Background

Instructions to Applicants: Click on the "Apply now" button. Input your information in the appropriate Sections: personal information, language proficiency, education, resume and motivation. Upon completion of the first page, please hit "submit application" tab at the end of the page. Please ensure that CV or P11 and the Cover letter are combined in one file.

The following documents shall be required from the applicants:

 a)      Personal CV or P11, indicating all past positions held and their main underlying functions, their durations (month/year), the qualifications, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate, and at least three (3) the most recent professional references of previous supervisors. References may also include peers.

1. A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page) indicating why the candidate considers him-/herself to be suitable for the position.
2. Managers may ask (ad hoc) for any other materials relevant to pre-assessing the relevance of their experience, such as  reports, presentations, publications, campaigns or other materials.

Travel:   UNDP will cover the cost of travel of the individual to the duty station, as well as their return to their home upon completion of their services. Travel costs are covered only in the event that the function will be undertaken physically in the duty station and excludes working from home arrangements.

Institutional Arrangement: Senior Digital Transformation Advisor will work in coordination with the Strategic Planning, Partnerships and RBM unit and report directly to Deputy Resident Representative.

Office/Unit/Project Description 

The United Nations Development Programme in Ukraine is committed to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and operates across a broad spectrum of areas. UNDP in Ukraine also works in a rapidly changing and complex environment, with the COVID-19 pandemic having exacerbated the developmental challenges. In light of this, the continuous attention to transformation and innovation initiatives is a key to catalytic action for the achievement of ambitious agenda and facilitating positive change for the country. UNDP’s Digital Strategy 2019-2021 guides the efforts to leverage digital technologies and improve UNDP’s policy, programme and operational capacities.

The overall purpose of the assignment is to provide inputs and advice to the Country Office (CO) in terms of its digital transformation, as well as improving planning, monitoring and evaluation systems applied by UNDP Ukraine. Under the overall guidance of the Deputy Resident Representative, and in coordination with the Strategic Planning, Partnerships and RBM unit, the Senior Digital Transformation Advisor will provide technical advice and support to UNDP in digital transformation of the CO. This applies to providing advisory services and technical solutions in the areas of planning support, reporting, monitoring and evaluation, assessment, coordination, and capacity-building through information management. Another area of work refers to assisting Ukraine’s Government as it sets about digitally transforming different areas of its work. The Senior Digital Transformation Advisor will also assist in further development of the Integrated Monitoring and Reporting Platform (IMRP). The IMRP was developed for and used exclusively by UNDP in Ukraine to enable the CO to effectively store, process, analyse and use large amount of monitoring data and ensure a results-oriented and sound reporting of progress. IMRP will continue to serve as a primarily tool for data management in the CO in 2021 and beyond. Along with continued maintenance, the platform needs further improvement to ensure that it fully meets performance monitoring and managerial needs of UNDP.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

The position will entail complex consultation and negotiation with UN agencies, concerned Government entities and UNDP Programme and Field Teams to achieve the following:

Digital Transformation

• Provide advisory and technical assistance on developing, adapting and applying solutions supportive of the Ukraine’s Government digital transformation.
• Consistently scan, analyse and bring modern technological solutions to UNDP programmes, identify good practices and areas for improvement, develop recommendations and clear action points on transforming UNDP digital governance arrangements.
• Support design, testing and scaling up (as applicable) of digital initiatives to facilitate fulfilment of UNDP mandate.
• Participate in meetings and other related platforms to ensure programmatic, policy, operational and other activities in the Country Office are supported by appropriate digital technologies.
• Proactively explore and identify opportunities to export digital ideas and solutions from Ukraine to foster the development knowledge networks within and outside UNDP.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Knowledge Management

• Further develop IMRP, the information platform custom-made for UNDP in Ukraine, based upon user feedback and tasks pending implementation from pilot phase, as well as additional specifications agreed upon with the CO counterparts. This particularly involves streamlined efficiency of reports submission and statistics generation, data analysis and visualisation.
• Identify and create a catalogue of all necessary modifications and enhancements to IMRP to ensure that the platform meets monitoring, visualization and reporting needs of UNDP.
• Educate and train UNDP staff and personnel on using IMRP.
• Advise the CO team on the management of IMRP workflow.
• Support the CO team in the preparation of comprehensive IMRP user manual and training materials.
• Share and collaborate with fellow staff members in UNDP HQ and work with them towards globalization of the platform and transforming it into a corporate information system.
• Continuously document and report on all developments related to IMRP.
• Harness information management technologies to improve existing monitoring and evaluation tools and mechanisms;
• Update the senior management on performance fluctuations and develop an early warning mechanism to raise alarms when interventions are required to correct performance deviation.
• Develop and implement information management solutions to facilitate results communication, lessons learning, and knowledge sharing between programmes, projects, staff and partners;
• Support results-oriented annual reporting (ROAR)
• Contribute to the development of Country Programme Document

Planning Support

• Review existing studies, assessment and data management tools and assess relevant capabilities available in involved public entities at all administrative levels to enhance UNDP’s programmatic planning activities.
• Define strategies, goals, and objectives of information management for the national recovery and (planning and coordination) programme and further expand it for UNDP regular programme planning;
• Identify relevant socio-economic indicators and integrate them in work plans for different stages of the programme development;
• Contribute to evidence-based planning and preparation of Country Office Integrated Work Plan (IWP)

Information Management

• Advise UNDP both at programme/projects and COVID-19 working groups on information management solutions and tools;
• Develop systems and mechanisms including tools and processes to facilitate data collection, analysis and reports generation based on defined socio-economic indicators that could support informed decisions for adequate evidence-based response planning;
• Explore and apply the available information management technologies, tools, platforms and systems, including GIS, MIS, and database engines, to support the programme goals and objectives;
• Design and implement a custom-made tools including advanced 4Ws matrix (Who does What Where When) to keep track of activities held by the programme partners;
• Supervise (on short term basis then train project officers) the population of the databases and management information systems with the collected data, enabling the production of situation analysis reports and informing the response planning mechanism;
• Develop adequate databases, identify needed equipment and programmes for facilitating GIS work;
• Lead the development of new technologies (such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning) to be used in improving results and enhancing the overall performance of the organisation.
• Develop and share high quality products (maps, dashboards, reports, etc.) to support communication team in reflecting results and achievements to the wider community.

Strengthen Assessments

• Advise on the best methodology and e-solutions to conduct the planned assessments, mapping and baselines surveys facilitating the implementation of a comprehensive impact of the crisis assessment (covering various sectors and at various levels), and develop the tools accordingly;
• Define proper workflows for the data collection, analysis, dissemination to relevant stakeholders for action;
• Advise on the adequate methodologies and state-of-the-art technologies for assessment and planning.

Capacity Development

• Assess current capacities of relevant teams and partners to better understand institutional challenges and explore areas for capacity development;
• Provide technical assistance to national experts to ensure transfer of knowledge, best practice and experience sharing;
• Develop the capacities of staff and stakeholders at all levels for better assessment methodologies, from data collection, information management and data analysis.

Communication and Networking

• Advise on best information management models and systems to communicate results and achievements to a wide spectrum of UNDP’s national and international partners of the programme, including donors, government, UN agencies, NGOs, and others;
• Simplify communication of results through adequate information management tools to convey programmatic messages and complex ideas making them easily understood by audience from different backgrounds, education levels, cultures, languages, and schools of thought, bridging the divide between inner environment and outer world;
• Create a network of professional information management professionals from all partner agencies and government bodies to establishing a forum for data sharing, exchanging, standardisation, processing and analysis.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

1. Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards
2. Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP
3. Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability

Functional Competencies:

• Proven analytical capacity and strategic thinking;

• Ability for planning and establishing priorities, coordinating and monitoring the work of others, and delegating responsibility where appropriate;
• Excellent interpersonal and supervisory skills;
• Resourcefulness, initiative, and maturity of judgment;
• Excellent communications, negotiations, organizational and management skills in a complex multi-stakeholder environment;
• Ability to handle effectively multiple tasks without compromising quality, team spirit and positive working relationships.

Knowledge Management and Learning

• Promote a knowledge sharing and learning culture in work environment;
• Ability to advocate and provide advice;
• Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development, acts on learning plan and applies on newly acquired skills.

Job Knowledge

• Comprehensive knowledge of information technology and its application in work assignments;
• Deep knowledge of need assessment, information management, and capacity development related to information management;
• Knowledge of information management applications in crisis response and recovery programmes;
• Continues to seek new and improved methods and systems for accomplishing the assigned tasks;
• Keeps abreast of new developments in area of the professional discipline of information management and systems.

Development and Operational Effectiveness

• Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting
• Build and lead teams effectively and mentoring team members well;
• Inspire others, and encourage inter-agency collaboration;
• Propose, manage and lead successful implementation of new technologies;
• Excellent ICT knowledge
• Ability to implement new systems and affect staff behavioural and attitudinal change.
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;

Leadership and Self-Management

• Lead teams effectively and shows conflict resolution skills;
• Takes initiative and calculated risks;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Strong results orientated and effective problem-solver;
• Demonstrated capacity-building and facilitation skills;
• Effectively manages teams and creates an enabling work environment;

Flexible and responsive with a client-oriented approach.

Required Skills and Experience