With a long-term goal of enhancing the overall effectiveness of the National Assembly of Armenia as a policy-making institution, UNDP launched a project on “Modern Parliament for a Modern Armenia” (MAP) to support the newly elected National Assembly to perform efficiently, deliver on its mandate in a credible manner and take the advantage of the modern governance tools and mechanisms, as well as strengthen its capacity to support and monitor the implementation of the SDGs of the 2030 Agenda and for gender-responsive policy making. The project is designed to strengthen the National Assembly in its new and fundamentally enhanced role within the governance system in carrying out key functions of law making, oversight and representation.
The project is planned for the period of four years (2019-2022) during the term of the National Assembly of the 7th Convocation (2019-2023). The three components of the project are focused on the areas of Legislative capacity, Legislative transparency, and Legislative responsiveness. To that end, a three-stage strategy will be applied: (i) catalytic stage of needs assessment, strategic agenda-setting and pilots of the designed approaches, (ii) full-fledged implementation of the strategic agenda, tested approaches and activities, (iii) evaluation of the implementation, policy recommendations and project closure.
The project is implemented through a basket fund model in close co-operation and co-ordination with relevant national and international partners to ensure full synergies and complementarity with the ongoing and upcoming parliamentary assistance programmes supported by the European Union, the Federal Republic of Germany, USAID, the U.K, Sweden and other. The Parliament will take a leading role in the overall coordination of the donor assistance through periodic meetings of all stakeholders within a defined format of Steering Committee and technical group.
The Chief Technical Advisor (hereinafter the CTA) will be responsible for delivering all aspects of this project as outlined in the project document, to the required standards of quality and taking into account the implications of time and cost. He/she will liaise closely with the national authorities working on parliamentary assistance sector, the donor community, and UNDP programmes.
- Strategic development of UNDP’s response to the challenges and priorities of the parliamentary development in Armenia, including design of the next phase of UNDP’s engagement in this area
- Technical support to UNDP’s MAP Project and other related UNDP initiatives in the context of engagement with the National Assembly of Armenia.
- High level policy advisory services to the National Assembly.
- Development and maintenance of strategic partnership and resource mobilization for parliamentary development and assistance programmes.
Duties and Responsibilities
Ensure strategic guidance for UNDP’s response to the priorities and challenges of the parliamentary development in Armenia including:
- Conduct thorough analysis of the political, social and economic situation in the immediate response context and provide strategic advice to the CO Management and the Project Team on issues related to parliamentary reform and development;
- Identify linkages between country and regional programmes in the area of parliamentary development, opportunities for synergies and/or joint programming with UN agencies and other development partners, and support integration of the best practices into the MAP Project activities;
- Provide intellectual or substantive leadership in the subject area through identification of key policy issues and formulation of best possible and alternative policy options for UNDP;
- Partner with practitioners and members of the UNDP regional and global networks, leadership of the practice and sub-practice teams in RBEC, BPPS and other related Bureaus;
- Ensure that the MAP project contributes to the promotion of gender equality by reaching, involving and benefiting both women and men in its activities (gender mainstreaming);
- Lead design of the next phase of the UNDP Parliamentary Development project in Armenia.
Provide technical support to UNDP’s MAP Project and other UNDP initiatives in the context of engagement with the National Assembly of Armenia including:
- Provide technical expertise and strategic guidance to the project team in planning of all project components, following the project objectives, mid- and long-term targets against the quality criteria, as stipulated in the project document/work plan;
- Jointly with the project national advisor and experts, coordinate and lead technical input into the drafting of key documents such as draft policies, progress reports, activity reports, situational analysis, procedures, regulations and/or work plans;
- Support the Project Coordinator by contributing to the design and implementation of the project monitoring and evaluation framework;
- Ensure the quality of the reports of national and international consultants, regular monthly, quarterly and annual reports prepared by the Project and their timely dissemination to the project board, national and international counterparts and other key stakeholders;
- Support the project team in developing knowledge products, codification of experiences and lessons learnt at the national and regional levels;
- Ensure operational excellence in communications, human resources, financial management, asset management, IT and procurement management in line with UNDP rules and regulations;
- Ensure alignment and coordination of the MAP project with other programme activities of the CO and capitalize on synergies where possible;
- Ensure mainstreaming of cross-cutting UN/UNDP priorities in the MAP project activities, including SDGs, environmental sustainability, gender, human rights and resilience;
- Provide inputs into development of Terms of Reference for responsible parties and sub-contracts, recommend best approaches, provide technical peer function to sub-contractors; provide training and backstopping where necessary;
- Guide and coordinate the work of all key local and international consultants, ensuring the timely delivery of expected outputs, and effective synergy among the various sub-contracted activities;
- Enhance capacities of the CO staff in the area of parliamentary development.
Ensure provision of top-quality high-level strategic policy advisory services to the Parliament and facilitate knowledge and capacity building on parliamentary development issues including:
- Provide technical and expert assistance to the leadership of the National Assembly, parliamentary factions, MPs and the Secretariat of the National Assembly on parliamentary development issues;
- Advise MPs on effective support and monitoring of the implementation of the Agenda 2030 and its Global Goals including issues related to promotion and adoption of people-centered policies and legislation to ensure that no one is left behind;
- Lead advocacy for and strengthening of national capacity for planning and coordination of the parliamentary development programmes;
- Contribute to policy dialogue between the National Assembly, Government, civil society, academia, media and donor organizations; on the issues of parliamentary development;
- Ensure the identification, sharing and application of international best practices and lessons on parliamentary development relevant to the country’s reform agenda and parliamentary development.
Develop and maintain strategic partnership and resource mobilization for parliamentary development and assistance programmes, including:
- Establish and coordinate partnerships in the area of parliamentary development sector including the UN Agencies, IFI’s, government institutions, bi-lateral and multi-lateral donors, private sector, civil society, etc.;
- Mobilize and network with the experts of international development community, government partners, UN Agencies and prominent think-tanks to support positioning of UNDP in the area of parliamentary development;
- Support the project team to collect and analyse information on ongoing and upcoming programmes on parliamentary assistance, to prepare substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation and to identify of opportunities for cost-sharing;
- Support the project team in preparing concept/position papers and project proposals for bi-lateral and multi-lateral donor, international development organizations, non-government organizations and the private sector for mobilization of human, technical or financial resources.
- Provide regular briefings and written reports to UNDP senior management, donors and other stakeholders;
- Perform other responsibilities as may be assigned by the UNDP management.
Institutional Arrangement
The incumbent will work under direct supervision of the UNDP Armenia Deputy Resident Representative and the daily management of the Democratic Governance Portfolio Team Leader and the MAP team and in close collaboration with relevant UNDP program and other projects. The CTS will be expected to work with the project experts and counterparts from the National Assembly of Armenia, as well as to engage with other national institutions, international organizations and other relevant actors.
| Core Competencies |
|
| Achieve Results: |
LEVEL 3: Set and align challenging, achievable objectives for multiple projects, have lasting impact |
| Think Innovatively: |
LEVEL 3: Proactively mitigate potential risks, develop new ideas to solve complex problems |
| Learn Continuously: |
LEVEL 3: Create and act on opportunities to expand horizons, diversify experiences |
| Adapt with Agility: |
LEVEL 3: Proactively initiate and champion change, manage multiple competing demands |
| Act with Determination: |
LEVEL 3: Think beyond immediate task/barriers and take action to achieve greater results |
| Engage and Partner: |
LEVEL 3: Political savvy, navigate complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaboration |
| Enable Diversity and Inclusion: |
LEVEL 3: Appreciate benefits of diverse workforce and champion inclusivity |
| People Management Competencies UNDP People Management Competencies can be found in the dedicated site. Cross-Functional & Technical Competencies |
| Thematic Area |
Name |
Definition |
| Business Development |
Collective Intelligence Design |
Ability to bringing together diverse groups of people, data, information or ideas, and technology to design services or solutions |
| Business development |
UNDP Representation |
Ability to represent UNDP and productively share UNDP knowledge and activities, advocate for UNDP, its values, mission and work with various constituencies |
| Business Direction and Strategy |
Strategic Thinking |
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 |
| Business Management |
Partnership management |
Ability to build and maintain partnership with wide networks of stakeholders, Governments, civil society and private sectors partners, experts and others in line with the UNDP strategy and policies. |
| Business Direction and Strategy |
Entrepreneurial Thinking |
Ability to create clarity around UNDP value proposition to beneficiaries and partners and to develop service offers responding to client needs based on UNDP’s organizational priorities and mandate |
| Partnership management |
Multi-stakeholder engagement and funding |
Knowledge and ability to forge multi-stakeholder partnerships, and remove any obstacles to resource mobilization and multi-stakeholder funding platforms |
| Partnership management |
Resource Mobilization |
Ability to identify funding sources, match funding needs (programmes/projects/initiatives) with funding opportunities, and establish a plan to meet funding requirements |
| Business management |
Project Management |
Ability to plan, organize, prioritize and control resources, procedures and protocols |
| Partnership management |
Strategic Engagement |
Ability to capture and sustain attention, interest and agreement of high-level, influential policy and decision makers and secure their buy-in of high-level vision and objectives |
Required Skills and Experience
- Master’s degree or equivalent in International Development, Public Administration, Political/Social Sciences, Law or other relevant discipline(s).
- Minimum 7 years of progressively responsible experience in parliamentary development in international development work
- Demonstrated background in supporting parliamentarians, leading capacity building initiatives to strengthen legislative processes and enhance legislative effectiveness;
- Leadership of at least two programs of comparable size and complexity to this assignment;
- Experience with project planning and consulting, including the effective provision of substantive leadership and guidance, oversight, monitoring and reporting for projects/programmes with similar scale, scope and complexity;
- Experience in fostering networks and partnerships and ability to provide coordination with the UN Agencies, international and other organizations present in the sector;
- Experience in the countries of Eastern Europe and/or the Caucasus is an asset.
Languages:
- Proficiency in written and spoken English is required.
- Working knowledge of Armenian or Russian languages is an asset.
Desired skills:
- Ability to effectively lead strategic planning, formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the project and external resources mobilization.
- Knowledge of parliamentary issues & methodology, particularly in the context of Armenia and the Caucasus is an asset.
- Demonstrating integrity and fairness by modelling UN values and ethical standards.
- Demonstrating professional competence and is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results.
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.
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