Job Identification 19438
Locations Uzbekistan
Posting Date 08/05/2024, 11:20 AM
Apply Before 08/13/2024, 05:59 AM
Job Schedule Full time
Agency UNDP
Grade NPSA-9
Vacancy Type National Personnel Service Agreement
Practice Area Governance
Bureau Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS
Contract Duration 6 months
Education & Work Experience Master's Degree - 2 year(s) experience OR Bachelor's Degree - 4 year(s) experience
Required Languages English and Uzbek
Desired Languages Russian
Vacancy Timeline 2 Weeks
Background
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are core principles at UNDP: we value diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate, we foster inclusion as a way of ensuring all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, and we ensure equity and fairness in all our actions. Taking a ‘leave no one behind’ approach to our diversity efforts means increasing representation of underserved populations. People who identify as belonging to marginalized or excluded populations are strongly encouraged to apply. Learn more about working at UNDP including our values and inspiring stories.
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.
"Enhancing the capacities of the Surkhandarya region to educate and train Afghan citizens" is a new joint project of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation of the Republic of Uzbekistan (MHESI) and UNDP, financed by the European Union.
The purpose of the project is to create new and expand existing education opportunities for Afghan citizens – with particular focus on youth and women – through enhancing the provision of vocational education and training programmes and short-term courses, as well as to further strengthen the capacity of the Educational Centre for Training Afghan Citizens in Termez (ECTAC) in educating Afghan citizens in various disciplines including humanitarian, pedagogical and engineering.
Specifically, during 2022-2023, the project will support the education of 136 Afghan citizens currently undergoing studies at the ECTAC, additionally train 100 Afghan citizens on technical and vocational education and training (TVET) Program and 100 Afghan citizens within the short-term (up to 3 months) vocational courses. Also, the technical capacity of ECTAC will be enhanced to deliver education and training to Afghan citizens.
During 2023-2025, the project will further support the education and training of Afghan citizens in Uzbekistan. In this period, 300 Afghan citizens will undergo six months TVET program. 100 of these successful graduates will then receive a three-month business management training. Finally, 30 final graduates will be awarded small grants in the amount of USD 2,000 to support the creation of their own small businesses.
The project will be implemented in partnership with the MHESI and ECTAC, in close collaboration with other relevant national partners, including the “Ishga Marhamat” Center in Termez, Surkhandarya Regional Administration, Ministry of Employment and Poverty Reduction of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as well as civil society organizations.
It is expected that this project results in an enhanced well-being of Afghan citizens currently residing in Uzbekistan through increasing their opportunities for employment and integration into active social and economic life in Uzbekistan. Also the project will contribute to significantly enhancing the educational, operational and digital capacity of the ECTAС – and of the Surkhandarya region – to become an effective resource center for academic exchange between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan, as well as a sustainable training institution for Afghan students, especially for women.
Duties and Responsibilities
Coordinate effective project planning and implementation:
- Develop project planning process and ensure the work plan and a fully costed budget are prepared based on sound capacity assessments and in accordance with UNDP POPP/PPM Guidelines.
- Coordinate / manage the day-to-day activities of the assigned project and the overall implementation process, including planning and monitoring in order to optimize the use of resources and to ensure the successful achievement of project objectives and results specified in project document. Provide subject matter technical advice and support and ensure outputs are delivered on time, within the set budget and specified constraints, and to high-quality standards.
- Facilitate establishment of interactive and inclusive platforms for project implementation and collaborate with other programme units and project teams to ensure integration of critical development issues in the project activities and expected project outputs.
- Ensure implementation activities are in alignment with UNDP policy and programme management procedures and all project interventions integrate a gender equality perspective/gender equality mainstreaming to the extent local context allows.
- Ensure operational management of assigned portfolio including through timely procurement of goods, services and/or infrastructure (as relevant), effective management of human, technical and financial resources, etc.
- Develop Terms of Reference for project personnel and consultants/potential service providers and ensure proper delivery of technical services and submission of technical and other reports.
- Organize and conduct project Steering Committees.
Establish partnerships and open channels of communication:
- Develop and maintain strong relationships and strategic linkages with implementing and development partners, government officials, businesses, NGOs, other national stakeholders, and beneficiaries to support key objectives and ensure inclusive implementation and participation of key stakeholders in assigned portfolio.
- Develop and maintain stakeholder mapping and analysis to identify stakeholder needs and how best to leverage their participation and/or strengthen their engagement. Prepare substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation and opportunities for joint initiatives. Make recommendations to the management team on activities with potential for scale-up, replicability and synergies.
- Provide technical support to the implementing partners and act as a liaison between UNDP and the partners.
- Support resource mobilization efforts and project development.
Monitor and report on progress in implementing project activities and achieving the targets set:
- Review the results framework and update the indicators, baselines, and targets of the assigned portfolio. Develop clear strategies and an effective system for data collection, means of verification, and information sharing and reporting.
- Monitor implementation and progress in achieving goals and targets in accordance with the established quality criteria and UNDP rules, regulations, and standards. Identify, analyze, and take adequate measures to manage emerging issues, problems, and risks. Conduct field visits to project location sites.
- Liaise with the Finance team to ensure administrative requirements, budgets and use of financial resources are managed and executed in a timely and appropriate manner and within UNDP and donor rules and regulations.
- Prepare corporate, donor and government reports in line with the reporting schedule and UNDP and donor requirements.
- Ensure proper operational and financial closure of the project.
Facilitate knowledge and capacity building, knowledge sharing and advocacy:
- Organize training, workshops, and capacity building activities in a consultative manner, involving technical experts and stakeholders that may include the government, private sector, NGOs, donors, and/or academia.
- Identify, synthesize and document best practices and lessons learned that are generated from the project and implementing partners.
- Participate in and ensure sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice on project related issues. Support establishment of knowledge platforms for the project, facilitate innovative mechanisms for dissemination of knowledge from the project, and develop knowledge resources and products to share with project partners and to support UNDP’s engagement in this area.
- Promote advocacy on development trends and opportunities to collaborate in coordination with the project partners, stakeholders, and UNDP communications staff.
The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.
Competencies
Core Competencies
- Achieve Results: LEVEL 2: Scale up solutions and simplifies processes, balances speed and accuracy in doing work
- Think Innovatively: LEVEL 2: Offer new ideas/open to new approaches, demonstrate systemic/integrated thinking
- Learn Continuously: LEVEL 2: Go outside comfort zone, learn from others and support their learning
- Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 2: Adapt processes/approaches to new situations, involve others in change process
- Act with Determination: LEVEL 2: Able to persevere and deal with multiple sources of pressure simultaneously
- Engage and Partner: LEVEL 2: Is facilitator/integrator, bring people together, build/maintain coalitions/partnerships
- Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 2: Facilitate conversations to bridge differences, considers in decision making
People Management Competencies
UNDP People Management Competencies can be found in the dedicated site.
Cross-Functional & Technical Competencies
- Systematic Thinking
- Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgment to understand how interrelated elements coexist within an overall process or system, and to consider how altering one element can impact on other parts of the system.
- Business Acumen
- Ability to understand and deal with a business situation in a manner that is likely to lead to a good outcome.
- Knowledge and understanding of the operational frameworks in the organization and ability to make good judgments and quick decisions within such frameworks.
- Knowledge Generation
- Ability to research and turn information into useful knowledge, relevant for content, or responsive to a stated need
- Relationship management
- Ability to engage with a wide range of public and private partners, build, sustain and/or strengthen working relations, trust and mutual understanding
- Project Management
- Ability to plan, organize, priorities and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals
- Digital Awareness and Literacy
- Ability and inclination to rapidly adopt new technologies, either through skillfully grasping their usage or through understanding their impact and empowering others to use them as needed
- Monitoring
- Ability to provide managers and key stakeholders with regular feedback on the consistency or discrepancy between planned and actual activities and programme performance and results
Required Skills and Experience
Education:
- Master’s degree or equivalent in any of the following areas: adult education, social science, economics, business administration, development studies or other relevant areas is required.
- Bachelor’s degree in the areas mentioned above in combination with additional 2 years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of Master´s degree.
Experience:
- Minimum 2 years (with Master’s degree) or 4 years (with Bachelor’s degree) of work experience in one or more of the following areas: Adult education, TVET Programme, Vocational training, Exchange programmes in NGOs or other educational institutions.
Required Skills:
- Experience in the use of computers, office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and web-based management systems, and advanced knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages.
Desired Skills:
- Managerial experience in international projects would be considered as an asset.
- Experience in using information and communication technology as a tool and resource is desired.
- Experience in maintaining a high level of accuracy, confidentiality concerning financial and employee files is an asset .
- Experience and understanding of development issues, governance reform, and education issues is desirable.
- Project management training certificates would be considered an asset.
Languages:
- Fluency in English and Uzbek (written and spoken) is required.
- Working knowledge of Russian is desirable.
Institutional Arrangement
The Project Manager will be under the direct supervision of the UNDP Cluster Leader on Effective Governance and guidance of the Project Board. The Project Manager will work in close collaboration with the government counterparts, project, operations, and Programme staff in the UNDP CO to exchange information and ensure consistent service delivery and undertake day-to-day responsibility for operational and thematic support services for the satisfactory achievement of the project outputs.
Disclaimer
Applicant information about UNDP rosters
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.
Non-discrimination
UNDP has a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual exploitation and misconduct, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.
UNDP is an equal opportunity and inclusive employer that does not discriminate based on race, sex, gender identity, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, age, language, social origin or other status.
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