Programme Manager

Islamabad

Organization: UNDP - United Nations Development Programme
Location: Islamabad
Grade: Mid level - P-4, International Professional - Internationally recruited position
Occupational Groups:
- Crisis Prevention and Recovery
- Project and Programme Management
- Managerial positions
- YOUTH ENGAGEMENT
Closing Date: Closed

Background

Leveraging the current ‘youth bulge’ in Pakistan, where 27% of the population is considered part of the youth segment 15-29, is certainly one of the more formidable and complex challenges facing the country right now. Understanding the needs, the challenges, the opportunities, and the aspirations of Pakistani youth and finding channels to catalyse youth capacities and potential is essential if Pakistan is to succeed in its efforts to promote a sustainable, inclusive development process and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. In line with the youth centric development initiated by the Government of Pakistan in recent years (the provincial youth policies, the Prime Minister Kamyab Jawan Youth Programme, and the general inclusion of youth in the political process) all point to the active role of young people in the future development trajectory of Pakistan.

As part of our engagements in more 170 countries, UNDP partners with young people, youth organizations and actors from civil society and private sector to governments, and members of the UN family to promote youth-focused and youth-led development. With the 2030 Agenda as a guiding thread, we work to advance young people’s participation in civic and political life, their economic empowerment and their role as resilience-builders.

In Pakistan, UNDP has been at the forefront of promoting youth-focused development programming. As part of the UNDP National Human Development Report, UNDP led Nation-wide consultations with youth and key stakeholders to determine the challenges youth are facing in the areas of engagement, civic participation, education and employment and consequently designed a set of policy recommendations to address these challenges. As a result of this extensive consultation and analysis, we have devised the Youth Empowerment Programme, Kamyab Jawan (successful youth) a framework programme which seeks to support the Government of Pakistan with the implementation of the key recommendations of the Human Development Report.

The Youth Empowerment Programme under the Crisis Prevention and Recovery promotes civic and social engagement of youth for effective and inclusive policy-making and implementation, supports specific target groups of youth in public and religious educational institutions to acquire critical analysis and life skills necessary to succeed in the society, and economic empowerment of youth through employment and entrepreneurship. Excluded youth and particularly excluded young women are the principal target group for this programme.

In this respect, CPRU is seeking to hire a Programme Manager to lead the design, management and implementation of the Youth Empowerment Programme, including direct management of the project team and partners. The Programme Manager will be supervised by the Assistant Resident Representative, Crisis Prevention and Recovery Unit, while working under the overall guidance of UNDP Deputy Resident Representative.

The incumbent will promote youth empowerment at the federal and provincial levels by advising the government and fostering new partnerships with government bodies, civil society organizations, private sector companies/ associations, manage existing partnerships to scale up activities, mobilize additional resources, encourage public private partnerships, manage knowledge products, manage team members and project funds where relevant and will contribute to the youth empowerment portfolio of UNDP. The incumbent will be required to be comfortable with testing, applying and adapting innovative approaches for scale and greater impact.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Key Functions:

Provide substantive and strategic leadership
Ensure project management and achieve delivery targets
Strategic partnerships and resource mobilization
Ensure learning and enhance communication and visibility of the project

Substantive and strategic leadership of UNDP’s Youth Empowerment Programme:

Proactive lead and coordinate UNDP’s work with federal and provincial government and non-government entities working on youth empowerment – engagement, education/skills and employment
Develop a strategic framework for the project in line with government priorities
Lead, plan, initiate, facilitate and manage project activities and measure performance and report on programme results and outcomes to the Programme;
Ensure that elements of gender equality and “leave no one behind’ are integrated across all streams of work
Advise and guide the project team based on programming best practices on economic empowerment, private sector engagement, social cohesion & youth led-policy making.
Policy advisory support to the UNDP management and government on youth empowerment issues, and development of policies, strategies and projects for youth empowerment
Ensure timely preparation and quality control of all substantive technical outputs, briefs and documents;

Effective management, delivery and oversight of the project outputs and activities:

Develop Annual Work Plans and Budgets in line with UNDP’s Programme and Operations Policies and Procedures and other applicable frameworks
Ensure effective and timely delivery of project activities, budget, outputs, results and impacts
Implement and improve effective internal control and monitoring systems to reduce risks and wrongdoing
Ensure efficient and effective management of the project team, staff and consultants
Manage the recruitment of team and local consultants, short-term international and local experts
Manage process for the selection of suppliers, contractors and partners. Supervise procurement of goods and services including quality assurance of specifications, Terms of Reference (TORs) and Request for Proposals (RFPs) according to approved UNDP procedures.
Organize project steering committee, donor coordination and project review meetings
Prepare background documents, briefs, issues papers, and progress reports for the project steering committee meetings and donors. Follow-up on the implementation of decisions and recommendations;

Strategic partnerships and resource mobilization:

Develop strong, value-based partnerships with UN agencies, donors, government and other stakeholders including implementing partners and responsible parties
Develop strong partnership with government counterparts to ensure result-oriented programming and timely and smooth implementation of Annual Work Plan;
Mobilize government and donor resources for the continuity and scaling up of project results;
Strengthen UNDP relations with government counterparts, authorities and key stakeholders including UN and national/international organizations.

Ensure learning and enhance communication and visibility of the project:

Ensure communication and sharing of knowledge with development partners and within the organization
Establish a learning culture within the project using monitoring and evaluation tools, new technologies and through various activities
Ensure production of high quality project reports, documents and lessons learnt
Develop knowledge products to showcase best practices related to the project

Competencies

Core Competencies:

Innovation

Ability to make new and useful ideas work

Level 5: Creates new and relevant ideas and leads others to implement them

Leadership

Ability to persuade others to follow

Level 5: Plans and acts transparently, actively works to remove barriers

People Management

Ability to improve performance and satisfaction

Level 5: Models high professional standards and motivates excellence in others

Communication

Ability to listen, adapt, persuade and transform

Level 5: Gains trust of peers, partners, clients by presenting complex concepts in practical terms to others

Delivery

Ability to get things done while exercising good judgement

Level 5: Critically assesses value and relevance of existing policy / practice and contributes to enhanced delivery of products, services, and innovative solutions

Technical/Functionalcompetencies

Partnership management

Level 5: Originate: Catalyzes new ideas, methods, and applications to pave a path for innovation and continuous improvement in professional area of expertise

Knowledge Management and Learning

Level 5: Originate: Catalyzes new ideas, methods, and applications to pave a path for innovation and continuous improvement in professional area of expertise

Youth empowerment programming

Level 5:Originate: Catalyzes new ideas, methods, and applications to pave a path for innovation and continuous improvement in professional area of expertise

Community resilience programming

Level 5: Originate: Catalyzes new ideas, methods, and applications to pave a path for innovation and continuous improvement in professional area of expertise

Demonstrates a commitment to gender equality

Level 5: Originate: Catalyzes new ideas, methods, and applications to pave a path for innovation and continuous improvement in professional area of expertise

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s Degree or equivalent in International Development, International Relations, Politics, Sociology, Psychology, Anthropology or related field

Experience:

At least 7 years of relevant experience in project management. Experience of managing large, complex projects in conflict affected regions desirable.
At least 2 years of relevant experience of youth programming
Ability to lead and manage large, diverse teams
Previous experience in Pakistan or South Asia will be an asset
Excellent IT skills (MS Office, use of databases and ERP software).
Previous experience working in the UN System would be an asset.

Language Requirements:

Proficiency in English. Working knowledge of other UN language desirable

Other:Women candidates are encouraged to apply.

Disclaimer

UNDP provides the Equal Opportunity for all equally qualified male & female including the physically challenged candidates, female candidates are particularly encouraged to apply (local and internal VA)

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) does not charge fee at any stage of the recruitment process including application, interviews, selection or induction etc. Moreover, UNDP does not concern itself with any information on the applicants bank accounts

"UNDP has zero tolerance towards Sexual Harassment (SH) and Sexual Exploitation & Abuse (SEA)”.

This vacancy is now closed.
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