Background

In June 2013, a new Parliament and a new Government were inaugurated following peaceful and credible elections in Pakistan. It was the first democratic transition in the country’s history after an elected government completed its full term.

The 18^th Constitutional Amendment has introduced critical legislative, administrative and fiscal reforms. Key presidential powers have been transferred to the Parliament and the Prime Minister. The Amendment also provides for devolution of powers to the provinces.

As the highest representative and law making bodies in Pakistan, the decisions of the federal Parliament as well as Provincial Assemblies, have the potential to make a major influence on these crucial issues facing the Pakistani people. The substantial turnover in the legislatures and more stable political processes are good opportunities for greater emphasis on development issues. Thus, it is critical that these institutions are empowered to fulfil their mandates.

On this background the United Nations Common Country Programme (2013-2017) focuses on supporting Pakistan reaching its national and provincial development targets including the MDGs (and post-2015 MDG goals) as well as the rights vested in the international conventions to which the country has acceded. Specifically, one of the key strategic objectives aims to strengthen the capacity of institutions to become more democratic and accountable and increase their engagement with civil society organizations, media and academia. A priority is also to assist eliminating discrimination against Pakistani women and girls.

Building on this framework, the Project "Parliamentary Institutional Development in Pakistan" aims to assist the Federal Parliament and the four Provincial Assemblies of Pakistan to increasingly effectively conduct their legislative and oversight responsibilities so that proactively support and oversee achievement of the country’s development goals. The project aims to work with the legislative bodies to promote dialogue and participatory processes. It is critical to build institutional capacities and mechanisms that promote an inclusive system of governance and consequently, produce stability, equitable growth and benefit the most vulnerable, as the best option for sustainability of the development process.

Building on the strategic partnership established since 2004 with the Federal Parliament of Pakistan and lessons produced, UNDP intends to provide high-level quality technical and policy advice and assistance to foster institutional reform during 2014-2017. Despite the project duration of four years, it has been formulated under a longer-term vision, as parliamentary reform is a continued process.

Duties and Responsibilities

Functions / Key Results Expected

The position of Chief Technical Advisor is a Fixed Term Appointment (FTA) with the primary aim of assisting the parliamentary houses of Pakistan in their development towards more democratic, accountable, inclusive and legitimate institutions.

The Chief Technical Advisor, working under the direct leadership, guidance, and supervision of the Deputy Country Director, Programme  with functional reporting to the Assistant Country Director / Chief Governance, will act as the lead advisor and manager of the project, providing technical and procedural assistance for all strategic decisions and activities of the project. This would involve sharing of international comparative experiences as well as substantive expertise, study of the national development context and existing policy decisions, and coordination and consultation with all relevant stakeholders.

The Chief Technical Advisor will focus on the following key functions and expected results:

Strategic and Policy Advice:

• Act as the key Chief Technical Advisor to the Pakistan Parliamentary management bodies, Speakers of the Houses, Secretary Generals, Chairpersons of Commissions, and relevant stakeholders;
• Provide intellectual leadership in the area of parliamentary development, by delivering political, institutional and policy advice on all aspects of parliamentary capacity building, and by guiding the  development and implementation of project strategies and implementation modalities;
• Establish links between national development goals, UNDP priorities and existing policy statements of the Pakistan Government and the international community;
• Ensure the incorporation of best practices and lessons learned on parliamentary development worldwide;
• Through ongoing analysis of the political, social, security and economic contexts, ensure that the project's support to parliamentary development in Pakistan remains at all times relevant and timely;
• Maintain a sound understanding of government, parliamentary and political processes in Pakistan.

Manage Project Implementation:

• Oversee and manage the implementation of all project components and activities;
• Advise the National Operations Manager so that the project’s activities are designed and implemented according to best practices in parliamentary development, and are in line with the Annual Work Plans;
• With the assistance of the Operations Manager, and in coordination with the Country Office, ensure that systems are in place for monitoring and evaluating the project's delivery of agreed results, and assist in the formulation and updating of the indicators that measure quantitative and qualitative outputs and outcomes of the project;
• Conceptualize, plan, participate and coordinate periodic reviews and assessment of overall project or specific components;
• Where applicable, identify specialized additional technical expertise to support the parliamentary development in Pakistan; 
• Provide advice and recommendations on how UNDP and other UN agencies can further strengthen and cooperate with the parliament project;
• Advise the members of the project team in preparation of the project activities and budgets;
• Monitor the achievements of the capacity development initiatives and ensure follow-up support.

Knowledge Building and Sharing:

• Lead the process of knowledge creation and dissemination of national and international know-how in the area of parliamentary development;
• Provide substantial input to the project's handbooks and information materials;
• Provide quality assurance on the knowledge products of the project, in terms of quality of the content, the process and the usage of the knowledge products, and serve as peer reviewer of the main publications;
• Identify knowledge gaps among target groups and design measures to address such gaps;
• Actively support the sharing of project results and products, lessons learned and good practices with other UNDP and UN projects, government agencies, donors, etc.;
• Partner with the practitioners and members of the UNDP global networks and the parliamentary teams at UNDP BDP and BCPR, Regional Centre and Regional Bureaux.

Guidance of Technical Staff:

• Provide management of and direct guidance to national and international technical staff working with the project, including national policy advisors, international technical advisers and national and international consultants. This will include consultations to ensure technical staff are addressing technical requirements for delivery of outcomes and activities;
• Enable and support professional development opportunities for project staff employed in this project;
• Contribute to courses and seminar activities of the project, as appropriate;
• Oversee and provide quality assurance to regular project and activity reporting.

Partnership development and resource mobilization:

• Consider the most effective and time-efficient way of liaison and coordination with other donor programs working with the Parliament Houses of Pakistan;
• Network and build credible relations with donor partners, embassies and government interlocutors;
• Prepare proposals for mobilization of human, technical and financial resources from international development organizations, non-governmental organizations and the private sector;
• Assist the UNDP CO in mobilizing resources to support the achievement of project outputs and outcomes.

Impact of Results

• Through the implementation of the parliamentary project, effectively contribute to a domestically-rooted and realistically conceptualized system of inclusive governance and a strengthened parliament capacity;
• Ensure the timely and effective delivery of the parliament project in accordance with the Project Document;
• Ensure that the project resources are utilized in full compliance with UNDP's rules and regulations;
• Ensure that the UNDP has a wide network of interlocutors within the national government and the international community in support of the project and its activities;
• Assist in ensuring that UNDP Pakistan has a high and respected profile in the area of parliamentary development.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates commitment to UNDP’s mission, vision and values;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability; 
• Project management or programme experience at a senior level with UNDP,  UN or other development agencies;
• Treats all people fairly without favouritism.

Functional Competencies:

• Knowledge and expertise in parliamentary strengthening and democratic governance;
• Ability to advocate and provide policy advice;
• Excellent negotiation and representational skills at senior level;
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, ability to foster networks and partnerships, and good working knowledge of information and computer technology;
• Displays analytical judgment and demonstrated ability to handle confidential and politically sensitive issues in a responsible and mature manner;
• Demonstrates strong intellectual and operational capacity in providing and coordinating advisory services to stakeholders;
• Ability to assist in formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development programs and projects.

Communications and Networking skills:

• Excellent oral communication skills and conflict resolution competency to manage inter-group dynamics and mediate conflicting interests of varied actors;
• Excellent written communication skills, 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, parliament, government and non-government institutions;
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to work in a multicultural, multinational, multi-stakeholder setting and demonstrable ability to motivate people and work in a team setting;
• Substantial level of self-organization, being methodical, have ability to set priorities and pay attention to detail.

Management and leadership:

• Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
• Excellent leadership skills and sound ‘hands-on’ management of staff;
• Focuses on impact and result for the parliament as beneficiary;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree in public policy, political science, law, public administration, institutional/ organizational development, or related field;
• Prince2 Training and certification would be an asset.

Experience:

• At least ten years of relevant work experience in the area of democratic governance with direct experience of working in the parliamentary strengthening field, and preferably within a mature democratic parliament;
• At least seven years of experience of providing advisory services to senior interlocutors or institutional clients;
• At least five years’ experience working in developing or post-conflict countries;
• Good understanding of national government processes;
• Exposure to politically tense settings;
• Excellent computer skills, with MS. Office (Word, Excel, Power Point).
• In-depth knowledge and experience with Monitoring and Evaluation in a development context;
• In addition, the following professional experiences are considered a strong advantage/ asset:
• Familiarity with Pakistan and its political, social and economic context;
• Successful working experience in Pakistan or other Islamic countries. 

Language:

• Excellent command of written and spoken English;
• Some knowledge of Urdu would be an advantage.

Note:

Recommended/Alternate candidates resulting from the selection process will also be kept on our Roster for future similar positions for the timeframe of two years.