Background
Super Typhoon Rai, locally known as Odette, brought torrential rains, violent winds, mudslides, floods, and storm surges to the central-southern Philippines, specifically the Visayas and Mindanao Islands, with maximum sustained winds of 195km/h and gustiness of 260km/h in the afternoon of 16 December 2021. Rai is the strongest storm to hit Mindanao in 10 years and the third ever strongest recorded storm in the Northern Hemisphere. The Typhoon affected an estimated 9.2 million people in six of the Philippines' 17 regions. According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), it killed 406 people, injuring 275 people and displacing 169,000 people as of 25 January
The current dire situation requires urgent support. UNDP will implement a risk-informed recovery to help communities, and local governments cope with the impacts of these compounded crises, particularly in the next 6-12 months, so that their conditions do not further deteriorate and enabling conditions are set towards restoring normalcy and development.
To assist in the recovery of Typhoon Rai-affected provinces, the UNDP will integrate these elements in its recovery interventions:
Output 1: Recovery and resilience-building of local government units are supported
Output 2: Immediate support to recovery through livelihoods diversification, restarting livelihood activities, and skills training in pre-identified areas and other mechanisms strengthened and improved
Through the Climate Action Programme Team, UNDP has deployed staff to conduct an initial needs assessment in the provinces of Dinagat Islands and Surigao del Norte (including Siargao Island). During this mission, it was emphasized that the support is time-critical for live-saving interventions/magnitude of the population affected in both provinces; therefore, the impact is severe and local government requires immediate support.
Given the above, the UNDP will support the conduct of recovery planning activities that will pave the way for formulating a long-term rehabilitation plan of government and identify specific entry points for UNDP to support the livelihood and resource mobilization.
There are several activities for implementation in 2022 under the Support to Recovery and Building-Resilience in Typhoon Rai (Odette) Affected Areas in the Philippines Project, including the early recovery activities of UNDP in affected provinces in the Philippines. In this regard, UNDP is looking for a Project Officer that will provide technical and management support to the implementation of project activities, responsible for day-to-day operational management and support on resource utilization, enabling timely and high-impact delivery contributing to the completion and successful delivery and integration of activities of the Support to Recovery and Building-Resilience in Typhoon Rai (Odette) Affected Areas in the Philippines Project.
Duties and Responsibilities
Key Summary of Functions:
- Provides day-to-day operational management for the project.
- Contribute to drafting technical reports, communication materials, articles, research, and other project documents.
- Support effective resource utilization and partner and supplier management to enable timely and high-impact delivery.
- Maximize partnerships and advocacy.
- Ensures facilitation of knowledge building and management.
Specific Functions:
Provides day-to-day operational management for the project focusing on achievement of the following results:
a. Support external coordination with partner government agencies, individual consultants, other international donors, bilateral and multilateral organizations.
b. Ensure delivery of activities and contribution to outputs and outcomes through an effective implementation plan, change management, and close coordination with UNDP management, technical teams, and government partners.
c. Collaborate with the project team in preparing the project’s annual work plan, procurement plan, and M&E plan.
d. Collaborate with the project team for regular monitoring and reporting of physical and financial progress; and,
II. Support effective resource utilization and partner and supplier management to enable timely and high-impact delivery focusing on achievement of the following results:
a. Identify and collaborate with new potential project partners and maintain productive relationships with existing partners to ensure high-impact delivery. This includes day-to-day management of rosters and directories of project consultants/ service providers, responsible parties, and other partners.
b. Draft terms of references (TORs), technical specifications, and/or programs of work, and collaborate with the UNDP Procurement and Operations Teams in undertaking the procurement and contract management of the project consultants and suppliers.
c. Contribute to project development, resource mobilization, producing communication materials, and research.
d. Conduct field visits and co-facilitate training sessions or workshops (if necessary);
e. Coordinate closely with project consultants, contractors, and suppliers and oversee their timely and quality delivery of outputs, address issues hampering their performance, and manage and mitigate risks; and,
f. Effectively apply UNDP financial oversight through the Atlas enterprise management system, including processing requisitions, receipts, and payments.
III. Maximize partnerships and advocacy focusing on achievement of the following results:
a.Engage, develop, and maintain partnerships and linkages with government and non-government organizations—including civil society organizations, industry associations, and academic institutions—whose participation in the project will be critical to success.
IV. Ensures facilitation of knowledge building and management focusing on achievement of the following results:
a. Identification of sources of information related to programme implementation-related issues. Identification and synthesis of good practices and lessons learned directly linked to the project;
b. Support in maintaining an effective network with development partners and government at the national level and sub-national level; and,
c. Sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice.
4. Institutional ArrangementThe Project Manager of the Support to Recovery and Building-Resilience in Typhoon Rai (Odette) Affected Areas in the Philippines Project within the Climate Action Programme Team will be the direct Supervisor of the Project Officer
Competencies
Core
Achieve Results:
LEVEL 1: Plans and monitors own work, pays attention to details, delivers quality work by deadline
Think Innovatively:
LEVEL 1: Open to creative ideas/known risks, is pragmatic problem solver, makes improvements
Learn Continuously:
LEVEL 1: Open minded and curious, shares knowledge, learns from mistakes, asks for feedback
Adapt with Agility:
LEVEL 1: Adapts to change, constructively handles ambiguity/uncertainty, is flexible
Act with Determination:
LEVEL 1: Shows drive and motivation, able to deliver calmly in face of adversity, confident
Engage and Partner:
LEVEL 1: Demonstrates compassion/understanding towards others, forms positive relationships
Enable Diversity and Inclusion:
LEVEL 1: Appreciate/respect differences, aware of unconscious bias, confront discrimination
Cross-Functional & Technical competencies
Strategic Thinking
Ability to leverage learning from a variety of sources to anticipate and respond to future trends; to demonstrate foresight in order to model what future developments and possible ways forward look like for UNDP
Ability to develop effective strategies and prioritized plans in line with UNDP’s objectives, based on the systemic analysis of challenges, potential risks and opportunities, linking the vision to reality on the ground, and creating tangible solutions
System Thinking
Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgement to understand how interrelated elements coexist within an overall process or system, and to consider how altering one element can impact on other parts of the system
Knowledge Generation
Ability to research and turn information into useful knowledge, relevant for context, or responsive to a stated need
Disaster Risk Reduction and Recovery
Post Disaster Needs Assessments
Disaster Risk Reduction and Recovery
Urban and Local Level Disaster Risk Management
Gender Responsive Disaster Risk Management and Reduction
Disaster Recovery Policy, Planning and Programming
Required Skills and Experience
Min. Education requirements:
University degree in Business/Environmental Management, Disaster Management, Development Management, DevelopmentCommunications, and other relevant degrees
Min. years of relevant work experience:
Minimum of two (2) years of progressively responsible experience in providing strategic and coordination support to project development, project management, monitoring and evaluation, and knowledge management in development cooperation or related areas is required.At least two (2) years of experience working in projects with a specific focus on Climate Change, Disaster Risk Reduction, Recovery, and Resilience.
Required skills:
- Conducts assessments or analysis on Climate Change (CC) and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), Recovery, and Resilience
- Knowlegeable on writing technical papers and preparing presentations on CC and DRR related topics
- Experienced in procurement, processing of payments, project budgets, and other administrative processes in development organizations
Desired skills in addition to the competencies covered in the Competencies section
- Relevant work experience with international non-government organizations, bilateral and multilateral donors, and national government organizations;
- Previous working experience with international organizations and familiarity in working on ODA projects
Required Language(s)Proficiency in spoken and written English and Filipino required
Professional Certificates: None
The following documents shall be required from the applicants:
- Personal CV or P11, 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. References may also include peers.
- A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page) indicating why the candidate considers him-/herself to be suitable for the position
- Managers may ask (ad hoc) for any other materials relevant to pre-assessing the relevance of their experience, such as reports, presentations, publications, campaigns or other materials.