Programme Manager - UNDP
- Job Title: Programme Manager
- Type of Contract: National Service Personnel Agreement
- Level: NPSA9
- Duty Station: Gaza
- Duration of Contract: 12 months with possibility to extend based on fund availability and performance
- Closing Date: 28 March 2022 (before 11:59 pm New York time)
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 Development Programme/Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People (UNDP/PAPP) was established through a resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly on 20 December 1978, calling upon UNDP “to improve the economic and social conditions of the Palestinian people”. In partnership with Palestinian institutions, civil society, communities and donors, UNDP’s goal is to empower the Palestinian People to establish a viable State that is able to realize the right to development for its people and support their socio-economic resilience. Since its establishment, UNDP/PAPP has delivered over USD 1.5 billion in development assistance to the Palestinian People.
UNDP/PAPP places Transformative Resilience as its core programmatic approach and focuses on geographic areas where the needs are the greatest: the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem and Area C of the West Bank. UNDP/PAPP’s programmatic priorities are in three priority areas: accountable and responsive governance and basic services; inclusive economic development; and sustainable use of natural resources and energy.
UNDP/PAPP is currently implementing the second Phase multi-year Rule of Law and Access to Justice programme in Gaza Strip and West Bank known as Sawasya II. It is a UNDP, UN Women and UNICEF Joint Programme that aims at comprehensively promoting and advancing the rule of law, justice, security and human rights in the State of Palestine.
During the period 2014-2017 the programme has endeavoured to enhance the capacities of, and public confidence in, rule of law institutions, and strengthen access to justice, security and protection services, especially for women and girls. Interventions are designed with a view to sustainability and linking activities to ‘system-level’ policy development.
As part of the second phase of the programme and backed by a consortium of development partners, with numerous national and international actors, Sawasya II supports government institutions and civil society working in justice, security and protection to strengthen access to efficient, equitable and accountable services for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Partnership with UN Women and UNICEF in this joint programme underpins the gender and child rights components throughout the justice chain and within relevant public services.
UNDP/PAPP is seeking a candidate to fill the position of Programme Manager Gaza under the guidance of the SAWASYA II Joint Programme Manager and primary direct supervision of the Technical Specialist with a secondary reporting line to the UNDP Gaza Assistant Special Representative (ASR). As this position is related to the Sawasya II Joint Programme (Promoting the Rule of Law in Palestine) with an expected initial period of one year and expected overall duration of one and a half years, the National Personnel Service Agreement (N-PSA) extension will be conditioned to satisfactory performance evaluation as well as availability of funding under the Programme.
Duties and Responsibilities
Scope of Work
The selected incumbent will undertake the following functions:
Joint Programme implementation and Strategic Management: responsible for implementation and delivery of key components of Joint Programme outcomes and strategic management of governance portfolio in Gaza to ensure integration of Joint Programme activities within the portfolio, including, but not limited to:
- Advises Joint Programme Manager and Technical Specialist in their functions to oversee implementation of the UNDP components of Sawasya in the Gaza Strip, including monitoring Programme Risk, with regard to the political, legal, social, economic and security situation in Gaza;
- Supports the Joint Programme Manager and Technical Specialist in their functions to coordinate and manage the overall delivery of the Sawasya in an effective and efficient manner, working closely with all stakeholders including government authorities, civil society organisations, academic institutions, UN agencies and entities, and donors/development partners;
- Ensures efficient and effective implementation of Sawasya activities in Gaza, including work planning, procurement, human resources / recruitment, monitoring and evaluation and reporting functions;
- Closely monitors the delivery status and prepares updates – both narrative and financial – in relation to the agreed work plan and implementation strategy, and contributes to the preparation of the bi-annual progress reports;
- Keeps the Joint Programme Manager and Technical Specialist abreast of programme planning, development and/or obstacles in Gaza in order for UNDP/PAPP senior management to provide regular updates to the stakeholders;
- Supports UNDP Gaza ASR on oversight of the broader UNDP governance portfolio in the Gaza Strip and provides support in advancing thematic coordination on rule of law and access to justice in Gaza and ensures consistency and complementary with other UNDP programmes;
- Contributes to the development of relevant concept notes and project documents, as well as supports planning and reporting for the governance portfolio, in consultation with the ASR and Head of Gaza Office;
- Contributes to the reviews / evaluations of the rule of law and governance interventions in the Gaza Strip, and assesses the impact and effectiveness of the Programme through regular field visits and documents achievements, progress and challenges, particularly those directly impacting the targeted communities;
- Suggests and coordinates field visits in Gaza for visiting colleagues and partners for the Joint Programme and projects under the governance portolio;
- Represents UNDP in inter-agency fora related to rule of law or access to justice in Gaza, and more broadly the governance portfolio in the Gaza Strip; and
- Carries out any other relevant duties as requested by Technical Specialist and ASR (Gaza).
Technical advice on Rule of Law and Access to Justice issues: in close coordination with the governance portfolio team, substantively contributes to the following activities:
- Creates strategic partnerships with specialized civil society organizations and supervises the provision of support to enhance access to justice for the people in Gaza including supervision of the selection process of CSO partners.
- Supervises the provision of technical and financial support to local CSOs in the field of legal aid to strengthen their expertise and efficiency.
- Maintains and supports the further development of a coordination mechanism among all stakeholders which will ensure capacity development of national CSOs and the system in providing for the legal aid needs of Gaza community and promoting legal awareness.
- Engages in capacity development and confidence building with justice and security sectors, including consultative and participatory processes with national stakeholders as well as with women/youth’s networks and legal professionals.
- Ensures development and maintenance of a legal aid clinics in Gaza in consultation with Palestinian Bar Association and existing rule of law and human rights organizations.
- Ensures the development and maintenance of the legal incubator in Gaza, in consultation with relevant legal aid providers and existing rule of law and human rights organizations.
- Liaise with national counterparts, UN agencies, national and international NGOs and targeted populations in relation to access to justice issues.
Financial and Operational Management:
- Ensures integrity of financial and administrative procedures as well as a consistent application of UNDP rules and procedures with regard to programme implementation and operations.
- Supervises requisitions, purchase orders and payment requests in ATLAS, and ensures monthly delivery updates to Technical Specialist on financial delivery performance in Gaza.
Partnership and Resource Mobilization:
- Supports and assist the Joint Programme Manager, Technical Specialist and ASR (Gaza) in resource mobilisation efforts, including by developing a strategy in this area.
- Ensures coherence, complementarities and coordination with other development actors in the area of Rule of Law and Access to Justice and more broadly governance in Gaza.
- Advocates for and substantially contributes to UN and multi-partner joint planning and/or programming initiatives.
- Builds partnerships with local and international civil society organizations throughout programme implementation.
Policy Advisory and Knowledge Management:
- Identifies sources of information related to policy-driven issues, identifies and synthesizes best practices and lessons learnt directly linked to Rule of Law and Access to Justice programming in Gaza.
- Contributes to UNDP global knowledge networks and communities of practice.
Undertakes any other duties as assigned by supervisor.
Institutional Arrangement
The Programme Manager Gaza will work under the guidance of the Joint Programme Manager and primary direct supervision of the Technical Specialist, with a secondary reporting line to the UNDP ASR (Gaza).
Competencies
Required skills and competencies
Core Competencies (Level 2)
Achieve results: Demonstrate focus on achieving quality results and impact; Consistently strive to meet or exceed excellence standards; Hold self and others accountable for results; Efficiently establish appropriate plans and resources for self and others to accomplish goals.
Think Innovatively: Look beyond conventional approaches and established methods; Propose new ideas, approaches and solutions to problems; Seek patterns and clarity outside boxes and categories while resisting false certainty and simplistic binary choice.
Learn Continuously: Actively pursue opportunities for learning and self- development professionally and personally; Keep abreast of new developments in one’s professional area; Proactively seek feedback, demonstrates a desire to learn from others as well as from experiences, both positive and negative; Contribute to the learning of others.
Adapt with Agility: Be flexible in handling change, and adopt new ideas, approaches and ways of working; Seamlessly adapt to working within new situations or contexts, with new people, and in different ways; Participate in, support, contribute to or drive meaningful change in UNDP; Be comfortable with ambiguity and effectively managing multiple demand.
Act with Determination: Pursue everything with motivation and drive; Not give up in the face of adversity and setbacks; demonstrate resilience and composure; Demonstrate courage, self-motivation and initiative to act on opportunities without being prompted by others; Be authentic and modest, get things done without unnecessary noise.
Engage and Partner: Act in a way that demonstrates empathy and emotional intelligence, showing consideration for the needs and feelings of others; Demonstrate and encourage teamwork and co-creation internally and externally to achieve joint objectives and results; Establish and develop networks that deliver powerful collaborations; Encourage and respect the views of others; accept views and ideas other than one’s own.
Enable Diversity and Inclusion: Treat all individuals with respect, consider ethical implications and respond sensitively to all differences among people; Fully accept and value all people, creating an inclusive environment; Understand that inclusion is multi-faceted (e.g. race, gender, age, disability, culture, etc.); Understand and appreciate issues from the perspective of others; Treat everyone fairly and equally; Demonstrate honesty and transparency.
Technical Competencies (Level 2)
Rule of Law, Security and Human Rights: Access to Justice; Development of Institutions in Justice Sector; Justice and Security for Women incl. GBV; Women's Access to Justice; Transitional Justice.
Governance: Civil Society Engagement; SDG 16.
Resources management: Ability to plan, monitor, organize, and control human and financial resources of a bureau, team or project.
Desired additional skills and
competencies
Knowledge of UNDP systems, rules and regulations is considered an asset.
Required Skills and Experience
Min. Academic Education
BA or Master’s Degree or equivalent in Law, Public Administration, Legal Affairs, Political Science or directly related field.
Min. years of relevant Work experience
Minimum of 2 years with MA Degree or 4 years with BA Degree of progressive experience in managing development projects.
Required Language(s) (at working level)
Proficiency in English and Arabic is required. Working knowledge of other UN language desirable.
Professional Certificates
Project Management Certification is considered an asset.
How to Apply:
Interested and qualified candidates can apply online through Apply Now