Job Opportunity : Economist and Livelihood Expert PPRD NORTH WEST

Job Description

Agency : UNDP

Title : Economist & Livelihood Expert PPRD NORTH WEST - BAMENDA

Job ID : 31371

Practice Area - Job Family : Management - SOCIOECONOMICS, AGRO-ECONOMICS OR RURAL DEVELOPMENT; OR RELATED DISCIPLINES

Vacancy End Date (Midnight New York, USA) : 09/07/2020

Duty Station : Bamenda, Cameroon

Education & Work Experience : I-Master's Level Degree - 5 year(s) experience

Languages Required: Desired: English French

Grade : SB4

Vacancy Type : Service Contract (SC)

Posting Type : External

Bureau : Africa

Contract Duration : ONE YEAR

Background

The crisis that affected the North West and South West regions of Cameroon has damaged public infrastructures, broken social cohesion and slowed down economic development. With the aim to resolve the crisis, the President of the Republic called for a Major National Dialogue, that brought together more than 600 participants from all 10 regions of the country. Third quarter of participants to the Dialogue came from the NWSW regions. The Head of State instructed the Prime Minister, Head of the Government to preside over the Major National Dialogue. Among other recommendations, the Major National Dialogue recommended the reconstruction of North West and South West regions.

The Government of Cameroon and UNDP collaborated to the formulation of the Presidential Plan for Reconstruction and Development (PPRD) of the North West and South West regions. The PPRD is a component of the National Development Plan 2020-2030 (post DSCE), aiming at reducing the effects of the socio-political and security crisis for the affected communities in the NW/SW regions. The PPRD feeds into the government efforts to resolve the current crisis. This initiative is complementary to other key reforms such as the establishment of a Special Status for the NW/SW regions.

Confronted with complex development challenges, the Government intends to emphasize on governance, economic recovery and crisis prevention in order to consolidate the peace process. Through the PPRD, the government aims at reinforcing the resilience and development of the populations in the affected regions of North West and South West. The Government envisages to restore social cohesion, provide livelihood opportunities and increase access to basic services for communities in the NW/SW regions. Finally, through the PPRD, the Government ambitions to bring about short and medium terms transformational changes.

The United Nations Development Programme is the implementing partner and fund manager of the PPRD. The program will be implemented through a dedicated accelerated execution modality over a period of 2 years. UNDP will build on its extensive experience to implement similar Recovery and Reconstruction large programs. The PPRD will consolidate peace in the NW/SW regions, by building capacity at national and local levels to address the underlying structural causes of vulnerability, marginalization and insecurity. To this end, the PPRD is articulated around 3 key pillars: social cohesion, rehabilitation of infrastructures for basic services and local economic revitalization.

Under the overall guidance of the RR and the direct supervision of the DRR and PPRDPM, in close collaboration with the Regional Coordinator and the Field Coordinator, the Economist and livelihood expert will contribute to the design of activities related to the revitalization of the local economy of the PPRD programme.

Duties and Responsibilities

He or she will be responsible for ensuring the following tasks:

Assist the project manager in the implementation of the revitalization of local economy and Livelihood component and propose the appropriate tools and approaches which he will develop;
Provide technical expertise in the preparation of local action Plans, particularly on the revitalization of local economy and Livelihood dimension;
ensure the creation of revitalization of local economy and Livelihood technical committees, for which he/she will propose content and terms of reference as well as a work plan;
Coordinate with NGO partners, UN, local government and recipients to plan, organize and implement the revitalization of local economy and livelihood component;
Carry out field visits and create contacts with the beneficiaries, the technical services of the State, the decentralized or deconcentrated local authorities and other stakeholders;
Participate in the preparation of various documents that contribute to the visibility of the programme;
Build strong relationships with relevant stakeholders, including economic development agencies; private sector to enhance inclusion in their labor force and supply chains; financial service providers to enhance financial inclusion; and private sector service providers to include PPRD persons of concern in supporting services (business development, microfinance, training, saving accounts, poverty alleviation and social protection, etc.);
Build databases to support the regular information sharing and coordination among different humanitarian, developmental and governmental stakeholders. This includes supporting the implementation of socioeconomic and wealth ranking surveys to inform targeting, monitoring and facilitation the engagement of development programme;
Conduct necessary assessments in collaboration with relevant private and public stakeholders. This includes impact assessments on local economies and surveys that help to inform interventions and identify investment and funding opportunities that enhance the local economy;
take an active part in the frameworks of inter-agency consultation and coordination, inter-NGO project and its partners;
Contribute to the preparation of various communication initiatives, including a monthly progress report, input to UNDP County Office newsletter and input to the UNDP cooperate website;
carry out any other task entrusted to it by the project manager or the UNDP Resident Representative within the framework of the results of the PPRD Programme.

Competencies

Core

Innovation

Ability to make new and useful ideas work

Scales up innovation for greater impact;

Expands understanding of the subject by clients an inspires action

Facilitates learning by failure and measured risk taking through pilots

Leadership

Ability to persuade others to follow

Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;

Excellent analytical and organizational skills required;

Ability to plan own work, manage conflicting priorities, report on work progress and delivery outputs in a punctual manner;

Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;

Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;

Sets clear performance goals and standards; executes responsibilities accordingly.

People Management

Ability to improve performance and satisfaction

Identifies and nurtures collaborations between diverse professions

Creates environment of excellence, collaboration and engagement

Takes appropriate and timely people management decisions

Resolves complex conflicts, makes difficult people management choices

Takes an active interest in coaching others

Communication

Ability to listen, adapt, persuade and transform

Effectively represents division /team / program / project in formal settings

Communicates new ideas and approaches for the division / team / program / project in a convincing manner

Articulates a compelling summary of UNDP’s value added in dynamic operating contexts / partnership dialogues

Combines the capacity to identify opportunities, establish frameworks for interaction and maintain and grow relationships

Delivery

Ability to get things done

Creates new and better services

Creates an environment that fosters excitement for work

Uses substantive mastery to model excellence and motivate performance

Role models sound judgement and solution-orientation in delivering results in complex conditions

Responds to demands and pressure with a command of situational leadership and judgement

Technical/Functional

Demonstrating and applying professional and/or technical expertise/knowledge of the post or discipline.

Applies knowledge to support the unit/branch’s objectives and to further the mandate of the UNDP

Keeps abreast of new developments in area of professional discipline and job knowledge and seeks to develop him/herself personally

Demonstrates expert knowledge of the current program guidelines and project management tools and manages the use of these regularly in work assignments

Results-based Management

Effectively managing core and non-core resources to achieve organizational results.

Identifies country needs and strategies using a fact-based approach

Sets performance standards, monitors progress and intervenes at an early stage to ensure results are in accordance with agreed-upon quality and timeframes and reports on it

Partnership Management

Ability to engage with partners and forge productive working relationships

Demonstrates excellent inter-personal skills;

Possesses the ability to motivate staff and mobilize colleagues and partners in the best interest of achieving results.

Representation and advocacy

Ability to productively share UNDP knowledge and activities (at UN and other venues)

Advocates for the inclusion of UNDP’s focus areas in the public policy agenda

Brings visibility and sensitizes decision makers to relevant emerging issues

Builds consensus concerning UNDP’s strategic agenda with partners on joint initiatives

Leverages UNDP’s multidisciplinary expertise to influence the shape of policies and programs

Demonstrates political/cultural acumen in proposing technically sound, factbased approaches/solutions

Dialogues with national counterparts and other stakeholders to strengthen advocacy efforts, incorporating country, regional and global perspectives

Demonstrates cultural sensitivity, political savvy and intellectual capacity in handling disagreements with UNDP’s policy agenda in order to promote and position UNDP in complex environments

Stress Management

Maintaining a professional profile while under stress

Able to work under pressure and coordinate multiple activities and processes simultaneously;

Maintains a respectful and responsible work style;

Manages emotions.

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

Treats all people fairly without favoritism

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 openness to change and ability to manage complexities

Ability to lead effectively, mentoring as well as conflict resolution skills

Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills

Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure

Proven networking, teambuilding, organizational and communication skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

At least a Master degree in Socioeconomics, Agro-economics or Rural development; or related disciplines

Experience:

At least 5 years of experience in the elaboration, planning and management of economic recovery programmes/projects, vocational training, and complex and multi-sectoral development policies including local development; programming and results-based monitoring and evaluation;

Good knowledge and proven experience of working on agricultural and income generating activities issues;

Professional experience in the areas of Early Recovery, local economy, Stabilization/Resilience;

Experience in youth and women's employment in a crisis or post-crisis context would be an asset.

Experience in the NWSW region would be an asset;

Good knowledge of the policies and priorities of the Government and UNDP in Cameroon in terms of PPRD programme;

Mastery of basic software (Word and Excell) and MS Project;

Demonstrated ability to work with various development partners and agencies;

Language Requirements:

Good written and oral communication skills in English;

Have at least a working knowledge of French;

Knowledge of local languages (Pidgin, etc…) would be an asset.

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