Project Associate

The Philippines is one of the fastest growing economies in Southeast Asia and plays an important role in the stability of the region. Environmental degradation and more frequent climatic events are likely to be key political, economic, and security disrupters over the longer term. Humanitarian crises can undermine growth, reverse development gains, increase poverty, and cause instability that can last for decades. 

To address this challenge, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) through the support of the Government of Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in the Philippines (DFAT), is implementing the Strengthening Institutions and Empowering Localities Against Disasters and Climate Change (SHIELD) Program. Australia invested AUD18 million in SHIELD which aims to make all people in target communities safer and more resilient to the impacts of natural hazard events and climate change. This will be realized by achieving three interdependent components: 

Component 1: Government, private sector, and civil society stakeholders in targeted local government units (LGUs) are collaborating to unlock funding and implementing informed and inclusive resilience actions

Component 2: Relevant national government agencies (NGAs) are prioritizing action on local climate and disaster resilience 

           Component 3: Philippine scientific agencies are producing tailored and accessible          information for  local resilience action    

The SHIELD Program is implemented in partnership with the Government of the Philippines through the Department of Interior and Local Government and four Consortium Partners, namely, United Nations Human Settlement Program (UN-HABITAT), Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), National Resilience Council (NRC), and the Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society (CBCS). The program will assist 11 vulnerable provinces, Metro Manila, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

UNDP has set up a SHIELD Support Unit (SSU) responsible for the day-to-day operations of the program. The SSU will undertake key functions to support the SHIELD Program Board, Executive Committee, Program Management Team, and collaborate with multi-stakeholder partners at the national and sub-national levels. 

   Duties and Responsibilities:

Under the direct supervision of the SHIELD Program Component Lead for Policy, the SHIELD Project Associate will perform technical and administrative support functions contributing to the design, planning, implementation, management, and monitoring of activities led by the assigned responsible government partner.

The Project Associate will work closely with the SHIELD SSU, assigned responsible government partner, UNDP Country Office teams, Consortium Partners, and other relevant stakeholders to ensure relevant requirements are fulfilled in a timely manner with the required quality, following standards in line with UNDP guidelines and procedures 

1. Support the assigned responsible government partner to ensure effective project planning and implementation

• Compile and summarize information and data for the formulation of project work plans, draft annual/quarterly budgets, proposals on implementation arrangements, and other specific project-related topics or issues.
• Provide comprehensive support in all aspects of project implementation in accordance with the project documents, annual work, plans and other agreements between UNDP and responsible partners.
• Monitor the delivery of outputs by consultants, beneficiaries and contracted companies and communicate findings to the supervisor
• Ensure compliance of project business processes with UNDP Project Operational Policies and Procedures (POPP), UNDP Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), and business processes of the assigned responsible government partner. 
• When necessary, provide guidance to the responsible government partner on business                 processes, administrative and other require
•  Provide administrative and logistical support to ensure successful project delivery that includes organizing/coordinating project events and selecting appropriate venues, coordinating project procurement procedures, facilitating travel arrangements, maintaining project records and files, recruiting project team members, and supporting contracting activities.
• Support the assigned responsible government partner in collecting and compiling expenditure reports and other related financial documents, and facilitating processing of payments to consultants, hired project staff, and suppliers.
• Support mainstreaming gender equality in the project implementation, including in data collection and compilation. 

      2. Support partnerships and resource mobilization

• Establish and maintain contacts and cooperation with the relevant offices of the assigned responsible government partner, other concerned national government agencies (NGAs), local government units (LGUs), Consortium Partners, and other relevant stakeholders.
• Provide support in updating the database of the relevant public, development partners, and other stakeholders who are the project's counterparts.
• Ensure regular communication and coordination with the responsible government partner, project counterparts, stakeholders, and beneficiaries; and develop and maintain effective mechanisms for integrating and responding to their feedback and insight.

• Support implementation of the project monitoring system in alignment with its results framework to ensure effective information sharing, provision of feedback, and elaboration of high-quality progress reports.
• Collect, analyze, and present information for monitoring and evaluation of project implementation against project targets as well as for audit purposes. Identify gaps in implementation and provide support in bridging those gaps in consultation with supervisors and partners.
• Assist in organizing field and study visits, missions, workshops, roundtables, and conferences within the project.
• Arrange meetings and draft routine correspondence, minutes including preparing background materials for discussions and briefing sessions.
• Assist in implementing effective risk management for the project with a well-documented risk mitigation plan in place. Support monitoring of previously identified and emerging risks.
• Monitor expenditures and commitments against the project budget and relevant plans regularly, and provide finance-related information to support project implementation. Recommend corrective actions and draft correspondence concerning finance, operations, and budgetary issues when necessary.
• Prepare and consolidate required project reports on a timely basis and in line with monitoring and reporting guidelines and donor requirements.

    4. Support knowledge building, knowledge sharing, and capacity building relevant to the                   assigned project.

• Participate in training and organize briefings on internal procedures for the project staff.
• Provide support to other capacity-building activities, including the design and delivery of tools, materials for workshops, or platforms, aligned with the objectives of the SHIELD Program. 
• Provide support in the dissemination and sharing of relevant data and lessons learned within the CO. Keep pulse on emerging best practices nationally, regionally, and internationally that relate to the work of the assigned project.
• Support compiling and systematizing project knowledge, products and tools as well as their wide distribution to partners.

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

.   Institutional Arrangement

The Project Associate shall be directly supervised by the Component Lead for Policy, with overall guidance from the SHIELD Program Manager. They will be working closely with the SHIELD SSU, UNDP Country Office and Bangkok Regional Hub, Consortium Partners, national and subnational partners and stakeholders, and DFAT.

Core   Achieve Results: LEVEL 1: Plans and monitors own work, pays attention to details, delivers quality work by deadline Think Innovatively: LEVEL 1: Open to creative ideas/known risks, is pragmatic problem solver, makes improvements  Learn Continuously: LEVEL 1: Open minded and curious, shares knowledge, learns from mistakes, asks for feedback Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 1: Adapts to change, constructively handles ambiguity/uncertainty, is flexible  Act with Determination:  LEVEL 1: Shows drive and motivation, able to deliver calmly in face of adversity, confident Engage and Partner: LEVEL 1: Demonstrates compassion/understanding towards others, forms positive relationships Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 1: Appreciate/respect differences, aware of unconscious bias, confront discrimination 

People Management (Insert below standard sentence if the position has direct reports.)

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

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies (insert up to 7 competencies) 

Thematic Area Name Definition 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  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  Customer Satisfaction/Client Management 

• Ability to respond timely and appropriately with a sense of urgency, provide consistent solutions, and deliver timely and quality results and/or solutions to fulfil and understand the real customers' needs. Provide inputs to the development of customer service strategy. Look for ways to add value beyond clients’ immediate requests. Ability to anticipate client’s upcoming needs and concerns.

 

Business Management Communication

• Ability to 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. 

 

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.

 

Technical - Finance Budget management

• Ability to support budgetary aspects of work planning process, drawing and management of team budgets

 

Technical – _Procurement

Procurement 

management

• The ability to acquire goods, services or works from an outside external source

 

 

 

• Secondary education is required, or  
• University Degree in environment, urban planning, community development, sociology, public administration, business administration, economics, social or political sciences or equivalent field will be given due consideration, but it is not a requirement

•  A minimum of 6 years (with high school diploma) or 3 years (with bachelor’s degree) of progressively responsible administrative or project experience is required

• Experience in the use of computers, office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and web-based management systems, and advance knowledge of spreadsheet and databased packages

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

• Experience working with the Philippines’ private sector, national and local Government, and NGOs/ INGOs
• Experience with UN System/UNDP system 
• Experience in disaster risk reduction / climate change projects
• Experience in procurement, processing of payments, project budgets, and other administrative processes in development organizations 
• Experience in project management processes and monitoring and evaluation tools