Project Manager

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 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the knowledge frontier organization for sustainable development in the UN Development System and serves as the integrator for collective action to realize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UNDP is the leading United Nations organization fighting to end the injustice of poverty, inequality, and climate change. Working with our broad network of experts and partners in 170 countries, we help nations to build integrated, lasting solutions for people and planet. The Fiji multi-country office covers ten countries including Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu as well as provides support to regional initiatives.

UNDP in the Pacific has developed its multi-country programme document (MCPD, 2023-2027) to guide its interventions in the next five years in full alignment and directly to contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF, 2023–27). The Office covers 10 countries in the Pacific with an extensive portfolio which has grown over time. The UNSDCF and UNDP MCPD are designed in full alignment with the 2030 agenda, Samoa Pathway, and 2050 Blue Content Strategy, which is endorsed by the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) among others. The UNDP Pacific Office next five-year plan strategic priorities are encapsulated under three outcome areas: (i) Planet, (ii) Prosperity, and (iii) Peace. Resilience is one of UNDP’s six signature solutions – alongside poverty and inequality, environment, energy, governance, and gender equality - to support countries towards three directions of change: structural transformation, leaving no one behind and resilience. As per UNDP’s new Strategic Plan 2022- 2025, and the new MCPD (2023-2027), UNDP Pacific office aims to support countries and communities in building resilience to diverse shocks and crises, including conflict, climate change, disasters and epidemics.

Climate change is expected to bring Tonga serious impacts that include more heavy rainfall events, severe tropical cyclones and extreme sea level events, which will require adaptation for people, infrastructure, and coastal ecosystems. Tonga faces a potential long-term threat from permanent inundation and wave-driven flooding, with studies suggesting significant community displacement (World Bank, 2021). The largest island, Tongatapu, which holds around 74% of the population (74,320), faces significant frequent flooding risks and potential permanent losses from sea level rise (SLR) without future adaptation measures. This population is expected to grow as Tongans relocate from outlying islands to Tongatapu. With most of Tongatapu’s populated areas only 1m above sea level, SLR could inundate many settlements without adequate adaptation strategies. Geographic isolation and economic vulnerabilities, including dependence on remittance and foreign aid, exacerbate the challenges faced by communities and decision-makers, compounding the risks associated with climate change.

The project therefore seeks to address coastal inundation in critical areas through immediate coastal protection measures in the northeastern parts of Tongatapu, while fostering long term adaptation measures through the provision of critical climate risk information and planning tools supported through key training, knowledge sharing and capacity. The project also proposes a transformative adaptation approach through establishment and support for multi- stakeholder decision making on critical adaptation needs and land use planning. Ongoing climate change threats, risk, and impacts to date have challenged Tonga and brought the issue of transformative adaptation to the forefront. Therefore, the overall objective for the project is to support the transformative adaptation agenda setting through a participatory process; supporting development and spatial planning (community development plans, district plans and island strategic plans) to consider climate risks and promote appropriate and transformative adaptation options. Specifically, these are to be achieved through three key outputs:

Output 1: Strengthened knowledge, capacity and engagement for incorporating climate risks into long-term adaptation planning supported through multi-sectoral, multi-stakeholder engagement and dialogue platform.

Output 2: Strengthened national and local capacities for effective monitoring and assessment of climate risks.

Output 3: Reduced vulnerabilities of coastal communities in Hahake to climate hazards through coastal protection measures.

DUTIES & RESPONSILITIES

Under the overall guidance from the Director, Climate Change (MEIDECC) and supervision of the Team Leader – Resilience and Climate Change, the Project Manager (PM) is responsible for the management and implementation of the project. The Project Manager is the senior most representative of the Project Management Unit (PMU) and is responsible for the overall day-to-day management of the project on behalf of UNDP, including the mobilization of all project inputs, supervision over project staff, consultants and sub-contractors. The Project Manager will attend all board meetings and support board processes as a non-voting representative. The Project Manager will run the project on a day-to-day basis within the constraints laid down by the Project Board and prepare key deliverables and documents to the board for their review and approval, including progress reports, annual work plans, adjustments to tolerance levels and risk registers.

The Project Manager’s prime responsibility is to ensure that the project produces the results specified in the project document, to the required standard of quality and within the specified constraints of time and cost, as well as managing the overall conduct of the project; Implementing activities by mobilizing goods and services; Checking on progress and plan deviations; Ensuring that changes are controlled and problems addressed; Monitoring progress and risks; and Reporting on progress including measures to address challenges and opportunities. The Project Manager will be based in Tonga and travel to Fiji as required.  The Project Manager is expected to bring international best practices in the implementation of the project and train the technical personnel in the Project Management Unit.

UNDP adopts a portfolio approach to accommodate changing business needs and leverage linkages across interventions to achieve its strategic goals. Therefore, UNDP personnel are expected to work across units, functions, teams, and projects in multidisciplinary teams in order to enhance and enable horizontal collaboration.

Key duties and accountabilities include:

Provide strategic leadership for effective project planning and implementation:

• Lead strategic planning for the project, including formulation of annual project work plan (AWP) as well as plans for budget, HR, procurement, and overall project implementation.
• Planning and providing strategic input into all aspects of project activities
• Provide quality and timely management of the project life cycle, including meeting programmatic and financial deliverables in adherence to project documents and applicable UNDP policy and programme management procedures and Government standards, rules, and regulations. Act as a senior advisor on issues related to project activities.
• Carry out the following elements of project management to ensure achievement of targets and results with support from other members of the PMU:
  • Annual work planning.
  • Annual budgeting.
  • Procurement of goods and services.
  • Budget and expenditure analysis.
  • Contractual management.
  • Quarterly and annual progress reporting.
  • Quarterly operational reporting
• Provide direction, guidance and direct supervision to UNDP project personnel, including technical experts, to ensure activities are implemented in a timely manner as planned. Undertake technical reviews of project documents produced by the project team and partners, and ensure high technical standards are met.
• Ensure all project interventions integrate a gender equality perspective/gender equality mainstreaming to the extent local context allows.
• Ensure proper execution of all administrative activities associated with project implementation that includes building and sustaining effective liaison with the MCO’s functional areas and units (i.e., programme, M&E, finance, HR, procurement, and supply management).
• Oversee the appropriate use of project funds as well as the consistent application of UNDP rules and regulations while carrying out the project management activities described above.
• Supervise and manage project personnel; establish performance objectives and standards, and ensure timely and appropriate feedback, guidance, and support for optimum performance.
• Perform other duties as necessary to ensure effective and efficient implementation of the project.
• Ensure that UNDP´s results-management systems are kept updated for project results
• Identify opportunities for synergies with other projects within UNDP and beyond to advance the key objectives and grow its focus.
• Effectively prepare the projects for closure in accordance with the UNDP GCF closure policies.

Provision of technical advisory support:

• Guide to identify needs for external technical support for effective implementation.
• Liaise with the Government, UNDP and other development partners on progress and facilitate implementation of project activities.
• Provide management, coordination, and supervision, backstopping and oversight of all technical aspects of project activities.
• Is responsible for the implementation and monitoring of all risk mitigation measures during all project phases such as inception, implementation / construction, and operation.
• Support the NPM in liaising with the Government of Tonga by providing high quality reporting inputs.
• Prepare/organize the reporting materials used in the Project Board Meeting with support from the Project Management Unit including the National Project Manager.
• Carry out assessments of the financial, political, operational and management situations on the ground that affect the project implementation and keep the UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji and UNDP Regional Hub in Bangkok abreast of the situations.
• Provide leadership in identifying solutions to address existing gaps arising out of assessments.
• Assist to deliver good international practices in coastal adaptation projects and build the capacity of the Tonga GCF PMU in the same.
• Build and maintain partnerships with technical partners and donors by reporting project progress and identifying opportunities for collaboration.
• Ensure coordination between UNDP and all project stakeholders.

Build and maintain UNDP’s strategic partnerships and support resource mobilization:

• Substantively contributes to the harnessing of effective partnerships and lead the identification and onboarding process for implementing partners.
• Cultivate and maintain strong relationships and strategic linkages with implementing and development partners, government officials, businesses, NGOs, other national and regional stakeholders, and beneficiaries to support and ensure accurate interpretation of key objectives, and to promote inclusive project implementation.
• Communicate relevant and critical information with key implementing partners and members of project governing bodies and substantively contribute to project visibility efforts. Make recommendations to the CO management team on activities with potential for scale-up, replicability and synergies.
• Provide technical support to the implementing partners and act as a liaison between UNDP and the partners.
• Support resource mobilization efforts and project development.

Monitor and report on progress in implementing project activities and achieving the targets set:

• Provide leadership and technical advice to the project in developing baselines and indicators for project monitoring and evaluation and coordinate the finalization of detailed results framework. Ensure strategies, processes, systems, and mechanisms are in place to effectively fulfill programme and financial monitoring, evaluation, quality assurance and reporting requirements.
• Lead implementation of the monitoring, evaluation, and results framework to identify plan deviations, underperformance, and other problems. Support diagnosing problems and ensure accountability for corrective actions within agreed upon tolerances to achieve results. Conduct field visits as required to verify project activities relative to stated targets and provide regular field updates to UNDP/CO management.
• Proactively perform risk assessments to identify and document risks related to the project, including operational, financial, legal, contractual, social, environmental, reputation and safety risks. Design mitigation measures and keep appropriate project governing bodies informed. Develop and complete regular reviews of the risk management matrix for the project.
• Monitor project risks and implement risk mitigation measures, jointly with the CTA; update the risk and mitigation measures at the Project Board meetings.
• Ensure that the Environmental and Social Management Plan and the Gender Action Plan are adhered to during the project implementation; If not, immediately inform UNDP and the Government and identify/discuss solutions.
• Provide advice for the annual financial audit.
• Monitoring and Evaluation of project activities and identify and implement solutions to bring the project back on track, as needed.
• Coordinate with the Pacific Office in Fiji to ensure that financial and operational procedures of the project are in line with UNDP rules and regulations.
• Coordinate the preparation of corporate, donor and government reports in line with the reporting schedule and UNDP and donor requirements. Ensure provision of ad hoc reports and information requested by relevant entities.
• Ensure proper operational and financial closure of the project.

Lead knowledge and capacity building, knowledge sharing, and advocacy relevant to the assigned thematic area(s) and UNDP:

• Identify capacity building needs and opportunities. Ensure appropriate training and other relevant capacity building activities are organized and implemented in a consultative manner, involving technical experts and stakeholders that may include the government, private sector, NGOs, donors, and/or academia. Lead workshops with senior level officials and stakeholders.
• Proactively identify and pursue opportunities for the documentation and communication of best practices, programme results, and lessons learned under the project.
• Actively participate in and make substantive contributions to external networks and communities of practice to promote advocacy for UNDP’s work and opportunities for collaboration in addressing development trends. 
• Represent UNDP in relevant technical meetings and working groups under the direction of CO management.
• Support establishment of knowledge platforms and innovative mechanisms for capturing and disseminating knowledge from the project; and ensure development of knowledge resources and products to share with project partners and to support UNDP’s engagement in this area.

Other Duties:

• The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organisation.

Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities: 

• Supervision over project personnel, consultants and sub-contractors.

QUALIFICATIONS

Education: 

• Advanced university degree (master's degree or equivalent) in Business Administration, Public Administration, Economics, Political Sciences, Social Sciences, or related fields are required. OR 
• A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in the areas stated above, in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience, Knowledge, and Skills:

• Minimum of 7 years (with master’s degree) or 9 years (with bachelor’s degree) of progressively responsible experience at the national or international level in project management, quality assurance, management advisory services, is required. 
• Experience in monitoring and evaluation of development projects, and partnership management is required. 
• Experience in the use of computers, office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and web-based management systems, and advanced knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages is required. 
• Knowledge and experience in Climate Change related projects/programmes is desired.
• Experience in working, liaising, and collaborating with UN agencies, governments, NGOs, civil society organizations, and public international organizations is an asset.
• Prior experience and knowledge of capacity building theory and capacity building/assessment methodologies is an asset. 
• Experience in setting priorities, budgets, work plans, participating in programme development, strategic planning is desired. 
• Experience in resource mobilization is an advantage. 
• Demonstrated experience in risk assessments and document risks related to the project is desired. 
• Experience in leading teams is required

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in oral and written English is required. 
• Knowledge of another UN language is desirable

COMPETENCIES

Core Competencies:

• Achieve Results: LEVEL 3: Set and align challenging, achievable objectives for multiple projects, have lasting impact.
• Think Innovatively: LEVEL 3: Proactively mitigate potential risks, 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 task/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 benefits of diverse workforce and champion inclusivity.

People Management Competencies:

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

Cross-Functional & Technical Competencies:

Business Direction & Strategy: Strategic Thinking

• Develop effective strategies and prioritized plans in line with UNDP’s mission and objectives, based on the systemic analysis of challenges, opportunities and potential risks; link the general vision to reality on the ground to create tangible targeted solutions; learn from a variety of sources to anticipate and effectively respond to both current and future trends; demonstrate foresight. 

Business Direction & Strategy: System Thinking

• Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgement to understand how interrelated elements coexist within an overall process or system, and to consider how altering one element can impact on other parts of the system.

Business Development: Knowledge Facilitation

• Ability to animate individuals and groups, internally and externally, and to design and facilitate activities, to share and exchange knowledge, information and ideas. Knowledge of tools and approaches to stimulate active participation, contribution, and exchange.

Business Management: Project Management

• Ability to plan, organize, prioritize and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals.

Business Management: Communication

• Communicate in a clear, concise and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience. Ability to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media and other appropriate channels

Partnership Management: Relationship Management

• Ability to engage with a wide range of public and private partners, build, sustain and/or strengthen working relations, trust and mutual understanding.

Business Management: Portfolio Management

• Ability to select, prioritise and control the organization's programmes and projects in line with its strategic objectives and capacity Ability to balance the implementation of change initiatives with regular activities for optimal return on investment. Knowledge and understanding of key principles of project, programme, and portfolio management. 

Please note that continuance of appointment beyond the initial 12 months is contingent upon the successful completion of a probationary period.

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