Project Officer (NOB)

Introduction

The concept of this project was developed on the basis of the ASEAN Declaration on Promoting Green Jobs for Equity and Inclusive Growth (ASEAN Declaration) adopted at the 33rd ASEAN Summit in 2018 and the ASEAN Green Jobs Forum in 2019 to further the collective initiatives of the ASEAN Member States (AMS) in promoting green jobs in the ASEAN region. The project, under the leadership of Ministry of Human Resources (MOHR) of Malaysia and the ASEAN Secretariat (ASEC), and implemented by the ILO, will primarily focus on facilitating regional dialogue, prioritizing actions, and sharing good practices related to green jobs and a Just Transition to carbon neutral economies in the ASEAN region. It is supported by the resources of ILO/Japan Fund for Building Social Safety Nets in Asia and the Pacific - SSN Fund.

Key questions to be explored include the following.

• How can governments, employers and workers work together to achieve a Just Transition rich with green jobs?
• How can governments improve green skills and innovation and address skills shortages? How to increase workers’ skills in environmentally sustainable industries and improve the capacity and competitiveness of companies?
• How can governments, companies and workers adjust to environmental challenges?
• How to learn from and engage with neighbouring countries with good practices to be shared and applied?

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As such this project aims to:

• share the existing policies and programme activities in the AMS related to green jobs and greening of employment for a just transition to environmental sustainability;
• provide a forum for discussion on priority areas for collaboration and cooperation to promote green jobs and skills; and
• identify pilot cross-sectoral actions in short and medium terms.

It is envisaged that the AMS will prioritize actions for the implementation of the ASEAN Declaration and exchange lessons of implementation at country/regional level and define activities for an integrated regional programme with three components: (i) a regional bi-annual ASEAN Green Jobs Forum; (ii) country peer reviews and peer learning; and (iii) pilot initiatives in AMS.

The Philippines is highlighted in this ASEAN-wide project due to its prior advancement on Green Jobs and Just Transition agenda. ILO, through its projects, has been supportive of specific country-level activities relevant to Green Jobs.  Most recently, ILO Japan’s InSIGHT2 Project in the Philippines has carried forward the milestone efforts to implement the Green Jobs Act, a first in its kind in the region, and which serves as a key example for other AMS to follow.  To sustain this momentum and provide a ‘case demonstration’ for knowledge sharing during the ASEAN GJ Forum, follow-through activities aligned to build capacity and establish official statistics, indicators and planning data on Green Jobs in the Philippines will be supported at the interim. More specifically, the Philippine component will feature the following activities: a case study on green jobs indicators development in the Philippines; provision of relevant country experience for the consideration of the peer learning & review mechanics to be validated at the 2nd ASEAN GJ Forum (e.g., legislative frameworks and policies, trade union engagement on just energy transition, greening of TVET) and; follow-through activities of the prior ILO collaboration in the Philippines (e.g., capacity building on GJ indicators, stats-related research, survey instruments for GJ Survey, a results workshop).

Reporting Lines

The Project Officer will be based in the ILO Country Office for the Philippines (CO-Manila) in Makati City and report to and work under the overall supervision of the Director, CO-Manila as well as Senior Specialist in Environment and Decent Work based in ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok (ROAP) who will provide technical backstopping and supervision. The Officer will closely coordinate with the project team in ROAP composed of the following: Forum Convenor-cum-Specialist Green Jobs Climate Action and Resilience through Just Transition who will oversees the delivery and quality of the outputs of the bi-annual Forum and the ASEAN project; ASEAN Partnership Officer-cum Sr Programme & Partnership Officer of ROAP in charge of communication with ASEC and key partners and donor; and Project Technical Coordinator who oversees the work for the Forum preparation and two case examples (1: Philippine GJ indicators, 2: green taxation.) She/he will also be guided by the backstopping officials of CO-Manila such as the Enterprise Development Specialist and the Senior Programme Officer on the implementation of the project in the Philippines, and closely coordinate with the Finance and Administration team of CO-Manila for the internal procedures and financial processing of the project activities.

The incumbent will supervise one (1) project staff who will be based in the same office (CO-Manila): a Project Assistant (GS5) who will work on the administration of activities, travel and payments, and assist with coordination tasks.

Description of Duties

• Lead the Philippine component of the project & ensure its timely implementation, adopting a results-based approach through management functions, including provision of technical and administrative supervision to the project team in line with the ILO policy, rules & regulations & in according to the final project document.
• Maintain close cooperation & coordination with government, employers' & workers' organizations both at the national & local levels in the planning & implementation of activities in the country under the project;
• Establish a coordination mechanism of the Philippine component of the project in line with the overall mechanism set for the ASEAN project.
• Establish effective linkages with relevant projects & activities of the ILO to secure necessary technical inputs from them & generate synergies.
• Elaborate workplan in accordance with the project document and budget & in consultation with the key stakeholders above mentioned.

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• Provide high quality technical inputs on key activities of the project in close coordination with the relevant ILO specialists &, when appropriate, external consultants;
• Organize training programmes & awareness raising activities as required for the country component of the project.
• Periodically monitor, report & facilitate the evaluation of the country component of the project according to the project’s document & work plan. Contribute the information & analysis of the Philippine component required for technical progress reports & ad hoc reports on the status of project planning & implementation for submission to the ILO & the donor.  Contribute & provide inputs to the country’s implementation plan & implementation reports under relevant country programme outcomes (CPOs).

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• Responsible for the effective administrative management of the office, including guidance & supervision of the personnel assigned to the project;
• Ensure high-level communications to increase project’s visibility at the national and international levels. This includes the responsibility to liaise with the UN country team, ASEAN Secretariat, AMS & other key stakeholders to ensure effective coordination with relevant national & ASEAN strategies & related technical projects. Under direct guidance of CO-Manila, including its Communications team, & in close coordination with ASEAN Partnership Officer at ROAP, maintain relations with mass media & concerned media groups & make good use of the official project site & social media channels of the office in order to increase the impact of the project in society as a whole.
• Other related duties as assigned.

Required qualifications

Education

First level university degree in environmental science, economics, management, engineering, social sciences, or related field and strong knowledge on environment and labour market issues particularly in the Philippines.

Experience

• Two to three years of experience in project management, supervision, administration and implementation of grant/cooperative agreement requirements (including meeting deadlines, achieving targets, and overseeing the preparation and submission of required reports to the project donor). Project experiences with UN agencies is an advantage.
• Experience and knowledge on project monitoring system adopting a results-based approach.
• Experience in Green Jobs-related studies or operations will be an advantage.
• Experience in technical assistance in Green Jobs-related legislation and statistics will be a major advantage.

Languages

• Excellent command of English. Proficiency in Filipino is an advantage.

Competencies

• Good knowledge about socio-economic development policies in the Philippines, including the recent trends in the climate change and environmental policies.
• Good knowledge on the statistical system and the labour force survey of the Philippines.
• Demonstrated ability to manage technical co-operation projects of international organizations.
• Ability to establish and maintain systems for project operations.
• Ability to understand and effectively work with Government, organizations of workers and employers, non-government organizations, UN agencies and inter-governmental bodies (e.g., ASEAN).
• Ability to engage and work with local stakeholder organizations.
• Clear commitment to mainstream gender and social inclusion into project activities.
• Ability to conduct policy discussion and national-local level political processes.

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• Good communication skills, both written and verbal, to successfully mobilize local stakeholders and disseminate the project experiences.
• Ability to lead and work in a team and good interpersonal relations.
• Ability to guide project personnel and external consultants/service providers to deliver the expected results of project.
• Ability to work under time pressure and meet deadlines.
• Ability to work in diversified environments.
• Knowledge of and ability to use computers, including Microsoft Office and the standard communication and group-work applications.
• Ability to work independently with a minimum level of supervision.
• Ability to work in a multicultural environment and to demonstrate gender-sensitive and non-discriminatory behaviour and attitudes.