Job: PROGRAMME SPECIALIST (LOCAL GOVERNANCE)

Location :

Yangon, MYANMAR

Application Deadline :

10-Oct-13

Type of Contract :

FTA Local

Post Level :

NO-D

Languages Required :

English  

Starting Date :
(date when the selected candidate is expected to start)

31-Oct-2013

Duration of Initial Contract :

One Year

Background

Myanmar is at an historic stage in its development. A new Constitution was adopted in May 2008 and elections were held in November 2010 with bi-elections in April 2012. A number of reforms have been initiated by the government and the country has embarked on a rapid transition process. These developments have allowed UNDP to propose a fully fledged UNDP country program (approved by the Executive Board at its 1st regular session in January 2013). Against a rapidly changing background UNDPs country program document for Myanmar (2013-2015), structured against a three pillar logic, aims to make critical contributions towards strengthening democratic governance, policy advice for poverty reduction, strengthening resilience against climate change and disaster risks as well as targeted support for strengthening of good local governance. 

In this context, the Program Specialist (PS) Local Governance, will under the guidance of the Team Leader (Local Governance) take a lead role for the implementation of the Pillar 1 program of the UNDP country program, with a specific focus on the output 1, output 2 and 3 which together form the core of the local governance support activities. 

The incumbent will report directly to the Team Leader and will support UNDP Myanmar’s efforts to ensure the achievement of five outputs under the pillar 1 program, namely: 

• Strengthened institutional capacity for local governments and township administrations for area-related development planning, responsive and effective public service delivery, organizational management and conflict prevention;
• Strengthened institutional capacity of local civil society organizations to provide community services including civic and legal awareness and advocacy;
• Strengthened capacity of local media institutions in support of local development and civic awareness at the district and state/region levels;
• Strengthened capacity of institutions required to support livelihoods at the local level (microfinance, vocational training, technical extension centers);
• Direct livelihoods support and community development in ceasefire/ border and high poverty areas for social inclusion and early recovery.

The incumbent will take a lead role within the team of pillar 1 in supporting UNDP’s capacity building of local governments and provision of high quality technical assistance and policy advice to national and state/regional stakeholders in the areas of regional and local development planning, responsive and effective delivery of public services and organizational management. In so doing, s/he will work closely and coordinate joint activities with UNCDF, guide the work of local governance experts in UNDP’s area offices and manage deployment of additional long and short-term expertise, as required. The incumbent will also provide support and engage in formulation and first hand guidance for program implementation related to support to media and civil society development as part of a comprehensive approach to local governance strengthening. 

In exercising the role, the incumbent will supervise respective administrative staff and engage in an overall assurance role with regards to budgetary oversight and administrative management of the respective pillar 1 program in the Atlas system. S/he will interact closely with other program specialists in pillar 1 to ensure effective and efficient program delivery and policy advice in delivering the results under all outputs of Pillar 1 of the Myanmar country program. In addition, the PS (Local Governance) will also liaise with the staff of the two other pillars of the Myanmar country program to achieve results in a coordinated and consolidated manner. 

The PS (Local Governance) will under the guidance of the team leader engage actively with government partners and national counterparts and use her/his advanced political and social understanding of the country to provide advice on appropriate support to the government priorities of Myanmar.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of key functions:

• Programme Management and Oversight;
• Capacity Development and Strengthening of Local Governments, Civil Society and Media;
• Partnership Management;
• Knowledge Management;
• Team Building and Management.

Programme Management and Oversight:

• Backstopping for the Team Leader in leading the Pillar 1 team in program implementation and management to ensure a program which is relevant and responsive to changes in the country context; assist in organizing the annual work planning of the entire Pillar 1 program;
• Leads the delivery of relevant program activities, identifies modalities to achieve development targets under the respective outputs, supports coordination of joint activities with UNCDF and engages in overall quality assurance for program implementation. In doing so ensures effectiveness and relevance of UNDP’s contributions to development results by facilitating integrated, cross-practice and multi-disciplinary program support and policy advice by UNDP to national stakeholders;
• Facilitates high level representation and high quality engagement with national authorities and other key stakeholders with a view of ensuring the Pillar’s strategic relevance. In this context, facilitates the work of the pillar 1 output boards for strategic steering of the pillar’s program activities in line with the country program and pillar outputs for output 1-3;
• Provides quality assurance to results delivered by other contracted experts including through management guidance, drafting of ToRs, joint field visits and review of reports, and provide thorough and high quality advice and suggestions in alignment with programme objectives, approach and strategy and support further programming;
• Takes a lead role in coordination of inputs and drafting of ad hoc and regular reports, including annual and donor reports of the entire Pillar 1 program in a timely manner in coordination with all Pillar 1 team members;
• Provides direction and ensures high quality inputs into CO monitoring and evaluation systems and ensures effective linkages with other pillars, especially on democratic governance and policy support (pillar 3); effectively contributes on the side of pillar 1 to the corporate exercise of annual integrated work planning and ROAR reporting; as well as other CO programme wide exercises;
• Engage in supervising the overall resource management of the Pillar program in Atlas, and provide program associates with required guidance and coaching. Routinely monitors financial exception reports for unusual activities, transactions, and investigates anomalies or unusual transactions under Pillar 1. Informs Team Leader of the results of the investigation when satisfactory answers are not obtained;
• Ensures the integrity of financial systems, review of budget requirements and the consistent application or rules and regulations according to Atlas regulations;
• Keeps abreast with the political, socio-economic and administrative changes and development of the country and provides CO Management and the Team Leader the Pillar 1 with high quality analysis and senior level advice in support of program development and implementation.

Capacity Development and Strengthening of Local Governments , CSO and Media:

• Provides technical assistance in the field of strengthening and strategic capacity building of local governments, develops the appropriate tools of analysis of the long-term development solutions in the subject area suitable to the national context of Myanmar;
• Conducts political analysis, capacity assessments and program design in local governance. Supports adequate information systems for regional/state/district/local planning, identifies priorities and supports the development in targeted areas through local governance assessments and capacity development plans;
• Takes a lead role in design and implementation capacity building support to state/region/district/local administrations and elected officials to plan, budget, monitor and develop regulatory frameworks, including local development and investment plans as required;
• Supports capacities of service deliverers, including through coordination of service delivery by local government departments, targeting suitable public-private partnerships and community feedback on service delivery;
• Takes a lead role in designing appropriate strategies for assessment and capacity development for citizens, CSOs and media for active engagement in local development, engagement in public decision making, planning processes and monitoring of local service delivery; supports mapping of local media organization and provision of training and capacity building support;
• Continuously improves UNDP’s capacity development approach in the context of local governance in Myanmar; and, as requested, supports the government’s development coordination mechanisms in the area of local governance.
• Ensures close working together and synergies with activities and program elements to be delivered by UNDPs partner UNCDF, specifically with regards to the local development fund interventions in selected States and Regions.

Knowledge Management:

• Introduces innovation and best practices to enhance program performance under the pillar 1 of the country program. Collaborate with UNDP Bureau of Conflict Prevention and Recovery, UNDP Bureau of Development Policy and with UNDP Asia Pacific Regional Centre and other internal and external development partners to identify and share best program practices in the area of local governance;
• Supports the Team Leader in the process of knowledge creation and dissemination related to national and international know-how in the subject area. In this context, partners with practitioners and members of the UNDP global and regional networks;
• Together with other senior program specialists in pillar 1, organizes formal and informal internal and external networks or communities of practice involving prominent experts in government, academia, think tanks, private companies, NGOs, development partners and the UN system.

Partnership Management: Advocacy, Partnership Development and Resource Mobilization:

• Represent UNDP in national and sub-national multi-stakeholder forums and other key meetings and events, as designated/appropriate to speak on program issues in the area of local governance support, participate in policy dialogue, discuss policy initiatives, report on progress achieved and/or present policy papers/ideas to influence setting of agenda in the area of local governance and promote UNDP competencies and mandate;
• Maintain active relationships and partnerships with the Government, NGOs, UN system and agency partners, intergovernmental and international non-governmental organizations, academia, media, and the private sector on national priorities in the area of local governance to enhance collaboration, resource mobilization and share ideas and to influence agenda and priority setting;
• Advocates for UNDP with government counterparts at all levels, with non-state actors and development partners; develops critical relationships, networks and builds and effective partnerships with government and with development partners in the subject area;
• Ensures full and timely reporting of development results with a focus on sustainability and on value for money; develops and pursues effective communication for development results and public outreach;

Team Building and People Management:

• Facilitates day-to-day functioning of the team. Manages human and financial resources for achieving results in line with the outputs and activities outlined in the country program, project document and annual work plans; 
  Supports the Pillar 1 Team Leader in the overall oversight of the team and the network of area offices;
• Guides and ensures effective recruitment, and contributes to the overall team building and performance of Pillar 1.
• Arrange learning events, seminars and discussion sessions with Pillar 1 team members to support effective team building and people management.

The key results have an impact on the overall success Pillar 1 of the country program contributing to CPD/ CPAP and project document goals. In particular, the key results have an impact on the design, operations and programming of activities, creation of strategic partnerships as well as reaching overall project targets in outputs 1-3 of pillar 1.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity and fairness by modeling UN values and ethical standards;
• Displays cultural and gender sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly and without favoritism; and
• Shows strong corporate commitment.

Functional Competencies: 

Development and Operational Effectiveness:

• Ability to lead strategic planning in the context of Myanmar;
• Ability to lead the formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of strategic policies and sound development programs;
• Srong technical and practical leadership and knowledge in issues related to development programs;
• Familiarity with UN system and role of key stakeholders in the area of national development plans, local-level planning, aid management, coordination and effectiveness

Knowledge Management and Learning:

• Promotes knowledge management and a learning environment through leadership and personal example;
• Experience in capacity development and facilitating positive transformational change;
• Experience in providing technical assistance and substantive inputs in the area of local governance.

Management and Leadership:

• Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and responds positively to constructive feedback; 
  Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills;
• Demonstrates excellent presentation skills;
• Excellent computer skills, and applications for report and project planning;
• Excellent organizational skills and proven ability to deliver projects within assigned deadlines;
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
• Excellent interpersonal skills and objectivity.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree in social sciences, economics, political sciences, development, management or other relevant fields.

Experience:

• A minimum of 7 years progressively responsible and relevant professional working experience in the area of development;
• Proven track record in providing technical assistance and capacity building of local governments and/or in regional/local development, public administration and public financial management both national and local levels.
• Proven management experience, preferably within UNDP or another UN agency, with sound knowledge and experience in all aspects of project cycle (design, implementation, monitoring & evaluation);
• Proven track record in partnership building; prior experience of development work in rural Myanmar;
• Strong interpersonal and written and oral communication skills; ability to work well in multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams;
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages, experience in handling of web based management systems and social knowledge networks.

Language Requirements:

• Excellent command of written and spoken Myanmar and English.

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.

More Info and Application