Head of Area Office, Hargeisa

II. Organizational Context

UNDP Somalia’s Programme is composed of 4 Programme portfolios; Governance and Rule of Law GROL), Capacity Development, Poverty Reduction and Environment Protection (PREP) and Gender. UNDP Somalia main office is based in Mogadishu, but a large number of staff is based in the various Area offices: Hargeisa and Garowe, in particular national staff.

In order to respond more swiftly to the changing environment, UNDP has a dedicated head of area offices in Hargeisa and Garowe that also helps in terms of representation plus with more delegated authority and decision making authority at the local level. The head of the area office serves as the main representative of UNDP in the respective area,

UNDP is currently recruiting the Head of the office in Hargeisa/Somaliland. This office has a portfolio of approximately 5 million USD in Somaliland which may increase over the next years. The Head of Area Office will supervise more than 40 staff and oversee Programme, Operations and Project activities.

III. Functions / Key Results Expected

Under the overall and direct supervision of the Country Director (primary supervision line), in matrix management with the Deputy Country Director for Programmes (DCD-P), for programmatic and strategic portfolio management responsibilities, secondary supervision line, the Head of Area Office performs the following functions:

I. Office Management

• Ensures the smooth running of the Area Office, including good management and supervision of staff,
• Is responsible and accountable for the appropriate use and management of resources attributed to the Office and to the portfolio of the geographic area.
• Promotes team work, collaboration and synergies within his office, among the project teams and with the Programme units at the Country Office level
• Supervises the Operations Manager directly who can serve as deputy to the Head of Area Office as well as the project staff – for day-to-day operations - in the office

II. Representation and Coordination

• Represents UNDP in the geographic area, and in various fora as requested by the Country Director.
• In collaboration with the Office of the Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator, provides coordination support to UN Agencies, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and national authorities through the establishment of a wider consultation process and appropriate fora to enhance coordination between humanitarian and transition-to-development partners, thus strengthening the links between relief, early recovery and development activities.
• Ensures proper coordination and inputs to Interagency initiatives
• Maintains collaboration and coordination with the other Heads of office to ensure programmatic integration, sharing of lessons and best practices, economies of scales, etc.
• Maintains regular contact with projects and Programme counterparts in his/her geographic area.
• Provides support to overall resource mobilization efforts of the Country Office in close collaboration with Programme at the CO level.

III. Programme Development, Strategic Analysis, Planning and Advice

• Responsible for the collaborative yearly planning process for the UNDP Programme together with counterparts
• in close consultation with the Country Director, Deputy Country Director Programme and the relevant Heads of Programme sections at the main office level, identifiesnew programmatic activities and strategic direction of the sub-office programmatic activities from Programme design through implementation.
• Supports the Country Director and Deputy Country Director Programme, national counterparts and other aid partners on policies and strategies to adequately respond to transitional recovery and development challenges and needs.
• Ensures identification and promotion of joint programming and planning opportunities.
• Based on monitoring and evaluation of the recovery and development situation, provides programmatic responses to the deficits in these areas.
• Promotes identification and synthesis of best practices and lessons learned for organizational sharing and learning.
• Supervises the day-to-day project management, in reference to annual/quarterly work plans approved by the Project Board and Project Executive function, and ensure coordination among projects in the sub area

IV. Operational Management

• Provides leadership in overseeing of effective provision of services to counterparts including fair and transparent procurement, efficient logistics and sound financial management as well as the consistent application of UNDP rules and regulations
• Ensures the integrity of financial system and directly oversees the administrative, financial and budgetary aspects of Programme delivery in its geographical area and advises the Deputy Country Director – Operations accordingly.
• Works closely with UNDSS to ensure the security of UNDP Staff and premises, in particular supports the implementation of UNDP MOSS compliance.
• Is responsible for approval of payments up to an agreed upon level

V. Programme Oversight and Implementation

· Ensures proper implementation of programmes based on continuous monitoring and analysis of

(a) the most critical recovery and development needs, response capacities, access situation, operational environment and applicable security issues and

(b) implementation progress of the programmes in his geographic area

• Under general supervision of, and in close collaboration with the DCD-P, leads the UNDP Programme and ensure attainment of expected results in his/her geographic area of responsibility
• Supports the implementation of the recovery and development aspects of the UN Transition Plan within the area of assignment and responsibility
• In coordination with the Monitoring and Evaluation officer, ensures effective application of RBM tools, monitors sub-office and project unit work plans, Programme effectiveness and achievement of results
• Supports capacity-building of national counterparts
• Performs any other related task assigned by the supervisors

Impact of Results

The results of the work of the Head of Area Office greatly impacts on the standing and reputation of the UNDP in Somalia. When requested by the CD/DCD, the Head of Area Office represents UNDP in international and national forums, liaises with external clients and a broad range of constituencies and UNDP counterparts in the Government, local and international media, civil society as well as counterparts from other international organizations. Within delegated authority, the Head of Area Office acts as the day-to-day manager of UNDP’s Programme and ensures a coherent dialogue between all parties involved, timely and effective delivery of the UNDP Programme and a proactive response of UNDP to changes in the North west of Somalia region context.

Functional Competencies:

Building Partnerships

Level 2: Identifying and building partnerships

• Effectively networks with partners seizing opportunities to build alliances
• Identifies needs and interventions for capacity building of counterparts, clients and potential partners
• Displays initiative, sets challenging outputs for him/herself and willingly accepts new work assignments

Promoting Organizational Learning and Knowledge Sharing

Level 2: Developing tools and mechanisms

• Makes the case for innovative ideas documenting successes and building them into the design of new approaches
• Develops and/or participates in the development of mechanisms, including identifying new approaches to promote individual and organizational learning and knowledge sharing using formal and informal methodologies

Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise

Level 2: In-depth knowledge of own discipline

• Understands advanced aspects of primary area of specialization as well as the fundamental concepts of related disciplines (financial resources and human resources management, contract, asset and procurement, information and communication technology, general administration)
• Continues to seek new and improved methods and systems for accomplishing the work of the unit
• Keeps abreast of new developments in area of professional discipline and job knowledge and seeks to develop him/herself professionally
• Demonstrates comprehensive knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments
• Demonstrates comprehensive understanding and knowledge of the current guidelines and tools and utilizes these regularly in work assignments

Promoting Organizational Change and Development

Level 2: Assisting the individuals to cope with change

• Performs appropriate work analysis and assists in redesign to establish clear standards for implementation
  Design And Implementation of Management Systems
  Level 2: Designing and implementing management system
• Carries out research into existing systems to identify best practice and make recommendations to management on applicability to UNDP
• Identifies and recommends remedial measures to address problems in systems design or implementation
  Client Orientation
  Level 2: Contributing to positive outcomes for the client
• Anticipates client needs
• Works towards creating an enabling environment for a smooth relationship between the clients and service provider
• Demonstrates understanding of client’s perspective
  Promoting Accountability and Results-Based Management
  Level 2: Input to the development of standards and policies
• Provides inputs to the development of organizational standards for accountability and results-based management

Core Competencies:

• Building support and political acumen
• Building staff competence, creating an environment of creativity and innovation
• Building and promoting effective teams
• Creating and promoting enabling environment for open communication
• Creating an emotionally intelligent organization
• Leveraging conflict in the interests of UNDP & setting standards
• Sharing knowledge across the organization and building a culture of knowledge sharing and learning**. Promoting learning and knowledge management/sharing is the responsibility of each staff member.**
• Fair and transparent decision making; calculated risk-taking

V. Recruitment Qualifications

Education:

· Masters Degree preferably in Political or Social Science, International Studies, Public Administration, Economics or related fields.

Experience:

· Minimum of 7 years of progressively responsible professional experience in recovery and development affairs, crisis response and prevention, recovery and development, or other related area

· Experience in crisis or post conflict countries

· Senior-level management responsibilities of similar size and complexity, including operational management responsibilities

· Previous experience with UNDP preferred and good knowledge of UNDP rules and procedures is desirable

Language requirements:

· Strong written and spoken English skills.

· Knowledge of Somali and/or Arabic is desirable.

HOW TO APPLY:

Interested and qualified candidates should submit their application by visiting: http://jobs.undp.org/ or

https://jobs.partneragencies.net/erecruitjobs.html?JobOpeningId=5265