Antecedentes

Nepal’s agriculture shows weak growth rates with low productivity, coupled with a food trade deficit and high malnutrition. This is associated with low marketed volumes and farmers’ limited access to agriculture technology. Postharvest losses are high, with careless crop handling and a lack of storage facilities contributing to postharvest losses.

Against this backdrop, the project on Value Chain Development of Fruit and Vegetables in Nepal, focuses on increasing production, reducing postharvest losses and promoting market linkages. Led by the Ministry of Agriculture, Land Management and Cooperatives (MoALMC), Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the 5-years project aims to increase incomes for smallholder farmers growing fruit and vegetables. It will target two road corridors (the B.P. and Arniko highway and the Kathmandu-Pokhara highway) in provinces 3 and 4. About 10,000 farmers and 20 cooperatives will be beneficiaries.

Management arrangements:
The National Project Manager will work under the guidance and supervision of the National Project Director. S/he will work in close collaboration with UNDP Nepal office, government partners, the donor and other relevant stakeholders.

Deberes y responsabilidades

Duties and Responsibilities
Under the guidance of the National Project Director, the National Project Manager is responsible for project implementation, comprising the following responsibilities.

General Responsibilities:

1.    Day-to-day management of the project.
2.    Recruitment, coordination, and supervision of staff, consultants and contractors.
3.    Coordination, management and monitoring of project finances, administration, procurement and logistics.
4.    Developing and maintaining strong relationships with the donor, implementing partners and other counterparts.
5.    Facilitating knowledge management and communications.

Specific Responsibilities:
 
1.    Day-to-day management of the project under the guidance of the National Project Director

  • Ensure that all activities under each output are prepared in a timely manner and implemented in accordance with stated outcomes and performance indicators;
  • Prepare Annual Work Plans, Quarterly Work Plans and other documents for the approval of the Project Board;
  • Monitor and manage project progress and update risk management status to the National Project Director;
  • Lead monitoring, quality data collection and timely submission of technical and progress reports to the donor, partners, and UNDP;
  • Liaise with the UNDP Programme Analyst for assuring project quality and the operational compliance with the UNDP rules and regulations;
  • Organize Project Board meetings on a regular basis;
  • Consult with the Project Board through the National Project Director on any issues that require the Board’s attention, including issues related to deviation from the approved work plans and deviation from the approved target and/or budget).

2.    Recruitment, coordination, and supervision of staff, consultants and contractors.

  • Lead recruitment planning and day-to-day management of all project personnel (staff, consultants and contractors);
  • Develop terms of reference and technical specifications of staff, consultants and contractors;
  • Coordinate and manage the recruitment process in consultation with the UNDP Country Office;
  • Provide supervision and coordination of the work of project personnel to ensure delivery of project outputs and outcomes in a timely manner.

3.    Coordination, management and monitoring of project finances, administration, procurement and logistics

  • Act as the focal point for the UNDP Country Office to ensure that all financial and administrative matters related to the project are transparently, expediently, and effectively managed in line with UNDP rules and regulations;
  • Develop narrative and financial reports for the Project Board and to the donor;
  • Coordinate and support all activities for the annual audit exercise and follow-up on the audit recommendations;
  • Ensure timely preparation and implementation of the procurement plan;
  • Support proper use and maintenance of office equipment.

4.    Developing and maintaining strong relationships with the donor, implementing partners and other counterparts.

  • Establish and maintain good working relationships with key stakeholders, government and non-government organizations;
  • Keep abreast of agricultural value chain and postharvest loss management issues emerging in Nepal and identify synergies and responses;
  • Facilitate strategic dialogue between project staff, the donor, implementing partners at central, state and local levels, non-governmental organizations, and other counterparts.


5.    Facilitating Knowledge Management and Communications

  • Supervise the development of knowledge products (including brochures, briefs, documents on lessons learnt, manuals for extension workers and farmers, evaluation reports);
  • Facilitate the dissemination of information about the objectives, progress, and achievements of the project;
  • Take the lead, coordinate and participate in the organization of conferences, seminars, workshops, training sessions and meetings related to the project;
  • Build the project’s reputation in the knowledge networks to draw on and disseminate best practices and lessons learnt;
  • Create and foster good working relationships with the media (social media, newspapers and journals, radio, and television).


Impact of Function
Successful management of the Value Chain Development of Fruit and Vegetables Project in compliance with the Government of Nepal’s and UNDP’s rules and procedures

Competencias

Corporate Competencies:

  • Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
  • Serves and promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
  • Good 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;
  • Promote learning and knowledge management/sharing;
  • Focuses on delivering results by taking calculated-risks and problem solving approach;
  • 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;
  • dentifies and communicates relevant information for a variety of audiences for advocating 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 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;
  • Oversees and documents the process of strategy formulation for programmes at Project level.

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

Education:   

Master’s degree in an agriculture-related topic (including Agronomy, Horticulture, Agricultural Economics) or any other relevant field.

Experience:   

  • A Master’s degree with more than 10 years of work experiences or Ph.D. with 5 years of work experiences in the relevant field.
  • At least 5 years of experience in the project management on agriculture research and development in Nepal.
  • Sound understanding of agriculture policies and agriculture research and extension systems.
  • Ability to manage and supervise a team of multidisciplinary professionals.
  • Good understanding of UNDP rules and procedures or experience of completing UN assignments would be an asset.

Language Requirement    

Fluency in spoken and written English and Nepali

Other    

Good knowledge of computer applications such as Word, Excel, Power Point and Statistical applications.