Deputy Team Leader CARISECURE

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) - Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean (RBLAC) in collaboration with the UNDP Caribbean network of offices – Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Barbados and the OECS undertook the formulation of a first Caribbean-wide Human Development Report (CHDR) on Citizens’ Security. Using Global UNDP HDR processes, analysis and methodologies, the Caribbean HDR reviewed crime and security in the Caribbean with data analysis and information from a human development perspective. The report defines short and medium term  policy recommendations  based on the social aspects of  security which impact on citizen safety, youth violence, education, unemployment and inequality, inclusive economic growth, migration, and drug use and alcohol abuse.  One of the primary recommendations from the report is the urgent need for the region to shift from traditional concepts of state security to a broader multidimensional concept that focuses on citizen security and safety and wellbeing of Caribbean citizens.  

While the CHDR victimization survey points to high levels of fear of violent crime amongst citizens and the failing of existing policies and approaches, stimulating robust public discourse on the topic presented a challenge. Given the region’s dependency on tourism as its main foreign exchange earner, enlisting the full and unconditional support of regional parliamentarians on the matter of facilitating rigorous public debate is critical. Reliable crime statistics are critical for measuring changes in crime levels, monitoring of national and regional responses, developing and evaluating effectiveness of citizen security policies, supporting the analysis and understanding of national and regional crime trends. Collection and organization of data into a statistical form is required to produce valuable information for use in decision-making and to allow for comparison of crime statistics across time and between countries. Lack of reliable and comparable national, sub-regional and regional statistics makes it difficult to fully comprehend the impact of crime and violence, and to inform the citizen security policies and strategies needed to effectively respond to these challenges.

An assessment of youth, insecurity and juvenile justice systems, conducted by USAID/ESC in the Caribbean point at the lack of standardized data on crime and violence and their drivers. Raw data is available in different forms and at different stages of the criminal justice process due to the diversity of entities that generate security statistics, the absence of clear guidelines, and weak inter-institutional coordination and information sharing.

National consultations and assessments conducted by UNDP in the Eastern and Southern Caribbean point at four interrelated key problems: 1. Deficient evidence-based citizen security policies due to 2. Lack of reliable and comparable national and regional statistics, 3. Weak coordination at national, sub-regional and regional levels, and, 4. Weak institutional and CSO capacities. 4) The importance of up-to-date data inform prevention programme design, monitoring and evaluation. 

The data gaps resulting from these challenges are further aggravated by different definitions of security concepts, non-standardized indicators and inconsistent use of information; dispersion of information and a multiplicity of information sources; sporadic initiatives in the area of information management; lack of unified technical criteria and permanent technical capacities within the national and regional institutions; absence or lack of understanding of a preventive focus in information management; low citizen participation in discussions on citizen security; and absence of mechanisms and capacities to mainstream gender into the analysis and management of citizen security related information and public policies.

Based on this, UNDP seeks to work with countries in the Eastern and Southern Caribbean (Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago to improve institutional capacity for evidenced based decision making on youth crime and violence policy making and programming.  The focus of this project will be in improving data collection, analysis and use of data for decision making on youth crime policy making and programming.  The project intents to achieve two components: 1) improving the quality, comparability and reliability of data and information and youth crime and violence; 2) and regional collaboration and networking on youth crime and violence strengthened. These components will be achieved by improving regional and national institutional capacity to collect, monitor, and analyse citizen security and apply it to decision-making and policy formulation at both levels.

The Deputy Team Leader will be primarily responsible for ensuring that the project produces the results specified in the project document to the required standard of quality and within the specified constraints of time and cost. This task will be conducted under the supervision of the Project Team Leader, UNDP Barbados and the OECS and other UNDP Country Officers in, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname. The incumbent will work with UN agencies, governments, inter-governmental organizations, NGOs, donors, and the private sector in accordance with the objective and outcomes of the Citizen Security Project Document.
Under the direct supervision of the Project Team Leader and in close collaboration with Project Staff, the incumbent will be responsible for the day to day operations of the project.  His/her duties role will be to ensure the project is administered timely and effectively in accordance with UNDP rules and regulations, facilitating knowledge management and engagement with UN agencies, national and regional counterparts and the project donor(USAID).
In the absence of the Team Leader, the Deputy Team Leader will assume full responsibility for the project.

Summary of Key Functions:
• Operations/Administrative management
• Provision of financial resource management
• Knowledge Building and Management
• Monitoring and Evaluation

Operations/Administrative Management (40%)
 

Ensures efficient and effective management of the project operations will focus on the achievement of the following:

Supports coordination for technical and strategic direction of the regional project and provides monitoring support to the Project Team Leader;
 

Assists the Project Team Leader in overseeing the work of project staff and ensuring quality and timeliness of delivery;
 

Provides inputs into the formulation of annual work plans and detailed implementation plans;

Preparation of the annual procurement plan and coordination of the procurement process in collaboration with the Regional Procurement Analyst;
 

Assists the Team Leader in completing procurement actions for consultants, goods and services being procured under the project;

Assists the Team Leader in the preparation of Terms of Reference for project staff and working closely with the Human Resources Unit;
 

Assist in revision of AWPs, periodic revisions of the project budget, procurement/HR plans ensuring that plans are updated in a timely manner;

Oversee administration, procurement and logistics tasks related to the hosting of national and regional workshops, training programme and study tours;

Oversees the planning of project board meetings and support the follow-up on the implementation of project board decisions and actions agreed;

Working closely with the Project Team to ensure full compliance with UNDP rules, regulations and policies, implementation of corporate operational strategies, establishment of management targets and monitoring of achievement of results

Supports National Officers and Country Offices in managing the delivery of their project activities;
 

Monitor and follow-up with sub-grantees on the implementation of agreed activities;

Provide advice on management, leadership and application of UNDP rules and regulations to project staff as appropriate;

Provide advice and direction on strategic policy issues and ensure youth and gender is mainstream are integrated in the project activities;

Trains counterparts on information management and evidence based policy, supports and reports on regional and national trainings, conducts conferences and advises the Project Team Leader on coordination and administration.

Assists in the management and monitoring of  project risks initially identified, submit new risks to the PB for consideration and decision on possible actions if required; update the status of these risk
 

Facilitate and find solutions on specific issues raised Project Boards and project team meeting impacting implementation (i.e. logistics, procurement, political, bottlenecks in implementation, project management compliance, etc; and

Assist the Project Team Leader quarterly project work plans and reports, including project progress reports, and plan and implement technical reviews and project review meetings and be responsible for the production of those reports, based on inputs from stakeholders.

Provision of financial resources management (15%)

Formulation of the annual project budgets and expenditure projections; Monitoring of financial delivery against work plans and prepare relevant budget revisions as required for revisions by the Programme Finance Associate;

Ensure that the financial management of the project are in conformity with the UNDP regulations

Oversee the financial reporting of the project, ensuring that reports are prepared and submitted in a timely manner;
 

Approval of e-requisitions in ATLAS to initiate procurement processes, ensuring the accuracy of the COA of the requisition and follow-up with Programme/Project Associate for any revisions required;

Undertake closing out activities for the project which include final financial, procurement and technical reports, and the handing over of documents;
 

Ensure that all documents are uploaded to the various platforms and in compliance with UNDP rules and regulations;

Oversee the CariSECURE project’s preparation for UNDP or USAID financial and management audits;
 

Follow-up on audit recommendations, in a timely manner.

Knowledge Management (10%)

Support capacity and knowledge building of national counterparts through mentorship and coaching, knowledge sharing workshops, publications and organization of study tours;
 

Create a culture of knowledge sharing and learning in the project;

Identify and assist in recruitment of relevant expertise needed for delivery of project objectives;
 

Promotes the substantive quality of all knowledge products, reports and services, and ensures effective integration and compatibility with other practice areas;

Contributes to the production reports and publications, and serve as peer reviewer

Monitoring and Evaluation (35%)

Ensures that the project meets the UNDP corporate requirements for M&E, including the conduct of mandatory project evaluations

Oversee all aspects of the performance measurement support for the project. Ensure that all project staff has a clear understanding of the results framework

Develop and update the Performance Monitoring Plan (PMP) and performance indicators
 

Coordinate and support Results Based Management (RBM) and M&E based Programme and project formulation including annual work planning and reporting exercises in line with UNDP and USAid requirements

Maintain, coordinate and ensure compliance of the project setup in ATLAS and other corporate systems (such as Integrated Workplan, Quarterly Programme Reviews, Result-Oriented Annual Reporting, Programme Dashboards) and provide accurate and timely input information into these systems as required

Establish and manage internal systems for effective and efficient Programme and project monitoring and reporting

Manage and monitor ATLAS project management module and related tools
 

Produce quarterly and annual M&E reports on the project activities and disseminate to key stakeholders, including but not limited UNDP, USAid, national ministries and regional institutions or as guided by the Project Team Leader

Collect, synthesize, and interpret M&E data for USAid reporting requirements

Prepare regular progress reports on activities undertaken, results achieved against targets and plan for follow up actions; collaborate with Project Team Leader and project staff on production of regular narrative reports to the project’s donor

Undertake filed visits and collect M&E data as needed and defined in the M&E plan

Directly responsible and accountable for the implementation of evaluation policies and strategies as well as producing the project monitoring and evaluation reports on a regular basis

Manage and coordinate the implementation of evaluations policies and strategies
 

Develop the capacity of the implementing and responsible parties to monitor project baselines and indicators as specified in the project document

Impact of Results

National and regional capacities strengthened to generate reliable and comparable data and statistics to inform policy making and programming.

National and regional institutions have the technical capacity to design, implement and monitor evidence based youth crime and violence prevention policy and programmes.

The results of the work has an impact on UNDP´s reputation as the incumbent represents the project nationally and internationally, liaises with external partners and wide range of counterparts
 

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards, as well as tact and diplomacy.
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP.
Knowledge Management and Learning:
• Promotes a knowledge sharing and learning amongst colleagues and clients.
• Promotes knowledge management in UNDP and a learning environment in the office through leadership and personal example.
• Seeks and applies knowledge, information and best practices from within and outside of UNDP.
Leadership and Management:
• Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and deliver reports.
• Works towards client satisfaction.
• Strong ability to manage teams by fostering an engaging environment, and by mentoring and developing staff.
• Proven track record of delivering results under tight deadlines.
• Client-oriented way of managing
• Ability to function at both an advisory and project implementation level.
• Ability to work independently, manage competing priorities and perform well under pressure.
• Excellent inter-personal skills to effectively liaise with key stakeholders
• Demonstrated negotiation skills
• Strong oral and written communication skills with a proficiency in English

Education:

Master’s degree with formal training in project management M&E or finance

Experience:

A minimum of seven (7) years of relevant experience in Project or Programme management, M&E and/or finance

Experience working in the Caribbean region; previous work in any of the beneficiary countries is highly desirable;

Demonstrable experience of liaising with donors, such as USAID, DFID, European Commission, and/or other major bilateral/multilateral donors, trusts and foundations;

Experience of supervising multiple staff and project offices would be a distinct asset;

Experience in working with governments, donors, non-governmental organizations and international development organizations and previous work experience in a UN agency/within the UN Common System and particularly UNDP would be a distinct asset.