Back Project Associate - Circular Migration, NPSA – 7, 80% part-time

Background

UNDP supports countries to tackle complex development challenges and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through SDG integration. In the context of its country programme for Serbia for 2021-2025, the UNDP Country Office (CO) in Serbia, through the SDG Integration (SDGi) Center is scaling up its support to the SDG agenda in Serbia through integrated policy and programming as well as innovation and learning.

The UNDP CO in Serbia recognized the importance and need for supporting a new program promoting circular migration in Serbia. The idea is to create a platform that will be in contact with our diaspora in a novel way came after the first annual diaspora conference “Talent meetup 1.0” that happened in December of 2018, which was followed by discussions between the Serbian Prime Minister and numerous diaspora organizations. 

UNDP and the Government of Serbia are developing a comprehensive portfolio to address demographic change, based on a system transformation approach. This project represents one of the critical points in the portfolio, aiming to redefine the country’s relationship with the skilled diaspora and foreigners, as well as the narrative on migration in general. It will assist Serbia to proactively reconnect to its diaspora and develop sustainable legal, economic, financial and social models that will offer the Serbian diaspora opportunities to relink to Serbia and contribute to its social and economic growth. The Project also focuses on enhancing and diversifying the Serbian workforce, opening up the Serbian labour landscape to foreigners and strengthening Serbian government institutions to provide better support and services to foreigners interested in working from Serbia.

Through strengthening the capacity and expanding the potential of the Returning Point team by building on the results achieved in the Returning Point Initiation phase, this project aims to 1) develop a Platform that will communicate to the Serbian diaspora interested in reconnecting to Serbia, 2) successfully match interested repatriates to jobs that require international experience; 3) develop and pilot sustainable legal and economic models for diaspora engagement and 4) identify, develop and proactively deploy sustainable diaspora services and simplified administrative processes. Also, the Project will work to 5) enhance the provision of services and support Serbian government institutions offer to foreign nationals that live and work in or are interested in moving to Serbia.

In this sense, UNDP will provide support by providing services that will contribute to effective and efficient implementation of these initiatives.
 

Duties and Responsibilities

Support in coordination and implementation of designated project activities

• Assist in conceptualization, coordination, and implementation of selected activities/components in the area of the circular migration
• Provide inputs for development of project monitoring and evaluation framework.
• Provide assistance in preparation of regular updates and reports to Project Boards on projects’ progress, implementing issues, emerging risks/problems and proposals for necessary remedial actions.
• Through constant monitoring and stakeholder coordination, identify implementation bottlenecks on specific initiatives and/or projects, propose solutions accordingly and proactively act towards barrier removal and achievement of pre-identified targets.
• Provide support to strategic fundraising inputs and support the fundraising planning of the project.
• Identify and collect policy-related and other relevant information, documents and data, compile and analyze data for further use in project management.  

  Support for project administration: 

  • Support organization and coordination of meetings, training sessions, workshops, conferences, and project events and prepare reports and meeting minutes, as required 
  • Support in managing project finances, process invoices and ensure tax exemption for project related goods and services 
  • Support procurement processes, provide inputs for request for quotations/proposals, prepare tenders and small procurements (canvassing), provide inputs for UNDP procurement plan
  • Draft terms of reference for consultants and contractors, as required and support recruitment of short-term consultants in line with rules and regulations
  • Follow up with (sub)contractors to ensure time delivery of outputs
  • Assist project teams, experts and consultants on travel and logistics matters
  • Coordinates and organizes trainings, field visits, missions and conferences
  • Perform other tasks ad duties as assigned by the supervisor
  • Ensure full compliance of activities with UNDP rules, regulations, and policies;

    Network with partners and beneficiaries:

    • Maintain communication with stakeholders within the Government of Serbia responsible for tasks pertaining to the project’s scope of work. 
    • Maintain cooperation and communication with project’s partners and beneficiaries on the implementation of the agreed activities, especially for the events, trainings, workshops.
    • Establish record with contacts, pursue networking and information sharing and to follow up on partnership related issues.
    • Prepare official correspondence for national and international partners.

      Performing other relevant tasks/duties as assigned by the supervisor.

      Institutional Arrangement

      The Project Associate - Circular Migration will work under the overall guidance and supervision of the Programme Analyst – SDG Integration. 

      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 Management 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 External Relations & Advocacy Event planning and execution Ability to plan, manage and execute of public and private events to ensure that they support and amplify individual communications and advocacy initiatives, as well as UNDP's overall brand and mandate.  Operations: Administration  Events management  Ability to manage events, including venue identification, accommodation, logistics, catering, transportation, and cash disbursements, etc.  2030 Agenda Governance  Civil society engagement 

      📚 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗮 𝗝𝗼𝗯 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗡 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯! 🌍🤝 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗡 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗨𝗡𝗛𝗖𝗥, 𝗪𝗙𝗣, 𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗖𝗘𝗙, 𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗦𝗦, 𝗨𝗡𝗙𝗣𝗔, 𝗜𝗢𝗠 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀! 🌐

      ⚠️ 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐰: 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐍𝐎𝐖!

      Required Skills and Experience   Education:

      • Secondary education is required.
      • Bachelor’s in Economics, Business, Management, Law or related area will be given due consideration, but is not a requirement
          Experience:
        •    Minimum 7 years (with Secondary education) or 4 years (with Bachelor´s degree) of relevant professional experience in circular migration, diaspora, management of highly qualified repatriates, and national public policy creation. 

          Required skills:

          • Sound understanding of Serbia's political, institutional and socio-economic situation;  
          • Understanding of current policies and legislation on government organization; 
          • Strong oral and written communication skills in Serbian and English language;
          • Good organizational and time management skills;
          • Excellent writing/reporting and presentation skills;
          • Excellent interpersonal, networking and team building skills; 
          • Demonstrates integrity by modelling ethical standards;
          • Focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to critical feedback;
          • Builds strong relationships with clients and external actors;
          • Treats all people fairly without prejudice;
          • Cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
            
             

            Desired skills:

            • Track record of preparing high quality project initiatives, public policies, related reports, analysis, documents as well project coordination and implementation of activities related to circular migration/diaspora matters and local stakeholder engagement.
            • Experience with diaspora organizations, key individuals and organizations;
            • Experience in introducing public policy initiatives in Serbia in broad areas 
            • Strong network of national stakeholders, including public institutions, international organizations and businesses

              Languages:

              • Fluency in Serbian and English

                The online application form must be fully completed. Applicants are required to carefully complete their online application form and reflect all of their work experience history in the application. 

                Only attaching a CV is not sufficient for applicants to be considered for positions. All applicants have to complete the Experience, Education, Language, and Nationality & Permanent Residence fields fully.

                Managers may ask (ad hoc) for any other materials relevant to pre-assessing the relevance of their experience, such as reports, presentations, publications, campaigns or other materials.

                Equal opportunity

                As an equal opportunity employer, UNDP values diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate and, as such, we encourage qualified applicants from all backgrounds to apply for roles in the organization. Our employment decisions are based on merit and suitability for the role, without discrimination. 

                UNDP is also committed to creating an inclusive workplace where all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, are valued, can thrive, and benefit from career opportunities that are open to all.

                Sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse of authority

                UNDP does not tolerate harassment, sexual harassment, exploitation, discrimination and abuse of authority. All selected candidates, therefore, undergo relevant checks and are expected to adhere to the respective standards and principles. 

                Right to select multiple candidates

                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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