Project Manager - Yemen Financial Market Infrastructure and Inclusion Project (YFIIM)

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Yemen has faced a significant crisis since 2015, leading to major challenges within the banking sector. The war has created a complex web of challenges for financial inclusion and the banking system. Yemen's banking sector, despite having a good asset size (57.8% of GDP in 2019) spread across eighteen various bank types (government, commercial, traditional, Islamic, and microfinance), has traditionally focused on credit with investments concentrated in government treasury bills. Yemen has one of the weakest payment systems in the Arab world, with only 10% of Yemenis having bank accounts (including electronic money accounts) by the end of 2019.

The Central Bank of Yemen (CBY) has fractured along political lines in September 2016. This created rival branches, one aligned with the Internationally Recognized Government (IRG) in Aden and another with the de-facto authorities (DFA) authorities in Sana’a. This division led to a significant decrease in the necessary institutional and technical capacity to supervise domestic banking operations or evaluate banks’ liquidity needs, lack of available cash (liquidity crisis), a weakening currency, lost income due to frozen assets and unpaid debts, restrictions on transferring money both domestically and internationally, and a general distrust in the system that has pushed financial activity away from banks and towards informal channels.

Yemen's financial services haven't kept pace with global advancements. The Central Bank of Yemen recognizes the potential of mobile money to address cash shortages and expand financial inclusion. In 2014, it issued regulations for mobile money services through banks. The reach has been limited, with only five bank-linked wallets and around 808,000 accounts by 2019. CBY recently allowed non-bank financial institutions to offer mobile money services, to expand financial services beyond urban areas and reach underserved groups, including women (currently only 13% of mobile money users). Recognizing this potential, central banks, commercial banks, and even Islamic banks have actively championed these advancements. Digital financial technologies offer a path towards greater financial efficiency and inclusion, especially in developing countries like Yemen.

The World Bank and UNDP will provide support in Yemen to develop the national payments infrastructure that supports the transparency and efficiency of payments transactions for the Yemeni population and increases financial inclusion. 

The project will work on developing the payments infrastructure and supporting the digitization of payments in Yemen through support for development of Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS), for development of Fast Payment Systems (FPS) , and supporting access and usage of the payment's infrastructure across Yemen

UNDP is seeking to recruit a Project Manager to manage the Yemen Financial Market Infrastructure and Inclusion Project (YFIIM), within a comprehensive vision of the transitional challenges in Yemen, as laid out in the Strategic Framework. 

The Project Manager is expected to have technical expertise in Project’s Management and leadership etc.

The Project Manager, under the overall guidance of the Deputy Resident Representative (P) and direct supervision of the Team Leader of the Governance & Peacebuilding Portfolio, shall oversee the timely, efficient, and effective implementation of the project’s activities, manage the project team, nurture the partnership with the donor and national counterparts., 

S/he will provide technical oversight and day-to-day management for the YFIIP project to ensure that all outputs are of high quality, consistent with the Project Result Frameworks of the Project Document and implemented within the agreed time frame. S/he will provide coordination, technical guidance, and support to the project team and contracted vendors and implementing partners 

The Project Manager shall build and manage partnerships, facilitate knowledge management and sharing and support and facilitate the elaboration of other initiatives of UNDP. S/he will pay special attention to the communication of the project’s results.

UNDP adopts a portfolio approach to accommodate changing business needs and leverage linkages across interventions to achieve its strategic goals. This is a recognition of interconnected nature of development risks & crises that the world is facing and that call for assembling of multidisciplinary teams for an integrated & systemic response. Therefore, UNDP personnel are expected to work across issues, units, functions, teams, and projects in multidisciplinary teams in order to enhance and enable horizontal collaboration.

1)   Provide strategic and technical leadership for effective project implementation.
Maintain a detailed, diversified and constantly updated overview of the status and performance of the financial sector in Yemen, including the Central Banks, banking sector, political economy aspects, personnel mutations, relations with private sector and clients, etc., in order to ensure agile adaptation of UNDP’s approach and priorities
Guarantee coherence of approach between the main components of the project; between the project and related UNDP projects, especially those with a (local) economic development components or private sector engagement component; with priorities as defined in the CPD ensuring synergy across the three UNDP programme pillars (Green Economic Recovery and Development, Climate Change, Governance and Peace) including by coaching and/or training UNDP staff and organizing joint visioning exercises.
Contribute to the development of new programmatic opportunities and draft related proposals, if and when required.
Contribute collaborative inputs to the preparation/revision of the Country Programme Document (CPD), Integrated Work Plan (IWP) and other strategic documents. 
Ensures that performance monitoring, evaluations and impact assessments are carried out. 
Ensures that the project effectively contributes to results in gender and the promotion of women and youth in recovery, transition, peace building and development in line with UNDP’s mandates.

2.) Management of UNDP YFIIM Project and the team focusing on procurement, quality assurance and risk management 
Advise the TL of the Governance & Peacebuilding portfolio on the strategic direction and adaptation of the project.
Oversee the day-to-day implementation of activities as listed in the approved Annual Work Plans. 
Seek supplementary high-quality external technical expertise on the Project’s areas of intervention if and where necessary. 
Continuously assess the implementation plan to meet targets on time, adjusting activities as required.
Oversee the preparation of the Annual Work Plan (integrating results of the annual review by the Project board) by the Project team, in close consultation with responsible parties, local authorities and the donor, and negotiate approval of the AWP by the Project Board. 
Lead the procurement processes, vendor evaluation and negotiations, including Requests for Proposals (RFPs), technical specifications, and evaluation criteria for RTGS and FPS.
Ensure compliance with Central Government procurement regulations and international best practices (e.g., World Bank and UN standards).
Seek technical inputs of the relevant UNDP and UN colleagues to guarantee that the project maintains a high level of political economy and conflict sensitivity. 
Represent the project to the Project Board and guarantee satisfactory secretarial services are provided to the Board.  
Ensure that the required goods and services necessary to implement all planned activities, including by preparing terms of reference and specifications for tenders and Request for Proposals, are timely and cost-effectively procured according to UNDP’s Programme and Operations Policies and Procedures (POPP). 
Monitor the disbursement of the projects’ funds and guarantee proper financial management as per UNDP’s POPP. 
Ensure the effective use of data in projects’ implementation, across the data lifecycle, and ensure effective monitoring, evaluation and learning on projects’ impact. 
Ensure reports are regularly prepared on activities, outputs, and outcomes, including preparation of donor and corporate reports. 
Ensure optimal financial planning and identification of human resource requirements within the area of responsibility.
Monitor and manage risks and take mitigation measures where needed. 
Effectively manage the team, including identification of learning needs and facilitation of learning opportunities, and sharing of substantive knowledge with the team
Promote teamwork and a good team spirit among the project’s team.
Monitor and evaluate staff performance and take necessary actions to address under-performance if happening.

3.) Advocacy, partnership building and resource mobilization 
Identify strategic partnerships and support resource mobilization to broaden the project’s impact.
Ensure that the projects maintain an effective presence on social networks to better disseminate lessons learnt and results and guarantee higher accountability in project implementation. 
Present the projects and achievements in donor fora and other events organized nationally or internationally, if and where necessary. 
Support UNDP TL Governance & Peacebuilding Portfolio in donor coordination as necessary.  
Seek opportunities and propose approaches for private sector involvement.
Propose strategic programmatic areas of cooperation, including joint programming, in line with agreed global, regional, and national priorities. 
Maintain excellent relationships with the project’s donor, based on trust, honesty and regular (in)formal information sharing and discussion on implementation progress.

4.) Ensure provision of top-quality advisory services and facilitation of knowledge building and management.
Collaborate closely with the Programme Teams, Sub-Offices, as well as the cross-cutting units, especially the Programme Management Support Team, the Communication and Advocacy Team, and the Gender Specialist, with a view to ensuring that the project is responsive to beneficiary and donor needs and requirements, and that results are communicated in a timely and transparent manner.
Coordinate and ensure integrated support in development of policies and institutions to address country problems and needs in collaboration with the strategic partners. 
Strengthen in-house capacity on inclusive financial infrastructure and digital payment systems through targeted training and knowledge-sharing.

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

Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities: Supervision and performance management of YFIIM project team

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

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

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies

2030 Agenda: Engagement and Effectiveness - SDG Finance:  Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)
2030 Agenda Partnership    Sustainable Development Goals Finance:  Public Finance for the SDGs 
2030 Agenda Prosperity -Recovery Solution and Human Mobility:  Enterprise/Private Sector Recovery
Business Management - Client Satisfaction/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 - 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 Management - Project Management:  Ability to plan, organize, prioritize and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals
Strategic Direction and Strategy - 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. 

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Note: Please upload copies of your academic qualifications and 3 latest Performance Evaluations (if applicable). 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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