Job Vacancy @ UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) – Project Coordination Analyst

Job Identification : 4503

Locations : Freetown, Sierra Leone

Posting Date : 06/27/2022, 04:00 PM

Apply Before : 07/12/2022, 03:59 AM

Job Schedule : Full time

Agency : UNCDF

Grade : IB

Vacancy Type : International Personnel Service Agreement

Practice Area : Inclusive Growth

Bureau : Regional Bureau for Africa

Contract Duration : 1 Year with Possibility for extension

Education & Work Experience : Master's Degree - 2 year(s) experience

Other Criteria : Bachelors Degree with 4 years of experience

Required Languages : English

Vacancy Timeline

2 Weeks

Job Description

Background

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) makes public and private finance work for the poor in the world’s 47 least developed countries. With its capital mandate and instruments, UNCDF offers “last mile” finance models that unlock public and private resources, especially at the domestic level, to reduce poverty and support local economic development.

UNCDF’s financing models work through three channels: i) inclusive digital economies, connecting individuals, households, and small businesses with financial eco-systems that catalyze participation in the local economy, and provide tools to climb out of poverty and manage financial lives; ii) local development finance, that capacitates localities through fiscal decentralization, innovative municipal finance, and iii) structured project finance to drive local economic expansion and sustainable development. UNCDF also promotes investment finance, that provides catalytic financial structuring, de-risking, and capital deployment to drive SDG impact and domestic resource mobilization. By strengthening how finance works for poor people at the household, small enterprise, and local infrastructure levels, UNCDF contributes especially to Sustainable Development Goal-SDG 1 on eradicating poverty and SDG 17 on the means of implementation. UNCDF’s approach is to identify those market segments where innovative financing models can have transformational impact in helping to reach the last mile and address exclusion and inequalities of access, then, UNCDF contributes to a broad diversity of SDGs.

In western and central Africa, UNCDF has set up various financial instruments that aim at developing or strengthening innovative financing mechanisms and build a portfolio of SMEs and PPPs with municipalities projects with a transformative impact on local economic development.

The “Water and Peace Project (W4WP) in Sierra Leone” project, funded by the UN Secretary-General’s Peacebuilding Fund, is an 18-month joint initiative implemented by United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and International Labour Organisation (ILO), under the strategic guidance of the UN Development Coordinator in Sierra Leone that will contribute to the mitigation of water-based community conflicts and prevent their potential eruption into violence by tackling one of the dominant threats to peace in five (5) wards in Freetown (Wards of Mayinkineh - Ward 401, Rokupa - Ward 408, Dworzark - Ward 435, Lumley - Ward 422, and Crab Town- Ward 443): a lack of equitable access to water. The lack of regulation, increase in demand and the increased competition over water resources have all increased conflict over water resources. This has led to an increase in influence and control over water resources by prominent community members, mainly men, leaving marginalized community members with insufficient water for their basic needs.

Building upon the success of existing access to water initiatives supported by United Nations and its partners, this project is also an effort to catalyze the United Nations trust-building framework for Sierra Leone. The project will support the construction, through a community-led approach, twenty-five (25) water kiosks with solar-powered purification systems, which will provide accessible, clean water for the first time to many of Freetown’s most vulnerable communities. Young women from the communities will be empowered to operate the kiosks as businesses and become agents of change. The women and girls will also learn how to take leadership roles in diffusing conflicts in their communities associated with water scarcity. In this way, the project will contribute to simultaneously reduce conflict drivers and empower women and girls. If adequately trained and engaged, women can play a major role in conflict resolution in the communities. As women are the heaviest users of water sources as well as key contributors to household decision-making, they can facilitate and mitigate these resource conflicts through household contributions.

By increasing the availability of clean water in an inclusive manner, the project will on one hand reduce the scarcity and associated tension. On the other hand, men currently control the little water available and wield the associated economic power. This project will address the structural inequality by empowering local women and adolescent girls with decent livelihoods through the water kiosks, and by diffusing the power imbalance through positioning them as agents for change and the controllers of water access and management. By positioning women as community leaders, the project aims to decrease prevailing gender-based violence in the target communities by creating safe and easy access to clean water for women and girls.

The overall goal of this project is to contribute to the mitigation of community water-based conflicts and prevent their potential eruption into violence by tackling one of the dominant threats to peace in five (5) wards in Freetown: a lack of equitable access to water. Women-run water sources will keep the community safe by providing an alternative to the currently used water sources in the communities. By removing the pre-existing power structures that make women owning water sources difficult, legal rights to the space, training needed and financial infrastructure to build. By upholding women and youth in their communities already acting as leaders and giving them the tools and structure to succeed, the project will give them the tools and structure to train others, enhance social cohesion and strengthen the community, particularly for women, contributing to reducing conflict.

The joint project will implement activities under two core outputs:

•  Outcome 1: Sources of water-related disputes, notably around water scarcity and access, are identified and reduced through the promotion of gender-sensitive civic space;
•  Outcome 2: Women are empowered to become agents of change through inclusive and sustainable livelihood opportunities, contributing to strengthen social cohesion and peace.

UNCDF is therefore looking for a responsible Project Coordination Analyst to administer and organize all aspects of the project, from simple activities to more complex plans. The Project Coordination Analyst's responsibilities will include working closely with UNCDF and ILO to prepare comprehensive action plans, including resources, timeframes and budgets for the project. S/he will perform various coordinating tasks, like schedule and risk management, and administrative duties, like maintaining project documentation and handling financial queries. Ultimately, the Project Coordination Analyst's duties are to ensure that the project is completed on time, within budget and meets high quality standards.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Project Coordination Analyst will work on the following areas of intervention: Item 1: Develop, organize and facilitate key programme activities and manage and monitor the work implementation:

•  Developing detailed annual work and budget plans based on the approved overall work plan. Support development and timely submission of work plans and budgets from implementing partners;
•  Making schedules for project activities listed in the annual work plans to ensure all activities are completed on time; ensuring timely and duly management of the project and implementation of all activities in accordance with the rules and regulations of the donor and the Government of Sierra Leone;
•  Managing the work implementation of consultants and partners, developing TORs for consultants and partners to conduct work on specific activities and objectives outlined in the work plan; Managing, monitoring and guiding contracted consultants/partners to work on the activities and objectives listed in the work plan and ensuring that their work is conducted in a timely manner and with high quality; Reviewing all deliverables and reports of contracted consultants/partners to ensure the quality of these products are according to relevant guidelines, TORs and hold the expected standard of quality;
•  Working with the UNCDF Finance team to monitor project funds, ensuring the funds are used for the proper purposes, proper activities and with efficiency and transparency;
•  Organizing monthly team meetings to review and plan project activities;
•  Coordination with the PBSO, managing agencies, partners and other stakeholders, organizing regular or extraordinary team meetings in project management unit and meetings and reviews with PBSO, partners or other stakeholders during the project period to monitor and manage project implementation progress;

•  Collaborate closely with a national staff to be engaged by ILO to advance implementation in a timely and joined-up manner; develop and update joint workplans;
•  Compiling and maintaining project reports and minutes of meetings;
•  Participating in field visits to monitor and evaluate the progress of project activities;
•  Manage other project team members for W4WP;
•  Working closely with UN Country Team on the implementation of the Project.

Item 2: Monitoring and reporting of progress and risks, ensuring that changes are controlled and problems addressed, including measures to address challenges and opportunities:

•  Monitor events as determined in the project monitoring schedule plan, and update the plan (in Atlas and off-Atlas) as required;
•  Periodically update the project information Atlas Project Management module;

•  Manage and monitor the project risks initially identified and submit new risks to the project board for consideration and decision on possible actions if required; update the status of these risks by maintaining the project risks log;

• Organize regular Board meetings and perform regular progress reporting to the project board as agreed to with the board;
•  Prepare progress reports with the frequency and using the template recommended by the UNCDF office; Submit the report to supervisor in the UNCDF and ILO focal points for review and clearance, according to the agreed timetable. Share report stakeholders;
•  Ensure reporting to donor is prepared timely and the reports are meeting the standards;
•  Support the preparation of reviews and evaluations as defined in the project document;
•  Prepare final project reports and papers;
•  Ensures that all reports and evaluations are done through gender responsive approach.

Item 3: Ensure the implementation of knowledge management activities:

•  Regular exchange of information/experience with other projects, cross-learning and sharing results and good practices;
•  Ensure the project has the required communication package and preparation, upon request of the UNDP office, of information materials for dissemination within UNCDF globally and regionally, and to external stakeholders;
•  Capture lessons learnt during project implementation – a lessons learnt log can be used in this regard;
•  Participation in regular internal meetings;
•  Participation in training events, communities of practice, codifying and sharing knowledge;
•  Facilitation and organization of training for project staff to enable them to perform at the required level.

Institutional Arrangement

The Project Coordination Analyst will perform his/her functions under the formal supervision of the UNCDF Country Lead, and day-to-day supervision by his delegated representative. S/he is matrixed to the UN Development Coordinator. The Project Coordination Analyst is an integral part of the Project Implementation Team.

Competencies

Core competencies

•  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

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.

Business Direction & Strategy

•  Effective Decision Making: Ability to take decisions in a timely and efficient manner in line with one‘s authority, area of expertise and resources

Business Development

•  Knowledge Generation: Ability to research and turn information into useful knowledge, relevant for context, or responsive to a stated need.

Business Management

•  Portfolio Management:
  •  Ability to select, prioritize and control the organization’s programmes and projects, in line with its strategic objectives and capacity;
  •  Ability to balance the implementation of change initiatives and the maintenance of business-as-usual, while optimizing return on investment.

Finance

•  Financial planning and budgeting: Ability to create and manage processes to achieve UNDP's long and short-term financial goals, including through planning, budgeting, forecasting, analyzing and reporting;
•  Financial reporting and analysis: Understands changes in regulatory, legal and ethical frameworks and standards for financial reporting in the public sector. Ability to extract, evaluate financial data, derive relevant findings and present them in a meaningful and coherent manner to facilitate effective decision making and performance monitoring. Understands the benefits of integrated reporting, including non-financial resources such as human, social and intellectual capital, and environmental and governance performance;
•  Financial risk management -Ensures financial resilience through proactive assessment of risk, implementation of controls and taking mitigating action. Understands risk and reward in relation to collaborative and commercial projects. Ensures a culture of positive risk management".

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

•  Master degree in management, public policies, economics, political sciences, international development or related field.
•  Bachelor’s degree in related fields with additional years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced degree.

Experience:

•  Minimum 2 years (Master's degree) or 4 years (Bachelor's degree) of relevant work experience in Management of development projects/programs, ideally in Sierra Leone or other least developed countries (LDCs) in the West Africa region is required, ideally with previous work experience in Peacebuilding funds, or projects related to gender empowerment, peace and social cohesion;
•  Experience in programme planning, design, follow-up, report writing, monitoring, and evaluating projects;
•  Experience in conflict-sensitive approaches;
•  Conducting project reports in English;
•  Ability to work independently as well as in a team;
•  Partnership Management;
•  Knowledge Management;
•  Experience working with various partners, working with international and national experts to implement project activities;
•  Strong communication skills.​​​​​​​

Language Requirement

•  Full working proficiency in English.

Disclaimer

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Note: UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement. We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.

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