Background

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UN’s global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. We are on the ground in 170 countries and territories, working with governments and people on their own solutions to global and national development challenges to help empower lives and build resilient nations.

The Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) has the responsibility for developing all relevant policy and guidance and supports the results of UNDP’s 2014-2017 Strategic Plan, focusing on seven outcomes including, strengthening institutions to progressively deliver universal access to basic services (Outcome 3). The HIV, Health and Development Group (HHD Group), within BPPS, is helping to contribute towards this outcome.

The HIV, Health and Development Strategy 2016-2021: ‘Connecting the Dots’ elaborates UNDP's work on HIV and health in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. UNDP has an important role in supporting health outcomes by supporting countries to address the social, cultural and economic determinants of HIV and health, in partnership with UN entities and other organizations. This is done through UNDP’s core work in reducing inequalities and social exclusion that drive HIV and poor health, promoting effective and inclusive governance for health, and building resilient and sustainable systems for health. UNDP also contributes through its coordinating and convening role in bringing together multiple partners and resources at national and local levels.

UNDP works with partners to address the interactions between governance, human rights and health responses. Sometimes this is done through focused or specialized programmes, such as promoting attention to the role of legal environments (law and access to justice) in facilitating stronger HIV responses, including the use of flexibilities in intellectual property and human rights law to lower the cost of drugs and diagnostics and to increase access to HIV-related treatment. UNDP also works to empower and include people living with HIV and marginalized populations who are disproportionately affected by HIV - also known as key populations - such as sex workers, men who have sex with men, transgender people.  Beyond these focused efforts, UNDP plays a key role in ensuring attention to HIV and health within broader governance and rights initiatives, strengthening of national human rights institutions and increasing access to justice for marginalized populations.

As a trusted, long-term partner with extensive operational experience, UNDP supports countries in effective implementation of complex, multilateral and multi-sectoral health programmes while simultaneously investing in capacity development so that national and local partners can assume these responsibilities over time. When requested, UNDP acts as interim Principal Recipient (PR), working with national partners and The Global Fund to improve management, implementation and oversight, while simultaneously developing national capacity for governments or local entities to be able to assume the PR role over time. Within the HHD Group the Global Fund – Health Implementation Support Team (GF-HIST) is a dedicated team providing support to UNDP Country Offices throughout the grant lifecycle. The support includes, programme management, monitoring and evaluation, financial management, capacity development and/or transition and sustainability planning and support to strategic policies and plans and funding proposals.

UNDP has been selected as interim Principal Recipient for the Global Fund grant: Challenging stigma and discrimination to improve access to and quality of HIV services in the Caribbean, which will cover 8 countries including Belize, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. The programme has two Sub-Recipients (SRs) - Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVC) and El Centro de Orientación e Investigación Integral (COIN) – and will operate for a three year period, from 1 October 2016 – 30 September 2019 (the “Programme”). Key objectives of the Programme include: (1) Strengthening the legal and policy environment to support improved delivery of and access to justice services for key populations; (2) Health care workers deliver services free of stigma and discrimination to key populations, improving access to and retention in care and (3) Community systems and key population networks use effective advocacy to obtain social accountability mechanisms and scale-up of best practice interventions by national programmes.

UNDP’s Programme Management Unit (PMU) is composed of three full-time staff members based in UNDP Jamaica, with one additional staff member based at UNDP Dominican Republic.  The PR role consists of ensuring successful implementation of grant activities by SRs, ensuring programmatic and financial accountability, and capacity building of national and regional counterparts on programme, monitoring and evaluation and financial management. More importantly, the Programme focuses on community system strengthening and human rights of key populations communities and community-based organizations and advocacy efforts to create a more enabling environment. The PMU is responsible for the management and the coordination of the implementation of the Programme and providing oversight, and effective and transparent use of The Global Fund resources and mentoring to the civil society organization project partners with a key focus on strengthening their capacity in financial management and oversight; strategic planning; monitoring and evaluation; procurement; and any other areas as identified through capacity assessments and workshops...

Under the overall guidance of the Deputy Resident Representative, the Programme Manager is responsible for oversight of all aspects of the Programme. Specifically he/she will lead, supervise and coordinate daily activities, and provide strategic direction for the development and provision of support services in the implementation of the Programme. S/he plays a supervisory role to PMU, including out-posted staff. This is in order to ensure: (i) the achievement of planned targets; (ii) the effective and transparent execution of the financial resources of the Programme; and (iii) effective coordination with the Sub-Recipients (SRs), Technical Advisory Group (TAG), Governments, CSOs, UN agencies, regional partners and the Global Fund, to ensure stakeholder engagement and proper linkages with broader regional strategies and programmes.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. The Programme Manager is responsible for the implementation of the Programme, focusing on the achievement of the following results:

• Management of the project in a flexible and participatory manner, with a facilitative approach, while retaining strong focus on results and programme implementation;
• Oversight and management of programme planning, and implementation with emphasis on achievement of Programme goals and targets;
• Coordination and supervision of administrative, monitoring and evaluation, financial, procurement and programmatic management of the Programme aspects in accordance with UNDP rules, policies and procedures, the grant agreement with the Global Fund and other corporate agreements;
• Oversight and coordination of programmatic and financial management and reporting of the Programme;
• Assessment of programmatic impact vis-à-vis the baseline and end line assessments and oversight of the appropriateness and the accuracy of methods used to verify progress and the results;
• Support to the preparation of aggregate reports and ensure they are regularly prepared on activities, outputs and outcomes;
• Together with implementing partners and other stakeholders, regularly identify challenges and provide recommendations to mitigate project risks and ensure smooth project implementation.

2. The Programme Manager is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Programme, focusing on the achievement of the following results:

• Management of UNDP’s commitments within the corporate agreements with the Global Fund, ensures effective application of RBM tools, monitors unit work plans, programme effectiveness and achievement of results;
• Maintaining regular contact with Programme counterparts and key stakeholders;
• Recruitment, performance and career management and supervision of PMU staff (including out-posted staff) to motivate and promote organizational excellence;
• Team work: Promoting cross-unit team work, building consensus within the PMU and with SRs on key challenges and solutions to address them;
• Oversight and coordination of audits and follow up on audit recommendations in a prompt manner

3. Establish and maintains strategic partnerships with government, CSOs and technical partners and supports resource mobilization efforts in cooperation with the UNDP Country Offices focusing on achievement of the following results:

• Maintain high level strategic partnerships and ensures close cooperation between the PMU and the responsible implementing partners to ensure effective implementation of the agreed activities and delivery of outputs in a timely manner;
• Maintain consistent and clear communication between Regional Service Centre Panama, the UNDP Country Offices, GF/HIST, TAG, SRs, Global Fund Secretariat and Local Fund Agent;
• Lead partnership development with CSOs in the region to understand their operational and capacity needs, and develop time-bound and strategic approaches to develop capacity;
• Leads communication efforts by identifying strategic opportunities to highlight program achievements and appropriate modalities – including social media, newsletters, webinars, etc. --through which to widely disseminate key advocacy messages on behalf of key populations;
• Develop and implement partnerships and resources mobilization strategies to achieve Programme outcomes;
• Create and coordinate partnerships with the UN Agencies, government institutions, bi-lateral and multi-lateral donors, private sector, civil society etc.;
• Establish and maintain linkages with Regional Service Centre (Panama) and broader regional programming;
• Ensure cooperation with other programmes funded by the Global Fund in the region;
• Establish linkages with existing technical assistance providers in the region;
• Coordinate and build effective partnerships with the TAG, and regional partners;
• Determine programmatic areas of cooperation, based on strategic goals of UNDP, country needs and donors’ priorities;
• Analyze and research information on donors, preparation of substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation, identification of opportunities for cost-sharing.

4. Ensure knowledge and capacity building, focusing on the achievement of the following results:

• Support capacity-building of national counterparts and SRs in functional capacities of the Global Fund and key policy issues;
• Promote knowledge sharing and coaching among the SRs within the region;
• Promote identification and synthesis of best practices and lessons learned from the Programme for organizational sharing and learning;
• Promote a knowledge sharing and learning culture in the COs in the region;
• Share experience/ best practices on the UNDP- GF partnership networks.

The results of the work of the Programme Manager will have an impact on the overall programme management and success in the implementation of the Programme’s strategies and particularly:

• Effective implementation and achievement of Programme results and objectives in collaboration with SRs, TAG and UNDP Country Offices.

• Strong oversight and transparent use of the Global Fund resources in accordance with UNDP rules, policies and procedures and the Grant Agreement with the Global Fund and other corporate agreements.

• Cooperation and coordination among programme and operations staff between UNDP Jamaica, UNDP Dominion Republic and UNDP Country Offices, the Regional Service Centre (Panama), GF/HIST, other UN agencies as well as Government counterparts, technical partners, SRs, Civil Society Organizations, the Global Fund and the Local Fund Agent.

• Effective implementation of capacity development initiatives with national stakeholders and SRs with strong linkages with other regional programmes, including those lead by the Regional Service Centre (Panama) and UNDP Country Offices.

Competencies

Competencies

Organizational Competencies:

• 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 adaptability.

  Building Partnerships:

• Effectively networks with partners seizing opportunities to build alliances

• Identifies needs and interventions for capacity building of counterparts, clients and potential partners

• Displays initiative, sets challenging outputs for him/herself and willingly accepts new work assignments

  Client Orientation

• Anticipates client needs

• Demonstrates understanding of client’s perspective

• Solicits feedback on service provision and quality

Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise

• Understands advanced aspects of primary area of specialization (HIV, human rights and key populations)

• Continues to seek new and improved methods and systems for accomplishing the work of the unit

• Keeps abreast of new developments in area of professional discipline and job knowledge and seeks to develop him/herself professionally

Planning and Organizing:

• Demonstrated openness to change and ability to manage complexities.

• Promotes knowledge management in UNDP and a learning environment in the office through leadership and personal examples.

• Capacity to work under tight deadlines, manage stress and adapt to rapidly evolving situations.

Managing Relationships:

• Demonstrate well developed people management and organizational skills.

• Excellent negotiating and networking skills.

  Functional:

• Strong analytical and communication skills, including ability to produce high quality practical advisory reports and knowledge products.

• Ability to consolidate information from multiple sources.

• Able to prepare strategic information for decision makers in concise and attractive manner.

  Project and Resource Management:

• Ability to produce high quality outputs in a timely manner while understanding and anticipating the evolving client needs.

• Ability to focus on impact and results for the client, promoting and demonstrating an ethic of client service.

• Strong organizational skills.

• Ability to work independently, produce high quality outputs.

• Sound judgment, strategic thinking and the ability to manage competing priorities.

          Judgment /Decision-Making:

• Mature judgment and initiative.

  Communications and Advocacy:

• Strong ability to write clearly and convincingly, adapting style and content to different audiences and speak clearly and convincingly.

• Strong capacity to communicate clearly and quickly.

• Strong inter-personal, negotiation and liaison skills.

• Ability to work as part of a team, sharing information and coordinating efforts within the team and various stakeholders.

Required Skills and Experience