PNUD recruits 01 Regional Coordinator for Africa
Job Description
Agency: UNDP
Title: Regional Coordinator for Africa (Disaster Risk Reduction and Recovery)
Job ID: 24484
Practice Area – Job Family: Crisis Prevention and RecoveryEnvironment&Disaster Reduction – CLIMATE AND DISASTER RESILIENCE
Vacancy End Date: (Midnight New York, USA) 31/07/2019
Duty Station: Nairobi, Kenya
Education & Work Experience: I-Master’s Level Degree – 10 year(s) experience
Languages Required: English
Desired:
Grade: P5
Vacancy Type: FTA International
Posting Type: External
Bureau: Crisis Prevention & Recovery
Contract Duration: 1 Year with possibility for extension
Background
UNDP is the knowledge frontier organization for sustainable development in the UN development system and serves as the integrator for collective action to realize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UNDP’s policy work is carried out at HQ, Regional and Country Office levels, and forms a contiguous spectrum of deep local knowledge to cutting-edge global perspectives and advocacy. In this context, UNDP invests in the Global Policy Network (GPN), a network of field-based and global technical expertise across a wide range of knowledge domains and in support of the signature solutions and organizational capabilities envisioned in the Strategic Plan. The GPN also aims to provide rapid and integrated support to UNDP country offices, combining policy advice, technical expertise, financial resources, agile tools and procedures, and partnerships. The Global Policy Network (GPN) has the responsibility for developing all relevant policy and guidance to support the results of UNDP’s Strategic Plan (2018-2021).
Within the GPN, the Crisis Bureau guides UNDP’s corporate crisis-related strategies and vision for crisis prevention, response and recovery. The UNDP’s Crisis Bureau supports emergency and crisis response and ensures that issues of risk are fully integrated into UNDP’s development programmes. The Crisis Bureau assists UNDP and partners to achieve higher quality development results through an integrated approach that links results-based management and performance monitoring with more effective and new ways of working. The CB supports UNDP and partners to be more innovative, knowledge and data driven including in its programme support efforts. The CB’s staff provides technical advice to Country Offices; advocates for UNDP corporate messages, represents UNDP at multi-stakeholder fora including public-private dialogues, government and civil society dialogues, South-South and Triangular cooperation initiatives, and engages in UN inter-agency coordination in specific thematic areas.
The Disaster Risk Reduction and Recovery for Building Resilience Team provides integrated policy and programme support on disaster risk reduction and recovery in the context of UNDP’s broader approach to resilience building. The Team specifically fosters the integration of risk reduction as a key element in sustainable development and recovery at national, sub-national and sectoral level to strengthen resilience. It is also the responsibility of the team to support the regional hubs in their efforts to strengthen national capacities on disaster resilience and disaster risk reduction. The team provides high quality advice and programmatic support in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of programmes. The team leads the development and coordination of policy in disaster risk reduction (DRR), and disaster recovery with a focus on resilience building and integrated approaches with climate adaptation.
The Regional Team Coordinator is based in the UNDP Sub-Regional Platform in Nairobi and reports to the Manager of the UNDP Regional Hub in Addis, with a secondary reporting line to the Head of the Team for Disaster Risk Reduction and Recovery for Building Resilience in Geneva. S/he is the lead expert in the thematic area of disaster risk reduction, recovery and resilience in the region and manages a team of Specialists in this area. S/he works in close coordination and under the guidance of the global nodes on Disaster Risk Reduction (Bangkok) and Recovery (Nairobi). S/he also works in close coordination and collaboration with the Crisis Bureau Country Support Management Team and other GPN teams under the Planet group (Climate, Energy, DRR/Recovery and Environment). In collaboration with other Advisors and Specialists in the Regional Hub, the Sub-Regional Platform, HQ, Country Offices and Global Policy Centers, s/he is responsible for providing policy and programme advisory services to Country Offices and oversees the utilization of products and tools in this thematic area.
Duties and Responsibilities
Working to ensure quality and coherent policy and programme advisory services within their region and across other regions as well as alignment with the Strategic Plan, the regional Coordinator advances the credibility and recognition of the organization’s programmes in this thematic area. S/he is responsible for leading the following:
-Programme Support and Policy Advice;
-Support Policy Development;
-Resource Mobilization;
-Partnerships, Representation and Advocacy;
-Innovation and Knowledge Management.
1. Programme Support and Policy Advice
-Lead the regional GPN team in the thematic area of disaster risk reduction, recovery and resilience in the Africa Regional Hub for the provision of programme support to Country Offices, helping them to ensure relevance of the services provided to country and regional context including crisis situations;
-Deliver technical policy advice and programme support, and provide integrated solutions in collaboration with cross-thematic teams in the Regional Hubs and HQ, that responds to country office needs, including through the provision of capacity building and backstopping;
-Lead the management and implementation of the RBA regional programme components pertaining to disaster risk reduction, recovery, and resilience in Africa;
-Strengthen and lead integrated multi-disciplinary approaches, including through Community of Practices (COPs), to deliver advisory services / programming needs in line with emerging client needs;
-Identify and recommend to management new opportunities for policy advisory directions and roles;
-Lead UNDP’s engagement with the African Union, the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), the African Development Bank and others regional bodies on disaster risk reduction, recovery and resilience;
-Contribute to UNDP’s work and engagement with other stakeholders on the Humanitarian-Development Peace nexus agenda, in particular through the lens of resilience;
-Identify mission-critical roles for the thematic area in disaster response and recovery, and provide timely technical policy and programme advice for crisis situations coordinated by the Crisis Bureau;
-Liaise with the HQ Crisis Bureau colleagues to provide related contributions to UNDP SURGE for country offices; and
-Ensure proper coordination with the RBA Country Support and Country Oversight teams in the Regional Hub and HQ.
2. Support Policy Development
-Lead the integration of UNDP’s work on the disaster risk reduction, recovery and resilience thematic areas within the region into a coherent policy and programming framework in support of the implementation of the UNDP Strategic Plan and Signature Solutions;
-Advise the Head of the Global team as well as the coordinators of the Global Nodes on DRR (Bangkok) and recovery (Nairobi) and RBA on policy gaps and opportunities for development of overall team priorities and work plans;
-Design policy initiatives for relevant contexts on emerging policy agendas collaborating with policy teams in HQ and communicating and representing perspectives and knowledge from Country Offices and the region;
-Critically assess and measure policy services in the designated area and recommend to COs, HQ and Hub Management new policy and strategic alignment options; and
-Foster policy innovation in the specific thematic area to enhance programme delivery.
3. Partnerships, Representation, Advocacy and Resource Mobilization
-Mobilize, foster and strengthen strategic partnerships with UN entities and other relevant regional bodies and provide substantive inputs to those partnerships in support of UNDP initiatives;
-Represent UNDP and engage in UN interagency coordination as well as in other fora with the aim to advance UNDP’s strategic agenda in developing disaster resilience particularly in the context of the Sustainable Development Agenda, the UN Reform, the Sustaining Peace Agenda, the Paris Agreement, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and the SE4All;
-Advocate policy and positioning of this thematic area in various fora and through programme efforts, including academia and civil society;
-In collaboration with BERA, the Head of the Global Team, and RBA through the Regional Hub Director, lead and/or contribute to resource mobilization efforts to support the delivery of UNDP results and oversee the preparation of funding proposals, donor briefings in the thematic area; Set the overall direction for the regional team, including roles and responsibilities, accountability and reporting.
-Overall Management and Resource Mobilization.
4. Team management
-Lead and manage staff in the team in the formulation and implementation of the substantive work plan of the team and oversee staff accountability;
-Ensure that the technical capacity of the policy advisors and specialists is optimally aligned with business needs and that team members are encouraged to seek new client opportunities and amplify the value and reputation of the GPN in the thematic area;
-Encourage team to critically assess itself against emerging trends and thinking in the profession;
-Ensure that Performance Assessments are carried out according to UNDP procedures;
-Ensure that the work of the team is conducted in accordance with relevant business processes and that high-quality outputs are delivered on time;
-Establish and maintain an enabling environment for harmonious working relationships and team-building, by promoting consistent and constructive communication, innovation, open information sharing, and coordination among all staff.
5. Innovation and Knowledge Management
-Regularly contribute to relevant GPN Community of Practices in the thematic areas of disaster risk reduction, recovery and resilience, with a particular focus on strengthening and leading the regional Community of Practice on Crises Prevention and Resilience.
-Oversee the knowledge extraction, analysis, documentation, codification of results/lessons learned in the specific thematic area, ensuring that knowledge sharing, and content management is in line with guidelines and performed using corporate tools; and
-Guide and coordinate cross-regional exchange of knowledge by collaborating with policy teams in HQ to research;
-Oversee the development and sharing of knowledge-based tools and guidance to help influence/advance policy dialogue in the thematic area and present such material at various fora.
Competencies
Core:
Innovation
-Ability to make new and useful ideas work.
Leadership:
-Ability to persuade others to follow.
People Management:
-Ability to improve performance and satisfaction.
Communication:
-Ability to listen, adapt, persuade and transform.
Delivery:
-Ability to get things done while exercising good judgement.
Technical/Functional:
Disaster Risk Reduction
-Knowledge of DRR concepts, frameworks and principles and ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations.
Recovery:
-Knowledge of core recovery principles and frameworks, and ability to guide delivery at strategic and country levels.
Disaster Risk Assessment:
-Ability to assess the risk level of a disaster.
Disaster Risk Governance
Knowledge of disaster risk governance methodologies and concepts and ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations
Resilience:
-Knowledge of how multiple risks and impact on development, and the delivery of resilience to communities and countries through reducing vulnerability and reducing risk.
Representation:
-Ability to productively share UNDP knowledge and activities (at UN and other venues).
Partnerships:
-Ability to engage with other agencies and forge productive working relationships.
Resource Mobilization:
-Ability to identify and organize programmes and projects to implement solutions and generate resources.
Secondary:
Advocacy
-Ability to advocate a point of view and influence others.
Knowledge Management:
-Ability to efficiently handle and share information and knowledge.
Trends and emerging areas analytics:
-Ability to scan the horizon and identify approaches and initiatives to bring into policy and programme design.
Required Skills and Experience
Education:
-Advanced university degree (Master or equivalent) in Disaster Risk Reduction, Climate Change, Economics, Public Administration, social sciences or related disciplines.
Experience:
-At least 10 years of professional work experience leading teams, providing policy and programme advice and pioneering approaches in the general area of disaster risk reduction, recovery and resilience in different development contexts.
-Experience in designing and delivering disaster risk reduction and recovery related policy and programme support that fosters linkages with resilience, climate change and other themes.
-Proven ability to turn knowledge of global and regional DRR and recovery policies, frameworks and principles into policy, strategic and/or practical guidance.
-Ability to establish networks and partnrships with knowledge and experience of UNDP and UN system policies and programming.
-Strong and relevant experience working in developing country settings and disaster prone regions is required, including experience in disaster/crisis contexts.
-Experience working in the Africa region is an asset.
-Language Requirements: Fluency in English, both written and oral is reqiured. Fluency in French is strongly desirable. Working knowledge of another UN language, in particular Portuguese, is an asset.
Other:
-Describe any additional qualifications
-Non-Smoking environment
Disclaimer
Important information for US Permanent Residents (‘Green Card’ holders)
Under US immigration law, acceptance of a staff position with UNDP, an international organization, may have significant implications for US Permanent Residents. UNDP advises applicants for all professional level posts that they must relinquish their US Permanent Resident status and accept a G-4 visa, or have submitted a valid application for US citizenship prior to commencement of employment.
UNDP is not in a position to provide advice or assistance on applying for US citizenship and therefore applicants are advised to seek the advice of competent immigration lawyers regarding any applications.
Applicant information about UNDP rosters
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