ICT Specialist

Mission and objectivesUNDP is the knowledge frontier organization for sustainable development in the UN Development System. It serves as the integrator for collective action to realize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UNDP’s policy work carried out at HQ, Regional and Country Office levels, forms a continuous spectrum of in-depth local knowledge to cutting-edge global perspectives and advocacy. In this context, UNDP invests in the Global Policy Network (GPN), a network of field-based and global technical expertise across a wide range of knowledge domains and in support of the signature solutions and organizational capabilities envisioned in the Strategic Plan. The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UN Guiding Principles) is widely recognized as the most authoritative, normative framework guiding efforts to reduce or eliminate the adverse impact of business operations on human rights. Experts have described it as the single most important innovation in promoting sustainable business practices in the last 25 years – a role that is reinforced by its inclusion as one of the Means of Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda).

ContextUNDP 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 currently coordinating a multi-donor project in collaboration with the Ethiopian National Dialogue Commission (ENDC) under the project entitled “Support to an inclusive and effective Dialogue Process in Ethiopia”. The Ethiopian National Dialogue Commission (ENDC) has been established in 2021, under proclamation number 1265/2021. As reflected in the preamble of the establishment proclamation, there are differences and disagreements among the various political and opinion leaders as well as the segments of the population regarding some fundamental national issues of the country. Hence, Ethiopia has ventured to resolve these differences and disagreements through broad based inclusive public dialogue. As stipulated in the proclamation, the Commission is mandated to facilitate discussions among various groups of society, identify root causes of differences, and implement effective dialogue that includes recommendations coming out of the consultations, laying the social and political foundations, as well as foundations for national consensus among others. Given the broader mandate and duties of the Commission, it is expected to provide technical and financial support from all stakeholders including government, non-state actors, donor partners, and the citizens at large, for the commission to register sustainable results. In order support the Commission delivers its mandate, an effective usage of Information Technology Platform would have paramount importance. Hence, the Commission is looking for an enthusiastic ICTs specialist. The ICT specialist, who will be working under the guidance and supervision of the Head of Secretariat of the ENDC, will be responsible to facilitate the ICT needs assessment and assistance in introducing and strengthening innovation, and in providing ICT advice and support to the Commission. The objective of this assignment is to ensure proper implementation of appropriate technologies (software and hardware) and development of ICT tools for effective data management, upgrading existing ICT capacity and system of the project and an overall management and advice of ICT-related issues. The incumbent is expected to spend a significant proportion of his/her time in innovation in ICT use in the project implementation and upgrade ICT system of the project and partners. S/he will lead in implementing digital technology to manage project activities especially those related to digital capacity building at ENDC National Dialogue context. This assignment requires the ICT expert to offer his/her expertise in designing, implementing, and following up on the digital support in the Commission.

Task DescriptionUnder the overall supervision and guidance of the Secretariat Head of the ENDC and in close coordination with UNDP National Dialogue Project Coordination, ICT Specialist will take lead role in digital support and ICT capacity building to achieve following objectives of this tasks. • Assess, design, and adopt appropriate digital technology interventions, especially in the realization of the digitalization project of the Commission. • Provide technical assistance to the effective and efficient undertaking of the Commission and potential stakeholders; • Perform any other tasks assigned by the concerned supervisor. Assess, design and adopt appropriate digital technology interventions, especially in the current phase of the Commission’s work: • Actively partake in planning and implementation of project activities related to data management (collection, analysis, and visualization) and digital innovation in the field of agenda collection, prioritization, and setting; • Conduct regular monitoring and check-ups to identify gaps and challenges in adopting digital technologies in support of the ND process. • Take lead in purchasing software and hardware for automated and/or manual data collection, analysis, and reporting. • Ensure proper monitoring and reporting on digital innovation activities and provide guidance and recommendations for improvement of the project strategies and plans; Provide technical assistance to ENDC and potential networks: • Offer technical guidance and support to stakeholders of the Commission in adopting digital technology including introducing grievance handling digital platform; • Offer evidence based technical advice to ENDC team in relation to the ICT related decision making; • Support to upgrade IT system of the Commission to ensure sustainable use of the ICT products that project invested; is possible with the regional branch offices; • Mentor the staff working with the digitalization team, on data classification, processing, and information management systems; • Support to upgrade the existing ICT system and the digitalization exercise in the Commission. • Perform any other tasks assigned by the concerned supervisor:

Competencies and values Corporate competencies • Demonstrated high moral integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards, sound political judgment as well as diplomacy, impartiality and discretion and proven capacity of initiative, discretion and leadership; • Displays cultural, gender, religious, race, nationality and age sensitivity; • Accountability; • Creative Problem Solving; • Effective Communication; • Inclusive Collaboration; • Stakeholder Engagement; • Leading by Example. Functional Competencies • Excellent understanding of ICT system and digital platform of ENDC, and any potential similar platform somewhere else; • Familiarity with supporting legal aid, access to justice and human rights issues; • Ability to adapt to flexible and fluid situations; • Promotes knowledge management in ENDC and a learning environment in the office through leadership and personal example; • Ability to strengthen/upgrading existing ICT system and capacity ; • Ability to oversee provide ICT inputs to the government authorities and bureaucracy; • Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude; • Effective communications skills and ability to establish good working relationships with the Commission and its stakeholders; Power Automate: • Proficient in automating workflows and business processes using Power Automate, a cloud-based automation tool from Microsoft. • Skilled in creating automated workflows that connect various applications and services to streamline repetitive tasks and improve efficiency. • Experienced in designing workflows with triggers, actions, conditions, and loops to automate data entry, notifications, approvals, and data synchronization. • Knowledgeable about Power Automate connectors and integrations with popular services like Microsoft 365, SharePoint, and third-party applications. Application Development and Maintenance: • Proven experience in full-stack application development, from requirements gathering and design to implementation and deployment. • Skilled in version control systems like for collaborative development and code management. • Experienced in software testing methodologies, including unit testing, integration testing, and end-to-end testing. • Proficient in troubleshooting and debugging software issues, performing root cause analysis, and implementing timely solutions for bug fixes and enhancements.

Living conditions and remarksAddis Ababa is the capital of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. The population is estimated at about 4 million or so. The climate is sunny and temperate, but it can be very cold at night, with freezing temperature at times. It is therefore advisable to bring warm clothing and foresee using heaters and/or log fires when necessary. Addis Ababa is the headquarters for the UN Economic Commission for Africa as well as the African Union (ex-OAU). Thus, there is a very large community of expatriates from all over the world. There are some 80 embassies/diplomatic missions. Housing is most of the time readily available and the rents are, on average, reasonable. Most foodstuffs, beverages, household goods, furniture and clothing, mostly imported from the Middle/Far East, South Africa and Europe, or local brands, can be found, although they can be expensive. Meat, fish, fresh fruits and vegetables are cheap and abundantly available. As this is a national UN Volunteer assignment, the UN Volunteer will be responsible for arranging his/her own housing, other living essentials and will already be fully conversant with the living conditions in Ethiopia. . You can check full entitlements at the duty station at https://app.unv.org/calculator. The complete UN Volunteer Conditions of Service is available at https://explore.unv.org/cos.