Antecedentes

Election Commission of India (ECI) has been managing a ‘free and fair’ electoral process that remains unparalleled in the world given the massive numbers, geographic spread and organisational logistics involved. This has also led to a demand for sharing of experiences and learning with other developing countries. Concerted efforts by ECI and other bodies have succeeded in increasing the voter participation, as witnessed in the last Parliamentary election and subsequent state legislative assembly elections. However, measures have to be taken up for further increasing the participation and involving all sections of the society for achieving further inclusive elections.

UNDP in partnership with ECI is implementing a project “Supporting Democratic Electoral Management” for the cycle 2013-2017 with the broad outcome of “Promoting the exchange of knowledge and experiences in the field of election management and administration through ECI to other developing countries.”

The Communication division of ECI is entrusted with assignments of varied nature such as analysis of daily election news report, analysis of media monitoring report received from CEOs during the elections, conduct of National Voters’ Day (NVD), Media awards & Best Electoral Practices award, Zonal Symposia, Paid news and issues related to certification of political advertisement, organising Press Conferences at ECI apart from routine work like dealing with various complaints on media violation, RTI, etc.

Summary of Key Functions

The Technical Experts (TE) will assist the ECI officials and contribute towards successful delivery of the expected outputs under the project.

The position will be located at Election Commission of India, New Delhi. The TE will work under the direct supervision and guidance of the ECI officials and overall guidance of Project Manager/Assistant Country Director (Governance) UNDP.

Deberes y responsabilidades

The Technical Expert would have the responsibility to assist in Commission’s Voter Education Programme and other Media related initiatives. This would include the following:

• Prepare technological tools to track Paid News related cases at all levels of Election Machineries i.e.  – Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), District Election Officer (DEO) and Returning Officer (RO) level;
• Investigate all possible uses of technology for voter education and come up with cost and resource effective ideas that are implementable. For example – how to use e-grams centres for voters education, or use SATCOM for voters education;
• Put in place technological solutions or use IT in an innovative manner for reaching out to young voters;
• Put technological solutions in place for monitoring and reporting of all activities from state to ECI – related to conduct of polls, Election Expenditure Monitoring (EEM), Systematic Voter Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP), Paid news, etc;
• Take up the activity of documenting SVEEP, National Voters’ Day (NVD) and conduct of polls by keeping a watch on all documentable aspects of elections and putting it in a systematic framework for eventual documentation;
• Research on the international best practices or innovative practices for voter education and come out with replicable and implementable ideas;
• Suggest innovative technological solutions to reduce the drudgery of BLOs and for providing easy access to voter registration;
• Monitor outputs, activities and deliverables of States/Districts as required for publication of quarterly newspaper;
• Review external publications/documents/reports to provide inputs into language, styles, and designs;
• Proof reading of the tools and documents to ensure ECI’s editorial standards are met;
• Creative documentation (AV/print) of Lok Sabha/assembly elections;
• Work associated with various press releases of the Commission;
• Regular analysis of electronic/print media report on electoral activities;
• Speech and article writing for the Commission and various other work associated;
• Work associated with  publication of quarterly bilingual newspaper of the Commission;
• Co-ordinate with Media Monitoring Control Room set up at ECI headquarters during elections;
• Provide needs-based technical support to the states on SVEEP interventions;
• Any other responsibility assigned by ECI and UNDP.

Competencias

Corporate 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;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
• Integrity and Confidentiality;
• Communicate information and ideas in an effective manner;
• Ability to work in teams;
• Collaboration and Conflict Management skills.

Functional Competencies: 

Job Knowledge and Technical Expertise:

• Keeps abreast of new developments in the area of professional discipline and job knowledge and seeks to develop himself/herself professionally. Shares knowledge and experience with the team and other stakeholders;
• Possesses knowledge and understanding of democratic governance, electoral management;
• Possesses ability to research on issues related to electoral management, conceptualize issues and analyze data;
• Has exposure to public policy issues related to electoral management;
• Possesses ability to implement new systems;
• Overall coordination with component Coordinators;
• Compilation of all sorts of reports of Media and Communication Division;
• Proven ability to work with different groups of people and a team player;
• Ability to work under pressure and multitask;
• Ability to work independently with minimum of supervision.      

Building Strategic: 

• Effectively  builds and sustains strategic partnerships with Government Agencies and main constituents, advocate effectively, communicate sensitively across different constituencies;
• Builds strong relationships with the Project Management Team and with the project partners, focuses on impact and result for the project partners and responds positively to feedback. 

Leadership, Team and Self-Management:

• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Supervises the work of other team members;
• Demonstrates strong influencing and facilitation skills;
• Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure;
• Demonstrates openness to change, new ideas and ability to manage complexities;
• Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
• Proven ability to coordinate the work of others and to work as part of a team.

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

Education:

• Masters in Mass Communication, Development Communication Behavioural Sciences or equivalent degree from a recognized and leading media institute;
• Should have working knowledge of electoral systems and practices. 

Experience: 

• Minimum 7 years of relevant professional experience in the field of IEC, research, reporting, documentation and advocacy;
• Have a good knowledge and working experience of Social media, media relations, Press and possibilities of its use and misuse;
• Good understanding of issues pertaining to democratic governance, electoral management and public policy;
• Good understanding of development issues i.e. gender, youth and participation etc.;
• Good understanding of the electoral process;
• Have excellent documentation skills in English and Hindi;
• Experience in conducting awareness campaigns involving a broad range of stakeholders;
• Good communication, interpersonal and presentation skills;
• Previous work experience with government agencies is an advantage;
• Ability to work independently and under pressure.

Language: 

• Fluency in written and spoken English is essential.

Travel:

• Willingness to travel.

Note:

Remuneration package is INR 136332/- per month (taxable). UNDP also offers additional benefits which include medical insurance coverage and limited pension reimbursement for contract holder and encourages work life balance.