Chief Technical Advisor (Stabilization and Recovery Programme) - Beirut

Duration of Initial Contract :Expected Duration of Assignment :

More than one million Syrians and Palestinians have crossed the border with Lebanon over the past three years, fleeing from the suffering brought to them by the war. They live within Lebanese communities across the country, but are concentrated in deprived areas of the North and the Bekaa Valley. Refugees now constitute over a quarter of the pre-crisis population, making Lebanon the country with the highest per-capita concentration of refugees worldwide. The burden on host communities is enormous, and is felt in Lebanon more than in any other coun­try. Impact assessments, such as the one conducted jointly by the UN and the World Bank, point to in­creased strain on basic services, such as education, health, water and sanitation, and waste collection, as well as growing competition for jobs and sources of income. Tensions and frustration are increasing among host com­munities, who feel neglected in the face of interna­tional support perceived to be exclusively earmarked for refugees.

 In collaboration with the Lebanese authorities, UN Agencies, NGOs and international donors, UNDP is implementing a comprehensive Stabilization and Recovery Programme (SRP) to support Lebanese communities hosting Syrians and Palestinian refu­gees from Syria. The objective is to boost the resilience of these communities by strengthening local service infra­structure; creating opportunities for rapid employ­ment and income generation; and supporting exist­ing mechanisms for peaceful coexistence. UNDP also work with key national institutions to strengthen their capacity to manage the crisis with the aim of promoting long-term stability. Under the guidance of the Deputy Country Director and in close collaboration with the Country Director, the Senior Advisor acts as a senior advisor to CO Management on all aspects of the UNDP response to the Syrian crisis in Lebanon, within the framework of the SRP and in alignment with the National Stabilization Roadmap. The Senior Advisor leads UNDP’s involvement in the preparation and coordination of the UN Stabilization Strategy and subsequent programmes. S/he also leads the development of and manages the overall UNDP SRP portfolio. The Senior Advisor heads and supervises the SRP team and works in close collaboration with Government officials, other UN Agencies, UNDP HQ, technical advisors and experts, multi-lateral and bi-lateral donors and civil society to strategically position UNDP in the early recovery and to implement UNDP’s programme. Functions / Key Results Expected:Strategic development of UNDP’s response to the stabilization and recovery needs; Leads UNDP’s involvement in and substantively contributes to joint needs assessments and development of UN Recovery Strategy/Transitional Result Matrix; Development and management of the UNDP’s SRP and supervision of the SRP team; Leads the development of strategic partnerships and resource mobilization for recovery; Provision of strategic policy advisory services to the Government and facilitation of knowledge and capacity building on recovery issues;Ensure that the Country Office responds in a conflict sensitive manner to the transition challenges and contribute to peace building. As a senior member of the CO management team, ensures sound strategic direction of UNDP SRP focusing on the following:
Thorough analysis of the political, social and economic situation in the immediate response context and provision of strategic advice to CO Management; Identification of strategic opportunities and potential recovery programme areas of cooperation, including opportunities for joint programming with UN agencies and other development partners (IFIs, INGOs etc.); Leads the development of UNDP’s SRP in collaboration with the main partners and other UN Agencies; Ensures alignment and coordination of recovery programme with other programme activities of the CO as well as those of UN Agencies and capitalizes on synergies where possible; Ensures mainstreaming of cross-cutting UN/UNDP priorities in recovery programmes, in particular environment, gender, human rights and disaster risk reduction; Ensures that conflict prevention and peace building is mainstreamed into the UNDP Country Programme, Stabilization and Recovery Strategy, Transitional Matrix and/or other relevant programming frameworks; Leads the development of relevant strategies to ensure the effective programmatic and operational interface and complementarities between humanitarian, transitional and recovery interventions of the UN system, and where necessary, the development or exit and hand-over strategies.
Ensures effective management of the SRP portfolio and supervision of the Recovery Programme team focusing on quality control programming from formulation to implementation achieving the following results:

Effective application of RBM tools, establishment of management targets (BSC) and monitoring achievement of results; Design and formulation of SRP, translating UNDP priorities into local interventions. Coordination of programme implementation with the executing agencies; Strategic oversight of planning, budgeting, implementing and monitoring of the SRP, tracking use of financial resources in accordance with UNDP rules and regulations. Performs the function of Manager Level 1 (or 2 – depending on needs) in Atlas for project transactions approval; Effective monitoring and evaluation, continuous analysis of the programme environment and timely readjustment of programmes; Follow up on audit recommendations. All exceptions are timely reported; Aggregate reports are regularly prepared on activities, outputs and outcomes. Donor reports are prepared and submitted within deadlines; Organization of cost-recovery system for the services provided by the CO to projects in close collaboration with Operations Manager. Establishes and maintains strategic partnerships and resource mobilization for the SRP focusing on achievement of the following results:

Development and implementation of partnerships and resources mobilization strategies to achieve recovery programme outcomes; Creation and coordination of partnerships with the UN Agencies, IFI’s, government institutions, bi-lateral and multi-lateral donors, private sector, civil society etc.; Determination of programmatic areas of cooperation based on strategic goals of UNDP, the country’s recovery needs and donors’ priorities; AnalysiS and research of information on donors, preparation of substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation, identification of opportunities for cost-sharing. Ensures provision of top quality and strategic advisory services, capacity building and facilitation of knowledge sharing focusing on achievement of the following results:

Advocacy for and strengthening of national capacity for planning and coordination of the recovery effort; Provision of top quality policy and strategic advice to Government on development and implementation of recovery policies and strategies; Identification, sharing and application of international best practices and lessons on recovery related issues relevant to the country’s recovery needs and goals; Sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice; Capacity building for country office staff (programme and operations).Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards; Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP; Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability. Functional Competencies:

Knowledge Management and Learning; Promotes knowledge management in UNDP and a learning environment in the office through leadership and personal example; Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more Practice Areas;Acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skill;Good  communication skills;Sound judgment, analytical skills, flexibility, proactive engagement, innovation, risk management,; andGender and culturally sensitive,;Ability to work under pressure and demonstrates high tolerance for change, complexity and unpredictability.Development and Operational Effectiveness:

Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting; Ability to lead formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development programmes and projects, mobilize resources; Ability to formulate and manage budgets, manage contributions and investments, manage transactions, conduct financial analysis, reporting and cost-recovery; Good knowledge of the Results Management Guide and Toolkit; Good ICT skills, knowledge of Atlas; Ability to implement new systems and affect staff behavioral/ attitudinal change. Management and Leadership:

Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback; Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude; Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills; Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities.
Education:

Master’s Degree or equivalent in Business Administration, Public Administration, Economics, Political Sciences, Social Sciences or related field.Experience:

A minimum of ten (10) years field experience, a significant part of which would be from countries in special development situations;Extensive experience at the national or international level in providing management advisory services, hands-on experience in design, monitoring and evaluation of development, recovery and conflict prevention/peace building strategies programmes and projects and establishing inter-relationships among international organizations and national governments;Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages, experience in handling of web based management systems (Atlas);Knowledge and experience from disaster response operations, including missions in support of recovery planning in at least two different UNDP regions is desirable;Experience with conflict prevention, peace building, reintegration and conflict sensitive development. Language Requirements:

Fluency English;French and Arabic would be an asset.UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

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