Economic Growth Analyst

The Stabilisation and Development Programme (SDP) was established in May 2015 to complement the efforts of the Government of Pakistan in enabling the safe and voluntary return of Temporarily Displaced Persons (TDPs) to their areas of origin, with a focus on relief, recovery and sustainable peace. Over the last four years, SDP has assisted more than 800,000 individuals.  In response to the evolving environment, the programme has transitioned from relief and recovery efforts to sustainable economic development.

SDP is oriented around four main goals: engaging communities to promote social cohesion and participate actively in the rehabilitation process; improving economic development opportunities for communities; improving access to basic services including education; and promoting economic and social empowerment of women.

The funding of the programme was secured over the years with a partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Government of the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID), European Union (EU), the Government of Japan, Global Affairs Canada and the United Nations Central Emergency Response Funds (CERF).

The Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) is aiming to further develop a conducive business environment for the private sector. A supportive policy framework, enabling infrastructure and simplified administrative procedures are critical to attracting private sector investment in the region. The Planning and Development Department (P&DD) of the Government of KP intends to further streamline the investment patterns across different sectors in order to leverage the available resources for achieving accelerated economic growth.  The Planning and Development Department (P&DD) plans to create a Planning Support Unit (PSU) to provide technical backstopping for this initiative. The unit will support relevant sections of P&DD to improve planning, implementation of economic development initiatives and gathering results. The unit will focus on the business enabling environment and development of the private sector, with a key focus on SMEs. UNDP with funding from USAID will provide technical support for the establishment of the proposed unit. The unit's areas of expertise will include research, economic analysis, policy strategies and development of action plans for P&DD.

The Economic Growth Analyst will be working in the PSU under the direct supervision of the Team Lead and support in economic analysis, research, data gathering coordinating & assisting PSU team members on economic growth activities. and processing key economic data; performing analytical work and maintaining strong contacts with representatives of all government departments and donors. 

Scope of Work

• Design and develop economic growth projects through writing concept notes, proposals and PC-1s relevant to investment promotion, job creation, exports, and ease of doing business S/he will be responsible for the day-to-day activities of the economic growth component.
• Responsible for processing key economic data, performing analytical work, and maintaining strong contacts with representatives of all government departments and donors.
• Develop economic growth strategies for the KP Government that can mobilize private sector investments in the province.

Other responsibilities include:

Conduct analysis of various economic growth activities;
Collects, processes and analyses data, statistics regarding different socio-economic indicators in all potential business sectors of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Capacity and flexibility to respond to ad hoc internal requests for information by the Planning and Development Department.

• Undertakes systematic assessment of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s economic developments/policies.
• Provide technical backstopping support to the Planning and Development department in preparation of different reports, project documents, concept notes and other required documents on an ongoing basis. 
• Assist and advise the Team Lead PSU in the design of the Annual Work Plan in consultation with the stakeholders.
• Contribute to the programme team’s work on the timely and effective management and implementation of the annual work plan.
• Contribute to the preparation of high-quality progress reports, updates and communication products for UNDP management, Planning and Development department and other government departments on a need basis. 
• Analysis and research of information on donors, preparation of substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation, identification of opportunities for initiation of new projects, active contribution to the overall office effort in resource mobilization.

Coordinate Economic growth-related activities including technical assistance in the form of developing EG framework/strategy that can support the private sector and improve business eco-system
 

• Formulates strategies, designs projects that promote sound economic growth practices. Promotes expansion of effective strategies and approaches that can expand coverage and quality of economic growth interventions yielding high-level results.
• On a continual basis, the incumbent critically reviews the Provincial Government and donors’ activities to ensure maximum coordination and leverage for UNDP / USAID initiatives. Based on a thorough understanding and analysis of economic drivers, the incumbent recommends new and/or changes to existing projects and activities, including partnerships with the private sector. Contribute towards interventions by planning and development & other relevant departments in technical areas such as trade, MSME development, market systems, policy analysis, private sector engagement, youth economic empowerment, value chain development, workforce development, innovative approaches to access to finance.

Contribute to the preparation of high-quality progress reports, updates and communication products for the Planning and Development department, UNDP and other Government counterparts and donors.
 

• Contribute to timely communication and outreach, in close coordination with other team members of the Planning Support Unit.
• Perform any other duties as requested.

The incumbent of the position will uphold the non-discriminatory behaviour and ensure that:

• Human rights and gender equality is prioritized as an ethical principle within all actions.
• Activities are designed and implemented in accordance with “Social and Environmental Standards of UNDP”.
• Any kind of diversities based on ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, disability, religion, class, gender are respected within all implementations including data production.
• Differentiated needs of women and men are considered.
• An inclusive approach is reflected within all actions and implementations, in that sense an enabling and accessible setup in various senses such as disability gender language barrier is created.
• Necessary arrangements to provide gender parity within all committees, meetings, training, etc

Institutional Arrangement:

• The Economic Growth Analyst will be working in the PSU under the direct supervision of the Team lead and guidance of the Secretary Planning and Development, KP and overall reporting to the Programme Manager UNDP.

Required  skills and competencies 
 

• Focus on micro-businesses, youth development, incubation/innovation, value chain or entrepreneurship is highly desirable.
• Knowledge and experience with international organizations would be preferred.

Desired additional skills and competencies 
 

• Good ICT literacy, i.e. MS. Word, MS PowerPoint, and MS Excel.

Required Language(s) (at working level) 
 

• Fluency in English and Urdu (written and spoken) is required. Working knowledge of Pashto is an asset.

Min. Academic Education 

• Master’s Degree in Economics.

Min. years of relevant Work experience

• A minimum of 02 years of experience in business development and growth.

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.

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