National Project Coordinator

Under the framework of the UN’s Joint Programme for Peace the project will provide assistance towards two peacebuilding priorities that tackle core grievances of the minority Tamil community. The interventions contribute towards the peacebuilding process, by helping to build trust and confidence amongst the Tamil community in the direction in which the country is moving.

The two interventions capitalise on existing work, and build on well-established partnerships between the UN and the government by supporting scaling-up ongoing livelihood support through engaging cooperatives and the private sector. It is part of a package of resettlement assistance designed to enable a dignified and sustainable return to lands released by the military; and kick-starting the process of working on a joined-up way on reconciliation, through the introduction of an innovative service tracking tool to monitor and incentivise improvements in ability of front-line institutions to deliver public services in Tamil.

Working with the Cooperatives Department, the ILO will deliver the component on livelihood support working in three of the seven resettlement areas newly released by the military, identified in coordination with the government.

The intervention will be led through a tri-partite partnership between the Ministry of National Integration, Official Languages, Social Progress and Hindu Religious Affairs and the Secretariat for Coordinating Reconciliation Mechanisms and the United Nations.

The National Project Coordinator will work under the direct supervision of the Chief Technical Advisor of the ILO JPR programme.

1. Review and analyse the country’s specific development plans and priorities, socioeconomic data, reports and other relevant information. Identify potential technical cooperation areas and provide written analysis on the findings to the CTA.
2. Work in close collaboration with partners to design and revise project annual work plans as well as preparation of the budget proposal, considering different approaches and alternative methods, management, problem identification and problem resolution, especially for the parts of the Project supporting the institutional and capacity development of constituents, government agencies, line ministries, and social partners.
3. Review, verify and analyze work plans, progress and final reports and other data for clarity, consistency and completeness and monitor the progress of Project activities. Follow-up on delayed documents, clarify information, and answer questions about clearance and processing requirements to support successful completion of agreed activities.
4. Follow-up with relevant technical officers with counterparts in organizations and line ministries at national level, partner and executing agencies, government offices, constituents and in other organizations to expedite implementation and meet targets.
5. Assist in the programming and control of resources of the project, prepare budget estimates and expenditure forecasts by analysing and monitoring situation of resources as compared to planned activities and making recommendations for remedial action. Identify problems, propose solutions and actions.
6. Provides strategic, coherent, timely and targeted support towards the resettlement process in the Northern Province with an emphasis on ensuring durable solutions and promoting confidence in the process

7.  Facilitate in and provide inputs to conduct assessments in key economic growth sectors, and contribute to develop new business models. Provide programming and administrative support to cooperatives and partnership development activities facilitating to establish sustainable business partnerships.

8.  Support cooperatives to fulfil their potential in serving as effective vehicles for extending technical support and facilitating access to markets and finance for their recently resettled members.

9.  Support to mainstream gender/disability in programme, plans, budgets as well as activities to be implemented by the selected partner institution with the support from the ILO gender officer as well as counterpart organisations.

10. Facilitate to institutionalise a tool to track delivery of public services in Sinhala and Tamil by key front-line institutions and in bilingual regional areas (Divisional Secretariat Divisions) while providing necessary technical support to embed and institutionalise the service delivery tracking tool within the Ministry.

11.Develop a communication strategy for the selected partner institution in close consultation with the ILO communication officer and support the implementation of same.

12.Support the Project to ensure effective implementation of the project through timely and efficient delivery of outputs in conformity with ILO policies and project strategies, with a specific focus on mainstreaming gender.

13.Work on and supervise the field staff for relevant data/information collection and  documentation for monitoring and evaluation purposes, under the guidance of the ILO’s Monitoring and Evaluation Officer.

14.Keep abreast of developments in the field of development by engaging in inter-agency discussions and providing/ sharing developments with ILO Country Office for Sri Lanka and Maldives as appropriate. 
 

15.Participate in the preparation and conduct of conferences, seminars, workshops, training sessions, and consultative meetings. Speak on behalf of the Project when attending these gatherings alone. Undertake missions to project sites independently or accompanying others.
 

16.Brief ILO specialists, project experts, associate experts and visiting officials and provide relevant information on project matters. Draft, edit, or translate into local language official correspondence, statements and speeches and other public information materials.
 

17.Lead in the preparation of briefs, background information, technical reports and periodic progress reports and statistical data on status of the overall activities of the Project.
18.Perform other duties as may be assigned by the Chief Technical Advisor and the Country Director.

First level university degree in economics, public policies, development studies or relevant field.

At least three years of professional experience at the national or provincial level in the area of project management, and implementation. Proven experience in working effectively with cooperatives, private sector and government bodies in charge of local economic development and with development partners would be an asset.

Technical requirements: Good knowledge of local economic development, cooperative development, and poverty reduction.

Excellent command of English and Tamil language is required. Command of Sinhalese would be an advantage.

In addition to the ILO core competencies, this position requires:

• Knowledge of programme and budget, project administration and evaluation concepts and procedures and of the mandate and structure of  government and private sector institutions in Sri Lanka.
• Knowledge of labour, gender and disability issues.
• Good knowledge of the context and challenges for the project areas of expertise
• Strong analytical skills and ability to justify requirements and approaches to problem resolution and good drafting skills
• Good ability to interpret project information and to identify and analyze problems with implementation
• Demonstrate collaborative and team work experience as well as work on his/her own initiative
• Ability to work independently, quickly, precisely, and take initiative and responsibility
• Proficient in Microsoft Word, Power Point, Excel, web-browsers and database applications
• Ability to work in a multicultural environment and to demonstrate gender-sensitive and non-discriminatory behaviour and attitudes.