UNDP Jobs - 89858- Curriculum Development Expert (7 positions) Level:

Curriculum Development Expert (7 positions) Level: SB4/Peg 1

Location :

Locations of the seven provincial level training academies,Provincial Centres for Good Governance (PCGG) (one in each province), NEPAL

Type of Contract :

Other

Starting Date :

15-Apr-2020

Application Deadline :

08-Feb-20 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

Other

Duration of Initial Contract :

One year with possibility of extension

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

July 2022

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 Constitution of Nepal turned Nepal into a federal state with three levels of government with the intent of transforming the country from a centralized unitary state into a federal country and to ensure economic equality, prosperity and social justice. The Constitution marks a fundamental paradigm shift in the system, structure and functioning of sub-national governance in Nepal and requires massive reorientation of the institutions, systems, work cultures and styles of functioning.

The Provincial and Local Governance Support Programme (PLGSP) is the national flagship programme of the Government of Nepal (GoN) to build institutional, organizational and individual capacity at all levels of government, with special focus on the provincial and local levels. The ultimate goal of the Programme is to attain functional, sustainable, inclusive and accountable provincial and local governance. The Programme aims to contribute to delivery of quality services at provincial and local levels, promote better local infrastructure and enhance economic prosperity. The Programme will achieve 14 outputs under the following three outcomes:

Government institutions and inter-governmental mechanisms at all levels are fully functioning in support of federal governance as per the Constitution;
Provincial and local governments have efficient, effective, inclusive and accountable institutions; and
Elected representatives and civil servants at provincial and local governments have the capacity and serve citizens to their satisfaction.

The PLGSP serves as an umbrella programme of the Government in providing capacity development support to the provincial and local governments. As such, the Programme will establish a common framework for coordination and coherence of all governance-related programmes at the provincial and local levels and accommodate other donor-funded programmes.

The Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration (MoFAGA) is the executive agency of the Programme. The seven province governments, the 753 local governments, the restructured Local Development Training Academy (LDTA) and seven provincial-level training centres (Provincial Centres for Good Governance) are the implementing agencies of the Programme. The Programme is supported by international development partners, namely, the Department for International Development (DfID) of the United Kingdom, the European Union (EU), the Government of Norway, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and the United Nations.

MOFAGA is partnering with UNDP to receive Technical Assistance (TA) for the implementation of the Programme. As the first step, a key priority of the TA is recruitment of TA personnel , their capacity building and knowledge enhancement, including orientation and continuous backstopping support in coordination with the Programme Management so that they deliver on the intended outputs.

The province governments have a major role to facilitate and implement the Programme, benefitting both province and local governments. All the province governments have entered into the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with MOFAGA to be a part of the Programme implementation. To support the provincial governments in the implementation of the Programme, a Provincial Programme Implementation Unit (PPIU) will be established in the Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers (OCMCM).

Likewise, the Programme envisages that all province governments will establish their training centers, proposed as the Provincial Center for Good Governance (PCGGs), with the role of serving the capacity development needs of the local governments in the province as well as the province government. In relation to the Programme, PCGGs will function as the capacity development service provider to the provincial and local governments.

Against this background, a number of technical assistance personnel will be deployed by the Programme to support the PCGGs in discharging their roles. This Terms of Reference (ToR) describes functions, responsibilities and expected results of the the Curriculum Development Expert of the PCGG as well as qualifications/experience, competencies and selection criteria required of the incumbent.

Duties and Responsibilities

The overall responsibilities of the assignment are to:

Lead and coordinate curriculum development efforts of the PCGG;
Directly contributing to the achievement of PLGSP output 13: Elected representative and civil servants at the province level are incentivized and trained for delivering high quality services;
Support the planning of the PLGSP activities for PCGGs and support the implementation of approved plans for PCGG capacity development activities;
Ensure mainstreaming of Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) in all curricula developed by the PCGG and its partners; and
Perform any other tasks assigned by the concerned authorities, including the Local Governance Expert cum Team Leader in the PCGG.

1. Lead and coordinate curriculum development efforts of the PCGG:

Support the identification of capacity development needs of provincial and local governments in close collaboration with Capacity Development Expert and other technical experts of the PPIU and PCGG, including based on the Local Institutional Self-Assessments (LISA), review of relevant literature and dialogue and consultations with provincial and local government representatives, civil servants and associations;
Receive the curricula and trainings materials developed by the restructured LDTA and PCU and communicate to the PCGG officials and PLGSP TA personnel in the PCGG;
Provide regular advice and back-up support to the PCGG regarding all curriculum development based on the demands coming from the province and local governments;
Coordinate with technical experts of Programme Coordination Unit (PCU), Provincial Progrmame Implementation Unit (PPIU) and PCGG to ensure consistency and high quality across all curricula, and update them on progress, challenges and lessons learned;
Provide technical inputs and feedbacks to curricula guidelines, manuals, templates and other relevant documents to be developed by the restructured LDTA and PCU;
Ensure that the curricula and training manuals/modules developed by the PCGG are fully in compliance with national standards;
Ensure regular coordination and updates from external partners engaged in capacity development activities with provincial and local governments to ensure alignment with and contribution to existing curricula; and
Develop curricula for the capacity development of external service providers and consultants, including Trainings of Trainers, based on identified needs.

2. Directly contributing to the achievement of PLGSP output 13: Elected representative and civil servants at the province level are incentivized and trained for delivering high quality services:

Develop various menu of services to be delivered by the PCGG to the province government;
Identify capacity development needs of province government officials in close consultation with the relevant Programme personnel;
Lead the development of a Capacity Development Plans for the provincial government, in close coordination with the relevant PCGG and PPIU Technical Assistance personnel; and
Lead the development and implementation of capacity development efforts targeted to the province governments officials.

3. Support the planning of the PLGSP activities for PCGGs and support the implementation of approved plans for PCGG capacity development activities:

Contribute to the preparation of the PCGG Annual Work Plans (AWP) and budgets under the outputs 13 under the framework of PLGSP Annual Strategic Implementation Plan (ASIP);
Support periodical reviews of overall PLGSP/PCGG progress, including monitoring and reporting of capacity development activities;
Provide inputs to the Monitoring and Reporting Expert in PPIU to prepare provincial level provincial monitoring framework and consolidated PPIU and PCGG progress reports to be forwarded to the PCU;
Identify and report risks and issues related to development and implementation of curricula to the PCGG and support discussion on mitigation actions; and
Support the development and management of a roster system for technical experts (across key thematic areas) to deliver capacity development initiatives in the province.

4. Ensure mainstreaming of Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) in all curricula developed by the PCGG and its partners:

Ensure the mainstreaming of GESI in the development and implementation of all PCGG curricula;
Provide regular guidance and support to all TA personnel in PCGG, and external stakeholders in implementing programme activities in the province to facilitate GESI-responsive development and implementation of all capacity development activities outlined in the curricula; and
Support dissemination of information and learning to promote GESI mainstreaming and GESI-responsive curricula.

Impact of Results:

Programme outputs are achieved within the given resources and time with high quality standards;and
High quality training curricula and modules are in place.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modelling the GoN and UN values and ethical standards;
Serves and promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of the GoN and UNDP;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Excellent inter-personal skills;
Clear and upfront communication skills;
Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
Collaborates effectively in a team environment;
Organized and good with following-up on pending issues; meets deadlines;
Promotes learning and knowledge management/sharing;
Focuses on delivering results by taking calculated-risks and problem-solving approach; and
Fair and transparent decision making; regularly shares information with team members.

Functional Competencies:

Promotes sharing of knowledge and experience, and actively works towards continued learning and development on personal level as well as for supervisees;
Good practical knowledge of inter-disciplinary development issues;
Ability to go beyond established procedures and models, propose new approaches which expand the range of projects;
Demonstrates strong numerical and analytical skills;
Has experience working with Monitoring and Evaluation tools;
Experience in developing business plans for financial institutions including energy enterprises;
Experience in coordination, technical assistance and advisory support top government and private institutions;
Experienced in delivering training and other needed capacity/ institutional building support to a wide range of stakeholders including financial institutions;
Demonstrates excellent organizational and administrative skills;
Identifies and communicates relevant information for a variety of audiences for advocating GoN and UNDP’s mandate;
Analyzes and selects materials for strengthening strategic alliances with partners and stakeholders;
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;
Demonstrates good knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments;
Effectively networks with partners seizing opportunities to build strategic alliances relevant to Government of Nepal and UNDP’s mandate and strategic agenda;
Assesses project performance to identify success factors and incorporates best practices into project work;
Monitors specific stages of projects/programme implementation;
Researches linkages across programme activities to identify critical points of integration; and
Oversees and documents the process of strategy formulation for programmes at Project level.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s Degree in Social Science, Management, Law, Public Administration and any other disciplines.

Experience:

At least three years of experience in the area of development, governance, including local governance, adult education, or related field, with focus on training design and implementation;
Proven experience of working in the area of sub-national governance, be this in Government (at federal or sub-national level) or with well recognized national institution and/or international agency;
Sound understanding of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and their implications to the local governance;
Experience of project management, implementation and monitoring;
Demonstrated skills of coordinating with different stakeholders and facilitating discussions;
Demonstrated skills of preparing quality reports and other knowledge products;
Experience of working in government, UN and/or international agencies will be preferable;
Good knowledge of computer applications especially MS Office;
Good understanding of other applications for data management and project monitoring.

Language requirements:

Fluency in English and Nepali, both written and oral, at professional level is essential;
Knowledge of any of the local languages will be an added advantage.