South Sudan: Project Management Specialist - IGAD

Capacity building at human resource, organizational and institutional levels remains an urgent priority in South Sudan. It is central to restoring core institutions - both in terms of physical infrastructure and technical ability - and providing basic services to citizens. The Government of the Republic of South Sudan (RSS) has, together with its international partners, developed a Medium Capacity Development Strategy (MTCDS) as an Action Plan for Rapid Capacity Building. The MTCDS is derived directly from the objectives of the South Sudan Development Plan (SSDP) 2011 – 2016, and aims to provide a strategic framework for organizing capacity development efforts in support of these objectives, as well as the peace-building and state-building objectives of the RSS post-independence.

UNDP South Sudan seeks to contribute to this capacity building process by targeting the right functional and technical capacities at national, state and county levels, in order to increase the prospect of stability in South Sudan. Improving the capacity of government is both urgent and important, given the enormous development challenges facing the new state.

To address the urgent capacity gap, an initiative for capacity enhancement has been developed where member states of the IGAD community have committed to support the RSS both with human resources and financial assistance. The initiative supports the RSS to second and place civil servants from IGAD Member States. These men and women will be deployed in strategic functions within national ministries, commissions and state-level local government. They will serve as rapid capacity enhancement support and be “twinned” with South Sudanese civil servants to ensure the direct transfer of skills and on-the-job training.**III: Organizational Context** The IGAD Regional Initiative is a capacity building project aimed at supporting the civil service in South Sudan. It addresses capacity development needs in three ways: (i) Support capacity placement in government agencies through deployment of civil servants; (ii) Strengthen South-South linkages between public sector agencies and think tanks in IGAD countries; and (iii) Strengthen Government capacity to recruit and sustain required technical assistance.

Accordingly, the Initiative recruits and places highly qualified civil servants to work within the RSS. The civil servants, designated as Civil Service Support Officers (CSSOs), are identified and recruited by the RSS with the support of UNDP; and are embedded in positions that serve to provide the impetus for enhanced service delivery. They are deployed in strategic functions within national ministries, commissions and state-level local government as a form of technical assistance to strengthen institutional capacity to deliver services. The beneficiaries are principally key RSS and State ministries and agencies in essential sectors such as finance; local government; health, education and vocational training, aviation, access to justice and rule-of-law; infrastructure, trade and industry, among others.

The CSSOs sign a two-year contract with RSS, and are assigned to government structures as civil servants to coach and mentor their South Sudanese counterparts. They are “twinned” with South Sudanese civil servants to ensure the direct transfer of skills through on-the-job training. The CSSOs provide coaching and mentoring directly to civil servants in host agencies in South Sudan, and support the strengthening of core functions of government partners, leadership and policy making skills. The RSS/IGAD programme has been hailed as a good model for post-conflict capacity development, south-south cooperation and triangular cooperation, and continues to attract interest both locally and internationally.

The first phase of the project deployed 200 CSSOs to 22 national, state and county level institutions. With the completion of the first phase of the Project in March 2015, preparations for the second phase are well advanced after a Human Needs Capacity Assessment in seven out of the 10 states of South Sudan. Following the Assessment, IGAD contributing countries (Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda) have recruited 139 CSSOs to be deployed to national, state and county level institutions, for a two-year period. The second phase is designed to boost implementation and impact through a strengthened Project Management Unit (PMU), and wider horizontal and vertical deployment of CSSOs. As such, the Project seeks to recruit a Project Management Specialist to support the Project’s expanded operation going forward.

1. Programme Development & Resource Mobilisation

• Prepare proposals for mobilization of human, technical or financial resources from international development organizations, non-governmental organizations and the private sector;

• Mobilize resources to support the achievement of project outputs and outcomes; and network and build credible working relations with Government, UN and donor partners;

• Develop budgeting/planning tools including, annual work plans, results frameworks, reporting frameworks, Letters of Agreement, workflow timelines and other related documents;

• Draft project documents, concept notes and other documentation in support of programme development and resource mobilization efforts;

• Lead efforts to conceptualize and design new initiatives as outlined within the IGAD Annual Work Plan, particularly on or related to coordination with government institutions, south-south cooperation, and project visibility.

• Support organization, coordination and provide logistical support to audit, reviews and/or evaluation missions;

• Draft briefing notes, presentations and other documents/reports for the IGAD project team, HDIGU, UNDP, government counterparts, donors or other partners;

• Support the HDIGU and IGAD project in regular progress reporting in line with scheduled reporting deadlines.

• Collate reports from the civil servants and prepare joint reports to UNDP, donors, and government as necessary

1. Monitoring, Evaluation and Analysis

• Develop project output targets and indicators, along with reporting and monitoring frameworks to capture progress against them;

• Support and quality assure surveys and impact assessments of project activities at key milestones of the project cycle;

• Produce solution-oriented recommendations throughout the project cycle to mitigate bottlenecks and other implementation challenges;

• Oversee and coordinate the production of thematic analysis pieces to inform and/or support policy-making, programming or technical advisory services;

• Maintain contact with partners and stakeholders to assess broader political, security and economic dynamics in order to ensure responsiveness of programme strategy, objectives and outputs;

• Undertake comparative analysis across different states in order to document best practices and lessons learned;

• Support activities related to capacity development of government counterparts in supervision, coordination, monitoring and evaluation, and impact assessments.

1. Project Coordination

• Support efforts to liaise with stakeholders, donors, government partners and other relevant project stakeholders;

• Ensure effective organization of all project-related meetings and events, including but not limited to board meetings, planning workshops and conferences;

• Oversee Project outputs’ implementation and reporting including, quality assurance of products from the Communication’s office, support/design, internal and external communication and reporting systems, production of knowledge products and timely submission of corporate UNDP and donor reporting requirements;

• Actively engage and coordinate with other capacity building programmes and projects implemented by UNDP, as well as UN, INGOs and NGOs, to ensure complemenarity, minimize overlaps and/or duplication, and identify synergies.

1. Advocacy, Networking and Marketing

• Create or establish a positive and appreciative atmosphere for team-based work in the project and be an advocate for the work of UNDP;

• Coordinate the implementation of the Project’s Public Communications Strategy including the positioning of the Project through social media, and make necessary changes according to upcoming priorities;

• Disseminate information on best practices and be an active member of the UNDP global and regional networks;

• Prepare brochures, publications, press releases for dissemination of UNDP assistance and experience;

• Prepare professional articles and papers;

• Expand outreach of the UN, national government, local authorities, private sector, non-government and international development organizations.

Interested and qualified South Sudanese national are encouraged to view and apply online at https://undpcareers.partneragencies.org/erecruitjobs.html?JobOpeningId=3223.

Only short listed candidates will be contacted. Personal History Form (P.11) Form can be downloaded at http://www.sas.undp.org/Documents/P11_Personal_history_form.doc

Important information on UNDP employment modalities

The use of UNDP’s name and logo without UNDP consent is inappropriate. UNDP strongly recommends that people who receive solicitations to apply for positions or engage in procurement processes exercise caution to ensure authenticity. UNDP advises the public that:

UNDP does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment or procurement process. All information related to these processes is published on the national or global UNDP websites.**N/B: Interested and qualified female applicants are encouraged to apply**Interested and qualified South Sudanese national are encouraged to view and apply online at https://undpcareers.partneragencies.org/erecruitjobs.html?JobOpeningId=3223.

Only short listed candidates will be contacted. Personal History Form (P.11) Form can be downloaded at http://www.sas.undp.org/Documents/P11_Personal_history_form.doc

Important information on UNDP employment modalities

The use of UNDP’s name and logo without UNDP consent is inappropriate. UNDP strongly recommends that people who receive solicitations to apply for positions or engage in procurement processes exercise caution to ensure authenticity. UNDP advises the public that:

UNDP does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment or procurement process. All information related to these processes is published on the national or global UNDP websites.**N/B: Interested and qualified female applicants are encouraged to apply**