Job Identification : 12628

Locations : Sao Tome and Principe

Posting Date : 07/26/2023, 05:25 PM

Apply Before : 08/11/2023, 05:23 PM

Job Schedule : Full time

Agency : UNDP

Grade : NPSA-6

Vacancy Type : National Personnel Service Agreement

Practice Area : Governance

Bureau : Regional Bureau for Africa

Contract Duration : 1 Year

Education & Work Experience : Bachelor’s Degree – 3 year(s) experience OR High School certificate- 6 year(s) experience

Other Criteria : Experience in preparation of financial reports and overviews

Required Languages : Working skills in English and fluency in Portuguese

Vacancy Timeline

2 Weeks

Job Description

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.

<Job Purpose and Organizational Context>

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality, and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

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.

UNDP is the leading United Nations organization in fighting to end the injustice of poverty, inequality, and climate change. Working with our broad network of experts and partners in 170 countries, we help nations to build integrated, lasting solutions for people and planet. Learn more at undp.org or follow at @UNDP

Sao Tome and Principe (in short, STP) is an African Small Island Developing State (SIDS) and a Least Developed Country (LDC). A former Portuguese colony that achieved independence in 1975, STP is Africa’s second-smallest country, after the Seychelles and has the smallest economy of Africa’s sovereign states.

Thanks to its rich biodiversity, both on land and in the sea, it qualifies as one of the few net-sink countries in the world, as reported in the Country’s reports to UNFCCC. The inaccessibility of much of the primary forest that covers more than one fourth of the land

mass makes it one of the richest and most diverse forest ecosystems in Africa and a haven for endemic and threatened species ecosystems in Africa and a haven for endemic and threatened species. The geographical location of the two main islands Sao Tome and Principe, surrounded by an Exclusive Economic Zone that is 160 times the land surface, explains the country’s geostrategic importance.

Today, the country’s population stands at about 222,000 and the Human Development Index (HDI) of STP rose from 0.56 to 0.62 between 2010 and 2019, placing the country close to the average for countries in the medium human development group (0.63).

The economic model of the country has been largely based upon tourism, particularly related to nature and beaches, and its related services sector in restauration and wholesale/retail, as well as agriculture which mostly consists of subsistence farming but accounts for 70% of rural employment.

STP faces development challenges that are typical of small and insular states, imprinted in its structural multi-dimensional vulnerabilities. Its remoteness increases production costs and its size and ability to reach production scales curbs the diversification of its economy, making it more vulnerable to external shocks, including those resulting from climate change and environmental degradation.

In this context, UNDP is implementing – in collaboration with the Government and with CSO- an increasing portfolio of Nature, Climate and Energy (NCE) projects, aimed at enhancing biodiversity conservation, reducing climate-induced vulnerabilities and accelerating the implementation of the updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) the Country submitted in 2021.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

Support the project team to ensure effective project planning and implementation.

•  Compile and summarize information and data for the formulation of project work plans, draft annual/quarterly budgets, proposals on implementation arrangements, and on other specific project related topics or issues.
•  Provide comprehensive support in all aspects of project implementation in accordance with the project documents, annual work plans and other agreements between UNDP and responsible partners. Ensure quality of delivery by consultants, beneficiaries, and contracted companies; and communicate findings to the supervisor.
•  Ensure compliance of project business processes with UNDP Project Operational Policies and Procedures (POPP) and UNDP Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). When necessary, provide guidance to project staff on business processes, administrative and other requirements and procedures.
•  Support mainstreaming gender equality in the project implementation, including in data collection and compilation. Prepare gender equality background materials for use in discussions, briefings, and correspondence.
•  Provide administrative and logistical support to ensure successful project delivery that includes organizing/coordinating project events and selecting appropriate venues, coordinating project procurement procedures, maintaining project records and files, recruiting project team members, and supporting contracting activities.

Support partnerships and resource mobilization.

•  Establish and maintain contacts and cooperation with the relevant UN Agencies, government institutions, NGOs, tertiary institutions, partners, and other relevant stakeholders. Provide support in updating the database of the relevant public and development partners, and other stakeholders who are counterparts for the project.
•  Ensure regular communication and coordination with partners, project counterparts, stakeholders, and beneficiaries; and develop and maintain effective mechanisms for integrating and responding to their feedback and insight.
•  Support creation of high quality information and visibility of the project activities among the stakeholders; and ensure careful selection of communication tools and tailoring the messages to take into account the overall socio-political and development context in host countries.
•  Undertake horizon scanning and explore opportunities for resource mobilization in consultation with direct supervisor.

Provide support to the effective monitoring, evaluation, and reporting on progress of project implementation.

•  Support implementation of the project monitoring system in alignment with its Monitoring and Evaluation framework to ensure effective information sharing, provision of feedback, and elaboration of high-quality progress reports.
•  Collect, analyze and present information for monitoring and evaluation of project implementation against project targets as well as for audit purposes. Identify gaps in implementation and provide support in bridging those gaps in consultation with supervisor and partners.
•  Assist in the organization of field and study visits, missions, workshops, roundtables, and conferences within the project.
•  Assist in implementation of effective risk management for the project with a well-documented risk mitigation plan in place. Support monitoring of previously identified and emerging risks.
•  Regularly monitor expenditures and commitments against the project budget and relevant plans, and provide finance-related information to support project implementation. When necessary, recommend corrective actions and draft various correspondence concerning finance, operations, and budgetary issues.
•  Prepare and consolidate required project reports on a timely basis and in line with monitoring and reporting guidelines and donor requirements.

Support knowledge building, knowledge sharing and capacity building relevant to the assigned project.

•  Participate in training and organize briefings on internal procedures for the project staff. Provide support to other capacity building activities, including to the design and delivery of tools, materials for workshops, or platforms that tap into the collective intelligence of communities and mobilize action.
•  Provide support in the dissemination and sharing of relevant data and lessons learned within the CO and regionally. Keep pulse on emerging best practices nationally, regionally, and internationally that relate to the work of the assigned project.
•  Make sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice. Support compiling and systematizing project knowledge, products and tools as well as their wide distribution to partners.

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization. Competencies

Core

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 (insert up to 7 competencies)

Thematic Area

Name

Definition

Business Management

Working with Evidence and Data

•  Ability to inspect, cleanse, transform and model data with the goal of discovering useful information, informing conclusions, and supporting decision-making

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

Business Management

Customer Satisfaction/Client Management

•  Ability to respond timely and appropriately with a sense of urgency, provide consistent solutions, and deliver timely and quality results and/or solutions to fulfil and understand the real customers’ needs. Provide inputs to the development of customer service strategy. Look for ways to add value beyond clients’ immediate requests. Ability to anticipate client’s upcoming needs and concerns.

Business Management

Communication

•  Ability to communicate in a clear, concise and unambiguous manner both through written 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.

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.

Technical – Finance

Budget management

•  Ability to support budgetary aspects of work planning process, drawing and management of team budgets

Business Direction & Strategy

Negotiation and Influence

•  Ability to reach an understanding, persuade others, resolve points of difference, gain advantage in the outcome of dialogue, negotiates mutually acceptable solutions through compromise and creates win-win situations

Required Skills and Experience

Minimum Education requirements

•  Secondary education is required (high school diploma), or
•  University Degree (bachelor’s degree) in Business Administration, Public Administration, or equivalent field will be given due consideration, but it is not a requirement.

Minimum years of relevant work experience

A minimum of 6 years (with high school diploma) or 3 years (with bachelor’s degree) of progressively responsible administrative or project experience is required.

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 in addition to the competencies covered in the Competencies section

•  Experience in preparation of financial reports and overviews
•  Knowledge of monitoring and evaluation tools
•  Knowledge of project management processes
•  Knowledge of procurement procedures of national / international organizations

Required Language(s)

•  Working skills in English – Ability to autonomously write, speak and read
•  Fluency in Portuguese

Professional Certificates

n.a.

Disclaimer

Important information for US Permanent Residents (‘Green Card’ holders)

Under US immigration law, acceptance of a staff position with UNDP, an international organization, may have significant implications for US Permanent Residents. UNDP advises applicants for all professional level posts that they must relinquish their US Permanent Resident status and accept a G-4 visa, or have submitted a valid application for US citizenship prior to commencement of employment.

UNDP is not in a position to provide advice or assistance on applying for US citizenship and therefore applicants are advised to seek the advice of competent immigration lawyers regarding any applications.

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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