Project Title:             EU Support to the East of Ukraine – Recovery, Peace-building and Governance”, UN Recovery and Peace building Programme (RPP)

Post Title:                  Senior Project Coordinator 

Post Level:                 Service Contract, SB4 (Max)

Position number:      00164749

Duration of the service: 12 months with possible extension

Duty Station: Kramatorsk

Full/part time:         Full time

Supervisor:                UNFPA Assistant Representative

Background Information:

In accordance with the organizational mandate and national development priorities of Ukraine, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, implements a country programme of technical assistance to Ukraine for 2018-2022. The programme will seek to contribute to the empowerment of young people in the social, political and economic spheres of the country, and advance the cause of gender equality in all its dimensions.

In the East of Ukraine UNFPA is working together with UNDP, UN Women and FAO  within the framework of the “EU Support to the East of Ukraine – Recovery, Peacebuilding and Governance” project. The overall objective of the project is to contribute to peace, economic revitalization and reconciliation in Eastern Ukraine through social and economic recovery, with a special focus on the Government Controlled Areas (GCAs) of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, as as well as Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and other targeted oblasts. To enhance the regions’ overall resilience to destabilization such as the aftermath of the COVID-19 epidemic.

UNFPA is focusing on the issues of response and prevention of gender based violence, youth empowerment and inclusion into the recovery and peacebuilding process as well as well employment opportunities for youth and women, including in eastern Ukraine.

UNFPA will contribute to the achievement of the following specific objectives of the project:

1. To address the consequences, on regional/local economies, of the economic lockdown imposed to fight the COVID-19 epidemic and stimulate medium and long-term employment and economic growth by providing assistance to micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) development in Donetsk (GCA), Luhansk (GCA), Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts through demand-driven business development services, professional skills training and financial support. (Component 2).
2. To enhance community security, social cohesion, confidence in state institutions and reconciliation through promotion of civic initiatives and partnerships between communities and security and justice service providers in Donetsk (GCA), Luhansk (GCA), Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts. To strengthen young women and men empowerment and engagement in community development (Component 3).

UNFPA Senior Project Coordinator (based in Kramatorsk) will provide programmatic and technical guidance and ensure implementation of the project activities related to youth engagement,  enhancement of youth employability and SGBV prevention and response; ensure smooth integration of youth engagement and GBV prevention and response in all relevant project activities. The Coordinator also ensures close coordination with other EU-funded youth-related activities implemented by other United Nations Agencies, coordinates the programme delivery with the activities of other stakeholders working in the same area in order to build synergies and avoid activity duplication, including the development of inter-agency linkages and partnerships with other relevant UN programmes and projects.

Organizational context:

The Senior Project Coordinator, with guidance from the UNFPA colleagues  and in daily proactive collaboration with EU RPP team, national implementing partners and institutions, will design, organize, coordinate and perform activities necessary for the successful implementation of the  UNFPA activities in Eastern Ukraine within the framework of the  “EU Support to the East of Ukraine – Recovery, Peacebuilding and Governance” project and UN RPP   through respective work plans and in line with the established outputs and targets.

The incumbent will be the UNFPA country office’s primary focal point for the daily management and monitoring of all programme activities in the Eastern Ukraine   ensuring that all planned targets are achieved timely and in full. The incumbent will also act as a focal point  to ensure youth engagement as well as the needs of GBV survivors for protection and access to specialized services feature in all relevant activities.

The incumbent also participate in the coordination  and management structures and networks   of the project  as may be required.

The Senior Project Coordinator reports directly to the UNFPA Assistant Representative. The incumbent supervises and organizes the work of the project personnel and consultants, including personnel of the implementing partner organizations and consultants hired by them.

The UNFPA Representative will provide strategic guidance on programme matters to the incumbent. The UNFPA Operations Manager   will provide guidance on operational matters (administration, finance, procurement, human resources, asset management, ICT etc.). The UNFPA programme officers on youth and HIV, GBV, gender, communication and advocacy, partnership and resource mobilization will provide technical guidance to the Senior Project Coordinator as required. The incumbent will also interact with the UNFPA Regional Office and Headquarters colleagues, as well as colleagues from other UN agencies, on matters within his/her responsibility.

 Major Duties and Responsibilities:

• In line with approved  work plans and results framework (RRF), coordinates UNFPA programme  implementation, all envisioned events and activities in the target oblasts;
• Act as UNFPA focal point for the   “EU Support to the East of Ukraine – Recovery, Peacebuilding and Governance” with responsibility to ensure implementation of youth and GBV project activities on the ground according to the approved work plan;  liaise and interacts with all relevant project partners at the regional level on all matters related to the project implementation and contributes to the coordination of youth and GBV prevention and response related activities in the assigned regions within the project;
•  Participates in programming processes for the effective integration of the project into the Programme Work Plans, including desk reviews, situation and stakeholder analysis, negotiations, strategic meetings,  inter-agency working groups. 
• On behalf of UNFPA liaise and interacts with humanitarian partners in the regions to ensure  that GBV response is  integrated through humanitarian-development nexus. 
•  Ensures timely preparation, updating and implementation of programme-related work plans and other related documents for timely commencement and implementation of the planned activities;
• Prepares, updates, implements and monitors the calendar activity plans for the project  based on the approved work plans;
• Provides advisory, programmatic and technical support to the concerned governmental counterparts and implementing partners to ensure the smooth and effective implementation of the respective work plans;
• Liaises and interacts will all concerned parties, including implementing partners, vendors and service providers, on all matters related to the project  to ensure the timely, cost-effective and efficient implementation of all activities planned under respective work plans;
• Coordinates the project  delivery with the activities of other stakeholders working in the same area in order to build synergies and avoid activity duplication, including the development of inter-agency linkages and partnerships with other relevant UN programmes and projects;
• Analyzes the project  implementation, identifies possible implementation obstacles and suggests solutions, reports on the project activities  delivery to the UNFPA programme and operations staff, in their areas of competence;
•  Organizes and participates in the programme review exercises, provides suggestions for improving the programme performance;
• Substantively and proactively contributes to the development and implementation of a programme communication strategy, plans and events.
•  Effectively applies, with due integrity and diligence, current UNFPA policies and procedures related to programme and operations, including UNFPA Standard Operating Procedures;
• Maintains the programme work plans in the UNFPA Global Programming System and ensures that any activity and budget revisions are recorded timely and accurately with due approvals;
• Manages the project activities  on the daily basis and ensures the delivery of expected results in line with the relevant programme documents and work plans;
• Provides overall organization, coordination and administration of project related activities ensuring that their implementation fully complies with the approved work plans, timelines and budgets;
• Facilitates the project work plans delivery by national implementing partners providing them with oversight, guidance and advice.   Serves as a primary liaison between the implementing partners and UNFPA on all matters related to their work plans implementation;
• Establishes working contacts and regularly maintains effective communications between all project  stakeholders;
• Provides proper management of the project  budget ensuring that funds are available when needed and financial disbursements are made according to the approved work plans and contribution agreements with donors;
• Monitors financial expenditures under the  work plans and reports to the UNFPA Operations Manager on the project financial delivery;
• Organizes and supervises the work of the project  personnel (including experts, consultants, writers, researchers, trainers and support personnel assigned to the project), including the preparation of the terms of reference, facilitation of recruitment and performance monitoring and evaluation;
• With guidance from the UNFPA Security Focal Point, ensures that project  field office(s) and personnel fully comply with the corporate security requirements and all security measures are in place;
•  Ensures regular monitoring of the work plans implementation for quality and timeliness and undertakes necessary administrative response vis-à-vis UNFPA and national implementing partners;
•  Represents the project at all kinds of management, public and visibility events as required;
• Contribute to project monitoring, evaluation, reporting and knowledge management as well as to ensuring project visibility;
• Supports UNFPA in partnership development and resource mobilization initiatives.
• Performs other project-related tasks as may be requested by  UNFPA country office management.

Qualifications and Experience

Education:        

Master’s degree or equivalent, preferably in Public Administration, Human Rights Law, Social Sciences including Gender Studies, Political Science, International Relations, or other relevant studies for UNFPA`s mandate.

Knowledge and Experience:      

Minimum 5 years of relevant  progressively responsible experience at the national level  in project/programme formulation and  management  in the areas related to  youth, GBV, gender and/or other related social policy domain preferably in the international organization;

Familiarity with UN procedures and working methods, particularly with UNFPA agenda, policies and procedures is a plus; 

Solid experience in writing functional specifications would be an asset;

Working experience in projects funded by international donors is desirable;

Excellent working knowledge of MS Office-Word, Excel, Power Point, Internet, e-mail applications, etc.

Understanding of the main processes and methods of work regarding to the position.

Language:         

Fluency in Ukrainian, English and Russian languages.

Please apply through the link by February 6, 2021