Democratic Governance & Peace Building (Team Leader) at United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Position: Democratic Governance & Peace Building (Team Leader)

Application Deadline: July, 11/2023 

Background

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are core principles at UNDP: we value diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate, we foster inclusion as a way of ensuring all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, and we ensure equity and fairness in all our actions. Taking a ‘leave no one behind’ approach to our diversity efforts means increasing representation of underserved populations. People who identify as belonging to marginalized or excluded populations are strongly encouraged to apply. Learn more about working at UNDP including our values and inspiring stories.

UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Ethiopia aspires to become a lower-middle-income country by 2025 through a push for economic transformation and human development. In doing so, the government in its 10 Year National Development Plan, underlines the importance of institutional strengthening, good governance and the rule of law; protection of human rights; peace building and social cohesion and long-term security and stability. The governance reform initiatives in particular stress the importance of consolidating the democratic systems, enhancing the capacity of democratic institutions, strengthening accountability and integrity systems, ensuring the rule of law and access to justice, transforming the public sector, deepening citizens’ participation, media strengthening, peacebuilding/conflict transformation, national dialogue and consensus building, all through specific interventions supported by the government itself and through its development partners, UNDP being at the center. 

Globally, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also provide opportunities and programme entry points to work on governance. Goal 16 of the SDG aims to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels. Through its Strategic Plan 2021 - 2025, UNDP commits through one of the signature solutions, to provide is strengthening effective, inclusive, and accountable governance. The Strategic Plan re-affirms that ‘inclusive and accountable governance systems and processes are crucial to sustainable development and human security.’ UNDP’s Renewed Governance and Peacebuilding Framework for Africa 2022 – 2025 commits to achieving transformative change characterized by people-centered, human rights-based, inclusive and participatory governance and peacebuilding systems, and by strengthened trust and social contract between states and citizens. It will contribute towards changing Africa’s development narrative to one of promise, and towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) and Agenda 2063.  

In working with the Government of Ethiopia and other partners to achieve this aspiration, UNDP as a lead agency in governance and institution building, has a strong track record of supporting the country to improve democratic governance, through technical assistance, cross-fertilization of international good practices, as well as resource mobilization. UNDP in Ethiopia has been supporting governance structures and systems for a number of years, is regarded as a trusted partner to the Government of Ethiopia, and it is expected to stay the course, seeking to further strengthen, and consolidate its engagement. In its Country Programme Document for Ethiopia (2020 – 2025), which is aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Co-operation Framework (UNSDCF) covering the same period, UNDP commits to enhancing the capacities of federal, regional, and sub-regional institutions and systems for an open and inclusive democratic governance, reconciliation, prevention, and peaceful management of conflicts, to expand access to justice/rule of law, and to promote and protect human rights, with emphasis on greater inclusivity bringing about tangible benefits for women and other disadvantaged and vulnerable groups. By investing in this, UNDP wishes to bring about a step change in the advancement of a more inclusive, responsive, transparent, and accountable governance. 

The governance landscape in Ethiopia is changing, yet it remains complex, fluid, and challenging. Despite the good progress made so far, there is a long way to go in terms of ensuring good governance, consolidating democracy, ensuring the rule of law, protection of human rights, prevention of violent conflicts, managing diversity and promoting social cohesion. Transforming governance structures and systems, and consolidating democracy are processes. Transforming the fledgling democratic institutions into vibrant bodies that are capable of effectively delivering on their constitutional mandates requires sustained and concerted efforts. 

The UNDP Ethiopia Country Office is in the middle of designing a successor Governance and Democratic Participation Programme (GDPP), its signature governance offer, viewing it as a crucial continued investment by UNDP and which will draw on a wide variety of analytical work, stakeholder engagement and research conducted recently. The most recent developments in Ethiopia including the work of the National Dialogue Commission, and most recently the signing of the Peace Agreement are vital for stabilizing the political situation in the country and pave the way to building peace, nurturing non-violent means of conflict resolution, and fostering an enabling democratic culture in Ethiopia, and UNDP is well-placed to respond and provide the much needed technical, advisory and financial support in advancing these efforts.

It is against this background that UNDP Ethiopia Country Office seeks to recruit a Team Leader, Democratic Governance and Peace-Building (DGPB), which is a critical position in supporting the CO in advancing its response to these important developments in general and more specifically overseeing the full process of the design of the successor SEEDS1 and GDPP2, as well as effective implementation of the National Dialogue projects will be crucial in ensuring that the CO delivers on the commitment to stay engaged or even scale up investments in governance reforms in Ethiopia. The Team Leader ensures that UNDP is an early responder in providing the needed technical, advisory, and financial support in advancing the above democratic reform efforts. 

The position requires a highly skilled competent and experienced professional who exhibits a high level of intellectual and practical understanding and interpretation of governance and development issues in Ethiopia in a politically sensitive manner. He/she will be expected to lead the Democratic Governance and Peacebuilding Unit within the Country Office and coordinate the Team in effectively delivering the Democratic Governance and Peacebuilding Portfolio but with ability, motivation and willingness to work across other units to promote the CO’s vision of a whole of office approach. This requires an individual with solid experience and good political acumen to be able to navigate a complex sector with proven skills to demonstrate flexibility and adaptability in retaining the trust and confidence with key stakeholders and interlocutors.

Position Summary

The Team Leader will take a “whole-of-governance, whole-of-office” approach encompassing a wide range of governance dimensions and covering a broad spectrum of policy, programmatic, and managerial issues ranging from public policy analysis to identification of programmatic entry points to the formulation of projects and programmes to the facilitation of project evaluation to participation in various working groups within the United Nations Country Team in Ethiopia (UNCT) and the Development Partners Group (DPG) architectures.

Under the direct supervision of the Deputy Resident Representative for Programmes and the overall guidance of the Resident Representative, the incumbent facilitates UNDP’s positioning as a leading agency in the government sector in Ethiopia. As such, s/he is responsible for leading UNDP’s work in the democratic governance and peacebuilding area, and in this capacity, s/he is expected to provide technical and operational support to governance institutions, structures and systems through policy, legal and institutional reforms, and capacity development. S/he is also expected to advocate for UNDP’s global and local priorities and liaise with other UN agencies, UNDP HQ, government officials, technical advisers, multi-lateral and bi-lateral donor partners and civil society representing UNDP.

The incumbent will also provide strategic advice and managerial oversight to guide the design, implementation, and monitoring of UNDP democratic governance and peacebuilding projects and programmes. Related to this, the Team Leader is responsible for the supervision and guidance of the Democratic Governance and Peacebuilding Team within the UNDP Country Office and for ensuring cross-sectoral and cross-unit coordination and collaboration. 

The key functions involve but are not limited to the following:

• Lead and coordinate the implementation of UNDP Ethiopia’s programme strategies in the governance and peacebuilding sector focusing on quality assurance from formulation to implementation to monitoring and evaluation, and reporting;

• Provide top-quality policy analysis, and technical advisory services internally to UNDP, and externally to Government and non-governmental partners, including donors and civil society;

• Support strategic partnerships and resource mobilization efforts of the CO;

• Facilitate effective communication, knowledge building and management;

• Lead the DGPB Unit team, and as a senior staff manager, provide guidance/support in other corporate processes and compliance requirements;

• Perform other tasks as requested by the Deputy Resident Representative and Resident Representative.

Duties and Responsibilities

Lead and coordinate the implementation of UNDP Ethiopia’s programme strategies in the governance and peacebuilding sector focusing on quality assurance from formulation to implementation to monitoring and evaluation, and reporting focusing on achievement of the following results:

• Facilitate, track, and ensure the achievement of performance targets and programme results;

• Provide top-quality technical advisory, and capacity development support to implementing partners to achieve intended results;

• Identify capacity gaps and challenges in implementing partners and design strategic approaches to address them in a systematic and sustainable manner;

• Assist Government counterparts in planning and implementation, including co-leading planning engagements and ensuring the relevance, high quality and timeliness of planning processes;

• Support programme partners in monitoring and tracking implementation progress, assist in identifying course correction, and adjusting to unfolding country events;

• Develop data collection system and executive dashboard to capture, analyze and report on programme progress and achievements;

• Facilitate the realization of synergies across programme units within UNDP and between implementing partners;

• Ensure accountability and effective use and management of UNDP and donor funds;

• Review and update Risk and Issues logs regularly and identify issues that need the attention of UNDP and partners;

• Prepare substantive technical outputs and briefs, including quality and timely submission of progress and financial reports to UNDP and partners;

• Oversee M&E and audit functions including Annual and Mid-Term Reviews, in close collaboration with other relevant Programme and Operations Units within UNDP.

Provide top-quality policy analysis and technical advisory services internally to UNDP and externally to Government and non-governmental partners, including donors and civil society, focusing on the achievement of the following results:

• Provide top-quality policy/technical advisory services internally within UNDP CO and externally to Government and non-governmental counterparts;

• Initiate policy dialogue fora and debates on key issues to deepen knowledge and enhance programme impact involving politicians, parliamentarians, government officials, experts, the development community, civil society, and academics;

• Advise UNDP Senior Management on unfolding critical programme context, capitalizing on emerging challenges and opportunities, and respond accordingly, where necessary;

• Provide strategic direction to the implementation of UNDP corporate and UNDP Ethiopia’s strategies in the Democratic Governance and Peacebuilding sector;

• Prepare background documents, issues papers, analytical policy memos and strategy papers to inform and enable UNDP’s and government’s agenda setting, prioritization, and implementation decisions;

• Assist stakeholders in managing programme risks, for example by preparing analytical policy and programme briefs for UNDP, and through it to development partners;

• Lead UNDP to contribute to national policy dialogue processes around emerging governance issues;

• Introduce innovative ideas and benchmarks based on international good practices, and actively promote their application in the programme.

Supporting strategic partnerships and resource mobilization efforts of the UNDP Country Office, focusing on the achievement of the following results:

• Maintain substantive engagement with key regional and national stakeholders from government and civil society organizations, development partners and UN agencies to build synergy and collaboration;

• Develop strategic partnerships among key stakeholders to build consensus and momentum on key programmatic and policy issues;

• Promote alignment and harmonization among UN agencies, where appropriate;

• Actively participate in the DPG and UNCT coordination structures including the UN Action Group on Governance, and the DPG Governance Technical Working Group;

• Actively contribute to the Country Office’s resource mobilization efforts, and as part of this prepare briefing notes, presentations, etc.

Facilitate effective communication, knowledge building and management, focusing on the achievement of the following results:   

• Ensure appropriate visibility of donors, and UNDP in public media and in high-level platforms, and other channels;

• Facilitate and ensure effective communication among programme partners and other key stakeholders underpinning greater mutual understanding & collective achievement of results;

• Distil, document, package and share programme success stories and good practices;

• Assemble best practices in the field of governance and peacebuilding and facilitate cross-fertilization of the same;

• Organize knowledge/experience sharing platforms and events in furtherance of programme results;

• Actively promote knowledge generation and learning within the Team and CO;

• Link implementing partners with key learning centres in both developing and developed countries and facilitate solution exchange platforms.

Lead the DGPB Unit team, and as a senior staff manager, provide guidance/support in other corporate processes and compliance requirements:

• Ensure effective human resource management including staff and short-term consultants;

• Actively support staff well-being and career development through various means;

• Promote teamwork within the Unit and across the CO;

• Oversee the recruitment of top-quality expertise in the programme and take part in the assurance of the quality of their deliverables;

• Supervise procurement of goods and services including quality assurance of specifications, review of Terms of Reference (TORs) and Request for Proposals (RFPs) to accomplish results and in accordance with UNDP procedures;

• Participate in other managerial functions as needed, including representation, as requested by the supervisor/Resident Representative.

Competencies

Core Competencies:

• Achieve Results: LEVEL 3: Set and align challenging, achievable objectives for multiple projects, have a lasting impact 

• Think Innovatively: LEVEL 3: Proactively mitigate potential risks, and develop new ideas to solve complex problems 

• Learn Continuously: LEVEL 3: Create and act on opportunities to expand horizons, diversify experiences

• Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 3: Proactively initiate and champion change, manage multiple competing demands 

• Act with Determination: LEVEL 3: Think beyond immediate tasks/barriers and take action to achieve greater results

• Engage and Partner: LEVEL 3: Political savvy, navigate complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaboration

• Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 3: Appreciate the benefits of diverse workforce and champion inclusivity

People mangement Competencies:

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

Technical and Cross-functional Competencies:

• Strategic Thinking: Programme and Policy: Ability to develop effective strategies and prioritized plans in line with UNDP’s objectives, based on the systemic analysis of challenges, potential risks and opportunities, linking the vision to reality on the ground, and creating tangible solutions

• Ability to leverage learning from a variety of sources to anticipate and respond to future trends; to demonstrate foresight in order to model what future developments and possible ways forward look like for UNDP

• Project Management: Programme and Policy: Ability to plan, organize, prioritize and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals.

• Conflict Prevention, Peacebuilding and Responsive Institutions: Programme and Policy: Peacebuilding and Reconciliation.

• Governance: Programme and Policy: Core Government Functions

• Electoral Cycle Support

• Rule of Law, Security and Human Rights: Programme and Policy: Justice Sector Development

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master's degree in governance studies, law, political science, sociology, public policy, peace and security studies, development studies, or equivalent social science field.

Experience:

• Minimum 7 years of experience in advising governments, and development partners on governance and public sector (i.e., governance programme support, capacity development support, technical and policy advice, governance assessments, monitoring and evaluation, etc.), with an excellent understanding of the country context;

• Strong experience in project management preferably in governance programmes/projects;

• Demonstrated experience of working effectively with high-level government officials;

• Well-developed organizational and communication skills;

• Ability to build consensus among a wide range of stakeholders;

• Proven experience in overseeing and ensuring technical soundness of research and analysis products;

• Experience in multi-stakeholder facilitation and consensus building;

• Experience of working successfully with government institutions and donor partners on governance an advantage;

• Full computer literacy, in internet searching and Microsoft Office applications.

• Language requirements (Required / Desired)

• Excellent knowledge of English, both spoken and written;

• Fluency in the local language of the duty station. 

How to apply:

Register using the following link CLICK HERE