JOB DETAILS:

United Nations Development Programme Mine Action Programme Manager Ukraine UNDP Jobs 2024

United Nations Development Programme looking for “Mine Action Programme Manager”. Applicants with an Advanced degree may apply on or before 05-Jul-24.

The United Nations Development Programme has published a job vacancy announcement on 28/06/2024 for qualified applicants to fill in the vacant post of Mine Action Programme Manager to be based in Kyiv , Ukraine. For more jobs, please visit https://unjoblink.org

Company Name: United Nations Development Programme

Job Title: Mine Action Programme Manager

Duty Station: Kyiv , Ukraine

Country: Ukraine

Application Deadline: 05-Jul-24

About the Company:

The ongoing war in Ukraine has caused tremendous loss of life and livelihoods, mass internal and external displacement, widespread destruction of urban areas, and damage to critical infrastructure. It has outstripped the capacities of national mine action actors to respond appropriately to the needs for assistance created by an unprecedented level of explosive ordnance (EO) contamination across Ukraine.

The presence or suspicion of landmines, booby-traps, cluster munitions, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), or any number of other explosive remnants of war (ERWs) is adversely impacting civilians’ lives, restricting agriculture, inhibiting basic sustenance activities, and disrupting essential infrastructure and services in many parts of Ukraine. According to the National Mine Action Authority (NMAA), an estimated 156,000 km² of Ukraine’s territory (about 25% of the country’s area) has been affected by conflict and may be contaminated with EO, presenting an imminent threat to life and livelihoods. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reports that there have been more than 1,150 civilian casualties related to EO incidents since February 2022.

The Government of Ukraine (GoU) has made significant progress toward establishing an architecture for its mine action response, but there is still no clearly aligned approach between the government institutions at the national and regional levels in terms of prioritization and coordination of all pillars of mine action.

Governance, structural reforms, and capacity development are at the core of the mandate of UNDP within the UN system (UNDP Strategic Plan 2022-2025) and at the core of its role within the mine action sector (United Nations Mine Action Strategy). In fulfillment of these mandates, UNDP draws upon its 30 years of experience in Ukraine and its global mine action experience to respond to the GoU request for assistance to minimize the impact of EO on affected populations. This response aims to save lives and limbs, facilitate the provision of urgent humanitarian assistance, lay the foundation for recovery and resilience, and enhance socio-economic development in conflict-affected areas.

In 2023, UNDP launched a five-year Mine Action Project in Ukraine (2023-2027) co-funded by multiple donors and aimed at strengthening nationally owned mine action capacity through improved governance and coordination, integration of mine action with humanitarian and development plans, facilitation of access to safe and productive land to improve livelihoods and basic services, reduced risk of harm to affected populations, improved quality of life for EO victims, and measurable progress toward international treaty compliance. The project is being implemented simultaneously at the national and oblast levels for integrated planning, coordination, and operational efficiencies across the five pillars of mine action, including survey and clearance, explosive ordnance risk education (EORE), victim assistance, advocacy, and stockpile destruction (when able).

The project builds upon the work of the UN system as a whole and seeks to complement the work of other actors in this domain through partnership, collaboration, and coordination.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBLITIES

The Mine Action Programme Manager will work under the overall guidance and direct supervision of the Deputy Resident Representative and in close coordination and daily management activities of the Team Leader of the Environment portfolio, and will ensure strategic guidance, technical oversight, planning and management in a gender-responsive manner for Mine Action Programme. The Mine Action Programme Manager will prioritize gender equality and women’s empowerment within all implementations and promote UN as a gender-responsive organization with zero tolerance to any kind of discriminatory and abusive behaviour, including sexual harassment, sexual exploitation, and abuse.

UNDP adopts a portfolio approach to accommodate changing business needs and leverage linkages across interventions to achieve its strategic goals. Therefore, UNDP personnel are expected to work across units, functions, teams, and projects in multidisciplinary teams in order to enhance and enable horizontal collaboration.

Key duties and accountabilities include:

Strategically lead and develop policy frameworks, strategies, and plans for enhancing the mine action sector in line with the national priorities and international best practice by:

• Identifying areas for support and interventions within the thematic/sectoral area assigned based on thorough analysis and research of the country context.
• Leading the development, establishment, and continuous refinement of the Mine Action Strategy for the Government of Ukraine, in tandem with the state mine action reforming processes, and UNDP strategic priorities as outlined in UNDP Strategic Plan 2022-2025, Country Programme Document 2018-2024 and its new iteration for 2025-2029, UNDP Resilience Building and Recovery Programme, as well as other relevant documents.
• Ensuring overall programme management through effective implementation of RBM tools, proper forward planning of programme activities and budget expenditures, establishing workplans with clear milestones, quality management, as well as financial and substantive monitoring of results, in coordination and consultation with national partners such as Ministry of Internal Affairs (MOIA), State Emergency Services (SESU), Ministry of Defence (MOD), National Mine Action Authority (NMAA) and National Mine Action Centers (NMACs).
• Ensuring the mainstreaming of gender equality and women’s empowerment considerations in the field of expertise, promoting a safe and enabling environment free of any kind of discrimination and abusive behaviour, and use the principles of gender responsive communication in line with the UNDP corporate standards.
• Coordinating and collaborating with MOIA, SESU, NMAA, NMACs, Mine Action Operators (MAO), local authorities and relevant stakeholders in-country, at HQ, and with other UN agencies and UNDP projects/programmes, to ensure complementarity, aligned and coherent planning and implementation processes.

Ensure effective results-based management of Mine Action Programme in line with UNDP policies and procedures by:

• Developing comprehensive work plans including envisaged programme activities, roles, and responsibilities, as well as corresponding milestones.
• Managing and coordinating implementation of Mine Action Programme by ensuring timely delivery of expected results.
• Coordinate financial and substantive gender-responsive monitoring and evaluation of the Programme results, identification of operational and financial problems, following up on audit recommendations, while promoting the use of broad participatory approaches in implementation, monitoring and evaluation activities, where applicable and possible.
• Ensure constant monitoring and analysis of the programme environment, managing risks to ensure timely readjustment of programme interventions where required.
• Contribute to and clearing narrative progress and financial reports, facilitating identification and synthesis of best practices and lessons learnt directly linked to Programme objectives, ensuring that quality reports are submitted in a timely manner.
• Oversee, contribute to and ensure timely and correct preparation of procurement and recruitment plans, requests for procurement, recruitment and payments, budget revisions, mobilizing goods and services to support programme activities, including drafting ToRs and work/product requirements (including specifications) and other related documents for timely commencement of the project activities.
• Ensure and contribute to preparation and implementation of programme communications strategies and plans, ensuring visibility of the donors and UNDP in the Programme areas.
• Provide Programme briefing documents as requested by the Portfolio Manager and partners, supporting UNDP in Ukraine in developing policy briefs, ToRs, project concept notes/proposals/project documents around mine action intervention strategies.

Provide leadership and management for the mine action team in Ukraine by:

• Management of the UNDP Mine Action Programme, ensuring its sustainability and adaptability over the humanitarian, reconstruction, and development periods.
• Promulgate continuous learning, ensuring the development of Programme staff knowledge and skills as part of professional advancement.
• Provide guidance frameworks to UNDP mine action personnel on their aims and objectives to ensure there is strategic coherence across the whole Programme.
• Setting the strategic direction of the UNDP mine action team in Ukraine in alignment with the overall vision of the UNDP country office.
• Ensure all UNDP mine action staff, consultants and other contracted positions comply with all relevant UNDP policies and practices when delivering on their roles and functions.
• conducting all appropriate UNDP human resources related tasks in the management of staff.
• Provide leadership and management to a team of international advisers and national staff to facilitate their support to national mine action authorities, and relevant agencies.
• Setting of operational priorities and advising on cost effective mine action operations.

Lead in strengthening strategic partnerships and effective external coordination with UN agencies, development partners and government counterparts by:

• Liaise with organizations, donors, government, and mine action operators for the purposes of facilitating activities and improving the quality, relevance of Programme implementation, with a focus on Ukrainian national and sub-national organizations in line with sector’s long-term sustainability.
• Explore and build relationships with new, non-traditional partners, such as educational institutions, community-based organizations, private sector etc., to expand UNDP Mine Action Programme recognition in Ukraine, establish new partnerships, and in this way realize synergies that maximize the Programme’s and mine action’s impact, as well as identify possible new funding sources.
• Participate in, contribute to and report on the relevant inter-agency, UN, donor, and inter- governmental coordination meetings in consultation with relevant Programme technical experts when required.
• To support design, coordination and dissemination of public information products, and communication activities, such as public events to raise awareness.
• Support preparations and participation in official meetings, events, briefings, and field visits, and prepare talking points, briefing notes, presentations, and speeches for senior UNDP officials.
• Contribute to the Mine Action Sub-cluster coordination meetings representing UNDP and contribute to the 5W reporting on the achievements of the UNDP MA programme in an efficient and timely manner.

Lead Resource mobilization initiatives:

• Formulate and implement the resource mobilization strategy for Mine Action Programme in close coordination and consultation with UNDP CO.
• Develop a resource mobilization action plan that identifies funding gaps and establishes targets and timelines for mobilizing extra budgetary resources.
• Strengthen partnerships with all relevant stakeholders to prevent the overlap and duplication of work, reduce transaction costs, leverage additional resources, increase impact and strengthen sustainability of the Programme activities.  All partnerships are to be regularly reviewed to assess their continued relevance and achievements.
• Ensure an integrated and coherent approach to resource mobilization and facilitate cross-sectoral cooperation within UNDP.

Other Duties:

• The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organisation.

Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities:

• Manage and Supervise Mine Action Team
• Communicate organizational needs.
• Oversee and manage Programme personnel’s performance.
• Provide guidance, support, and identify development needs.
• Manage the reciprocal relationship between staff and the organization so that each is successful.

COMPETENCIES

Core Competencies:

• Achieve Results:  LEVEL 4: Prioritize team workflow, mobilize resources, drive scalable results/strategic impact
• Think Innovatively:  LEVEL 4: Easily navigate complexity, encourage/enable radical innovation, has foresight
• Learn Continuously:  LEVEL 4: Create systems and processes that enable learning and development for all
• Adapt with Agility:  LEVEL 4: Proactively initiate/lead organizational change, champion new systems/processes
• Act with Determination:  LEVEL 4: Able to make difficult decisions in challenging situations, inspire confidence
• Engage and Partner:  LEVEL 4: Construct strategic multi-partner alliances in high stake situations, foster co-creation
• Enable Diversity and Inclusion:  LEVEL 4: Create ethical culture, identify/address barriers to inclusion

People Management Competencies: 

• UNDP People Management Competencies can be found in the dedicated site.

Cross-Functional & Technical Competencies:

Business Direction & Strategy: System Thinking

• Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgement to understand how interrelated elements coexist within an overall process or system, and to consider how altering one element can impact on other parts of the system.

Business Management: Project Management

• Ability to plan, organize, prioritize and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals.

Business Management: Partnerships Management

• Ability to build and maintain partnerships with wide networks of stakeholders, Governments, civil society and private sector partners, experts, and others in line with UNDP strategy and policies.

Business Management: Portfolio Management

• Ability to select, priorities and control the organization’s programmes and projects, in line with its strategic objectives and capacity; ability to balance the implementation of change initiatives and the maintenance of business-as-usual, while optimizing return on investment.

Business Management: Communication

• Ability to communicate in a clear, concise, and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience.
• Ability to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media and other appropriate channels.

Business Development: Knowledge Generation

• Ability to research and turn information into useful knowledge, relevant for context, or responsive to a stated need.

2030 Agenda – Prosperity: Recovery Solutions and Human Mobility

• Mine Action

QUALIFICATIONS

Education: 

• Advanced University Degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in Development and/or Humanitarian Management Studies, Management, Public Administration, Law, Political or Social Sciences, Risk Management, Disaster or Emergency Management, or related field is required.  OR
• A first-level university degree (Bachelor’s degree) in the areas mentioned above in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience, Knowledge, and Skills: 

• Minimum 10 years (with Master’s degree) or 12 years (with Bachelor’s degree) of relevant experience in managerial positions, experience within Mine Action sector is required.
• At least 5 years of working experience in the management of large-scale recovery or mine action projects with diversity of experience in providing policy advice and organizing capacity development support to government entities and implementing large scale activities is required.
• Proven experience in managing multi-stakeholder projects and dealing with donor reporting and preparing project proposal is a must.
• Prior experience and good knowledge of different project management tools is desired.
• Experience in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and/or Oracle applications – Atlas/Quantum and skills in project and budget formulation is desired.
• Operations efficiency and other relevant certifications within humanitarian Mine Action fields would be an asset.
• Demonstrated experience and knowledge in International Humanitarian Laws including Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC), Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons Additional Protocol II (CCW II) as well as the status of membership and responsibility of the state under these conventions would be an asset.
• Demonstrated experience and in-depth knowledge of mine action equipment to include, but not limited to, personal protective equipment, electronic detection systems and mechanical mine action assets.

Language Requirements: 

• Fluency in oral and written English is required.

Please note that continuance of appointment beyond the initial 12 months is contingent upon the successful completion of a probationary period.

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