Pacific Islands countries (PICs) boast “big ocean” economies, with young and mobile populations and highly resilient and adaptative societies. Past and recent investments have however fallen short of developing diverse economies offering inclusive services and opportunities, resilient to external shocks and the increasing pace of climate disasters. While the scale of Pacific economies does not allow them to respond to all these challenges alone, public investment and revenues would gain from empowered officials accountable to keep basic service delivery and development priorities in mind while driving fiscal decisions.

For this reason, the “Accountable Public Finances to serve Pacific people – Vaka Pasifika” portfolio (hereafter Vaka Pasifika portfolio) builds on the results of the “Strengthening Public Finance Management and Governance in the Pacific” (PFM) portfolio implemented between 2018 and 2022 thanks to the support of the European Union. The proposed overarching goal of this portfolio is to strengthen the governance mechanisms enabling Pacific countries to deliver public services that are better calibrated to meet specific needs of the people. Its specific focus will be to ensure scarce Pacific resources are better managed and the resource base available for achieving national development goals will be increased. To achieve this goal, PIC economies require stable and reliable institutions implementing the right mix of creativity and rigor informed by ground reality. The Portfolio will contribute to this vision by (a) supporting oversight institutions and decision makers to define and implement their priorities through leadership and institutional capacity strengthening and (b) enhancing responsiveness of service delivery and public finance management by developing institutional mechanisms for engagement and openness and strengthening civil society capacity.

The Vaka Pasifika portfolio is implemented through a team based in Suva, Fiji in the UNDP Pacific Office. As part of the Effective Governance unit, the team is responsible for implementation of the portfolio, its various activities and corresponding institutional processes and requirements.

The workplan of the Vaka Pasifika portfolio focuses on the following sets of activities:

• Creating spaces at the country and regional level for change makers to engage in pilots and experimentations on new ways to think and work on public finance oversight.
• Developing low tech and artificial tools to support the tracking and implementation of audit recommendations and generally provide technical assistance to SAIs based on their priorities.
• Hosting forums for strategic discussions and relationship building between parliaments, SAIs and selected government institutions.
• Engaging with civil society at the regional and national level to create access to budget and audit information and support initiatives on oversight.
• Providing timely and relevant PFM training to strategic stakeholders ahead of budget announcement or major fiscal decisions.
• Engage with Ministries of Finance and government institutions to facilitate openness and participatory budgeting practices.
• And finally, continue to support the economic journalist champions working on public finance stories.

This position focuses mostly on activity 1 and the coordination of what has come to be known as the Vaka Pasifika Fellowship. Through the Fellowship we will overarchingly explore how PFM systems, in different national contexts, can be part of “securing the future” as laid out in the Pacific 2050 Strategy and national strategies; what are the leverage points for change within the PFM system to align it to contemporary socio-economic challenges and successfully reach the most vulnerable. How can this work explore different models of inclusive and participatory practices, where we go beyond surface level participatory processes and how can people and government engage and inform each other on the issue of public finances.

The fellowship is set to take place in at least 6 countries over the next three years. This year (2023-2024) the expected locations are Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu. The specific focus of the fellowship in each country will differ based on ongoing work in their countries that already has momentum, interest and relevance.  For more information about the fellowship, please read the following blog: https://www.undp.org/pacific/blog/how-we-are-planning-shake-public-finance-pacific.

The successful candidate will directly report to the Vaka Pasifika Manager and will closely cooperate and support the other portfolio team members, consultants, and portfolio stakeholders.

The Vaka Pasifika project team is situated in the Effective Governance Team of the UNDP Pacific Office in Suva.

Provide Technical Leadership and Coordination of the Vaka Pasifika Fellowship

• Coordinate the design, implementation, adaptative management and documentation of results of the Vaka Pasifika Fellowship. Ensure knowledge management and technical quality assurance across designers, facilitators, mentors, technical resources and participants as well as portfolio team and pilot portfolios, supervise the timely implementation of the operational aspect of the fellowship.
• Ensure UNDP processes are followed as well as push the boundaries of co-design and iterative processes. Ensure constant checks of balance of power ensuring that the needs of portfolio partners are put at the centre and given priority. Create as much as possible space for portfolio partners to lead on the evolution of the training content, communication and delivery by ensuring the fellowship features prominently in the fellowship delivery strategy (co-design events, training of trainers, M&E strategy). Adapt content and messaging based on learnings from partners and portfolio, grow repository of case studies on the Pacific notably fellowship activities, as well as global community of practice on innovation, PFM for Sustainable development and other relevant forums.
• Engage with portfolio partners and ensure sustainability of specific products including the case studies, action research, visibility of narratives from participants, tools and knowledge generated. Collaborate with national, regional and international partners for visibility and sustainability of tools and knowledge. Ensure visibility of the activities is a platform for voices from the Pacific.
• Utilize innovation resources, global debates and latest technologies to explore and refine offer to partners

Provide technical advisory and quality assurance.

• Ensure the anchoring of the fellowship activities in the global narratives and debates of public finance for sustainable development, gender, climate and other cross-cutting strategic budget initiatives and PFM.
• Conceptualise and coordinate delivery of technical events as per Fellowship design (technical support to national case studies, framing of regional events) including development of agenda and concept notes, facilitation of panels, trainings and sessions, drafting of reports and knowledge products.
• Deliver on average PFM training to 1group per month, engage fully in the design, implementation, facilitation and country support of the Vaka Pasifika fellowship and connected activities.
• Ensure full integration of latest PFM, Gender and PFM, Public Finance for Sustainable Development knowledge to the portfolio technical advisory support, activities, products and communication across all outcomes.
• Provide of facilitate the procurement of tailored technical advisory services to Fellowship participants on PFM and Public Finance for Sustainable Development: conduct mission, produce tools and guidelines, case studies and knowledge products, coordinate with fellowship team to ensure smooth delivery. Ensure portfolio technical advisories are respectful of portfolio partners and beneficiaries, respect UN principles and have sustainability and MEL plans.

Facilitate knowledge and capacity building, knowledge sharing,

• Ensure that the fellowship is a learning space for the portfolio team, portfolio partners and a wider community of UNDP and partners working on PFM in the Pacific.
• Coordinate the policy and delivery of the political economy analysis with La Trobe.
• Drive the learning and dissemination of knowledge across activities within the portfolio engage fully with the M&E capacity to disseminate and document processes and learnings which should be mainstreamed or integrated in the portfolio.
• Publish or support the publication of regularly blogs, communication products paying attention to the focus on amplifying Pacific voices.
• Drive the partnerships with La Trobe and other national, regional and international partners, expand the reach and network of the project and ensure feature of learning and partners in forums at the global, regional and national level.

Develop Strategic Partnerships

• Cultivate and maintain strong relations with key stakeholders including outsourced service providers, beneficiaries, government, private sector and other development actors.
• Expand the network of the fellowship regularly and ensure due space is given to marginalised and fringe actors;
• Ensure the portfolio networks include stakeholders who can make a significant contribution on gender, climate and cross-cutting issues;
• Support the Portfolio Manager in liaising and reporting to development partners and donors when appropriate.
• The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization

• Achieve Results: LEVEL 3: Set and align challenging, achievable objectives for multiple projects, have lasting impact
• Think Innovatively: LEVEL 3: Proactively mitigate potential risks, develop new ideas to solve complex problems
• Learn Continuously: LEVEL 3: Create and act on opportunities to expand horizons, diversify experiences
• Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 3: Proactively initiate and champion change, manage multiple competing demands
• Act with Determination:  LEVEL 3: Think beyond immediate task/barriers and take action to achieve greater results
• Engage and Partner: LEVEL 3: Political savvy, navigate complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaboration
• Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 3: Appreciate benefits of diverse workforce and champion inclusivity

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies:

Business Management

• Partnership 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 UNDP strategy and policies
• Project Management: Ability to plan, organize, prioritize and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals

Governance

• Core Government Functions
• Institutional Capacity to Implement and Coordinate SDGs

Business Development

• Knowledge Generation: Ability to research and turn information into useful knowledge, relevant for content, or responsive to a stated nee

Business Direction and Strategy

• System Thinking: Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgement to understand how interrelated elements coexist within an overall process or system, and to consider how altering one element can impact on other parts of the system

• Advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in Public Finance Management, Audit, Accounting, Public Sector and Administration, Political Science, Social Science or related 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.

Experience:

• Minimum 5 years (with master’s degree) or 7 years (with bachelor’s degree) experience in public finance management and/or public sector oversight (parliament, Supreme Audit Institution, civil society, related) within government institution, political institution, civil society organisation or as a Technical Advisor.
• Experience delivering technical advisory services in the Public Finance for Sustainable Development sector specifically on oversight and/or to parliaments, SAIs, CSO and/or media.
• Experience working in the international development sector notably in Small Islands States or the Pacific
• Experience in mentorship and learning design.
• Experience drafting technical reports and case studies.
• Demonstrated experience in research work.
• Experience in innovative, participatory, anticipatory or agile public finance obtained through delivery of programmes, events or publication.

Required Language:

• English