UNDP Moldova: Project Associate (NPSA7) - Resilient, Inclusive Markets in Moldova (RIM) Project

Job Description

Background

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.

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.

The Swiss-UNDP project “Resilient, Inclusive Markets in Moldova” (PRIM) is set to contribute to the promotion of integrated approaches to inclusive and sustainable local economic development and employment creation, in partnership with ILO and SDC, targeting both local populations, as well as returning migrants and refugees.

Previous and ongoing SDC – UNDP efforts to address the positive impact of migration and engage migrants in local socio-economic development, along with design and piloting of local economic developments models and partnerships shaped an enabling environment to expand the current work and take it to another level. In this context, Moldova has several comparative advantages that can be harnessed to steam up the growth, broaden its geography, and make it more socially inclusive.

To do so, UNDP Moldova will further advance the successful LED interventions by scaling up the focus from local to (micro)-regional, while at the same time leveraging revenue generation, strengthening business support services and value chains to increase the competitiveness of local economy, retention of human capital and facilitate local socio-economic development. The role of the SMEs, including owned and led by migrants, is crucial, being potentially the most efficient connection between the economic growth and welfare of the employed persons, particularly in the remote rural communities and small towns. Also new political and socio-economic development required new approaches, taking into consideration the need to build more resilient, inclusive, and innovative local communities and local markets.

Hence, the strategic goal of the PRIM project is to enhance the SMEs-based sustainable economic development and promote equal access to decent work at the local and (micro)-regional levels, targeting both local populations, as well as returning migrants and refugees. It leverages the enhanced multi-stakeholder cooperation, improved business support services and complementary regulatory frameworks at the level of individual communities and micro-regions.

The Project will enhance sustainability of the results from the previous efforts supported by the Swiss Government, shape them to the new political and socio-economic developments, by embracing and promoting relevant policy and community-action innovations and by ensuring engagement of all relevant stakeholders in the design and implementation of local development solutions for building responsive institutions, inclusive economy, and resilient communities. In light of the regional security environment that is expected to remain turbulent even in the most optimistic scenarios, the Project is intended to bring a valuable contribution to the triple humanitarian-development-peace nexus at the local/regional level.

The strategic goal of the PRIM project is to enhance the inclusive, competitive, and sustainable economic development, and promote equal access to decent work at the local and (micro)-regional levels, by leveraging the enhanced multi-stakeholder cooperation, improved business support services and complementary regulatory frameworks. The Project targets three interrelated Outcomes.

As part of Outcome 1, policy and institutional frameworks create an empowering environment for inclusive and sustainable economic development in the targeted economic sectors.

Outcome 2 assumes that local/regional communities including private sector representatives, meaningfully cooperate in cluster formats to enhance value chains and improve their competitiveness.

As part of Outcome 3, the people of Moldova, especially women, youth, returning migrants and refugees, will benefit from improved economic opportunities in the pilot micro-regions.
Duties and Responsibilities

Administrative management:

Assume overall responsibility for the coordination of project administrative matters;
Contribute to project implementation and ensure conformity to expected results and work plans;
Monitor compliance with both UNDP and Donor standards and ensure the corresponding quality control;
Provide advice to the project team on administrative issues and financial issues;
Maintain records on all project personnel and consultants, including their respective status (e.g. contracts, ToRs and reports, etc.) in accordance with accepted policies and procedures;
Ensure compliance with corporate human resources policies and strategies under UNDP HR procedures;
Undertake other administrative tasks on an ad hoc basis.

Financial management:

Ensure compliance with all corporate rules of UNDP in the field of financial planning, reporting, and auditing;
Monitor budget expenditures and maintain a proper record of approved project budgets and their revisions;
Produce relevant operational and financial reports according to UNDP rules and procedures;
Respond to queries from the UNDP and SDC with respect to financial aspects of the programme, liaise with UNDP-appointed and external auditors wherever required;
Prepare requests for advance of funds and/or direct payments, as well as proposals for budget revisions;
Prepare recurring reports as scheduled and other reports as required for budget preparations and audit;
Perform necessary checks of the financial reports submitted by sub-contracted project implementers;
Advise and assist international and national consultants on all aspects of allowances, travel claims and other financial matters and calculate payments due for claims and services;
Provide advice to the team on project financial issues;
Undertake other financial tasks on an ad hoc basis.

Procurement:

Organize procurement processes in full compliance with UNDP rules and regulations;
Elaborate the Project’s procurement plan and monitor its implementation;
Process transactions in Quantum, in line with the Internal Control Framework;
Prepare and issue project contracts;
Prepare and oversee the Project’s asset inventory;

Institutional Arrangement

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the PRIM Project Manager and in close cooperation with the Policy Component Manager, the Project Associate shall contribute to an effective and efficient implementation of the project activities via administrative and financial management.

The Project Associate will work in close collaboration with the Project team as well as the team in the Country Office (CO) for effective achievement of results, anticipating and contributing to resolving complex project-related issues and information delivery.

Competencies
Core Competencies

Achieve Results: LEVEL 2: Scale up solutions and simplifies processes, balances speed and accuracy in doing work
Think Innovatively: LEVEL 2: Offer new ideas/open to new approaches, demonstrate systemic/integrated thinking
Learn Continuously: LEVEL 2: Go outside comfort zone, learn from others and support their learning
Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 2: Adapt processes/approaches to new situations, involve others in change process
Act with Determination: LEVEL 2: Able to persevere and deal with multiple sources of pressure simultaneously
Engage and Partner: LEVEL 2: Is facilitator/integrator, bring people together, build/maintain coalitions/partnerships
Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 2: Facilitate conversations to bridge differences, considers in decision making

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies

Business management - Resource management:
Ability to allocate and use resources in a strategic or tactical way in line with principles of accountability and integrity
Business management - Digital awareness and literacy:
Ability and inclination to rapidly adopt new technologies, either through skillfully grasping their usage or through understanding their impact and empowering others to use them as needed
Business management - Working with evidence and data:
Ability to inspect, cleanse, transform and model data with the goal of discovering useful information, informing conclusions, and supporting decision-making
Business management - Monitoring:
Ability to provide managers and key stakeholders with regular feedback on the consistency or discrepancy between planned and actual activities and programme performance and results
Digital & Innovation - Data analysis:
Ability to extract, analyze and visualize data (including Real-Time Data) to form meaningful insights and aid effective decision making

Desired skills in addition to the competencies covered in the Competencies section:

Proven experience in a similar position in UN Agencies will be considered an advantage.
Commitment to UNDP mission, vision, and values.
Openness to change and ability to manage complexities.

Required Skills and Experience
Education:

Secondary education.
Bachelor's degree in economics, finance, accounting, or other related field is desirable.

Experience:

Minimum 7 years (with Secondary education) or 4 years (with Bachelor’s degree) of experience in administrative work, accounting/finance, economics, or other substantive area.

Required skills:

Experience in development assistance or related work for a development organization, consulting company, or NGO.
Familiarity with the internal control framework and results-based management tools is a must.
Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.), advance knowledge of automated procurement systems, experience in handling of web-based management systems.

Language:

Fluency in English and Romanian.
Knowledge of one or more minority languages relevant for Moldova, including Russian, Romani, Gagauzian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian and sign language, is an asset.

The following documents shall be required from the applicants:

Personal CV or P11, indicating all past positions held and their main underlying functions, their durations (month/year), the qualifications, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate, and at least three (3) the most recent professional references of previous supervisors. References may also include peers.
A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page) indicating why the candidate considers him-/herself to be suitable for the position.
Managers may ask (ad hoc) for any other materials relevant to pre-assessing the relevance of their experience, such as reports, presentations, publications, campaigns or other materials.

Disclaimer

Applicant information about UNDP rosters

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Data de încheiere a postului vacant: 9 March 2023

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