UNDP Jobs - 75146- Senior Project Management Expert/Post-Ebola Joint

Senior Project Management Expert/Post-Ebola Joint Preparedness Programme

Location :

Conakry, GUINEA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Nov-2017

Application Deadline :

25-Oct-17 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

120 days within 11 months split up on 3 missions to Guinea of up to 20 days each

Languages Required :

English French

Expected Duration of Assignment :

With possibility if Funds permit

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 Ebola virus disease which shook Guinea between 2014-2016 revealed the country’ s limitations to prevent and respond to health emergencies and other disaster risks. Thus, it is important to put in place a more resilient system capable of reducing potential risks, be it health related or natural disasters. To address the above, the Government of Guinea has undertaken with its partners profound reforms in compliance with the national Post-Ebola recovery strategy which are meant to improve, among other aspects, the country’s health system through improved epidemiological surveillance, early warning systems, health logistics and emergency response coordination.

UNDP Guinea remains a key partner in the country’s development process through governance and institutional capacity building. As a part of its contribution to the post-Ebola recovery efforts, UNDP is joining other sister agencies to undertake a joint preparedness project whose overall objective is to improve the country’s emergency response preparedness capacity level by filling gaps and addressing lessons learned during the Ebola crisis.

The joint programme has six main priorities or areas of interventions:

Reinforcement of the community-based surveillance and early warning mechanisms,
Strengthening of the capacity of health facilities and case management system to better cope with future epidemics,
Strengthening of the health system through implementation of the MISP (Minimum Initial Service Package) for emergency preparedness and response especially safe deliveries and other related services,
Strengthening the community engagement,
Enhancement of the national emergency preparedness through improved logistics service delivery,
Ensuring the efficiency of the national emergency response capacity through simulations of existing tools and a continued strategic coordination support.

In addition to the National Public Health Security Agency (ANSS) that UNDP is also supporting institutionally, this project will be executed in collaboration with other counterparts such as the Ministry of Health and Public Sanitation, Ministry of Local Administration and Decentralization through its humanitarian affairs department, the Ministry of Internal Security/Department of Civil Protection, and the Ministry of Environment. More particularly, the Ministry of Local Administration and Decentralization co-chairs along with the UN system Resident Coordinator the inter-agency standing committee known in Guinea as Comite Permanent Inter-Agences “CoPIA”.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the UN Resident Coordinator and in collaboration with heads or focal points of agencies involved in this joint preparedness project as well as with other members of CoPIA, the Consultant will be responsible for the day-to-day technical and operational management of the project. He/she will ensure that required efforts are provided on a regular basis to carry out all planned activities in accordance with the project line priorities. More specifically, He/she will ensure that activities are timely executed in accordance with the project workplan, also that monitoring and evaluation is conducted regularly and progress reports produced on a regular basis. The Consultant is expected to further foster the required synergy among involved agencies to guarantee a joint delivery and result achievement by the entire UN Country Team by ensuring that each participating actor fulfills their role. He/she will be accountable for the project final outcome which is about ascertaining that a national capacity to successfully handle future health/disaster emergencies is successfully attained and sustained in Guinea.

Summary of key functions:

Advises the Project Management Committee, the UN Resident Coordinator and UN Country Team on operational issues affecting the overall operations and achievement of results;
Supervises project activities including field assessments, training workshops, simulation exercises and all related community capacity building activities (field presence required);
Leads all project related consultations with key stakeholders including line Ministries and national institutions, Civil Society Organizations, technical and financial partners about the project implementation (field presence required);
Promotes strategic partnership building on project operational aspects and serves as UNDP interlocutor with the project donor when mandated to do so;
Identifies and supports all approaches for a successful project implementation and effective result achievement;
Oversees project financial resources management on behalf of UNDP, and in close collaboration with the Finances Unit;
Tracks records of project financial activities and project expenditures accordingly.

Expected results:

Set out and enforce a comprehensive action plan for the project activities in collaboration with UN agencies involved in this project (UNFPA, UNICEF, UNDP, WFP and WHO), field presence required;
Contribute to the recruitment and supervision of all project consultants and collaborators as needed;
Contribute to the update and finalization of the national contingency plan, disaster risk management plan and other relevant tools in an effort to contribute to the reinforcement of the national capacity to mitigate health and other emergency situations;
Lead the simulation exercise activities including scenario drafting, field preparatory visits, logistics settings and post-simulation recommendations and follow up actions plans, (field presence required);
Schedule and facilitate all technical coordination meetings pertaining to the project activities with relevant stakeholders and follow up on the main points of action and recommendations, (field presence recommended but not extremely required all the time);
Keep members of CoPIA abreast of the project progress and seeks their participation in the project activities as applicable;
Contribute to the strengthening of the operational capacity to coordinate emergency responses for key national CoPIA member institutions;
Promote synergy and collaboration between all project line departments and stakeholders especially the National Public Health Security Agency (ANSS), the National Center for disaster risk reduction, the National Service for Humanitarian Affairs, the Directorate for Civil Protection to name few;
Advise the UN Resident Coordinator and the UNCT on strategic and technical orientations;
Oversee the financial aspects of the project and submit related reports;
Communicate and promote the project achievements with the humanitarian community and other technical/financial partners when applicable.

Delivrables:

A full project workplan with clear roles and activities to carry out;
The document of a revised national contingency plan;
The Disaster Risk Reduction document and bankable flagship projects;
All planned steps for simulation exercises completed in the first three months of the contract;
Training modules and training workshops conducted in the first five months of the project;
UNDP and other UN agencies involved in the project are consulted and regularly informed of the project results;
CoPIA members are actively involved in the project implementation;
Monthly meetings are convened to discuss the project progress;
Progress narrative and financial reports are produced and shared with donors;
The project visibility and communication is assured.

Modalities of payment

The post is 100% funded by UNDP Guinea and payment will be made in accordance with operational rules and regulations governing UNDP. The payment will be made after validation of each key deliverable by the UNDP senior management.

The consultant fee will be disbursed in 3 installments based on following key deliverables :

Summary note about the comprehension of terms of reference and ways of successfully running the joint preparedness project: 15%;
Availability of training modules, simulation scenarios and support materials and tools and completion of two training workshops: 20%;
An operational contingency plan, a national disaster management plan and strategies to reinforce emergency response coordination, field simulation activities: 30%;
Project programming related meetings including CoPIA debriefs as well as overall project management, visibility and donor reporting: 15%.
Disaster risk management flagship project are finalized and potential donors identified, a validated final (narrative and financial) report is available: 20%.

Competencies

Ethical values:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UNDP;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and with adaptability;
Treats all people with fairness without favoritism;
Possesses excellent communication, interpersonal and management skills from a gender perspective and capacity to quickly develop a rapport with people from different backgrounds with both women and men.

Knowledge, Management and Learning:

Promotes knowledge management through leadership and leads by personal example;
Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more performance areas, and thoroughly applies newly acquired skills.

Management and Operational Effectiveness:

Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
Ability to lead formulation, monitoring and evaluation of management projects;
Solid knowledge in financial resources, human resources and project assets management;
Ability to provide technical and operational guidance in all project management aspects, including field activities monitoring and periodic/end project reporting;
Flexibility and ability to liaise with a wide range of actors and stakeholders on a common goal;
Ability to lead effectively, adapt positively to change and manage complexities.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

PhD or a Master’s degree in Public Health or equivalent in medical studies required.

Professional Experience:

Minimum of ten years of relevant experience at the international level in providing relevant programme management services;
Minimum of seven years of health related project management responsibilities preferably in a very complex crisis/post-crisis recovery context;
Proven knowledge of emergency response programming with a focus on epidemics and disaster risk management;
Knowledgeable experience in designing national multi-risk contingency plans and/or in conducting required simulation exercises;
Previous similar management experience of health joint preparedness programmes;
Previous experience working in challenging environments and post-crisis context;
Knowledge of Ebola crisis and related post-recovery needs;
Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages, experience in handling of web-based management systems and ERP systems.

Languages:

Fluency in written and spoken French is required;
Knowledge of English is highly recommended.

Selection criteria:

Education (PhD or MPh in public health or medical field absolutely required), 20 %;
Professional Experience (minimum of 10 years in similar emergency joint preparedness/coordination project management in a post-crisis context), 50 %;
Similar experience in managing a health project, designing simulation tools and developing contingency plans and disaster risk management mechanisms, 20 %;
Knowledge of Guinea context proven by an assignment during Ebola crisis, 10%.

Interested candidates are encouraged to apply by providing the following documentation:

A dully filled P-11 form available at www.gn.undp.org,
A motivation letter and an updated CV,
A technical and financial offer,
A work sample of a similar assignment undertaken in the recent past with a UN agency in the field of emergency response preparation and coordination, disaster risk management or public health project administration.

All applications must be sent in a sealed envelope or electronically to the attention of Mr Titus Osundina, Deputy Country Director of UNDP before 25 October 2017.

Adress:

Programme des Nations Unies pour le Développement (PNUD)

Maison Commune, Commune de Matam, Coléah Corniche Sud, Rue M002

BP 222 Conakry, Rép de Guinée

or by par email : ic.offres.gn@undp.org

NB: The envelope must bear the following mention:

« International Consultant, Joint Preparedness project management senior Expert »

Female candidates are highly encouraged to apply.