UN Jobs – Urban Specialist at United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)

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Job Title:  Urban
Specialist
Organisation: United
Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)
Vacancy Code: VA/2014/B5115/6468
Duty Station: Entebbe,
Uganda
Grade Level: LICA
Specialist-10
About UNOPS:
UNOPS mission is to expand the
capacity of the UN system and its partners to implement peace building,
humanitarian and development operations that matter for people in need. Working
in some of the world’s most challenging environments, UNOPS vision is to always
satisfy partners with management services that meet world-class standards of
quality, speed and cost effectiveness. By assisting UN organizations,
international financial institutions, governments and other development
partners, UNOPS makes significant, tangible contributions to results on the
ground.
Within these three core areas
of expertise(projects, infrastructure and procurement), UNOPS provides its
partners with advisory, implementation and transactional services, with
projects ranging from building schools and hospitals, to procuring goods and
services and training local personnel. UNOPS works closely with governments and
communities to ensure increased economic, social and environmental
sustainability for the projects we support, with a focus on developing national
capacity.
Working in some of the world’s
most challenging environments, our vision is to advance sustainable
implementation practices in development, humanitarian and peacebuilding
contexts, always satisfying or surpassing partner expectations.
About GPSO:
Based in Copenhagen, Denmark,
the Global Portfolio Services Office (GPSO) develops and manages a portfolio of
projects and services delivered in various locations across the globe. GPSO
supports partners such as the World Bank, the European Union, the Department of
Peacekeeping Operations, the United Nations Mine Action Service, the Global
Fund, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation, amongst others.
The Cities Alliance is a global
partnership for urban poverty reduction and strengthening the role of cities in
sustainable development. Based in Brussels, the Secretariat is hosted by the
United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). The work programme of the
Cities Alliance consists of three pillars:
  • Country and Regional Partnership Programmes mobilize
    members and partners around longer-term, demand-oriented and customized
    interventions in selected regions and countries to engender a more
    effective urban agenda centered on inclusive, pro-poor cities.
  • The Catalytic Fund catalyzes urban transformation
    processes that promote more inclusive cities and advance collective
    learning distilled from project experiences.
  • Knowledge & Learning Programmes between members
    and partners distill, leverage and advocate the Cities Alliance’s
    knowledge for targeted urban practitioners on CA priority themes, such as
    slum-upgrading, national urban policies and city development strategies.
Within this context the Cities
Alliance will manage a project Future Cities Africa (FCA) to support at least 8
cities in Africa to become better future proofed to climate, environment and
natural resource challenges, so that they are inclusive and resilient, and have
growing economies. It will help make cities work for the urban poor. It will
conduct an in depth feasibility and scoping study and develop innovative tools
to enable rapidly growing African cities to realise their potential as centres
of growth and job creation; use research and evidence to develop targeted urban
action plans; and will deliver new research to fill data and evidence gaps to
maximise sustainable economic growth.
The project will involve in
depth consultation with urban local authorities, other donors and development
actors and research institutions and will deliver outcomes for cities in four
African countries. The tools and knowledge generated in this project could also
be used more widely, to develop and design a scaled up intervention to provide
comprehensive support and targeted investment in a greater number of African
cities.
Key Duties and Responsibilities:  Working closely with the Team Leader and project
stakeholders, the Urban Specialist will support, identify and clearly define
key urban challenges and opportunities within Uganda that the FCA programme
could effectively respond to. In doing this, the Urban Specialist would
undertake the following activities.
Activity 1: Develop a local roster of urban
specialists
  • In each of the countries where the FCA will be active
    a local roster of national urban specialists will be developed. The roster
    will include the highest quality urban specialists available across a wide
    ambit of urban specialist fields including climate change, strategic
    planning, land use planning, civil society, municipal finance, land
    tenure, urban services, governance etc.
  • The Urban Specialist will identify the specialist
    needs and develop the TOR for each specialist capability.
Activity 2: Identify and define specific areas
of programmatic intervention
  • The Urban Specialist through a process of stakeholder
    engagement will help identify specific areas of technical intervention.
    These areas of technical intervention aim to strengthen the resilience of
    cities against multiple future risks.
  • The Urban specialist will write the consultancy TOR
    and ensure the best match with the local roster.
Activity 3: Monitor consultancies
  • The Urban Specialist will closely monitor the work of
    all consultancies and ensure compliance with the agreed TOR. The urban specialist
    will receive all consultancy reports and will prepare a detailed
    evaluation including recommendations for the monthly stage reports.
Activity 4: Communication
  • The Urban Specialist working with the Team Leader
    will provide detailed technical feedback in a understandable format to
    stakeholders as required.
Activity 5: Advisors Stakeholders
  • The Urban Specialist will provide the Steering
    Committee with the best informed advise regarding urban technical choices
    and options as required
Activity 6: Core values
  • The Urban Specialist will ensure that all consultancy
    work undertaken in the name of the FCA encapsulates the core values of
    UNOPS and that gender equality, a central pillar of the Cities Alliance
    Medium Term Strategy, is incorporated in all aspects of consultancy
    briefs.
  • Monitoring and Project Controls
Key Outputs:  The Urban Specialist will deliver to
the Country Team Leader monthly project stage progress reports including
financials and narrative.
Qualifications, Skills and Experience: 
  • The applicants for the United Nations UNOPS Urban
    Specialist should hold an advanced university degree (Masters’ or
    equivalent) in Urban Planning, Urban Sociology, Politics, Economics or
    other related field is required. A relevant PhD degree will be considered as
    an advantage.
  • A minimum of five or more years’ relevant working
    experience in the urban field.
  • Preference will be given to candidates with
    experience covering a wide range of urban issues in diverse institutional
    contexts.
Personal Competencies:
  • Strong commitment to and understanding of the role of
    cities in poverty reduction
  • Strong knowledge of urban systems and development
    challenges
  • Possess the ability to communicate complex concepts
    in an understandable manner
  • Ability to communicate clearly and respectfully at the
    highest levels of government
  • Ability to communicate clearly and respectfully with
    civil society
  • Willingness to travel
  • Proven ability to write well-structured technical
    reports
Languages: Fluency in English, both writing and
speaking, is required. Fluency in Swahili will be considered as an advantage. Good
knowledge of other UN language will be considered as an advantage
How to Apply:
If interested in this job
opportunity, please click on http link below to visit website and create
profile or express interest if you already have a profile on the UN system
Deadline: 8th January 2015
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