Title:  National Expert in Social Services and Infrastructure

​Requisition ID: 2179 
Grade: SB5 - Local Professional (Mid-Level & Senior) 
Country: Pakistan 
Duty Station: Karachi (with missions to selected districts of Sindh)
Category: National Consultant 
Type of Job Posting: Internal/External
Employment Type: Non-staff Regular
Contract Duration: 6 months (with the possibility of extension)
Application deadline: 18-May-2023  

Vacancy Announcement
TEMPORARY APPOINTMENT OF PROJECT PERSONNEL

Only nationals or permanent residents of the country of the duty station are considered eligible. 
Female candidates are particularly encouraged to apply.
 

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is the specialized agency of the United Nations that promotes industrial development for poverty reduction, inclusive globalization and environmental sustainability. The mission of UNIDO, as described in the Lima Declaration adopted at the fifteenth session of the UNIDO General Conference in 2013 as well as the Abu Dhabi Declaration adopted at the eighteenth session of UNIDO General Conference in 2019, is to promote and accelerate inclusive and sustainable industrial development (ISID) in Member States. The relevance of ISID as an integrated approach to all three pillars of sustainable development is recognized by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will frame United Nations and country efforts towards sustainable development. UNIDO’s mandate is fully recognized in SDG-9, which calls to “Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation”. The relevance of ISID, however, applies in greater or lesser extent to all SDGs. Accordingly, the Organization’s programmatic focus is structured in four strategic priorities: Creating shared prosperity; Advancing economic competitiveness; Safeguarding the environment; and Strengthening knowledge and institutions.

Each of these programmatic fields of activity contains a number of individual programmes, which are implemented in a holistic manner to achieve effective outcomes and impacts through UNIDO’s four enabling functions: (i) technical cooperation; (ii) analytical and research functions and policy advisory services; (iii) normative functions and standards and quality-related activities; and (iv) convening and partnerships for knowledge transfer, networking and industrial cooperation. Such core functions are carried out in Departments/Offices in its Headquarters, Regional Offices and Hubs and Country Offices.

The Directorate houses the technical Divisions of Capacity Development and Industrial Policy Advice (TCS/CAP); Circular Economy and Environmental Protection (TCS/CEP); Decarbonization and Sustainable Energy (TCS/DSE); SMEs, Competitiveness and Job Creation (TCS/SME); and Digital Transformation and AI Strategies (TCS/DAS). The Directorate also ensures close coordination and collaboration among the Divisions as well as with relevant entities in the Directorate of Global Partnerships and External Relations (GLO) and the Directorate of SDG Innovation and Economic Transformation (IET).

PROJECT CONTEXT tem/Overview/UNIDO Project Summary/Project Purpose>

Poverty alleviation and inclusive development across rural Sindh (PAIDAR) is a five-year programme funded by the EU to support the Government of Sindh (GoS) in implementation of its Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS). The long-term objective of PAIDAR is to contribute to sustainable poverty reduction and improvement of livelihoods of poor women, men and young people across Sindh province. The PRS has three pillars: 1) Community Driven Local Development 2) Addressing Urban Poverty including Urban Economic Clusters and 3) Rural Growth Centers. 

PAIDAR has been conceived to mainly focus on fostering the economic development dimension of the PRS, and targeting the most vulnerable, in particular through support to enterprise development, focusing on the development of Rural Growth Centers and Urban Economic Clusters under PRS implementation. To this end, the programme will:

• Provide necessary financial and technical support to a significant number of micro and small enterprises;
• Contribute technically and financially to building and upgrading public infrastructure for improvement in basic service delivery; and
• Assist the GoS to strengthen internal coordination and monitoring and to optimize provincial public resources allocation towards meeting PRS objectives.
•  

ASSIGNMENT

One of the key approaches under the PRS is the development of Rural Growth Centres (RGCs) in the selected five districts of Sindh. The PAIDAR programme is aimed to help GoS in developing not only these RGCs from social infrastructure perspective but also to provide sustainable livelihood opportunities to the poor of the province, especially in the target districts and RGCs. In this regard, PAIDAR has adopted UNIDO’s cluster development approach to provide support to the businesses.

The Social Services and Infrastructure Expert will work in collaboration with the International Expert on Social Services to plan and carry out detailed assessments of the selected RGCs in the target districts with the objective to identify social service and infrastructure gap with major impact on poverty In consultation with relevant public sector departments including P&D and Urban Policy and Strategic Planning (UP&SP), he/she will review the process of RGC selection and provide recommendations to further strengthen this process. He will chalk out a detailed mechanism for the assessment of the RGCs, develop a stakeholders’ management plan, and support execution of assessment related activities, consultations, surveys through GoS etc., for each of the selected RGCs and surrounding villages. The expert, in collaboration with the international expert on social services and in close consultation with local stakeholders, will develop sound investment proposals that can be supported under the PAIDAR programme in order to address identified social service and infrastructure gaps. The investment proposals (solutions to address gaps) are expected to be largely public investments, as well as community-led investments (to be supported by PAIDAR Grant scheme) or business solutions.  He/she will also support the UP&SP and other Government departments in developing PC-1s to address the infrastructure and social services gaps identified as a result of the RGCs assessment.  He/she will closely work with the PAIDAR team and will conduit information from and to the programme and to the relevant public and private sector stakeholders.  The national expert will work closely with the international expert on social services and will be supported by PAIDAR Cluster Development Agents in the target RGCs.

The national expert, will work under the overall supervision of Programme Manager in Vienna and the National Programme Coordinator in Islamabad, and in coordination with the National Operations Officer in Karachi. 

The National Expert on Social Services and Infrastructure is expected to carry out the following duties and meet the target outputs of this study:

MINIMUM ORGANIZATIONAL REQUIREMENTS

Education: Advanced University degree in business administration, development economics, engineering, social sciences or equivalent is required.

Technical and Functional Experience:

• Minimum 7 years of relevant experience working in rural economic development, public sector project management, addressing basic social services and infrastructure and in an advisory role to the public sector is required.
• Good communicator, ability to establish trust and networks is required.
• Experience in evaluating the needs, conditions and problems in rural economies of developing countries is desirable. 

Languages: Fluency in written and spoken English and local language is required.

REQUIRED COMPETENCIES

Core Values

WE LIVE AND ACT WITH INTEGRITY: work honestly, openly and impartially.

WE SHOW PROFESSIONALISM: work hard and competently in a committed and responsible manner.

WE RESPECT DIVERSITY: work together effectively, respectfully and inclusively, regardless of our differences in culture and perspective.

Key Competencies

WE FOCUS ON PEOPLE: cooperate to fully reach our potential –and this is true for our colleagues as well as our clients. Emotional intelligence and receptiveness are vital parts of our UNIDO identity.

WE FOCUS ON RESULTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES: focus on planning, organizing and managing our work effectively and efficiently. We are responsible and accountable for achieving our results and meeting our performance standards. This accountability does not end with our colleagues and supervisors, but we also owe it to those we serve and who have trusted us to contribute to a better, safer and healthier world.

WE COMMUNICATE AND EARN TRUST: communicate effectively with one another and build an environment of trust where we can all excel in our work.

WE THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX AND INNOVATE: To stay relevant, we continuously improve, support innovation, share our knowledge and skills, and learn from one another.

Managerial and Leadership Competencies (as/if applicable)

WE ARE STRATEGIC, DECISIVE, PRINCIPLED AND INSPIRATIONAL: As managers, we are strategic and fair in driving our team’s performance. As leaders, we are a source of inspiration, stand for norms and standards established in the UN Charter and duty bound to defend these ideals with a principled approach.

WE ARE INCLUSIVE AND ACCOUNTABLE: As managers, we are inclusive in our approach and maintain constructive engagement with all our stakeholders. As leaders, we embrace all personnel and stakeholders and are accountable mutually within UNIDO, within the system, to beneficiaries and the public and beyond.

WE ARE MULTI-DIMENSIONAL AND TRANSFORMATIONAL: As managers, we go beyond conventional methods to help our organizational units strengthen their own agility and adaptability to change. As leaders in the UN system, we have a vision which is integrated and engaged across the pillars of Peace and Security, Human Rights and Development.

WE ARE COLLABORATIVE AND CO-CREATIVE: As managers, we foster a team spirit and create meaningful opportunities to hear the voices of those around us, while realizing that only by working together can we accomplish our mission. As leaders we see the inter-dependency of imperatives of the UN Charter and personally champion a collaborative inter-agency, multi-stakeholders and cross-thinking approach.

This appointment is limited to the specified project(s) only and does not carry any expectation of renewal.
Employees of UNIDO are expected at all times to uphold the highest standards of integrity, professionalism and respect for diversity, both at work and outside.
Only persons who fully and unconditionally commit to these values should consider applying for jobs at UNIDO.

All applications must be submitted online through the Online Recruitment System. Correspondence will be undertaken only with candidates who are being considered at an advanced phase of the selection process. Selected candidate(s) may be required to disclose to the Director General the nature and scope of financial and other personal interests and assets in respect of themselves, their spouses and dependents, under the procedures established by the Director General.

Visit the UNIDO website for details on how to apply: www.unido.org
NOTE: The Director General retains the discretion to make an appointment to this post at a lower level.

Notice to applicants:
UNIDO does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. If you have received a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Vacant positions within UNIDO are advertised on the official UNIDO website. Should you have any questions concerning persons or companies claiming to be recruiting on behalf of UNIDO and requesting payment of a fee, please contact: recruitment@unido.org