Back Project Coordinator for Project - Strengthening Integral Local Development by Building the Capacities of the Municipal Authorities in Timor-Leste, Dili, Timor-Leste

Job ID: 35605

Practice Area - Job Family: Democratic Governance - PROJECT COORDINATOR

Vacancy End Date: (Midnight New York, USA) 27/03/2021

Duty Station: Dili, Timor-Leste

Education & Work Experience: G-Bachelor's Level Degree - 7 year(s) experience, I-Master's Level Degree - 5 year(s) experience

Languages: English, Portuguese, Tetum

Grade: SB5

Vacancy Type: Service Contract (SC)

Posting Type: External

Bureau: Asia & the Pacific

Contract Duration: One year with a posibility of extension based on availability of funds and performance

Background

The establishment of strong institutions and capacities at all levels to ensure the delivery and quality of public services has been at the focus of the government and political agenda of Timor-Leste since 2002. Since then, significant progress has been made towards enhancing the process of governance and public service delivery through improved efficiency, accountability, and transparency. At the same time, a lot of challenges and opportunities lie ahead.

The Constitution of Timor-Leste envisages that the State will be territorially organized in a decentralized manner and the local units will have a status of corporate bodies vested with representative organs and their organization, competence, functioning and composition of the organs will be defined by law. In this line, since the independence of the country, administrative decentralization has been considered a useful tool to promote national identity, territorial cohesion, and socio-economic development.

An initial policy towards administrative decentralization was laid out in early 2006. However, the process could not take momentum due to several political and administrative reasons. Nearly ten years ago, a new impulse to this process was given with the new administrative division of the country followed by the Implementation Strategy of the Administrative Decentralization and the Setting up of the Representative Bodies of the Local Power in Timor-Leste which envisages a gradual but progressive decentralization. Recently, the Government has reaffirmed its commitment to decentralization through Government Resolution n.º 45/2020 (Implementation of Administrative Decentralization Strategy and Installation of Representative Organs of Local Government) and aims at developing and approving the necessary legal framework for the implementation of the decentralization process and preparing for the municipal elections in 2022.

In order to meet its commitment and building on the past experiences, the Government of Timor-Leste has been working on revising the legal framework on decentralization. The Ministry of State Administration (MSA), as the nodal agency on decentralization, has been leading this exercise. To support the Government in general and the MSA in particular in their decentralization endeavor, UNDP Timor-Leste has been partnering with the Ministry. Earlier in 2020, UNDP Timor-Leste launched the project “Strengthening Integral Local Development by Building the Capacities of the Municipal Authorities in Timor-Leste”, in partnership with the European Union.

Building on its long-standing experience in supporting decentralization in Timor-Leste and other countries, UNDP will support the Ministry to enhance its capacities to strengthen the legal, policy and institutional framework for administrative decentralization. In this regard, UNDP will support the MSA’s efforts to identify gaps, harmonize legal, policy and institutional framework, including amendment of the existing laws, and build capacities of the local authorities. UNDP is going to hire a team of national and international advisors to provide the technical assistance to the MSA on this matter. This Terms of Reference (ToR) describes duties and responsibilities, competencies, qualifications etc. of Project Coordinator.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Director General (DG), Decentralization, MSA and the National Project Manager (NPM), the incumbent’s main responsibility is to coordinate the implementation project activities and ensure best quality project results.

• Prepare annual and quarterly work plans of the Project and coordinate with NPM to organize Project Board meetings
• Provide technical support in Administration, Finance and Procurement Officer to prepare procurement plan and human resource plan the project, and update them periodically.
• Coordinate with Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Specialist to monitor the Project activities, to draft high-quality reports and provide support the NPM and CTA for the effective implementation of the Project activities
• Working with one-stop-shop (OSS) advisor to develop concept notes, briefs, ToRs, guidelines on OSS in municipalities.
• Support the Ministry in coordinating with the Office of the President, national Ministries, Agencies, National Parliament, Municipal Administrations and Authorities and other stakeholders, including Universities, NGOs, CSOs, etc. for developing legal, policy and institutional framework on decentralization,
• Ensure that the project activities and supports by the advisors and experts of the Project are well-coordinated and facilitate the functioning of the advisors and experts
• Liaise between MSA and UNDP in relation to the implementation and delivery of the Project and ensure smooth communication between MSA and UNDP
• Ensure that gender and youth issues, human right based approach and concerns of vulnerable groups and local communities are taken into account in the implementation of the project activities,
• Any other responsibility given by the NPM and the DG, Decentralization.

Impact of Results: The project is effectively monitored to achieve targeted results.

Age, gender, and diversity (AGD) perspective is systematically applied, integrated, and documented in all activities throughout the assignment

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability

Functional Competencies:

Knowledge Management and Learning

• Promotes knowledge management in UNDP and a learning environment in the office through leadership and personal example
• Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more Practice Areas, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills

Development and Operational Effectiveness

• Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting
• Ability to lead formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development programmes and projects
• Ability to formulate and manage budgets, manage contributions and investments, manage transactions, conduct financial analysis, reporting and cost-recovery
• Ability to implement new systems and affect staff behavioral/attitudinal change
• Strong IT skills, knowledge of ATLAS system desirable
• Excellent knowledge of financial rules and regulations, accounting
• Excellent knowledge of Results Management Guide and Toolkit

Management and Leadership

• Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude
• Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Bachelor or master’s degree in political science, sociology, economics, public administration, or any other related field

Experience:

• At least Seven (7) years for bachelor’s degree and five (5) years for master’s degree experience of project/programme management, planning, monitoring and evaluation, and decentralization and local governance
• Proven track record in coordination and people management,
• Proven record of annual and quarterly project report
• Experience of project management and working with national and international organization.
• Knowledge of project operations system (procurement, finance, administration, and human resources)
• Previous working experience with the Governmental Institutions would be an asset
• Good oral and written communication skills in English are essential
• Good knowledge of the UN system and its procedures would be an added advantage.

Language Requirements:

• English, Portuguese, and Tetum. Knowledge of the local languages is highly valued.

Disclaimer

Important applicant information

All posts in the SC categories are subject to local recruitment.

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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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