UNDP Jobs - 6367- Director of the Regional Project on Democratic Dia

Director of the Regional Project on Democratic Dialogue in Latin America and the Caribbean

Location :

Guatemala City, GUATEMALA

Type of Contract :

ALD International

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

24-Sep-08 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

ALD-4

Duration of Initial Contract :

one year

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

The regional project of Democratic Dialogue was created in 2001 with the objective of developing and strengthening social technologies and dialogue processes as instruments for strengthening democratic governance and preventing conflict in Latin America and the Caribbean. After the initial phase of identification and compilation of best practices and systematization of knowledge and experiences, the project organized its activities to support the countries in the region in three principal areas: 1) creation and dissemination of knowledge; 2) technical assistance and; 3) creation and consolidation of capacities in dialogue processes and consensus building.

The project continues to consolidate an active network of “practitioners/experts” in the area of dialogue as well as to build a Community of Practice that brings together international institutions which also promote participatory processes such as dialogues. Additionally, the constant improvement of the project’s communications strategy for clients and “practitioners/experts” has also been an essential part in making the regional project on Democratic Dialogue an active instrument in the efforts to bring dialogue to the country offices in UNDP in Latin America and the Caribbean. The technical assistance given to the country offices consists of: 1) exploratory missions, 2) designing the dialogue process, 3) leading and facilitating dialogues, 4) monitoring of the processes, 5) evaluation of the processes.

Following the first phase of the project that concluded in 2007, lessons learned were assessed. With the intention to consolidate the successes of the previous years, a new phase of the project was developed in line with the new Document of the Regional Project for 2008-2011. During this period the Regional Project on Democratic Dialogue will continue consolidating institutional alliances and paying attention, with agile form and technical excellence, to the demands to support the UNDP country offices in the region. This will be achieved with some sustained quality technical assistance to begin multi-actor dialogue initiatives, as well as with the systematic generation of capacities in managing democratic dialogue for the institutional strengthening of democratic governance and conflict prevention.

This position is initially based in Guatemala City, Guatemala with foreseen relocation to Panama City, Panama within a year.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Leader of the Crisis Prevention and Recovery Cluster of the Regional Programme and operating within the lines of the Direction of DRLAC, the Director of the regional project on Democratic Dialogue is in charge of coordinating the project team to achieve the outcomes planned through strategic planning, to strategically develop the project’s strategy and the “field” of dialogue in the region, quality of services, resource mobilization and institutional alliances.

Level of responsibility/accountability: the Project Director is responsible for the overall achievement of the project’s targets and activities, the cost-efficient use of resources, the active mobilization of resources and the excellent management of his/her team. S/he reports directly to the CPR team Leader. The project team is composed of a Director, a Communications/ Research Person, an administrative assistant and consultants in charge of providing support to the carrying out of dialogue processes and capacity-building programs (from exploratory missions to evaluation) as well as of building the Community of Practice and Learning.

Level of leadership: the project director is the leader of the regional project on democratic dialogue. The incumbent is also responsible for finding, building and maintaining, in close coordination with the CPR cluster, synergies and alliances with partner projects or institutions and represents RBLAC in meetings and workshops when requested.

Internal/External focus of the Job: the project director will liaise directly with the Resident Representatives of UNDP COs in LAC and with the Cluster of Conflict Prevention and Recovery; S/he will also be responsible for building partnerships and alliances with high level representatives, governmental institutions, NGOs and Academics.

1. Responsible for the technical, administrative and financial management as well as for the coordination with the Country Office where the project is based, the Regional Service Center in Panama, and the office in NY to guarantee a solid management of the project and a full support and coordination with these various entities.

In coordination with the Leader of the Crisis Prevention and Recovery Cluster, design a resource mobilization strategy, as well as the presentation and management of the proposals of financing the project.
Manage and assure the implementation of the resource mobilization strategy
Coordinate the elaboration of information for donors and internal sources in UNDP
Prepare and/or supervise the documentation of the Project aimed at the institutional coordination and other technical documentation in accordance with the requirements of the central office and the evolution of the project
Supervise and evaluate personnel of the Project
Undertake the hiring of personnel and consultants to achieve results
Represent the project and/or DRALC at events and workshops following the requests of DRALC

2. Supervise and contribute to the elaboration and implementation of the capacity building, knowledge creation and dissemination strategies in the region

Coordinate the organization of seminars and learning workshops with practitioners/experts and members of the community of practice as well as actors in the region to collect experiences and generate knowledge
Supervise and coordinate the knowledge products generated (workshops, the selection of case studies and preparation of strategy documents and knowledge of regional projects)
Supervise the production and dissemination of the quarterly bulletin InfoDialogo in both English and Spanish versions
Supervise the distribution of published materials, brochures, and documents in accordance with the requests received

3. Coordinate the delivery of services to COs to ensure a timely and effective support to demands from LAC countries:

Supervise and assist the coordination of sustained and quality technical support asked for by the offices of the country
Promote, support the design, facilitation and monitoring of dialogue processes in the priority countries of the project
Ensure sustainable relationships with the Resident Representatives and focal points within the country offices
Analyze the requests of the COs and participate when necessary on exploratory missions or of monitoring according to the requests of the offices and or NY

4. Develop alliances and partnership with other projects, UN entities and other organizations in order to provide a coordinated response to countries

With the support of the leader of the cluster of Crisis Prevention and Recovery, find synergies with other regional projects and coordinate the project team to ensure the development of common action plans in the countries needing support.

5. Provide support to the RBLAC regional strategy and CPR Cluster to contribute to the regional strategy to reach the stated goals in the Regional Programme Document in Latin America and the Caribbean

Produce reports for the Leader of the Crisis Prevention and Recovery and the Regional Director of DRALC on the results of the project and the responsible use of resources

Overall Impact: to build national capacities in dialogue and dialogic approaches as instruments to strengthen democratic governance and prevent conflicts in the region. More particularly, the project aims at enhancing the capacities of national institutions to manage crisis.

Competencies

Excellent management, strategic planning and leadership abilities
Ability to remain diplomatic in difficult situations, the capacity to manage conflicts, problems and obstacles confronted in a constructive way
Capacity for conceptualizing and implementing interventions related to public policies
Ability to achieve coherence among the initiatives and actions at the country level, the regional level, and the local level
Ability to find synergies among initiatives and institutions
Excellent communications, dialogue and deliberations abilities
Ability to work under pressure
Available to travel frequently in and out of the country

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Post Graduate University Degree (Masters) in the area of economic, political or social development

Experience:

At least ten years of combined management positions & technical experience working in crisis prevention and recovery or democratic governance
Proven experience in countries in crisis situations
Knowledge of the United Nations System
Knowledge of the dynamics of international cooperation
Knowledge of academic/theory and practice of governance, participative processes of deliberation, and the generation of consensus and dialogue

Language Requirements:

Excellent command of oral and written English and Spanish