Background

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UN’s global development network, working in 177 countries and territories. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, UNDP is committed to helping the country through strengthened national and local capacities to carry out political, economic and social reforms and promote development. In the programmatic period 2015 - 2019, UNDP BiH supports the following programme priorities: (a) access to justice and increased human security; (b) reduction of regional, economic and social disparities; (c) sustainable management of environmental and energy resources, and green jobs creation; and (d) access to services and employment opportunities for the most vulnerable. In all areas, there will be an emphasis on conflict-sensitive, integrated and innovative programme design complementing country priorities and tailored to the post-flood recovery needs.


As part of the UNDP BiH’s Rural and Regional Development Sector’s portfolio, Local Integrated Development (LID) Project has an overall objective to raise the standards of living, and improve social cohesion in Bosnia and Herzegovina through inclusive sustainable socio-economic development. LID interventions are streamlined along two main pillars: governance, and economic development and job creation. The duration of the Project is 36 months, with a 4-month inception phase, which will allow for early adaptation of the Project strategy and fine-tuning of its activities upon selection of the partner localities. LID will work with 20 selected local governments, grouped together in 3-4 geographic clusters in the areas primarily affected by floods and areas with a large percentage of returnees/internally displaced persons. The main beneficiaries of the project are 20 local governments, 30 MSMEs and 300 rural households, 50 civil society organizations and grass-root citizens’ groups in target communities, 5,000 members of socially excluded and vulnerable groups, and 3 relevant higher government level institutions. The project is primarily funded by the EU and co-funded by UNDP BiH, which is also the implementer. The main national partner is the BiH Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees.
The LID Local Governance Field Officer will work under the direct supervision of the LID Local Governance Officer by performing the tasks listed here-below.
 

Duties and Responsibilities

  1. Support to the implementation of technical assistance to local governments to apply harmonised, integrated and participatory strategic development planning process;
  2. Support to the implementation of technical assistance to local governments to enable effective local community partnerships and inter-municipal initiatives;
  3. Support to the implementation of technical assistance to local governments to enhance their service delivery capacities, as well as to design and implement priority development projects;
  4. Support to gender equality mainstreaming within the project.

1. Support to the implementation of technical assistance to local governments to apply harmonised, integrated and participatory strategic development planning process;

  • Assists the Local Governance Officer in providing oversight and ensuring quality of design and delivery of capacity building assistance to the partner local governments in the process of creating development strategies, on the basis of standardised and harmonised methodology (MiPRO);
  • Provides technical advice, guidance, and support to local governments in the process of performing functional reviews and establishing development management functions, for the facilitated effective implementation of local strategies;
  • Organizes training workshops, meetings, round tables and other events at local level within the specific region/cluster;
  • Provides Local Governance Office and Field Teams with substantive data inputs based on the project experiences and monitoring of progress against set targets, including from the gender equality perspective;
  • Supports sharing and scaling-up successful approaches in the broader UNDP local governance team.

2. Support to the implementation of technical assistance to local governments to enable effective local community partnerships and inter-municipal initiatives;

  • Supports the establishment of legitimate local pro-development participatory platforms, including social, economic and environmental actors;
  • Provides assistance to partner local governments within specific region/cluster to discuss, design and set-up mechanisms for citizens’ involvement into both strategic planning, as well as strategy implementation processes;
  • Supports the effective engagement of relevant vulnerable groups into the project work in all partner local governments;
  • Supports the promotion and facilitation of inter-municipal cooperation through exchange of information, good practices, peer-to-peer learning and joint capacity building events among partner local governments within specific region/cluster.

3. Support to the implementation of technical assistance to local governments to enhance their service delivery capacities, as well as to design and implement priority development projects;

  • Supports the introduction of pilot Information Communication Technology (ICT) solutions for effective service delivery in the partner local governments;
  • Assists the relevant project staff in coordination and quality assurance of the assessments, as well as in provision of recommendations and limited technical assistance for cost-efficiency measures (including training on municipal asset management) in the partner local governments within the specific region/cluster;
  • Provides support to the process of designing a pipeline of priority development projects stemming from local development strategies of partner local governments;
  • Supports the conceptualisation, overall implementation and evaluation of the Grant Scheme, aiming to support realisation of priority projects;
  • Provides assistance to the partner local governments to access public/other types of funding and implement priority projects originating from integrated local development strategies;
  • Provides partner local governments with information on public financial mechanisms supporting local development in BiH, and supports, in close cooperation with the project team, the efforts geared towards linking public funding institutions or mechanisms with local strategies and their strategic priorities;
  • Prepares relevant ad hoc and periodic reports related to the implementation of this function within the region/cluster.

4.    Support to gender equality mainstreaming within the project:

  • Supports mainstreaming gender equality in the project implementation;
  • Ensures that relevant project documents are written using gender sensitive language;

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Advocacy/Advancing a Policy-Oriented Agenda

Level 1.2: preparing information for advocacy

  • Identifies and communicates relevant information for a variety of audiences for advocating UNDP’s mandate;
  • Maintains a functioning network of contacts with a variety of stakeholders to promote a better understanding of UNDP’s mandate and to support advocacy efforts.

Building Strategic Partnerships

Level 1.2: Maintaining a network of contacts

  • Maintains an established network of contacts for general information sharing and to remain up-to-date on partnership related issues;
  • Analyzes and selects materials for strengthening strategic alliances with partners and stakeholders;
  • Establishes and nurtures positive communication with partners.


Promoting Organizational Learning and Knowledge Sharing

Level 1.2: Basic research and analysis

  • Generates new ideas and approaches, researches best practices and proposes new, more effective ways of doing things;
  • Documents and analyses innovative strategies and new approaches.

Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise

Level 1.2: Fundamental knowledge of own discipline

  • Understands and applies fundamental concepts and principles of a professional discipline or technical specialty relating to the position;
  • Possesses basic knowledge of organizational policies and procedures relating to the position and applies them consistently in work tasks;
  • Analyzes the requirements and synthesizes proposals;
  • Strives to keep job knowledge up-to-date through self-directed study and other means of learning;
  • Demonstrates good knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments.

Conceptual Innovation in the Provision of Technical Expertise
Level 1.2: Research and analysis

  • Keeps updated in his/her area of substantive expertise;
  • Analyses ongoing trends, evolving needs and emerging issues to identify appropriate responses for capacity building.

Resource Mobilization

Level 1.2:  Providing inputs to resource mobilization strategies

  • Analyzes information/databases on potential and actual donors

Client Orientation

Level 1.2: Establishing effective client relationships

  • Researches potential solutions to internal and external client needs and reports back in a timely, succinct and appropriate fashion;
  • Organizes and prioritizes work schedule to meet client needs and deadlines;
  • Establishes, builds and sustains effective relationships within the work unit and with internal and external clients.

Core Competencies:

  • Promoting ethics and integrity, creating organizational precedents;
  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, disabilities, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
  • Treats all people and partners fairly without favouritism;
  • Self-development, initiative-taking;
  • Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude and strong ability to continuously self-motivate;
  • Plans, prioritizes, and delivers tasks on time;
  • Excellent diplomatic and interpersonal skills and ability to liaise effectively with government and stakeholders at the highest levels;
  • Sound judgment and problem solving skills;
  • Excellent conceptualisation and analytical skills, as well as proven ability to draft documents in clear and concise manner;
  • Excellent communication skills with excellent drafting and presentation skills;
  • Building staff competence, creating an environment of creativity and innovation;
  • Building and promoting effective Project team;
  • Creating and promoting enabling environment for open communication;
  • Managing conflict;
  • Sharing knowledge across the organization and building a culture of knowledge sharing and learning;
  • Fair and transparent decision making.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:  

  • University degree in business, economics, development, political sciences, engineering and other relevant area.

Experience:  

  • At least four years of relevant working experience in the areas of local governance, local development, capacity development of local governments in BiH;
  • Understanding of the overall political, administrative and institutional set-up of local government in BiH;
  • Understanding of development trends in Bosnia and Herzegovina;
  • Familiarity with key public documents, strategies and trends related to capacity development of local governments in BiH;

Language Requirements:  

  • Fluency in English in addition to Bosnian, Croatian, or Serbian,

Note: