Project Manager

UNDP has been assisting the Government of Tajikistan to adopt policies and laws and build institutional capacities to strengthen the justice sector and improve the services delivered to the citizens in general and women in particular. UNDP’s programme in the justice sector currently includes projects in the areas of strengthening the rule of law, access to justice, women’s legal education, and preventing gender-based violence. Our support in these areas include policy advocacy; support to draft policies, laws, strategies; supporting in strengthening the justice sector institutions through systems development, trainings, guidelines, and service delivery; strengthening the civil society organizations to enhance their advocacy and service delivery capacities; and support to academic institutions, faculty members, and students, particularly women, to increase women’s presence and capacities in the legal sector. We also anticipate expanding this portfolio to include other human rights issues in the future. 

In the topic of gender-based violence (GBV), UNDP has also been a partner for both the government and the civil society in building services for women and girls. UNDP has been engaged through the UN Joint Programme Spotlight Initiative until Dec 2023. While this initiative has ended in Dec 2023, UNDP is starting a new project on GBV (called Stop GBV) by building on the lessons and experiences of the Spotlight Initiative and will work to prevent GBV and discrimination against women and girls in Tajikistan by strengthening legislation and policies related to preventing GBV, strengthening institutions that deliver services to the survivors of GBV, and supporting the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in advocacy and service delivery.   This new Project will employ a holistic approach to prevent and respond to GBV and mitigate its impact on victims and survivors. It will achieve its objectives through three mutually reinforcing outcomes focusing - respectively - on policy and coordination work; training, supporting, and sensitizing civil servants and legal and other professionals; and training and supporting service-providing members of civil society. 

Given the scope of work that UNDP has under justice and human rights, the position of a Project Manager (International) was created to oversee the portfolio of projects.  The PM is expected to spend 50% of his/her time managing and providing technical guidance to the new Stop GBV project (USAID-funded), while also providing management oversight and technical guidance to the other projects in the areas of rule of law, access to justice and women’s legal education.

The Project Manager (International) will be responsible to lead and supervise the various teams that work in the rule of law, access to justice, GBV and women’s legal aid projects. He/she will be responsible to ensure timely implementation of all the projects to achieve the intended results, monitor and prepare the progress reports for the Country Office and donors, liaison with all concerned government entities and donor focal points, and ensure visibility of the projects through effective communications strategy. He/She will closely with other related projects in UNDP Tajikistan and coordinate with other donor-funded projects. 

The specific responsibilities will include:

Management of Projects:

• Undertake the day-to-day management of the portfolio of projects in line with approved work plans and budgets and effectively manage, monitor and report results in line with UNDP’s procedures, financial rules and regulations, and Internal Control Framework.
• Manage the human and financial resources for achieving project results in line with the outputs and activities outlined in the project documents and annual work plans. 
• Establish performance management system, based on UNDP’s results and competency assessment system, to monitor project personnel performance. 
• Ensure timely and efficient planning, implementation and follow up of procurement activities within the assigned project. 
• Develop the annual and quarterly work plans for the projects. 
• Facilitate project approval and budget revision processes as per UNDP policies and procedures; and when and where necessary, propose updates to the overall project framework based on reviews, lessons learned, and best practices derived from different thematic areas and evaluations;
• Develop the concept notes for conceptual clarity on project components/activities, draft or supervise to draft terms of references for consultants and advisors who will be working towards programme delivery and supervise their work.
• Supervise to develop agreements with partners (Letters of Agreement, Responsible Party Agreements, Low-Value Grant Agreements, etc.)
• Lead in organizing and preparing for periodic substantive meetings with government and donor partners and National Steering Committee meetings for all projects.
• Oversee and conduct quality assurance of the technical reports prepared by short-term experts, review and provide feedback on them, coordinate review by partners when needed.  
• Participate and substantively contribute to the planning and conduction of external audits, evaluations and reviews related to assigned projects.
• Apply consecutive efforts to integrate gender equality considerations in project-related activities and in daily leadership practices.

Partnership, Coordination and Cooperation:

• Ensure strategic partnerships and advocacy by providing high quality presentation of project activities at events and working meetings, organized by national counterparts and development partners e.g., Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, Ministry of Justice, Committee of Women and Family Affairs, USAID, EU, SDC, Finland, World Bank, etc. 
• Initiate and contribute to effective dialogue with partners and donors and contribute to evidence-based policy advocacy and analyses.
• Ensure the participation and involvement of relevant stakeholders in project activities so that the process is inclusive, participatory, and transparent and that a high level of collaboration and cooperation is in place at national, regional and district levels. 
• Assess impact and effectiveness through regular consultations with local counterparts and beneficiaries, tracking outputs and results, and ensuring timely and efficient delivery of project/programme outputs. 
• Ensure the development of cross-project linkages with other relevant projects and programmes for mutually reinforcing impact.
• Work collaboratively in a team environment with other projects and the Operations Team in UNDP Country Office.
• Support the Country Office’s partnership efforts to mobilize the human, technical or financial resources from development organizations, non-government organizations and the private sector to support and leverage the project outcomes. 
• Liaise with local and national government bodies, civil society, academia and target populations to ensure an efficient implementation of the projects, as well as appropriation by all stakeholders. 
• Ensure regular communication and coordination with Projects’ counterparts and develop and maintain effective mechanisms for integrating their feedback and suggestions.
• Compile and draft high-quality reports to donors according to UNDP’s contractual obligations to donor(s).

Monitoring and Evaluation:

• Manage the implementation of effective monitoring and evaluation, information and reporting systems such that relevant data is collected timely and the reports are results-based.
• Monitor national context, emergence of players/stakeholders and identify the risks for the projects, update the risk registers, and design appropriate risk treatments.  and ensure of risks that have implications for the project, and; 
• Compile a summary of lessons learnt and experiences for further development of recommendations to ensure better quality of project’s outputs.
• Undertake monitoring missions to all project locations at least once a year.
• Ensure midterm and end term evaluations, if planned in the project documents, are undertaken properly and in line with UNDP standards.

Knowledge Management and Communication: 

• Lead the process of knowledge capture of national and international know-how in the subject area and production of knowledge-based products. 
• Ensure knowledge management and project visibility by preparing analytical reviews, dissemination of lessons learnt and participation in knowledge networks and UNDP’s collaborative workspaces.
• Lead in conceptualizing substantive and analytical pieces to provide evidence-based inputs for policy advocacy and lead in designing relevant, high-impact advocacy activities and campaigns with key partners.
• Contribute to building synergies with relevant projects implemented by UNDP or other international organizations.
• Lead the process of developing the communications plan for the portfolio of projects in close collaboration with the UNDP Country Office’s Communication Unit. Ensure that the plan is implemented, and visibility guidance of donor partners are followed and complied along with UNDP’s own standards for communications, visibility and branding. 
• Contribute to knowledge networks and communities of practice.
• 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 Manager (International) will have matrix reporting to the Head of the Governance and Rule of Law Cluster for day-to-day work, and to the Deputy Resident Representative for overall guidance and supervision.  
 

• 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

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

Cross-Functional & Technical Competencies:

• Project Management:     
  • Ability to plan, organize, prioritize and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals 
• 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.
• Partnerships Management:          
  • Ability to build and maintain partnerships with wide networks of stakeholders, Governments, civil society and private sector partners, experts, and others in line with UNDP strategy and policies
• Strategic Thinking:           
  • Ability to develop effective strategies and prioritized plans in line with UNDP’s objectives, based on the systemic analysis of challenges, potential risks and opportunities, linking the vision to reality on the ground, and creating tangible solutions.
  • Ability to leverage learning from a variety of sources to anticipate and respond to future trends; to demonstrate foresight in order to model what future developments and possible ways forward look like for UNDP.
• Results-based Management:       
  • Ability to manage programmes and projects with a focus at improved performance and demonstrable results. 
•  Rule of Law, Security and Human Rights:
  • Impact assessment services to countries on stigma, discrimination, gender and human rights concerns / inclusive and rights-based approach to basic services and livelihoods 
• UNDP Representation:
  • Ability to represent UNDP and productively share UNDP knowledge and activities, advocate for UNDP, its values, mission, and work with various constituencies.