Project Officer – Strategic Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation

With projects and programmes in every state and union territory in India, UNDP works with national and subnational government, and diverse development actors to deliver people-centric results, particularly for the most vulnerable and marginalized communities. As the integrator for collective action on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within the UN system, we are committed to supporting the Government of India’s national development vision and priorities and accelerating the achievement of the SDGs for the people and the planet.

UNDP India’s new Country Programme (2023-2027) builds on our prior work and aims to provide an integrated approach to development solutions in three strategic portfolios:

• Strong, accountable and evidence-led institutions for accelerated achievement of the SDGs.
• Enhanced economic opportunities and social protection to reduce inequality, with a focus on the marginalized.
• Climate-smart solutions, sustainable ecosystems and resilient development for reduced vulnerability.

South-South cooperation, gender equality and social inclusion are promoted across the pillars. The programme is supported by a framework of renewed partnerships and blended finance solutions, strategic innovation and accelerator labs, and data and digital architecture.

You are invited to join a team of future-smart development professionals to support India in achieving the national and globally agreed goals. As part of the UNDP team, your focus will be to work with diverse stakeholders to find country-specific solutions that lead to sustainable development and reach those furthest behind first.

The Pradhan Mantri Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) Development Mission is one of the important programs introduced in the Union Budget 2023-24 to improve the socio-economic status of the PVTGs. The mission seeks to address the development gaps in areas such as health, education, livelihoods, and basic infrastructure for PVTGs, and promote their overall welfare. The government has earmarked a budget of Rs. 15,000 crores to be sourced from DAPST, which will be implemented over a period of three years. Nine Union Ministries to be involved of which Ministry of Tribal Affairs is the Nodal Ministry for implementing this mission. Under this mission, a multi- sectoral approach is adopted to ensure the holistic development of PVTGs, through providing safe housing, clean drinking water and sanitation, improved access to education, health and nutrition, road and telecom connectivity, and sustainable livelihood opportunities. The initiative aims to empower these communities and enable them to become self-reliant.

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MOTA) aims to develop the PVTG Development Mission to provide basic infrastructure facilities for PVTG communities and households. The mission will work to establish convergence for integrated and inclusive development in the identified areas of socioeconomic development. To effectively support MoTA in achieving the project outcomes and considering the specific project management requirements at the Ministry level, UNDP is assisting in setting up of a Monitoring and Support Unit to be established within the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. The Support Cell will have a technical team of specialists to provide overall assistance and desired support for Strategic Planning, implementation and monitoring the PVTG Development Mission, coordination and convergence with other Central Ministries, State Tribal Welfare Departments, and linkages with other external stakeholders as well as community members.

UNDP adopts a portfolio approach to accommodate changing business needs and leverage linkages across interventions to achieve its strategic goals. Therefore, UNDP personnel are expected to work across units, functions, teams, and projects in multidisciplinary teams in order to enhance and enable horizontal collaboration.

This Position reports directly to Programme Lead, Tribal Development, NPSA 9 and overall reports to Chief Advisor, SDG acceleration, NOD, UNDP.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Develop strategic plan for the PVTG Development Mission and its implementation, including the identification of key performance indicators, targets, and milestones.
• Design criteria and indicators for baseline, framework for impact assessment, strategic planning with Central Ministries and states to monitor allocation of funds as per the designed criteria, budget analysis, as well as provide inputs for convergence with state specific schemes.
• Develop and implement monitoring and evaluation plans, including data collection, analysis, and reporting, etc.
• Support the development of a knowledge management system, including the establishment of a database to track mission performance, lessons learned, and best practices.
• Undertake Gap analysis and inputs in implementation. Provide regular reports based on data analytics on the progress and gaps.
• Ensure that project contributes to the promotion of gender equality by reaching, involving and benefiting both women and men in its activities (gender mainstreaming)
• The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

Core competencies:

• 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

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.
• 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 Management           

• Evaluation: Ability to make an independent judgement based on set criteria and benchmarks. Ability to anticipate client’s upcoming needs and concerns           
• 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.                
• 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      

Digital & Innovation   

• Data analysis: Ability to extract, analyze and visualize data (including Real-Time Data) to form meaningful insights and aid effective decision making.