Myanmar has embarked on a major transition towards democracy, market style economy and peace. Myanmar has low middle-income status (LMIC) and is committed to lifting itself out of Least Developed Country (LDC) status within the next seven years. Following the implementation of the first ever UNDP Country Programme during 2013-2017 and as a key development partner of the government of Myanmar, UNDP will implement a new UNDP Country Programme for the period 2018-2022, striving to deliver on a large and relevant programme portfolio that is responsive to the main development challenges facing the country.

The UNDP Country Office in Myanmar is a key interlocutor and advisor to the union government on rule of law, civil service reform, parliamentary capacity and institution building, and expanding its programme at the state, region and township levels in order to ensure stronger institutions at all levels of government as well as broader civic engagement as part of the effort to build and sustain peace. 

The UNDP Myanmar Governance and Sustainable Peace Team anchors UNDP’s programme portfolio in these areas and provides thought leadership on cross-cutting development issues in Myanmar, and globally, to ensure that UNDP’s mandate of convening development partners in support of the national development agenda, informed by a commitment to the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, is amplified by internal knowledge, research, and stand-out policy advice. 

The new UNDP Myanmar Country Programme (2018-2022) is being finalized and a new structure to support a more integrated and collaborative way to help Myanmar achieve sustainable development and sustained peace will be implemented. The Country Office has aligned the new office structure with the new CPD and designed new ways of working that will facilitate more collaboration across the office, create the foundations for more sub-national level work and higher delivery, facilitate the transition of the country office from Yangon to Naypyidaw during the upcoming CPD period, and emphasize learning and support to national staff capacity development.

The Programme Advisor - Governance and Sustainable Peace Chief of Unit reports to the Deputy Country Director (DCD) and functions as the senior technical advisor on governance and peace issues to the CO Senior Management team. S/he leads UNDP Myanmar’s efforts to ensure the achievement of the country programme results and provision of thought leadership and strategic positioning on Governance and Sustainable Peace issues.

As a member of the Management Integration Team (MIT), s/he also helps drive integration of work at all levels, from overall direction setting to ideas generation, design, implementation – and further on to reporting, partnerships and communication. In exercising these roles, s/he supervises a unit comprised of international and national staff and manages the deployment of additional long and short-term expertise as required.

Within the new country office structure, the Programme Advisor will be responsible for managing the country office governance and sustainable peace programme team (and respective project teams) working at national and sub-national levels.

The Programme Advisor will be initially based in Yangon but with relocation to Naypyidaw when conditions permit. S/he will need to spend a balance of time between the Yangon and Naypyidaw (NPD) offices until eventual transition full time to the NPD office. S/he will need to maintain a cohesive, integrated team working at decentralized levels throughout the country, and ensure strong collaboration with the Country Office.

UNDP Myanmar is committed to achieving 50/50 gender balance in its staff. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for this position. 

1)     Programme Management and Oversight

·         Advises and leads programmatic cooperation in the area of democratic governance and sustainable peace based on national priorities, UNDP country programme objectives and best global practices and lessons learned;

·         Ensures annual planning and management programme activities including development of an outcome programme document and programme monitoring plan;

·         Leads the delivery of relevant programme activities; identifies modalities to achieve development targets; plans, coordinates and monitors joint activities with the Sustainable and Inclusive Growth programme team and with other UN agencies;

·         Monitors project work progress and ensures accountability of Project Managers and Chief Technical Advisors (CTA) for the delivery of the projects toward programme objectives;

·         Provides direction and ensures quality inputs into CO risk management, monitoring and evaluation systems;

·         Facilitates high quality engagement with stakeholders, including through regular meetings of the Programme Board, for strategic steering of programme activities in line with the country programme.

2)     Provision of Integrated Advisory Services

·         Leads communication of UNDP’s policy positioning on key thematic issues;

·         Provides authoritative technical and strategic advice on possible areas for UNDP support and adjustment of on-going programmes to ensure that UNDP programmes are in line with national policies and priorities;

·         Engages in policy dialogue on cross-cutting issues with the Government, donors, civil society, private sector;

·         Co-leads on development of political economy analysis and ensures annual updates prepared for dissemination;

·         Leads and contributes to provision of top quality analysis and substantive inputs and development of strategic documents within the governance and sustainable peace thematic area available for internal and external dissemination;

·         Ensures mainstreaming of gender equality and women’s empowerment in all governance and sustainable peace programming and achievement of GEN2 ratings.

3)     Knowledge Management

·         Leads production and launch of knowledge products/reports, including National Human Development Reports;

·         Facilitates knowledge building and management.

4)     Partnership Management

·         Advocates for UNDP with government counterparts at all levels, with non-state actors and development partners; networks and helps build credible working relations and effective partnerships;

·         Prioritizes identifying and building new national partnerships to support programme implementation including monitoring/reporting of UNDP projects and activities, provision of training to national counterparts, and provision of policy and analytic advisory services;

·         Ensures full and timely reporting of development results with a focus on sustainability and on value for money; develops and pursues effective communication for development results and public outreach;

·         Develops and implements resource mobilization strategies in the area of governance and sustainable peace to achieve programme results; identifies synergies with development partners and pursues targeted resource mobilization;

·         Provides substantive contributions from UNDP to the work of the UNCT on governance and sustainable peace issues within the framework of the UNDAF; promotes thematic and sectorial synergies, and joint programming; and represents UNDP in relevant inter-agency task forces.

5)     Team Building and Management

·         Facilitates day-to-day functioning of the programme and project teams. Manages human and financial resources for achieving results in line with the country programme, project documents and annual work plans;

·         Guides and ensures effective recruitment, performance management and staff learning to motivate and promote organizational excellence in his/her team; and contributes to the overall team building and performance in UNDP Myanmar;

·         Prioritizes learning and support to national staff capacity development;

·         Demonstrates commitment to achieving 50/50 gender balance in programme and project teams.

Competencies and Selection Criteria

Description of Competency at Level Required

Core

Innovation

Ability to make new and useful ideas work

Level 6: Exercises stakeholder-centered design approaches for office / programme / division

Leadership

Ability to persuade others to follow

Level 6: Ensures teams are resourced for success  and empowered to deliver

People Management

Ability to improve performance and satisfaction

Level 6: Guides substantive specialists / teams and expands credibility and innovation capacity

Communication

Ability to listen, adapt, persuade and transform

Level 6: Creates confidence among stakeholders by delivering authoritative positions, compelling analysis, and contextual acumen

Delivery

Ability to get things done while exercising good judgement

Level 6: Accepts accountability for the outcomes of programme delivery and facilitates improvement and innovation in the delivery of products and services

Technical/Functional

Strategic Planning

Ability to make decisions that align with strategy, vision, and mission

Level 6: Integrate & Empower: Leads integral work of teams utilizing expertise, vision, problem-solving capability, and collaborative energy in professional area of expertise

Policy Formulation

Ability to scan and synthesize diverse sets of information to arrive at strategic priorities and positioning recommendations

Level 6: Integrate & Empower: Leads integral work of teams utilizing expertise, vision, problem-solving capability, and collaborative energy in professional area of expertise

Results-based Management

Ability to manage programmes and projects with a strategy aimed at improved performance and demonstrable results

Level 6: Integrate & Empower: Leads integral work of teams utilizing expertise, vision, problem-solving capability, and collaborative energy in professional area of expertise

Capacity Development

Ability to support partner countries' capacity to manage ODA resources effectively and harmonise with national policy and financing frameworks 

Level 6: Integrate & Empower: Leads integral work of teams utilizing expertise, vision, problem-solving capability, and collaborative energy in professional area of expertise

Coordination Provider-Recipient

Ability to manage complex relationships through pathways of knowledge exchange, capacity development, funding relationships and strategic engagement

Level 6: Integrate & Empower: Leads integral work of teams utilizing expertise, vision, problem-solving capability, and collaborative energy in professional area of expertise

Substantive Positioning of UNDP

Knowledge of global institutions (such as the UN, IFIs), processes (such as G20 and various UN initiatives), good grasp of UNDP’s niche, and ability to engage and foster strong networks with those institutions

Level 6: Integrate & Empower: Leads integral work of teams utilizing expertise, vision, problem-solving capability, and collaborative energy in professional area of expertise

Negotiation

Ability to reach an understanding, resolve point of difference, or gain advantage in the outcome of dialogue

Level 6: Integrate & Empower: Leads integral work of teams utilizing expertise, vision, problem-solving capability, and collaborative energy in professional area of expertise

Education:

Master's degree in social policy, public policy, politics, economics, development studies or a related area.

Experience:

·         A minimum of 10 years progressively responsible and relevant professional working experience in the area of Governance and Sustainable Peace

·         Programmatic and technical experience of working on democratic transitions, peace processes, and/or peacebuilding and statebuilding issues would be an asset

·         Proven track record in programme management and provision of advisory services

·         Proven management experience, preferably within UNDP or another UN agency, with sound knowledge and experience of all aspects of the project cycle

·         Prior experience of development work in South-East Asia and/or countries in transition would be an asset

·         Strong interpersonal and written and oral communication skills

·         Strong ability to work effectively in multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams

Language Requirements:

Excellent command of written and spoken English