BACKGROUND

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UN’s global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience, and resources to help people build a better life. We are on the ground in 170 countries and territories, working with Governments and people on their own solutions to global and national development challenges to help empower lives and build resilient nations.

UNDP Angola Country Office supports the Government of Angola, as well as civil society, in pursuing the country’s national targets for the Sustainable Development Goals. Working within the framework of Angola’s national development plans, UNDP focuses its action on three strategic priorities : employment, health and climate change. Such action is informed by cross-cutting interventions in the areas of governance, gender equality and innovation.

The Programme Specialist : Governance will drive the integration of governance interventions within the employment, health and climate change portfolios of the Country Office. He/she will mobilise resources and design and monitor governance-related activities that result in transformational change at local, decentralised, service delivery levels.

Position Purpose:

The Programme Specialist analyses political, social and economic trends and leads the formulation, management and evaluation of programme activities within his/her portfolio. He/she contributes to policy dialogue with the authorities, providing policy advisory services and identifying national and international talent and expertise with whom to complement this advisory role. The Programme Specialist supervises and leads programme support personnel, and coordinates activities of the projects’ personnel in the area under his/her responsibility. He/she works in close collaboration with UNDP´s programme personnel, the operations team, programme staff in other UN Agencies, UNDP Headquarters[ staff and Government officials, technical advisors and experts, multi-lateral and bi-lateral donors and civil society.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Ensures implementation of  programme strategies focusing on achievement of the following results:

  • Thorough analysis and research of the political, social and economic situation in the country conducts the preparation of substantive inputs to Common Country Assessments (CCA), United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks (UNSDCF), UNDP Country Programme Documents (CPD) and other technical documents
  • Ensures the collaborative preparation/revision of key corporate programme management tools
  • Identifies strategic areas of intervention in relation to UNDP’s governance- related support in the Country Office’s strategic priority areas
  • Operationalises the UNSDCF and CPD in collaboration with UNDP’s main partners and other UN Agencies; identifies possibilities for joint programming
  • Identifies areas for support and interventions within the thematic/sectoral areas assigned.

Ensures effective development, management and oversight of the Country Office programme within the thematic/sectoral areas assigned  focusing on quality control of programming from formulation to implementation of the country programme, achieving the  following results:

  • Ensures effective application of Results Based Management tools, establishment of management targets and monitoring of achievement of results
  • Designs and formulates the Country Office programme within the area of responsibility; translates UNDP’s priorities into local interventions
  • Coordinates programme implementation with the executing agencies; introduces performance indicators/ success criteria, cost recovery, targets and milestones
  • Performs strategic oversight of planning, budgeting, implementation and monitoring of the programme; tracks use of financial resources in accordance with UNDP rules and regulations
  • Provides effective monitoring and evaluation, measuring of the impact of the Country Office programme within the area of responsibility
  • Carries out constant monitoring and analysis of the programme environment in order to perform a timely readjustment of the programme if needed
  • Initiates projects, presents them to Project Approval Committees, finalises contribution agreements
  • Determines required revisions; coordinates budget re-phasing exercises, and manages project closure processes
  • Exercises financial and substantive monitoring and evaluation of projects; identifies operational and financial issues; develops and implements solutions
  • Assists audit exercises and follows up on audit recommendations; ensures timely reporting on exceptions
  • Aggregates reports on activities, outputs and outcomes; prepares donor reports
  • Ensures timely cost-recovery for the services provided by the Country Office to programmes in close collaboration with Country Office Finance team.
  • Actively collaborates with the Results-Based Management Unit to ensure timely and quality delivery of development support services
  • Actively identifies and promotes programmatic collaboration between the Country
  • Office’s programme portfolios
  • Ensures the availability of inputs and updates from strategic partners leading to the eventual preparation of a NHDR (National Human Development Report) and the monitoring and analysis of indexes at the national, departmental and local levels.

Ensures the creation of strategic partnerships and implementation of the resource mobilisation strategy focusing on the achievement of the following results:

  • Implements the Country Office partnerships and resource mobilisation strategies to achieve programme outcomes
  • Develops partnerships with the UN Agencies, International Financial Institutions, government institutions, bi-lateral and multi-lateral donors, private sector, civil society based on strategic goals of UNDP, country needs and donors’ priorities
  • Analyses and researches information on donors; prepares substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation; identifies opportunities for initiation of new initiatives; actively contributes to the overall Office effort in resource mobilisation
  • Develops and nurtures strategic partnerships with academia and governmental institutions to ensure a consistent monitoring of advances made by the programme country as it relates to the Sustainable Development Goals.

As a senior technical expert, ensures proactive provision of top-quality advisory services to Government and facilitation of knowledge building and management focusing on the achievement of the following results:

  • Provide insightful technical and policy advice to key partners in relation to governance issues in the Country Office’s strategic priority areas
  • Identifies sources of information related to policy-driven issues.
  • Generates and synthesises best practices and lessons learnt from the Country Office’s action
  • Facilitates and coordinates the development of national policies and institutions in collaboration with the Government and other strategic partners
  • Provides quality and strategic contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice.
  • Builds and maintains external networks to access and expand knowledge.
  • Organises trainings for knowledge sharing internally and externally
  • Develops specialised policy advisory papers, white papers, analysis  and high-level technical knowledge products as well as communication products
  • Facilitates the generation and dissemination of knowledge products by the Programme and Communications teams
  • Establishes advocacy networks at national level and linked to international networks.
  • Actively participates in relevant strategic advisory groups in country and internationally
  • Collaborates with UNDP/UN policy networks, advisors, centres and specialised technical networks.
  • Maintains close collaboration with the Country Office’s Heads of Unit to maximise the relevance and quality of the policy advisory services.

Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities:

The Governance Specialist will work under the direct supervision of the Deputy Resident Representative. He/she will manage a small team of Programme/Project Officers and Associates. He/she will have the following responsibilities:

  • Establishes and monitor annual unit’s workplan
  • Provides guidance, supervises and coaches all personnel placed under her/his supervision.
  • Manages personnel performance and development objectives (PMD)
  • Supervises and leads programme support personnel; coordinates activities of projects’ personnel
  • Represents UNDP at official meetings and functions and undertake all other delegated tasks under those functions.

COMPETENCIES

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

Functional & Technical competencies:

  • 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 to achieve specific goals.
  • Business Management - Partnership Management : Ability to build and maintain partnerships with wide networks of stakeholders, Governments, civil society and private sector partners, experts and others in line with UNDP strategy and policies.
  • Digital & Innovation- Co-creation: Ability to design and facilitate a process that enables a diverse group of stakeholders to solve a common problem, develop a practice, or create knowledge together. Ability to embrace diversity, work with a diverse group of stakeholders understand their interests, perspectives and views and tap into to them as a source for creativity. Ability to facilitate processes and create conditions that are open for diverse inputs, stimulate collaboration and sharing
  • People management - Build Capability: Identify and develop talent in individuals, providing positive support to enable them to achieve their potential. Foster learning or development of others by giving feedback, guidance, and support; support career development of others. Have willingness and ability to delegate to help people learn, including from failure.
  • People management - Lead with Humility: Be authentic and transparent, act with integrity. Be accessible and available to team members they lead. Encourages debate and discussion, creating a culture where people are comfortable to challenge senior leaders and feel listened too. Be modest, giving credit for success to others and admit own.

REQUIREMENTS:

Education:

  • Master’s Degree or equivalent in Business Administration, Public Administration, Economics, Political Science, Social Sciences or related field.

Experience:

  • 5 years of relevant experience acquired within a Government institution, Non-Governmental Organisation (ONG) or international organisation (UN, multilateral or bilateral agencies)
  • Policy, advisory and advocacy experience and track record of engagement with national and international stakeholders on governance issues
  • Hands-on experience in development project design, management and monitoring an asset
  • Experience in designing and implementing interventions in the areas of national capacity development, knowledge building and knowledge transfer an asset
  • Familiarity with governance and development context of Angola an asset
  • Experience in handling of web-based management systems.

Language Criteria:

  • Fluency in English and Portuguese, both oral and written, is required.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Candidates selected pursuant to this vacancy may be subject to UNDP’s policy on Probation upon assignment.

At Impactpool we do our best to provide you the most accurate info, but closing dates may be wrong on our site. Please check on the recruiting organization's page for the exact info. Candidates are responsible for complying with deadlines and are encouraged to submit applications well ahead.
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