117565 - Project Assistant (5 Field Positions) for FOLUR Project

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. 

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. Learn more at undp.org or follow at @UNDP.

The unsustainable management of globally traded commodity crops (cacao, coffee and oil palm), and their expansion into forest areas, are leading to major impacts on globally important biodiversity, the degradation of soil and waterresources, the loss of carbon stocks, and the degradation of watersheds that are vital for maintaining water flows torice production areas. Rice production is itself a source of globally significant environmental impacts, in the form ofthe contamination of soil and globally- important aquatic ecosystems due to excessive and inappropriate use of agricultural chemicals, and the generation of methane (a potent greenhouse gas) from flooded paddy systems.

A narrow focus on the production of globally-traded cash crops by farmers is environmentally and socially unsustainable – even in the case of perennial crops such as coffee and cacao that have the potential to yield environmental benefits if appropriately managed – because of the volatility of global markets for these crops and their vulnerability to the effects of global climate change. A large number of major global value chain actors have committed to sustainable sourcing of the products that they trade, in order to comply with corporate social and environmental responsibility goals and to satisfy consumer requirements for sustainable production. This presents farmers with a major potential source of market-based incentives for sustainable production, but at present their ability to take advantage of this opportunity is constrained by their disconnection from these “green” value chains and their limited technical capacities to satisfy their requirements in terms of environmental standards, product quality and reliability of supply.

Despite significant policy commitments to sustainability by the Government of Indonesia, capacities, knowledge, tools, regulatory instruments and incentives for putting these into practice are still inadequately developed, and the agricultural and environmental sectors continue to be highly compartmentalized, lacking the integrated vision that is required if social and economic development and landscape management are to be sustainable.

With the funding support from the Global Environmental Faculty (GEF), the Government of Indonesia, led by the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs and with technical support from UNDP and FAO is preparing the full-sizeproject implementation entitled “Strengthening sustainability in commodity and food systems, land restoration andland use governance through integrated landscape management for multiple benefits in Indonesia (FOLUR)”. The project aimed to ensure sustainable value chains of palm oil, coffee and cocoa via application of a comprehensive land use approach linking biodiversity conservation, restoration and production at scale. The project will assist the country to address above-mentioned development challenges through four areas of interventions as follow:

1. Development of integrated landscape management systems
2. Promotion of sustainable food production practices and responsible value chains
3. Conservation and restoration of natural habitats
4. Management, Coordination, Collaboration, and M&E

The project will be implemented in 5 provinces (jurisdictions) and 5 districts (pilot landscapes): Aceh (Central Aceh),North Sumatra (Mandailing Natal), West Kalimantan (Sanggau), South Sulawesi (Luwu) and West Papua (Sorong). The project will be commenced for full implementation in February 2022 for 72 months.

This position will support event activities on field level in all 5 FOLUR project sites under the overall guidance of National Project Manager of FOLUR Project. He/she will work in close collaboration with  the FOLUR project personnel to exchange information and ensure consistent service delivers.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Support the project team to ensure effective project planning, budgeting and  implementation focusing on achievement of the following results:

• Assist in the coordination of project planning and preparation work for, typically, a medium size and complex component of the project initiatives;
• Compiles, summarizes, and presents basic information/data on specific project and related topics or issues to FOLUR Project.;
• Reviews project documents, especially cost plans/budgets, for completeness and compliance with relevant rules and procedures prior to submission for final approval and signature; identifies inconsistencies; distributes project documents to relevant parties upon approval.
• Implement project standard operating procedures in line with the government and UNDP’s regulations;
• Support in assessing and analyzing current policies of local government in their respective site to provide policy mapping in support to sustainable targeted commodity in their respective site;

2. Support to the effective progress of project implementation:

• Collecting data for targeted farmers by name and addresses to ease in providing direct and indirect project intervention in their respective site;
• Support  the preparation of project reports, in line with the monitoring and reporting guidelines and present it to the project  team  in timely manner;
• Providing assistante regarding various studies implemented by academic consultants, such as but not limited to beneficieries analysis, Integrated Landscape Management Plan development at provincial and Comodities Action Plan in district level;
• Provide administrative support for preparation of high quality and results oriented progress reports;

3. Provides administrative support to the Project Management Unit focusing on achievement of the following results:

• Provision of general office assistance such as response to complex information requests and inquiries; reviews, logs and routes incoming correspondence; establishment of filling system and maintenance files/records; organization of meetings, workshops; routine administrative tasks, including maintaining attendance records,  etc.
• Drafts correspondence on periodic reports, briefing notes, graphic and statistical summaries, accounting spreadsheets, etc.

4. Support strategic partnerships, communication and support to the implementation of resource mobilization:

• Updated database of the relevant public and development partners private sector, civil society and other stakeholders who are counterparts for the project;
• Serving as on-field liaison to connect FOLUR Project with provincial and district level government partners, local NGOs, private sector, and local communities in their respective site;

5. Supports knowledge building and knowledge sharing focusing on achievement of the following results:

• Participation in the trainings for the operations/ projects staff.
• Synthesis of lessons learned and best practices in project management support function
• Contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice.

6. The incumbent of the position should avoid any kind of discriminatory behavior including gender discrimination and ensure that:

• Human rights and gender equality is prioritized as an ethical principle within all actions;
• Activities are designed and implemented in accordance with “Social and Environmental Standards of UNDP”;
• Any kind of diversities based on ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, disability, religion, class, gender are respected within all implementations including data production;
• Differentiated needs of women and men are considered;
• Inclusive approach is reflected within all actions and implementations, in that sense an enabling and accessible setup in various senses such as disability gender language barrier is created;
• Necessary arrangements to provide gender parity within all committees, meetings, trainings etc. introduced.

Competencies

CORE COMPETENCIES

• Achieve Results: Plans and monitors own work, pays attention to details, delivers quality work by deadline
• Think Innovatively: Open to creative ideas/known risks, is pragmatic problem solver, makes improvements
• Learn Continuously: Open minded and curious, shares knowledge, learns from mistakes, asks for feedback
• Adapt with Agility: Adapts to change, constructively handles ambiguity/uncertainty, is flexible
• Act with Determination: Shows drive and motivation, able to deliver calmly in face of adversity, confident
• Engage and Partner: Demonstrates compassion/understanding towards others, forms positive relationships
• Enable Diversity and Inclusion: Appreciate/respect differences, aware of unconscious bias, confront discrimination

CROSS-FUNCTIONAL AND TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Education:

• Secondary Education is required.
• University degree (Bachelor’s Degree) Agriculture/Forestry/Farming/Nature Conservation/Development Studies/Political Science/Public Administration or other relevant fields will be given due consideration, but is not a requirement.

Experience:

• Minimum 5 years of relevant experience for candidate with High school or minimum of 2 years of experience for candidate with Bachelor Degree; preferably in the field of forestry or development
• Relevant experience in administrative/financial/ procurement/ asset management and project activities would be desirable

Required Skills:

• Good inter-personal and communications skills.
• Ability to work in a team
• Up-to-date computer skills required, knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages

Additional Skills and Competencies:

• Familiar with Government and UN/UNDP procedures would be desirable
• Experience in project implementation using Government and International Organization rules and regulation
• Experience in collecting, analyzing, and summarizing administration report
• Experience in liaising with government in provincial and district level would be desirable
• Experience in field work of engaging directly with local comnunities and/or local project beneficiaries in relevance to the project’s scope would be desirable

Languages:

• English and Bahasa Indonesia in both writing and speaking

APPLICANT MUST COMPLETE P11 FORM AND SUBMIT AS PART OF THEIR APPLICATION.

Click here to download the form: 

UN 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. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

UN Indonesia reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement.  We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UN Indonesia at the same grade level and with similar job description, experiences and education requirements