Institutional Development Officer - Migration and Local Development Project (phase II) - UNDP Moldova

Globally, UNDP is working to maximize the developmental benefits of human mobility and to mitigate any negative consequences. UNDP works with partner countries to balance short-term responses to addressing the impacts of emigration with long-term sustainable development solutions. UNDP addresses migration through development lenses.
The Moldovan Government (GoM) has increasingly recognized the potential of the diaspora as a catalyst for its development efforts and acknowledges that, if addressed and managed properly, human mobility can also bring opportunities and improvements in the country. The GoM migration policy focus shifted from a management and control perspective to capitalizing on the opportunities provided by migration.
The UNDP intervention has helped translate this approach into more comprehensive and systematic engagement by developing a comprehensive approach to make emigration work for local development.
The initiative, started in 2015, was implemented within the framework of the Swiss-funded Migration and Local Development Project (MiDL / phase I). It aimed to connect Moldovan emigrants with their native localities in Moldova and to meaningfully engage them at all stages of community development, transforming emigration into an opportunity. During the pilot phase, 38 communities have been supported to pioneer a new DMD model, which resulted in improved local infrastructure and local services with tangible benefit for over 310,000 citizens.
Building on the sustainable results achieved during its first phase of implementation, the objectives of the second phase of the MiDL project (2019 – 2022) are:

• Potential, current and returned migrants in the Republic of Moldova benefit from complex employment support services.
• Community members including the migrants are significantly involved in local development processes.

The Project’s overall objective is to maximize the impact of migration on socio-economic development through an enhanced institutional framework and involved Diaspora.
To that end, the project envisages a comprehensive, tailor-made and multi-layered capacity building support for its beneficiaries to enable them to achieve the objectives and goals of the project.

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the MiDL II Project Manager, the Institutional Development Officer shall contribute to an effective and efficient implementation of the project’s local component, contributing to the associative development and capacity building of Hometown Associations established within both phases of the MiDL project.
The Officer will apply and promote the principles of results-based management (RBM), as well as a client-oriented approach consistent with UNDP rules and regulations.
The Institutional Development Officer will work in close collaboration with the Project Manager and other Project Officers for the effective achievement of results, anticipating and resolving complex project-related issues and information delivery.
The Officer shall exercise full compliance with UNDP programming, financial, procurement and administrative rules, regulations, policies and strategies, as well as implementation of the effective internal control systems.
The Institutional Development Officer will ensure, in line with the Project scope, the provision of the following development services and products pertaining to the effective functioning of the Hometown Associations (HTAs):

1. Provide support to the MiDL II project on the consolidation of HTAs established in the partner localities, focusing on achievement of the following results:

• Provide technical support for an effective HTA management and sustainable organizational development;
• Assist the project team and local stakeholders on the effective consolidation of HTAs, including from the perspective of an institutionalized or informal national network of associations;
• Provide guidance to the partner HTAs to independently implement local development initiatives;
• Facilitate the effective management of the MiDL II project’s grant programs for HTAs;
• Support the MiDL II Project Manager and the UNDP CO in general project implementation and related strategic processes.

2. Ensure the provision of capacity building support for HTAs and monitor the progress of their activity, focusing on achievement of the following results:

• Continuously assess and identify capacity building needs for HTAs and partner LPAs members;
• Provide guidance, training and capacity building support to HTAs on effective management of local organizations and community-level activities;
• Ensure synergies with other programmatic partners on joint capacity building activities;
• Periodically assess the HTAs from the perspective of their responsibilities, organizational setup, and internal management;
• Provide support to the project on performance-based indicators for the HTAs activity;
• Document best practices and ensure wide dissemination and visibility of project achievements;
• Provide support to the project on the conceptualization and development of new initiatives aimed at enhancing the local engagement among community members and diaspora representatives;
• Provide solid inputs to project’s analytical products, work plans, progress reports, and fundraising efforts, etc.

Corporate Competencies:

• Strict adherence to corporate rules, regulations and procedures.
• Familiarity with the internal control framework and results-based management tools.
• Proven commitment to the core values of the United Nations, in particular respecting differences of culture, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, language, age, HIV status, disability, and sexual orientation, or other status.

Functional Competencies:

Knowledge Management and Learning

• Excellent written communication skills, with analytic capacity and ability to identify relevant findings and prepare analytical documents in a clear and concise manner.
• Ability to share knowledge and experience.
• Pursuit of continuous personal learning and ability to apply newly acquired skills.

Development and Operational Effectiveness

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Ability to establish and maintain contacts with senior-level governmental and local officials.
• Proven ability to develop and implement smart development solutions in a challenging socio-economic environment.
• Analytic capacity and ability to identify relevant findings and prepare analytical documents in a clear and concise manner.

Leadership and Self-Management

• Strong sense of initiative and ability to work independently.
• Capacity to build strong relationships with clients and respond positively to feedback.
• Proven ability to meet tight deadlines, to handle multiple priorities simultaneously and to adapt to changing circumstances.

Work experience:

• At least 4 (four) years of progressive experience (at the local or national level) in the field of community development and local civil society organizations’ development, with substantial recent work experience at local level, planning, capacity building, civic mobilization and/or awareness raising campaigns, etc.
• At least 2 (two) years of experience in providing advisory and capacity building support for non-governmental organizations and/or public institutions.
• Professional experience in coordinating, monitoring, and/or evaluating projects with civic engagement and awareness raising components.

• Proven experience in contributing to the conceptualization and/or implementation of a grants program will be considered a strong advantage;
• Proven experience in development assistance or related work for a donor organization, governmental institutions, NGO or private sector will be considered a strong asset.

Required languages (at working level): English, Romanian and/or Russian.

Professional certificates:

• Additional training and certification in project management would be an advantage.

Required documents:

• Duly completed and signed Personal History Form (P11) or personal CV, indicating all past positions held and their main underlying functions, their durations (month/year), the qualifications, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the candidate, and at least three (3) the most recent professional references of previous supervisors.
• Cover letter (maximum 1 page) indicating why the candidate considers him-/herself to be suitable for the position.
• Other documents relevant to the candidate’s experience and qualifications.

Important applicant information

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

This is a local position, therefore only citizens of the Republic of Moldova or others legally authorized to work in the country are eligible to apply.

UNDP is an employer committed to gender equity and to providing equal opportunities to both male and female.

UNDP is committed to workforce diversity. Women, persons with disabilities, Roma and other ethnic or religious minorities, persons living with HIV, as well as refugees and other non-citizens legally entitled to work in the Republic of Moldova, are particularly encouraged to apply.

Please note that only applicants who are short-listed will be contacted.

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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Please note that the person selected for this position will be offered a contract with UNDP under its National Personnel Services Agreement (N-PSA) modality. The UNDP Service Contract (SC) modality is phasing out over the coming year. More information about the N-PSA is available here https://bit.ly/341OFXC