Back Project Manager - Short-term Implementation of Private Sector Recovery Plan

Organisational Context:

UNDP operates in more than 170 countries and territories around the world. UNDP offers global perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations that can withstand crisis, and that drive and sustain growth that improves the quality of life for everyone.

Brief Project Description:

In response to the impact of COVID 19, both actual and envisaged Business Botswana (BB), with the support from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) developed an Economic Recovery Response Plan for the private sector in Botswana. This plan is aimed at managing the adverse impact of COVID-19 on businesses and is complementary to the post-COVID-19 national economic recovery response plan that was developed by the Government of Botswana.

The recovery plan was informed by a proactive approach to the recovery process. That is, the economy’s recovery, should not necessarily be about a return to the pre-COVID-19 status but to rather ensure that critical challenges, faced by Botswana’s private sector especially, are addressed. These include; inadequate citizen economic empowerment, low productivity and competitiveness, unemployment especially of the youth, inadequate economic inclusion of the youth, women and disadvantaged minorities etc.

The private sector desires a different type of recovery, one that sets Botswana on the path to a high-performance economy as suggested by the Minister of Finance and Economic Development in the country’s 2020 budget. This transition, to a high-performance economy, is necessary for Botswana in order to; move from the base of global value chains, to raise exports of value-added goods and avoid marginalisation from global prosperity. Thus, a bold recovery plan was proposed with an enhanced focus on strong partnerships between the Private sector, Government and Non-Governmental Organisations.

The recently designed Private Sector Recovery Plan (PSRP) is informed by one overall guiding objective: to Build Back Better, with the private sector acting as its own driving force. The plan foresees a number of transformations in the private sector to help achieve this objective. These include:

- A more inclusive private sector, with particular emphasis on the participation of youth and women.

- An economy with technology, in particular digital technologies, as its backbone, as part of the fourth industrial revolution.

- A diversified economy, with strengthening local value and supply chains.

- A greener economy, capitalising on opportunities to recycle and to utilise renewable energy.

-  A commercially independent agriculture sector capable of self-reliance.

File Link: Private Sector Recovery Plan (PSRP) https://www.bw.undp.org/content/botswana/en/home/library/poverty/covid-19-pandemic-recovery-plan-for-the-private-sector.html

(The document for the Private sector Recovery Plan is available on the UNDP Botswana website)

Business Botswana has requested support from UNDP for the recruitment of a Project Manager to support the rollout of the Private Sector Recovery Plan (PSRP).

Role Summary:

UNDP Botswana is looking to recruit a dynamic, seasoned professional to manage the coordination of the implementation of the Private Sector Recovery Plan (PSRP). In this highly strategic role, the Project Manager, ( PM) will provide leadership, direction and strategy for the implementation of the relevant private sector actions  in the PSRP and will be responsible for  working closely with  BB CEO and the chairs of each of the 22 sectors  within Business Botswana  to ensure  that the proposed actions in the plan are implemented. S/he will be responsible for supporting all 22 sectors to plan, implement, monitor and report progress for RSRP activities. The PM will also be responsible for overseeing the research actions of the PSRP.  S/he will create new partnerships at national, regional and global levels to assist in the implementation of the PSRP. S/he will also carry out resource mobilization activities for the PSRP and ensure high visibility during its implementation.

The Project Manager will work under the overall guidance of UNDP’s Project Manager – Business Supplier Development Programme (SDP) and the day-to-day supervision of Business Botswana (BB)’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He / She will be based at Business Botswana and will be expected to collaborate accordingly with BB senior managers, delegated by the BB CEO, as part of the support team in implementing the PSRP, The PM  will work  in consultation with Government and other key stakeholders.

Summary of Key Functions:

In this role, the Project Manager will support BB CEO and the 22 BB Sector Chairs to implement the planned activities within each Sector as defined in the PSRP.  

The PM is expected to carry out the following functions  

• Project planning and execution
• Promote, facilitate and manage new partnerships
• Oversee the research component of PSRP
• Oversee monitoring and visibility of the PSRP implementation
•  

1. Project Planning and Execution

• Support the 22 sector chairs to plan and implement the PSRP activities
• Develop a one-year management plan for each of the 5 Goals with respective sectors of the PSRP.
•  Define clearly with each sector how the actions will be implemented and the roles of all concerned, with clear timelines and budget
• Clearly define where resources will come for each action
• Pro- actively on a daily basis support the sectors to implement their respective plans activities.

NOTE:  This is the first time that BB developed a plan of this type. The plan does NOT envisage that the BB CEO and his team are responsible for the implementation of the activities. This responsibility lies with each of the relevant 22 sectors, together where appropriate, with the BB CEO and his team. This is an exciting  new approach and will demand a PM to be pro – active, very dynamic  and have excellent initiation, convening and facilitation skills and willing to  give extensive  time to  thinking through new innovating ways on HOW to implement activities with efficiency, particularly given that  the 22 sectors  members  are very busy people running their business.  In addition, the PSRP has many actions that are expected to be implemented by the government. The PM will be expected to conduct regular meetings with senior levels of government to discuss the implementation of the actions and to discuss how their actions can/will impact on the actions to be undertaken by the Private Sector. 

2.  Promote, Facilitate and Manage new Partnerships

• Advise, guide and provide support to creating new partnerships at national, regional and global levels to enhance the implementation of PSRP. This is a critical action of the PM.
• Mobilize and strengthen strategic partnerships with other UN agencies, and other relevant multilateral organizations to advance and support the project.
• Foster and enhance collaboration with relevant Government bodies by working closely with Government counterparts and national partners.
• Establish strong ties with national programmes and relevant government ministries.

3. Oversee the research component of PSRP

• Together with BB CEO and the 22 sectors identify the research needs as identified in the PSRP
• Identify Partners who may be willing to undertake research as part of partnership with BB
• Develop TOR for research consultancies
• Oversee the management of the research consultancies
• Pro- actively engage in resource mobilisation for research together with the CEO of BB   

4. Oversee Monitoring and visibility of the PSRP implementation

• Developing and implementing a detailed monitoring and evaluation plan for the PSRP.

• Lead quarterly review meetings and annual project reviews by monitoring the progress of project implementation, assessing results and identifying areas of weaknesses to ensure the project achieves the planned results in accordance with relevant plans.
• Prepare a detailed costed visibility plan around the implementation of the PSRP and seek funds for its implementation
• Manage the implementation of the visibility plan according to the deadlines

Job Knowledge and Technical Expertise:

• Excellent project management, leadership, organizational, research, consultation and delegation skills.
• Flexibility and the ability to prioritize among competing demands.
• The ability to communicate clearly and effectively both orally and in writing; including drafting strategic project briefs, and reports, as well as activity update reports tailored appropriately for different audiences/stakeholders.

• Broad knowledge of best management practices, defines objectives and workflows, positions reporting relationships in such a way as to obtain maximum effectiveness for the project;
• Abreast of new developments in areas of professional discipline and job knowledge and seeks to develop her/himself personally;
• Comprehensive knowledge of information technology and applies it in all work assignments;
• Flexible & positive response to change through active involvement;
• Excellent work/project planning skills;
• Openness to change and ability to manage complex, ever-changing environments;
• Ability to lead implementation and monitoring of private sector development programmes and
• Ability to formulate and manage budgets

Building Strategic Partnerships

• Demonstrates experience of working with government counterparts, and private sector, especially on building successful partnerships;
• Creates networks and promotes initiatives with partner organizations, and
• Has strong networking capabilities and ability to associate him/herself with a broad range of actors with a view to build relationships and facilitate links.

Education :

The candidate should possess a minimum of Masters’ Degree, or Professional Qualification, in; Business Administration, Entrepreneurship, Economics, Project Management or any Business-Related Field necessary to undertake the assignment 

Experience :

He/ She must have at least 5 years of working experience with focus on private sector development, competitiveness enhancement of SMEs, market development with project management, institutional development and capacity building in private sector/public sector institutions as core areas of expertise. Working knowledge and skills in IT is a prerequisite

Women are strongly encouraged to apply. The selection process will be fair and transparent.

Contract Duration: 1 Year