group of professional experts in delivering the 1) design and production of the training materials, 2) variety of training activities planned under the programme and 3) provide advice to State Election Commission in developing criteria for selection of the members for trainer or trainers programs.
Exercise judgment, and work in close cooperation with the State Election Commission to coordinate the overall organization of the 1) high-level seminars 2) media roundtable discussions, 3) stakeholder forum and 4) dissemination of information and communication strategy for the programme.
Establish and manage the secretariat services, and provide substantive inputs to the Steering Committee of the programme, it’s strategic planning and decision-making;
Coordinate donor support and ongoing activities in the filed of election reforms and voter education.
Maintain track record of on-going and planned initiatives of the governmental, non-governmental and international actors in the electoral field, especially those focused on addressing the root causes of proxy and family voting and strengthening the capacities of the election administration bodies;
Organize and lead the development of an effective outreach strategy for marginalized and vulnerable groups; develop small grant scheme including criteria for NGOs’ participation;

Function / Expected Results: Management & Supervisory

Maintain and build relations with the key stakeholders of the programme, including the high-level officials of the Government and international community and the leaders of political parties.
Strategically plan the highly politically sensitive events that should mobilize key decision makers and highest-level officials in the country, with the view to raising the necessary awareness and commitments, without doing political harm to the precarious inter-ethnic conditions of the country.
Manage groups of highly professional experts in offering specialized technical assistance for the administrators of the election, political parties, Gender Equality Commission members, media, and civil society organizations.
Offer innovative solutions for effectively coordinating the different components of this multi-donor integrated programme, to ensure synergies between the different components which otherwise could be run as separate projects.
Manage all other aspects of delivery of the programme in an effective and efficient manner, working closely with relevant authorities and donors and other partners as required;
Supervise the Local Project Coordinator ( UNDP local long-term consultant) in managing all financial, material and human resource assets of the programme, ensure that activities have sufficient funding;
Regularly monitor and analyze achieved results to ensure that the programme meets the needs of the key partners, and report them to UNDP ;
Ensure that UNDP rules and regulations concerning finance, procurement and human resources are adhered to;
Supervise the Local Project Coordinator ( UNDP local long-term consultant) in drafting Terms of References and facilitate the recruitment process of the highly professional consultants/experts, in accordance with UNDP rules and regulations;
Ensure appropriate supervision, reporting, and evaluation mechanisms for all staff recruited under the programme, including the long-term UNDP Local Project Coordinator and and a group of highly professional technical advisors.

Function / Expected Results; Reporting

Provide regular programmatic and financial progress reports to the Steering Committee; and to the UNDP Country Office;
Any other tasks and responsibilities as required for the implementation

Competencies

Corporate competencies:

Demonstrate integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards
Advocates and promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UNDP
Displays cultural, gender, religion ethnic and age sensitivity and adaptability
Treats people fairly and without favoritism

Functional competencies:

Excellent communications, organizational and management skills
Ability to handle effectively multiple tasks without compromising quality, team spirit and positive working relationships,
Conceptualizes, elaborates and implements communication strategies and manages high level communication with media, NGOs, government official and other external partners

Management and leadership

Focuses on the impact and results of the client
Demonstrate conflict resolution skills
Consistently approaches work with energy and positive-constructive attitude
Builds strong relationships with clients and external actors
Effectively manages teams and creates an enabling work environment

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

A post-graduate degree in Political Science/Law;
A qualification in, and/or substantial experience of development studies/international relations highly desirable;

Experience:

At least 7 years work experience in democratic governance with a strong focus on electoral processes and human rights/women issues;
Proven experience in handling gender/electoral issues in the inter-ethnic sensitivities.
Experience in developing and conducting training programs to civil servant and/or civil society representatives is an asset.
Experience in implementing advocacy campaigns on human rights and gender issues is an asset.
Proven experience in managing the project funded by the European commission funds is an asset.
Experiences in programming and project management, resources mobilization, monitoring and evaluation would be asset is an asset.
Understanding of national government processes in multi ethnic environment is essential; substantial work experience in a government context highly desirable;

Language Requirements:

Fluency in English is essential;
Working knowledge of Macedonian and/or Albanian language will be desirable.