Policy Specialist, GFATM

Location :	Geneva, SWITZERLAND
Application Deadline :	13-Apr-11
Additional Category	Millennium Development Goals
Type of Contract :	FTA International
Post Level :	P-3
Languages Required :	English
Starting Date : (date when the selected candidate is expected to start)	02-May-2011
Duration of Initial Contract :	1 year
Expected Duration of Assignment :	1 year

Background

The Bureau for Development Policy (BDP) is UNDP’s policy Bureau and backbone of the global practices.  BDP has a key role to play in helping country offices to accelerate human development through strengthening the practice areas within UNDP’s programmes.  BDP supports the development and design of projects that are responsive, effective and contribute to the national-level policies and results.  Driven by demand, BDP provides the tools, analysis and capacities that country offices need to make a real difference in UNDP’s practice areas. BDP support of UNDP’s Strategic Plan 2008-2011 and its 6 thematic areas (Poverty Reduction, Governance, Environment and Energy, HIV/AIDS, Capacity Development, and Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment) together with the regionalization process require it to support a strong and vibrant practice architecture which can ensure that UNDP, at all levels, benefits from consistent and coherent policy direction, rigorous quality standards and valuable service platforms.  HIV/AIDS Group HIV/AIDS is one of UNDP’s top corporate priorities.  In the past several years, UNDP’s contribution to the global effort to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS has greatly intensified, focusing on the governance challenge of planning and implementing a truly multi-sectoral and society-wide response to the epidemic. One central aspect of UNDP’s work is to help countries develop capacity to access and absorb international funding from a wide variety of sources, as well as build capacity for strategic planning and results-based implementation of national and local-level HIV/AIDS plans (“Making the Money Work”).  In a number of countries, UNDP is helping to formulate fundable HIV/AIDS plans to organize roundtable meetings where resource needs are discussed and donor pledges are made.  UNDP also helps strengthen financial and managerial capacity of national AIDS programmes, stronger inter-ministerial coordination, and mechanisms for effective and decentralized channeling of funding.  This work is of crucial importance in creating an environment in which mechanisms such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria can succeed. In late 2002, UNDP began its partnership with the Global Fund.  Since its inception, the UNDP-Global Fund partnership has grown significantly from managing a single USD 6.7 million Global Fund grant in Haiti in 2002 to currently being Principal Recipient (PR) in 27 countries for 60 grants totaling over USD 1.1 billion.  .  Pursuant to its agreement with the Global Fund, UNDP is appointed as the Principal Recipient in exceptional circumstances, generally in countries with low capacities, weak systems and/or poor accountability.  However, with the exception UNDP as PR in donor-constrained countries, UNDP is meant to build the capacity of local entities to assume the role of PR in the future. In its role as PR, UNDP is responsible for the financial and programmatic management of the grant, as well as the procurement of health and non-health products.  In all cases, the implementation of the grants must be done in accordance with UNDP policies and procedures as well as the policies and guidelines of the Global Fund. In addition, UNDP provides capacity support to a number of governments who are managing Global Fund grants directly.  In the last few years, UNDP has expanded this capacity development role and is presently providing technical support in an additional 4 countries in the areas of project planning, sub-grant and contract administration, financial administration, procurement, and monitoring and evaluation. Given the importance of the partnership with the Global Fund, UNDP continues to strive towards providing high value-added services to governments and the Global Fund, both in its role as the PR, and, increasingly, as a significant technical partner to governments implementing Global Fund grants. Under the overall guidance and supervision of the Cluster Leader (Geneva), the Policy Specialist will be working as part of a team responsible for the strategic relationship with the Global Fund and strategic support to the Cluster Director in managing direct UNDP-Global Fund relations.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Policy Specialist will be responsible for providing technical advice and support on areas covered under the UNDP–Global Fund Partnership. Reporting to the Cluster Leader (Geneva). In particular, the candidate will be responsible for: Policy Development and technical support Knowledge Management Partnership Building and Communications Outreach Programme Management and supervision Policy Development and Technical Support Provide policy development and technical support in UNDP–Global Fund Partnership, with a focus on emerging issues. This includes leadingthe: Collection, analysis, and presentation of quantitative data such as from official statistics, online databases, existing and new surveys, and data archives and synthesize for senior management strategic review; Collection, analysis, and presentation of qualitative evidence drawn from best practices, country case-studies, and transcripts of interviews with experts; Collection and development of comprehensive reviews of documents published on HIV/AIDS and/or Health (from journal articles, books, websites, newspapers and magazines, government reports, legislative hearings, agency reports, official archives); Analysis and research of information on donors, develops and prepares substantial briefs on possible areas of cooperation, identification of opportunities for collaboration with external donors and/or technical partners; Identifying specialized Technical Assistance services in responding to Country Office queries and needs for Technical Assistance; and, Provide technical support to the Cluster Director (Geneva) to assist in the work planning, coordination, management and supervision of UNDP Headquarters’ response in UNDP-Global Fund Partnership corporate matters to ensure that the strategic results are achieved. Knowledge Management Knowledge Management serves to document lessons and good practices derived from different countries and regions; to strengthen the relevance of policies, analytical frameworks, practical guidance, and knowledge tools; and to disseminate products developed by the HIV/AIDS Group. The main priorities within this area include: Managing the drafting, professional design, production, and dissemination of reports, training manuals, case studies, practice notes, conference papers, primers, discussion notes; Provide technical support in the development of project documents, project reports, minutes of meetings and terms of reference; Crafting and designing publicity and communication materials, including power-point presentations, speeches, and press releases, and developing marketing plans for disseminating knowledge products; Developing and updating databases of UNDP projects and initiatives including managing and updating the information on relevant corporate policies & guidelines related to project implementation; and Developing and revising the contents of the shared online workspace and the UNDP website particularly for the responsive and accountable institutions key result area and to build the knowledge based within UNDP for sharing from one country office to another. Partnership Building and Communication Outreach Developing and/or maintaining the roster of experts, institutional partners, and consultants on specific issues (focusing primarily on responsive and accountable HIV/AIDS and/or Health  institutions), including monitoring client feedback from projects to strengthen the core areas of expertise available to the cluster; Partnership-building, communications, and outreach to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and other relevant organizations; Maintaining and updating the lists of UNDP country office practitioners working on HIV/AIDS; Developing, organizing and coordinating conferences, events, and workshops; 3.5 Serve as a primary liaison with the selected partners in Geneva , and with to further the work of the UNDP Global Fund Partnership, and work jointly to develop and deliver services to be used in the support of UNDP PR country offices; and Supporting the community of practice meetings among UNDP practitioners with relevant contributions to the network by providing technical inputs into the network discussions. Other Related Duties; Programme Management and supervision Provide support to ensure effective management of the Global Fund Partnership Team to provide quality services by: Providing support to the Global Fund Partnership Team in the effective use of the Results Based Management (RBM) tools to achieve the strategic results; and Support in the planning, budgeting, implementing and monitoring of the cluster workplan and budget with a view to ensure quality of implementation and providing technical support.

Competencies

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: Strong analytical, negotiation and communication skills, including ability to produce high quality practical advisory reports and knowledge products, Professional and/or academic experience in one or more of the areas of the Development or knowledge management field. Project and Resource Management: Ability to produce high quality outputs in a timely manner while understanding and anticipating the evolving client needs. Ability to focus on impact and results for the client, promoting and demonstrating an ethic of client service. Strong organizational skills. Ability to work independently, produce high quality outputs. Sound judgment, strategic thinking and the ability to manage competing priorities. Partnership building and team work: Demonstrated well developed people management skills. Strong ability to manage teams; creating an enabling environment, mentoring and developing staff. Excellent negotiating and networking skills. Demonstrated flexibility to excel in a multi-cultural environment. Provides constructive coaching and feedback. Communications and Advocacy: Strong ability to write clearly and convincingly, adapting style and content to different audiences and speak clearly and convincingly. Strong presentation skills in meetings with the ability to adapt for different audiences. Strong analytical, research and writing skills with demonstrated ability to think strategically. Strong capacity to communicate clearly and quickly. Strong inter-personal, negotiation and liaison skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education: An Master’s Degree or equivalence in Business/Public Administration, Public Health or related field. Experience: Minimum 5 years of national/international professional experiencein the practice area with policy or programme management experience. Experience working in the field of Knowledge Management and/or organizational management highly desirable. Work experience from a developing country highly desirable. Experience in the use of computers and office software packages as well as web based management systems. Excellent writing, research, analysis and presentation skills. Knowledge of UN and/or Global Fund procedures, grant applications and program implementation is highly desirable. Knowledge of HIV, Malaria and TB epidemics a plus. Language: Fluency and proficiency in English. Working knowledge of another UN language highly desirable, especially French. Willingness to travel to UNDP Country Offices in special development situation.

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. please click on the full details link.

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