Project Manager NPSA-10, DS- Kyiv (Nationals Only)

 Description

Today Ukraine is facing its most serious challenges since achieving independence in 1991. The ongoing war has already resulted in significant loss of life, unprecedented displacement, internally and towards neighboring countries, and devastating destruction of infrastructure. The UN Ukraine Flash Appeal shows that at least 15.7 million people are in immediate need of emergency assistance and protection. Early projections indicate that if the war should continue in the medium to long term, up to 90% of the Ukrainian population could face poverty and extreme economic vulnerability, and the country’s socio-economic progress could be set-back by almost 20 years. In the short-term, 62% of the population is at high risk of falling into poverty. Ukraine’s economy is set to shrink by 45% this year due to the war and even with a moderate recovery in the next few years, by 2025 the GDP would still only be two-thirds of the pre-war GDP in 2021. 

In addition, the country faces losses of many people’s lives and devastative destruction of infrastructures and economic bases. Currently, more than 50% of the energy infrastructure damaged, causing the massive disruption of energy supply nationwide with millions of people experiencing power outages and challenges in heating. Extensive scale of destruction of infrastructure, rehabilitating or constructing infrastructures and installing equipment with necessary supply of the materials is urgently required to restore or maintain life-line and key basic services, followed by removal or mines and explosives as well as debris. 

The Ukrainians are successfully fighting and effectively defending their European choice. The courage and resolve displayed by millions of Ukrainians have underlined the enduring importance of the values at the heart of the EU’s own mission. On February 28, 2022, the President of Ukraine submitted an application from Ukraine to join the European Union. In this regard, the Government of Ukraine started to prepare the necessary materials and documents for EU candidate status for Ukraine.

Enhancing Crisis Management and Emergency Response capacities at all levels of government authorities of Ukraine Project is provide necessary support to the Government to ensure effectiveness in crisis/emergency coordination and response planning between the central government, the oblasts/rayons and other stakeholders (international community, CSOs, private sector), ensuring delivery of services and building stronger resilience of the receiving/host communities and of the IDPs.

Promotion of human security in Ukraine through responding to the multidimensional crisis caused by the war Project is enhancing human security in Ukraine by responding to the multidimensional crisis caused by the war and addressing high vulnerability due to the ongoing war in the country. Also, this Project is aimed at strengthening government system for crisis management and early recovery that will allow to ensure accountability and transparency of the recovery process in Ukraine.

In this context, UNDP is seeking a professional with relevant experience and a proven track record for the position of Project Manager, who will serve as a technical expert responsible for efficiently managing and overseeing the implementation of UNDP’s programme activities in the described areas.

The incumbent will promote UNDP’s mandate as a gender-responsive organization with zero tolerance to any kind of discriminatory and abusive behaviour, including sexual harassment, sexual exploitation and abuse.

Scope of Work

I. Delivery and stakeholders management to ensure effective implementation and achievement of results:

• Leads the day-to-day project implementation and ensures achievement of targets as outlined in the project work plan;
• Ensures that the quality of project inputs meets the expected standards and are sufficient to produce project outputs and targets;
• Leads stakeholder consultations related to the project, including those related to specific project activities  at local, regional, and national levels to regularly communicate about project activities, and receives technical feedback from stakeholders;
• Develops and monitors all implementation plans including the gender action plan, stakeholder engagement plan, and any environmental and social management plans, thereby ensuring effective monitoring of project performance, the preparation of high quality and results oriented progress reports including measures to address challenges and opportunities, and of annual project reports (PIRs), in line with the standard template and presents it to the project assurance team on a timely manner;
• Ensures gender-related economic, environmental, public research and analysis, to contribute to the formulation of policies, programme interventions, procedures, guidelines and tools.

II. Project Management:

• Executes project activities by managing personnel, goods and services, training and low-value grants, including drafting terms of reference and work specifications, and overseeing all contractors’ work;
• Prepares project’s work plans and organizes project board meetings to obtain their approval;
• Performs Project Manager duties on UNDP’s ERM (Quantum) in line with the NIM manual and as outlined in the delegation of authority for Project Managers;
• Implements project work plan and ensures that the project remains within the tolerance level of the approved work plan, coordinating the sequence of project activities according to technical requirements;
• Prepares and represents UNDP at the project board, raising for any issues that require their attention, including issues related to deviation from the approved work plans and its tolerance (e.g. deviation from the approved target, and/or budget);
• Conducts regular monitoring to ensure achievement of targets in line with the annual work plan and that project implementation at all levels complies with the approved project SoP;
• Ensure that the project indicators included in the project results framework are monitored annually in advance of the project reporting submission deadline;
• Manages and monitors project risks initially identified and identifies and submits new risks to the Project Board for consideration and decision on possible actions if required, updating the status of these risks by maintaining the project risks log;
• Through constant engagement and leadership manages critical issues, troubleshoots problems and develops solutions to the overall processes of project implementation;Captures lessons learned during project implementation;
• Monitors financial resources and accounting to ensure the accuracy and reliability of financial reports;
• Prepares the inception report no later than one month after the inception workshop;
• Prepares revisions to the multi-year workplan, as needed, as well as annual and quarterly plans if required;
• Assures implementation of gender equality accountability framework and Gender equality Results Based management at project level.

III. Knowledge Sharing:

• Participates in trainings and capacity building events;
• Serves as the project Focal Point for communication and linkage between the project and the Government of Ukraine;
• Collaborates with the Government of Ukraine to identify joint technical assistance and training needs to fill gaps or implement innovations, and consider where the Ukraine Project experiences and experts can contribute to global or regional training events;
• Engages on Knowledge Management aspects, such as suggesting relevant topics for reports, contributing case studies, and promoting the projects’ outputs in Ukraine through seminars and outreach;
• Identifies best practices and lessons learnt from the project and from other initiatives that can be helpful to the project in achieving its goals and objectives;
• Organizes and delivers trainings for the operations/project staff on project/programme management issues;
• Conducts internal capacity building training for project staff to facilitate appropriate management and timely delivery of project outputs;
• Leads in generating knowledge products such as best practices and lessons learnt for knowledge sharing; and Contributes to knowledge networks and communities of practice;
• Conducts internal capacity building training for project staff to facilitate appropriate management and timely delivery of project outputs including in gender analysis and gender mainstreaming;
• Effectively contributes to learning and knowledge sharing in gender analysis and gender mainstreaming.

IV. Corporate Tasks:

• Support UNDP in partnership building and resource mobilization initiatives;
• Design and supervise of outreach activities of the project including participating in relevant seminars, workshops, conferences;
• Ensure full coordination with other relevant projects and initiatives of UNDP Ukraine;
• Provide support for completion of assessments required by UNDP, spot checks and audits.

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

4.      Institutional Arrangement

The Project Manager will work under the direct supervision of Programme Specialist, Democratic Governance (Team Leader) in close cooperation with other project staff members.

          Competencies

Core
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. 

People Management

UNDP People Management Competencies can be found in the dedicated site. 

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies
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.

Business Direction and Strategy – Strategic Thinking:
– Ability to develop effective strategies and prioritized plans in line with UNDP’s objectives, based on the systemic analysis of challenges, potential risks and opportunities; linking the vision to reality on the ground, and creating tangible solutions;
– Ability to leverage learning from a variety of sources to anticipate and respond to future trends; to demonstrate foresight in order to model what future developments and possible ways forward look like for UNDP.

Business Development – Knowledge Facilitation – Ability to animate individuals and communities of contributors to participate and share, particularly externally;

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 – Project Management – Ability to plan, organize, prioritize, and control resources, procedures, and protocols to achieve specific goals:
2030 Agenda : Engagement and Effectiveness – Governance – Parliamentary institutions;

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
 

Qualifications

Education requirements:

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in Law, International Relations, Business Administration, Public Administration, Development Studies, Political or Social Sciences, or related field is required, or
• A first-level university degree (Bachelor`s degree) in the areas mentioned above in combination with additional 2 years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of a Master’s degree.

Experience:

• Minimum 5 years (with Master’s degree) or 7 years (with Bachelor´s degree) of relevant progressively responsible experience in project/program development, coordination, policy analysis and/or drafting legal documents preferably in international organizations is required.

Required Skills: 

• Proficiency in use of office software packages (MS Word, Excel etc)

Desired Skills:

• Proven experience in the area of public administration reform and/or development planning will be considered an asset;
• Proven experience of cooperation with governmental institutions at national and sub-national levels and International Financial Institutions (IFIs) will be considered an asset;
• Experience with UNDP project management procedures and experience with Quantum and UNDP project management tool will be considered an asset;

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Fluency in Ukrainian for local staff is required.

Professional Certificates

• Project management certification will be considered an advantage.