Back Project Coordinator (CFEWS)

Background
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  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.
Office/Unit/Project Description  

Trinidad and Tobago is highly susceptible to flooding. Although comparably being perceived as events of lower magnitude, floods have had a significant economic and social impact in the country throughout the years; for example, damage and losses from flood events in the years 1993, 2002 and 2006 were US$580,000, US$3,300,000 and US$2,500,000, respectively (Roopnarine, et al., 2018). Also notable is the most recent major event reported in the country took place in October 2018 affected an estimate of 150,000 people from 4,100 households (IFRC, 2018) and according to the President of the Agricultural Society of Trinidad and Tobago, approximately 75% of local farmers in the country were severely affected through the loss of crops and livestock (IFRC, 2018). A record of hazard events in Trinidad and Tobago during the period 2011-2014 show 695 flood events, 277 strong wind events and 179 landslide events as the top three categories of hazards; highlighting that flooding is a significant and recurring hazard for the country. 

The 10th meeting of the Joint Select Committee on Land and Physical Infrastructure indicated that there is need for (i) closer collaborations amongst entities responsible for flood alleviation and control of major river basins, (ii) spatial data to undertake flood mapping and risk analysis to support decision making and (iii) more public education and the building of resilience in the communities themselves to prepare, respond and adapt to floods. Also, the WRA manages a rainfall monitoring system which comprises rainfall and river monitoring stations; the key challenge is that the flood monitoring network consists of a mixture of aged, manually operated instruments and outdated telemetric components. The issue with flooding is compounded by the fact that the official hurricane season coincides with the country’s rainy season. Further, activities such as illegal/unregulated quarrying, encroachment of river reserves, backfilling and illegal diversion of watercourses which contributes to sedimentation thereby reducing the capacity of rivers are some of the challenges faced despite over three hundred (300) desilting projects pursued by the Ministry of Works and Transport in recent years. 

To address the needs and risks identified, the Community Flood Early Warning Systems (CFEWS) Phase 2 (August 2023 to July 2025) aims to contribute to risk-informed flood planning and development across Trinidad and Tobago to reduce loss of life, minimize displacement and poverty.  Ten (10) communities are targeted to benefit; Arima, Guanapo (x 2), Guapo, La Canoa, Navet, and Tableland are in Trinidad, and Bacolet, Bloody Bay (x 2), Lois D’or and Richmond are in Tobago. The majority of these communities are in areas highly susceptible to flooding and are among the most vulnerable. 

The action will target four Output areas (i) enhance capacities for detecting, monitoring, analysis and forecasting of flood hazards in fifteen communities – three in Tobago and twelve in Trinidad; (ii) expand the flood early warning information communication/ dissemination platform to reach more communities, municipalities and governmental agencies; and (iii) enhance capabilities for the coordination and management of floods at the community and national levels and (iv) improve emergency response in a crisis.

The Project Coordinator will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the project, guiding project implementation and ensuring overall facilitation of activities with UNDP, implementing partners and the donor. The general objective of the consultancy will be supporting, promoting and coordinating the actions required for the successful development and the achievement of the results, outputs and targets, envisioned by the project, ensuring effective linkages between the beneficiaries and national institutions.

Scope of Work 

The UNDP TT is dedicated to impactful project implementation across programmes and projects. To ensure consistency and effectiveness in our messaging, the Project Coordinator will:

1. Ensure the achievement of the objectives, goals and results of the project in its technical, budgetary, financial and legal requirements, through the consolidation and preparation of all the technical and financial progress reports such as the quarterly and annual reports required by UNDP and the interim and final reports required by ECHO in close collaboration with UNDP Brussels, which has to be uploaded on APPEL;
2. Support coordination and collaboration between UNDP and implementing partners, including the provision of technical assistance and guidance to implementing partners at local, national, international level, as appropriate;
3. Provide oversight to the Communications Associate in the execution of his/her duties, such as the preparation of the communication material of the project, as per UNDP, ECHO and government’s policies, including participating in and supporting in the coordination and organization of public events related to capacity building, awareness building; ensuring that the donors and key partners are appropriately represented and recognized;
4. Liaise with beneficiary communities for coordination, implementation, monitoring, verification and reporting on activities, promoting synergies and linkages with programs/projects, governmental entities, stakeholders, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society organizations linked to the project;
5. Coordinate administrative functions across project management implementation and execution, including inter alia contract management, preparing the material and information that will be used in the meetings of the Project Board; and supporting resource mobilization and coordination efforts in disaster risk reduction
6. Preparing drafts of TORs ensuring the appropriate inclusion of performance standards and relevant obligations, supporting during the selection and hiring process for consultants and supervising consultants hired to execute the project activities; coordinating the systematization and documentation of lessons learned.
7. Coordinate with the UNDP gender focal point to ensure the key outputs of the project are adequately considering gender.
8. The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization. 

   Institutional Arrangement

   Core Competency

   Core

     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 

   Cross-functional & Technical competencies  Thematic Area Name Definition Procurement Supplier/relationship management

   Knowledge of supplier management concepts, principles and methods, and ability to apply this to strategic and/or practical situations

   Communications Advocacy strategy and implementation Ability to create and implement advocacy strategies which lead to impactful change Partnership Management 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 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

   Business Management Communication

   Ability to communicate ina clear, concise, and unambiguous manner both through handwritten and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience.

   Ability to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media and other appropriate channels

   📚 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!

   Business Management Partnerships Management

   Ability to build and maintain partnerships with wide networks of stakeholders, Governments, civil society and private sector partners, experts and others in line with the UNDP strategy and policies.

   Business Management 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.

   People management competencies PeopleManagementCompetencies.pdf (undp.org)

   Minimum Qualifications of the Successful NPSA Min. Education Requirements 

   Advanced University degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in Environmental Studies, Civil Engineering, Project Management or any other related field of study is required or a first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree

    

   Min. years of relevant Work experience  
   • Up to 2 years (with master’s degree) or minimum of 2 years (with bachelor’s degree) of professional experience in project planning, management, implementation or monitoring is required.  Required skills and competencies 
     • At least 1 year of professional experience in disaster reduction/preparedness in the Caribbean.
     • Experience of joint work and coordination with national government actors  Desired additional skills and competencies 
       • Experience in managing local or regional disaster risk reduction projects. 
       • Experience working with international donors. 
       • Experience in creatively managing diverse groups of stakeholders in a practical and inclusive way.
       • Demonstrated experience in local/ regional or international donor-funded development projects.
       • Experience in early warning systems  Required Language(s) (at working level) 
         • Fluency in English is required.
         • Working knowledge of Spanish would be considered an asset.  Professional Certificates  N/A 

           Disclaimer

           Important applicant information

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

           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 descriptions, 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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