1976 - Project Manager

a.             Purpose

The purpose of the position is to manage and coordinate activities within the “Advancing the capacities of the Ministry of Interior in the field of custody chain, crime scene investigations and the ballistic laboratory in the field of operations and investigations in trafficking of firearms and firearms criminality” Project.

b.             Objective

To ensure results oriented, effective, efficient and accountable implementation of the Project activities and achievement of Project results.

c.             Background Information

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is acting as an implementing agency of the Roadmap for a sustainable solution to arms control in the Western Balkans.

The Roadmap for a sustainable solution to arms control in the Western Balkans by 2024 was developed by the region’s leaders in July 2018 at the London Summit in the presence of European Union (EU) leaders. The Roadmap was developed by the Western Balkans authorities with SEESAC’s technical support under the auspices of France and Germany and in consultation with the EU and all other relevant actors. The Roadmap is complemented by individual Action Plans that are developed by the Governments in the Western Balkans with the SEESAC’s and UNDP support.

The Roadmap puts a special emphasis on gender dimension and gender implications of SALW misuse and aims to increase gender responsiveness of SALW control policies in the Western Balkans, particularly in the context of violence against women, domestic violence and gender-based violence, recognized by the fact that it has been set as the specific target of the Roadmap.

The project Advancing the capacities of the Ministry of Interior in the field of custody chain, crime scene investigations and the ballistic laboratory in the field of operations and investigations in trafficking of firearms and firearms criminality is supporting the implementation of the specific goals of the Roadmap, namely the goals:

1. Roadmap goal 1: to ensure by 2023 that arms control legislation is in place, fully harmonized with the EU regulatory framework and standardized across the region;
2. Roadmap Goal 3: to significantly reduce by 2024 the illegal circulation of firearms, ammunition and explosives (AME) towards, within and beyond the Western Balkans;
3. Roadmap goal 5: to substantially decrease by 2025 estimated number of firearms in illicit possession in the Western Balkans.

Chain of custody is a concept in the study and application of the law related to the proper handling of evidence within a criminal proceeding. It refers to the ability to positively guarantee the identity, integrity, and chronological history of evidence from the point of acquisition through to examination and testimony. The sensitive nature of evidence, as used in a court of law to convict a person or persons of a crime, requires strict custodial procedures to be followed in a precise and careful manner to avoid later allegations of tampering or misconduct. These custodial procedures are carefully logged, documented, and attested via signature by every identifiable person at every stage of custody, thus creating a probable chain of custody that can be traced back to the point of acquisition.

It has been identified during several scoping missions that the chain of custody can be improved leading to a more efficient processing of court cases and convictions.

The chain of custody starts at the place where the evidence is found or recovered, this can be a house search, incident or crime scene investigation. In Serbia, there are 27 active crime scene investigation teams which are documenting the crime scenes and recovering data on that scene or are receiving weapons, bullets and cartridges from minor offices through local police offices. It is of upmost importance that their work is done with care so that the evidence does not get contaminated and becomes useless, that it is adequately tagged and packaged and that these teams use established methods and processes. There is no standard operating procedure, packaging manual nor online systems to document the recovery of evidence which could assist in the work of the Firearms Focal point.

The evidence is further to be sent as quickly as possible to one of the forensic laboratories for examination in order to be able to get as much information as possible in the period following the incident, called the golden hour. In a chain of custody, the evidence is handed over to a reception center where a handover document is filled out and listed in a laboratory inventory management system in order to ensure a smooth and well documented follow up of different requested examinations. Reception rooms do not exist in either one of the laboratories nor are there up to standard evidence rooms established where the evidence can be stored upon receipt while waiting for different examinations in the lab or functioning as the transfer zone between two different laboratory sections such as fingerprint, DNA and ballistics.

During ballistic examination, bullets or cartridges are very often compared to open case file which is a collection of bullets and cartridges that are stored of unsolved cases. It is absolutely important that these open case files are well organized, well stored and centralized in one of the labs preferably in Belgrade. In order to accelerate the recovery of cartridges and bullets from weapons gathered form crime scenes, it is required to shoot them in certified bullet recovery systems, very often called a water tank. A structured open case file does not exist in Serbia nor there is a water tank for test firing in place.

Methods for ballistic examination can be developed and accredited to ensure that every examination is done in a standardized way. Accreditation has never been done for ballistic methods in Serbia.

The Roadmap also aims to increase gender responsiveness of SALW control policies in the Western Balkans, particularly in the context of violence against women, domestic violence and gender-based violence. With that in mind, the project aims to improve examination processes and the collection of evidence in the cases of domestic violence and contribute to the discovery of criminal acts related to domestic violence, its processing and adequate punishment of perpetrators.

The aim of the project is to increase the capacities of the Ministry of Interior in the whole cycle of the investigative cycle and in particular improve the custody chain in order to improve investigations in order to achieve regular convictions. The project will focus on the development of standard operating procedures, accredited procedures and methods, thus directly contributing to the sustainability of the project.

Measurable outputs of the work assignment

Overall responsibilities:  The Project Manager is responsible for day-to-day management and decision-making for the “Advancing the capacities of the Ministry of Interior in the field of custody chain, crime scene investigations and the ballistic laboratory in the field of operations and investigations in trafficking of firearms and firearms criminality” Project. The Project Manager's primary responsibility is to ensure that the Project produces the results specified in the Project Document, to the required standard of quality and within the specified constraints of time and cost.

Specific responsibilities include:

Management of designated projects/components in accordance with UNDP Program and Operations Policies and Procedures and UNDP Serbia Standard Operating Procedures:

• Be responsible and accountable for the overall management and administration of the Project, and the timely and quality delivery of all Project outputs;
• Develop and manage, in coordination with partners, an overall Project implementation strategy;

• Prepare Project Work Plans and present them t to the National Project Director/Project Board for review/approval;
• Develop Monitoring and Evaluation Plan for tracking and evaluating progress against the agreed targets;
• Coordinate an exit strategy at least 6 months ahead of the project closure date; ensure closure of the project is done per the established procedures;
• Participate in recruitment and evaluation panels.

Monitor progress and manage risks, ensuring that changes are controlled and problems addressed; Report on progress and issues:

• Monitor Project progress to ensure that it is in accordance with the timetable set out in the Project Document and preparation of regular updates to Project Boards on projects’ progress, implementing issues, emerging risks/problems and proposals for necessary remedial actions;
• Collect and manage project data as required by the M&E Plan;
• Monitor financial resources and accounting to ensure accuracy and reliability of financial reports; ensue preparation of budget revisions as necessary; follow up with UNDP programme associate and finance staff on issues;
• Crete, monitor and manage calendar of events (in Atlas and off-Atlas;
• Regularly update the Atlas Project Management module;
• Manage the project risks; inform the Project Board on emerging issues and risks update the issue and risk status by maintaining the project logs in Atlas;
• Organize regular Project Board meetings and regularly report on the progress to the Project Board;
• Prepare project progress reports with the frequency and using the template recommended by the UNDP office. Submit the report to supervisor in the UNDP programme team for review and clearance, per the agreed timetable. Share report with the Project Board;
• Ensure reporting to donor is prepared timely and the reports are meeting the standards;
• Support the preparation of reviews and evaluations as defined in the project document
• Prepare final project reports and papers;
• Design Terms of Reference for engagement of consultants and companies;
• Assume responsibilities in line with the Internal Control Framework and act as a `first authority` for Project transactions.

Networking and support to resource mobilization

• Maintain good cooperation and coordination between national counterparts, projects’ partners, particularly organizational units in the Ministry of Interior, and other stakeholders. 
• Maintain regular contacts with beneficiaries to ensure relevance and quality of projects’ outputs.
• Establish record with contacts, pursue networking and information sharing and follow up on partnership related issues.
• Support the partnerships and advocacy activities agreed by the UNDP office in the area/sector covered by the project;
• Contribute to the development of pipeline initiatives primarily under the themes covered by the project.

Communication, knowledge management and learning

• Provide policy advice on issues within the scope of the project
• Regular exchange of information/experience with other projects, cross-learning and sharing results and good practices;
• Ensure the project has the required communication package;
• Prepare communication materials for dissemination inside and outside the UNDP;
• Capture lessons learnt during project;
• Participate in internal meetings;
• Participate in training events, communities of practice;

• Facilitate team’s learning and knowledge sharing;
• Participate in UN Theme Group and other sectoral groups’ work, as required;\
• Performing other duties as required.

Performance Indicators for evaluation of results

• Project results delivered;
• Direction and guidance to Project team provided;
• Dialogue with Ministry of Interior, other stakeholders and beneficiaries maintained;
• Reports and Workplans developed on time in line with quality standards;
• Sound management of Project finances;
• Project administered in UNDP Software ATLAS;
• Project’s activities and achievements captured and presented;
• Team learning and knowledge management organized as a part of project cycle.

• Good application of Results-Based Management;
• Good communication, coordination and facilitation skills;
• Consistently ensures timeliness and quality of Project work;
• Establishes lasting relationships and substantive dialogue with clients;
• Treats all people fairly without favourism;
• Strong oral and written communication skills;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Demonstrates integrity by modeling ethical standards.

Education:

Master’s Degree or equivalent in social sciences, law or equivalent.

Work experience:

• Minimum 3 years of relevant experience at the national or international level in technical assistance to law enforcement institutions; additional experience will be considered a strong asset, particularly in implementing small arms and light weapons control and ballistic activities;
• Experience in managing teams and complex projects/processes that included extensive communication, coordination and facilitation requirements;
• Experience in partnership building at international, national, regional and local level, in particular working with security sector institutions;
• The following specific experiences will be considered as an asset: experience working in the UN system or other international organizations; experience in managing projects in the field of SALW control.

Knowledge

• Excellent understanding of current policies on law enforcement activities;
• Familiarity with the SALW Roadmap;
• Knowledge of the existent legal and institutional frameworks for SALW control will be considered an asset;
• Knowledge in the use of computers and office software packages and handling of web-based management systems.

Personal qualifications

• Ability to organize and motivate team, deliver when working under pressure and within changing circumstances;
• Excellent writing/reporting and presentation skills;
• Excellent interpersonal, networking and team building skills;

Language:

Excellent knowledge of written and spoken Serbian and English.

Important applicant information

All posts in the SC categories are subject to local recruitment.

Applicant information about UNDP rosters

Note: UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement.  We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.

Workforce diversity

UNDP is committed to achieving diversity within its workforce, and encourages all qualified applicants, irrespective of gender, nationality, disabilities, sexual orientation, culture, religious and ethnic backgrounds to apply. All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Scam warning

The United Nations does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web.