Project Officer

Throughout history, cities have been the main centres of learning, culture and innovation. It is not surprising that the world's most urban countries tend to be the richest and have the highest human development.

Ongoing rapid urbanisation has the potential to improve the well-being of societies. Although only around half the world’s people live in cities, they generate more than 80 percent of Global Domestic Product (GDP). Cities are also younger: home to relatively more young and working-age adults than rural areas, making them pivotal places to capture demographic dividends. And around the world cities are introducing initiatives aimed at addressing poverty, improving infrastructure and tackling pollution.

In Maldives as in other small island developing states (SIDS), internal migration and growth of a large urban centre (Male’) can be attributed to spatial inequality due to urban bias in the availability of economic opportunities and provision of services and income disparities between Male’ and other atolls. While there is some amount of inter-atoll migration, Male’ is the main destination for both temporary and permanent migration in the Maldives.

Migration, population growth and urbanisation has contributed to a number of social problems that impact the livelihoods of Male’ people. Overcrowding, housing congestion and violence are some of the key social problems of urban growth in Maldives. These problems have been compounded by the large number of youth in Male’

UNDP Maldives in partnership with Ooredoo Maldives and Housing Development Corporation has launched a project on smart cities. The ‘Smart Cities’ Project aims to offer innovative, smart solutions for urban challenges through ensuring that the technological solutions introduced in Hulhumale’ - the future smart city , remains inclusive and accessible to all of its population.

This is part of UNDP Maldives continuous effort to improve the service offer of the Country Office to meet the demands of the evolving development context of the country.

The Project Officer works in close collaboration with the CO, Government Counterparts, private sector and civil society to support UNDP’s efforts in the area of Urbanization.

• Management and Implementation of project on Smart Cities and related activities, focusing on the achievement of the following results:
• • Day-to-day management of project activities including ensuring compliance with UNDPs Procurement and Human Resources Guidelines, and financial requirements;
  • Proactive planning of work plan activities through close collaboration with National and partners whilst ensuring national regulations and policies are adhered to.
  • Plan and conduct regular monitoring to ensure quality results are achieved in a timely manner.
  • Financial management of allocated resources including timely production and signing of Combined Delivery Reports (CDR), project expenditure reports and other analytical reports on a quarterly basis;
  • Put in place and facilitate results-based implementation of programme activities and manage, monitor and update the ATLAS Risks and Issues Log;
  • Coordinate the preparation of Terms of References for all required consultants and staff and coordinate the national and international consultants in close cooperation to ensure that necessary quality of technical expertise and output is obtained and the relevant procedures are followed.
  • Support CO in implementation of regional projects and funded activities in related areas
  • Prepare quarterly reports to be submitted to donor
  • Performance of other duties as required in support of project implementation

• Advocacy with private sector and other partners to strengthen project outreach, focusing on the achievement of the following results:
  • Capture stories from UNDP projects on Urbanization and disseminate the information
  • Conduct research and innovative ways in the area of urbanization in the Maldives and how best to address the issue
  • Work with CO staff and national partners in championing campaigns related to urbanization including in the area of waste management through initiatives such as Saafu Raajje of the government to work on a behavioral change campaign.
  • Scanning of opportunities in the country; identification of where the UNDP strengths overlap with partner/client needs
  • Engage with Regional Hubs and UNDP global centers to identify good practices and innovative tools that can be replicated in the local context
  • Work with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and Youth groups in Maldives working in the area to forge partnership on addressing urbanization in the Maldives.
  • Building strategic alliances and UNDP positioning, including creating opportunities and nurturing networks for idea generation
  • Coordinate with UNDP Partnership Development and Policy Officer to identify avenues to build relationships with the private sector, donors and government counterparts for resource mobilization in the area of urbanization
  • Document lessons learned and best practices from project implementation and share with key partners and UNDP’s regional centers

• Support to ensure coherence of smart cities project with programmes and projects, with the following results:
  • Ensure that projects their goals, and support the Policy and Programme Management (PMP) portfolio in the alignment and linkage
  • Identification of areas where effective synergies could be built between the different programme units of the CO and other UN organizations to provide quality advice on developing interventions based on the key synergies.
  • Improve the cross-project learning and knowledge exchange to improve the quality of programme implementation and delivery of the PMP Portfolio
  • Coordinate with UNDP supported project to synergies between the projects in addressing urbanization in the country with a particular focus on the UNDP/Ooredoo Smart Cities Initiative

• Strategic partnerships, provision of top quality advisory services and facilitation of knowledge building and policy advisory services to key partners
  • Identification of sources of information related to policy-driven issues. Identification and synthesis of best practices and lessons learned directly linked to programme country policy goals.
  • Sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice.
  • Organization of training for the operations/ projects staff on programme issues.
  • Professional growth through active learning.

• Advocacy/Advancing A Policy-Oriented Agenda - Preparing information for advocacy
  • Identifies and communicates relevant information for a variety of audiences for advocating UNDP’s mandate

• Results-Based Programme Development and Management - Contributes into results through primary research and analysis
  • Assesses project performance to identify success factors and incorporates best practices into project work
  • Researches linkages across programme activities to identify critical points of integration
  • Monitors specific stages of projects/programme implementation

• Building Strategic Partnerships - Maintaining a network of contacts
  • Maintains an established network of contacts for general information sharing and to remain up-to-date on partnership related issues
  • Analyzes and selects materials for strengthening strategic alliances with partners and stakeholders

• Innovation and Marketing New Approaches - Enhancing processes or products
  • Generates new ideas and proposes new, more effective ways of doing things

• Resource Mobilization (Field Duty Stations) - Providing inputs to resource mobilization strategies
  • Analyzes information/databases on potential and actual donors
  • Explore avenues for Government Cost Sharing

• Promoting Organizational Learning and Knowledge Sharing - Basic research and analysis
  • Generates new ideas and approaches, researches best practices and proposes new, more effective ways of doing things

• Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise - Fundamental knowledge of own discipline
  • 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
  • Strives to keep job knowledge up-to-date through self-directed study and other means of learning
  • Demonstrates good knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments

• Global Leadership and Advocacy for UNDP’s Goals - Preparing information for global advocacy
  • Identifies and communicates relevant information for advocacy for UNDP’s goals for a variety of audiences

• Client Orientation - Establishing effective client relationships
  • Researches potential solutions to internal and external client needs and reports back in a timely, succinct and appropriate fashion
  • Organizes and prioritizes work schedule to meet client needs and deadlines

Core Competencies:

• Demonstrating/safeguarding ethics and integrity  
• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment
• Self-development, initiative-taking
• Acting as a team player and facilitating team work
• Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively
• Creating synergies through self-control
• Managing conflict
• Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of others. Promoting learning and knowledge management/sharing is the responsibility of each staff member.
• Informed and transparent decision making

Education and Experience

• Master’s Degree in related field with at least a year of experience in programme management or coordination or Bachelor’s degree in a related field with at least three years of experience in project/programme management. 
• Experience in the use of computers and office software packages and handling of web based management systems.

Language Requirement

• Excellent communication skills both in English and Dhivehi