Background
The UNDP Bhutan Country Programme Document (CPD 2024โ2028) aims to support the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGoB) in achieving its ambitious development goals outlined in the 13th Five-Year Plan. The CPD seeks to addressing systemic and structural challenges of Bhutan in key areas such as economic reform, climate resilience, biodiversity conservation, technology and digitalization, and food systems strengthening. The CPD โ a living document โ will support Bhutan to address the challenge at the same time position Bhutan to materialize its dividends and opportunities โ with a future facing and global orientation. UNDP together with its capacity and expertise shared across the global hubs and networks will support the country by advancing innovation, instituting financing solutions and delivering strategic and policy advisories.ย
In this context, the Strategic Planning and Partnership Specialistย will play the lead role in ensuring effective and efficient programme planning and oversight. The Specialist will support the programme team to ensure that UNDPโs work meets programming standards and compliance following its policy and standards. More importantly, the Specialist will formulate and implement resource mobilization strategy leveraging various funding sources in support of and together with the Royal Government.
Under the overall guidance of the Resident Representative (RR) and direct supervision of Deputy Resident Representative (DRR), the Specialist provides substantive technical expertise on evidence-based planning, monitoring, and evaluation, and knowledge management, programme quality assurance as well as advancing the strategic partnership. S/He advises the Country Office (CO) Management Team and project/programme teams on the planning, monitoring and evaluation of programmes and projects, to ensure evidence-based, results-focused and high-quality interventions. He or She works closely with the Operations Manager in the areas of audit follow up, programme finance management and overall compliance of programme management-related corporate compliance.
S/He leads the design and implementation of the CO M&E and RM systems, including data collection methods, evaluations and advises on the collection of reliable, accurate and coherent information to assess the delivery, performance and impact of programmes and projects. S/He quality assures performance reporting and provides support to the RR and DRR on their leadership, strategy and pipeline development and partnership & resource mobilization efforts.ย
Duties and Responsibilities
Lead and coordinate strategic programme planning, ensuring alignment with CPD objectives and national priorities
Programme design:ย Advise and support the Country Office Management Team (COMT) on programme design, planning, monitoring and evaluation, including working with other UN agencies in formulation of Country Programme Document (CPD) and UN Corporation framework. Programme and financial planning: Lead the Annual Work Planning exercise (AWP) and formulation of the CO Integrated Workplan (IWP), the Country Office Business Plan (COBP) and annual Compact. Resource and financial oversight: Lead strategic finance and resource management by producing timely analytics for the office to accelerate implementation as well as meeting corporate and country office financial targets.ย Risk management: Ensure that the corporate dashboard including risk management is high of quality, monitored regularly and reported to the COMT for redressal Quality assurance of project formulation: Provide guidance in the development of new project documents including theory of change, problem and risk analysis as well as the preparation of Results and Resource Framework, M&E Plan, ensuring alignment with the CPD.ย Advise on application of UNDP program/project quality assurance along the whole program/project management cycle.ย Advising CO on the mitigation or other follow up actions to address identified program/project quality gaps in collaboration with relevant project managers and programme personnel. UNDP programme standards:ย Leading CO program quality assurance initiatives, spot-checks and support to programmes/projects in close collaboration with the Operations Manager and Team who will lead operational aspects of the spot-checks.ย Strategic oversight on CPD: Set up and implement results measurement frameworks including designing indicators, baselines, milestones and targets against the Strategic Plan Integrated Results and Resources framework and Country Programme Document CPD. Programme and compliance reporting:ย Facilitate results-oriented knowledge management, sharing and reporting, including overall coordination of year-end Results Oriented Annual Reporting (ROAR) processing, including gathering and collating inputs from projects/programs.ยLead and implement Country Officeโs programmatic oversight and Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) plans
Oversight and quality assurance:ย Develop country office oversight and quality assurance plan and ensure that it is implemented to ensure that UNDPโs programme standards, accountability and policies are met in the entire programme/project cycle management Monitoring and Evaluation:ย Advice Programme/Project teams in baseline data collection, survey and assessment processes and support programme/project quality assurance. Building the capacity of the CO programme/project teams to quality assure results frameworks, M&E plans, IWP monitoring data and results reporting.ย Providing substantive technical advice on the implementation of the Country Programme Document, its Results and Resources Framework (RRFs), monitoring and evaluation plan, using adequate and innovative data collection solutions, drawing from and integrating with national statistics data, and coordinating with other UN agency partners.ย Coordinate with programme teams the development and implementation of M&E plans for all projects/programmes as part of the COโs overall M&E strategy and plan, including the management of the CO Evaluation Plan through ERC.ย Supporting the establishment and strengthening of the M&E practices in the CO, including support to review capacities, skills, structures and workflows to resource the M&E function Ensuring regular updating and management on the corporate evaluation systems database. Data management: Assuring quality of COโs data collection strategies and ensuring the right balance of qualitative and quantitative evidence. Supporting, as needed, collecting and interpreting existing data to guide the adjustment of programmes and operational approaches when/if a country context changes. Advising on data analysis to assess programme results, improve programme quality and inform future decision-making processes. Leading roll out and implementation of project quality standards in the country and support CO in their incorporation into the program and project management cycle. UN-wide planning and monitoring:ย Participate in theย UN Sustainable Development Partnership Framework (UNSDPFโs) Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (PME) Group as part of inter-agency planning and M&E, and data integrity efforts. In collaboration with the unit heads, support CO Management in monitoring and following-up on proper and timely implementation of CO Audit and other evaluation recommendations related to programmes/projects.Advancing knowledge management, innovation, and communication for results and partnerships
Effective communications:ย Ensure that COโs communications and knowledge management activities contribute to knowledge exchange, advocacy, accountability and resource mobilization following corporate standard Knowledge management:ย Leading the identification and documentation of key lessons derived from evidence monitoring, on what works, what does not work, and feeds back to the Management, on the necessary adjustments and improvements of the corporate policies and guidance. Learning for effective programming:ย Leading the documentation and facilitation of disseminating best practices, innovations and other knowledge management mechanisms to actively promote exchange of experiences and good practices. Innovation:ย Working closely with the programme teams and innovation teams, support identify possible areas for streamlining innovative approaches and advocate for infusing innovation throughout the programme cycle.Supporting country office senior management in building partnerships and developing resource mobilization strategy
Strategic Partnerships & advancing UNDPโs value creation and positioning:ย Support senior management in developing and executingย the Country Officeโs (CO) partnerships and resource mobilization strategies and action plans to enhance resource availability and SDG impact. Stakeholder Engagement:ย Lead and coordinateย partnerships with the Government counterparts, UN Agencies, International Financial Institutions (IFIs), bilateral and multilateral donors, private sector actors, and civil society to broaden the COโs partnership baseย and foster strategic collaboration. Opportunity Identification:ย Identify programmatic areas of interest for cooperation by aligning national priorities with UNDPโs CPD and donor strategies. Conduct ongoing analysis of donor trends and funding landscapes to inform strategic positioning. Proposal Development: Lead the development of high-quality concept notes, funding proposals, and partnership frameworks, ensuring alignment with Bhutanโs development goals and the CPD. Pipeline and Portfolio Management: Support the management and tracking of the COโs project pipeline and resource mobilization efforts, ensuring coherence and readiness for emerging funding opportunities. Oversight & Team Leadership: Manage the Programme Oversight and Partnership Unit, including direct supervision of the Communications Analyst and Programme Associate, ensuring effective delivery and coordination. Monitoring & Knowledge Management: Maintain partnership tools, including a centralized repository of donors, engagement strategies, and commitments. Use corporate systems to track partnerships, funding pipelines, and progress. Partner Engagement & Reporting: Facilitate regular consultations with partners to strengthen collaboration, maintain alignment with programmatic goals, and ensure transparent communication of results and opportunitiesCompetencies
Core Competencies:
Achieve Results:ย LEVEL 3: Set and align challenging, achievable objectives for multiple projects, have lasting impactย Think Innovatively:ย LEVEL 3: Proactively mitigate potential risks, develop new ideas to solve complex problemsย Learn Continuously:ย LEVEL 3: Create and act on opportunities to expand horizons, diversify experiences Adapt with Agility:ย LEVEL 3: Proactively initiate and champion change, manage multiple competing demandsย Act with Determination:ย LEVEL 3: Think beyond immediate task/barriers and take action to achieve greater results Engage and Partner:ย LEVEL 3: Political savvy, navigate complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaboration Enable Diversity and Inclusion:ย LEVEL 3: Appreciate benefits of diverse workforce and champion inclusivityPeople Management
UNDP People Management Competencies can be found in the dedicatedย site.ย
Cross-Functional & Technical Competencies:
Business Direction and 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 other parts of the systemBusiness Management โ Portfolio Management
Ability to select, prioritize and control the organizationโs 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 managementBusiness Management โย 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 channelsBusiness Management โ Monitoring & Evaluation
Partnership management โ Emerging partnerships
Ability to engage with emerging partners, develop and manage a strategy and develop approaches to developing and managing these new strategic partnershipsPartnership management โ Multi-stakeholder engagement and funding
Knowledge and ability to forge multi-stakeholder partnerships, and remove any obstacles to resource mobilization and multi-stakeholder funding platformsย2030 Agenda: Engagement & Effectiveness -ย Effectiveness
Programmatic Risk Management and Analysis Project Quality Assurance Programming principles & standards and development effectiveness principlesRequired Skills and Experience
Education:
Advanced university degree (master's degree or equivalent) in Social Sciences or International Relations, Political Science, Economics, Development Sciences or related field is required. OR A first-level university degree (bachelorโs degree) in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree, Certification in programme/project management (e.g. PRINCE, MSP, PMP, etc.) will be a distinct advantageExperience:
Minimum 5 years (with masterโs degree) or 7 years (with bachelorโs degree) of relevant experience in project/programme/policy management.ย Programme management experience with sound knowledge of all aspects of the project cycle (design, implementation, monitoring & evaluation) is desirable. Proven experience in applying strong knowledge of UN, public, or private enterprise risk management policies, Accountability Frameworks, and programme/project management policies and procedures is desirable. Results based management/ Monitoring and Evaluation experience is an asset. Experience working with UNDP/UN organizations will be an asset. Experience in the development of high-quality concept notes, funding proposals, and partnership frameworks is desired Experience in leadingย partnerships with the Government counterparts, UN Agencies,ย international financial institutions (IFIs), bilateral and multilateral donors, private sector actors, and civil society is desired. Experience in leading strategic finance and resource management to accelerate programme implementation is desired. Experience in the development of high-quality concept notes, funding proposals, and partnership frameworks is desired.Language:
Fluency in English and Dzongkha is requiredEqual opportunity
As an equal opportunity employer, UNDP values diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate and, as such, we encourage qualified applicants from all backgrounds to apply for roles in the organization. Our employment decisions are based on merit and suitability for the role, without discrimination.ย
UNDP is also committed to creating an inclusive workplace where all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, are valued, can thrive, and benefit from career opportunities that are open to all.
Sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse of authority
UNDP does not tolerate harassment, sexual harassment, exploitation, discrimination and abuse of authority. All selected candidates, therefore, undergo relevant checks and are expected to adhere to the respective standards and principles.ย
Probation
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Right to select multiple candidates
UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement.ย We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.
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