WPL - Project Manager (IPSA10)

In December 2022, UNDP, UNFPA and UNICEF received funding from the UN Peacebuilding funds to implement a 24-month project called “Strengthening women’s political participation and leadership through reformed legislation, community-level leadership, and political parties’ engagement in The Gambia.”

​​​The goal of the project is to increase the number of women in leadership positions and decision-making platforms at all levels. This will be achieved by addressing some of the constraint and inhibitors preventing women from political participation, local community leadership structures and peacebuilding processes, namely legal frameworks, cultural norms, and limited competencies of aspiring women and GEWE advocates. The project will use the following approaches in addressing the constraints: strengthening national legislation, legal framework, and political parties’ bylaws to ensure women political participation, promote more women in leadership positions at the community level and empower female candidates through capacity building. The work around legal framework will notably support the passage of the women reservation bill and the adoption of the new Constitution. These documents have provision to reserve 17 seats to women and persons living with disabilities at the National Assembly. The project will work with an inter party committee to have bylaws and strategy in place to create spaces for more women to participate in the political process through the political party. The project will work with the community structures like the VDC, WDC and traditional institutions to build the social capital of more women to engage in leadership and in the peace conversation within the community.   The project team will be comprised of the WPL Project Manager, a National UNV embedded at the Inter-Party Committee and a driver. The project team and will form a part of the UNDP Governance Cluster under the supervision of the Head of Governance.

1. Ensure effective management of the Women’s Political Leadership Project and supervision of the team, focusing on quality control of the full cycle of programming achieving the following results
   1. Support the overall aims and objectives of the project with a focus on providing specialized support to the Ministry of Gender, the Inter-Party Committee, Gender Platform, and other women’s organizations;
   2. Keep abreast with the development of new national legal trends and intergovernmental mandates on gender equality and women’s empowerment;
   3. Strategic oversight of planning, budgeting, implementing, and monitoring of the project, tracking use of financial resources in accordance with UNDP rules and regulations. Performs the function of Manager Level 1 in Atlas for development projects transactions approval;
   4. Oversee the effective application of RBM, active monitoring of project achievements against indicators, including the implementation on monitoring and evaluation tools for achievement of results;
   5. Provide technical advice to the project in developing baselines and indicators for project monitoring and evaluation, as well as in preparing project reports focused on capturing results, lessons learned and good practices for possible wider application;
   6. Prepare and deliver all necessary financial and operational revisions and reports, including workplans, in a timely manner
   7. Coordinate the work of and provide guidance to project/programme staff, as needed;
   8. Support the Project Board or its appointed Project Assurance roles to assure the overall direction and integrity of the project; 
   9. Coordinate activities related to the terminal evaluation of the project, including supporting the consultants to achieve the expected outputs and deliverables of the inception report, terminal evaluation report, organizing validation meeting with stakeholders, etc.; 
   10. Jointly working with other implementing partners to draft the final project report and lessons-learned report; 
   11. Support the presentation of final project and lessons-learned reports to the Project Steering Committee (PSC) for review, document key recommendations made by the PSC as inputs for the terminal evaluation report and project records; 
   12. Undertaking any remaining project monitoring activities, where possible in collaboration with implementing partners and responsible parties
   13. Ensure efficient transfer and/or disposal of project assets to the designated partner/s as guided by the project document, UNDP policies and procedures in consultation with Head of Governance.

2. Provide top-quality policy advisory services to the Country Office and project partners, and facilitation of knowledge building and management 
   1. Provide expert technical assistance on political leadership to the Ministry of Gender, the Inter-Party Committee, and other CSOs on strengthening gender equality and women’s empowerment, and other related issues;
   2. Lead the strategic planning, formulation and monitoring of programmatic issues and act as an advisor to the Inter-Party Committee and other organizations mandated to promote civic engagements between duty bearers and rights holders at national and local levels;
   3. Provide high-level policy advice to the Country Office (CO) on the issue of political processes;
   4. Coordinate with other international organizations that provide support to democratic governance activities;
   5. Analyze data and write relevant analytical reports, share findings.

2. Develop strategic partnerships and support to resource mobilization

1. Develop and maintain partnerships and cooperation with the Government, as well as relevant experts, international organizations, assistance agencies and donors;
2. Establish pipelines and mobilize resources for project including ensuring timely donor reporting where necessary;
3. Lead and support project networking, linkages and partnership development with other UN agencies and development partners;
4. Strengthening partnerships with academia, development partners, think tanks and civil society for successful implementation of UNDP governance priorities in The Gambia;
5. Liaises regularly and forges close linkages with other UN programs, agencies and entities, as well as other international and national stakeholders concerned with or providing assistance to The Gambia;
6. Contributes to the harnessing of effective partnerships and competitive selection of Responsible Parties for the implementation of UNDP projects;
7. Supports programming work and participates effectively in established UN coordination forums and framework.

4. Perform any other tasks, in connection with  Programme, which may be entrusted to it by the UNDP Country Office

Institutional Arrangement 

The incumbent will work under the overall supervision of the Deputy Resident Representative and the direct supervision of the Head of Governance Unit.

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

Business Direction & 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
• 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

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: Results-based Management       

• Ability to manage programmes and projects with a focus at improved performance and demonstrable results

Business Management: Project Management     

• Ability to plan, organize, prioritize, and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals

Business Management: Partnerships 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 UNCDF strategy and policies

Business Management: Customer Satisfaction/Client Management         

• Ability to respond timely and appropriately with a sense of urgency, provide consistent solutions, and deliver timely and quality results and/or solutions to fulfil and understand the real customers' needs. Provide inputs to the development of customer service strategy. Look for ways to add value beyond clients' immediate requests. Ability to anticipate client's upcoming needs and concerns.

• Master’s degree in Law, gender studies, political science, international relations, or similar studies.
• A first level university degree (Bachelor's) in related field with additional two (2) years of qualifying relevant work experience will be given due consideration in lieu of a master’s degree.

• Minimum 5 years (Master’s degree) or 7 years (Bachelor’s degree) of relevant work experience at national or international level in implementing strategic governance programs, projects, and portfolios;
• Experience in advisory, strategic, operation planning and implementation of field activities on political parties and processes;
• Experience in engaging with Government and political parties at senior level on development of policies;
• Experience managing a project, working with project teams and knowledge of project cycle management;
• Experience working on gender equality, disability and youth issues would be an advantage;
• Experience working with the UN or other multilateral agencies, in the framework of multi donor projects and related to The Gambia or another transitional justice context is an added advantage;
• Strong evidence of networking, partnership development and resource mobilization capabilities is desirable;
• Demonstrated analytical and thought leadership capacity including research in broad governance areas in a developing country context is an asset;
• Demonstrated experience in cultivating and sustaining working relationships with diverse stakeholders including government, civil society, communities, and the private sector is an asset;
• Demonstrated ability to work under pressure in a multicultural and complex environment is an advantage;
• Ability to produce reports and high-level political analysis and capacity to dialogue with high-level political actors as well as donors from the international community is an asset.

Language Requirement

• Fluency in written and spoken English.

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