Federal Ministry of Younth Decelopment - Following the approval of His Excellency, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and in line with youth empowerment programme thrust under the Transformation Agenda of Mr. President, the Federal Ministry of Youth Development (FMYD) in conjunction with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) invite applications from suitably qualified young Nigerians to participate in the Junior Professional Officers’ Programme (JPO-P) 

The Junior Professional Officers’ Programme (JPO-P) was established in 1963 to provide young professionals pursuing a career in development with hands-on experience in multilateral technical cooperation. It is funded with donations from donor countries. Currently, there are 19 sponsors comprising 16 countries from Europe and 3 from Asia. The programme is administered by the JPO Service Center in Copenhagen. Denmark and initially for one year with possibility of extension for another one year, depending on satisfactory performance making a total of two years objective of the programme

Job Title: Local Economic Development Analyst

State of Origin: Bayelsa State
Agency: UNDP/UNCDF
Unit of assignment: Local Governance and Microfinance
Detailed sector of assignment:     Local Economic Development Promotion
Country and Duty Station: Cairo, Egypt
Duration of assignment: One-year fixed-term appointment, renewable at least once subject to satisfactory performance, recommendation by respective office and donor agreement

General Information

• Unit of assignment: Local Governance and Microfinance
• Detailed sector of assignment: Local Economic Development Promotion
• Country and Duty Station: Cairo, Egypt
• Duration of assignment: One-year fixed-term appointment, renewable at least once subject to satisfactory performance, recommendation by respective office and donor agreement

Content and methodology of supervision:
As part of the UNDP JPO programme overall framework, the JPO will benefit from the following supervision modalities:

• Structured guidance provided by the supervisor, especially in the beginning of the assignment, with the purpose of gradually increasing the responsibilities of the JPO
• Establishment of a work plan, with clear key results
• Effective supervision through knowledge sharing and performance/development feedback throughout the assignment
• Easy access to the supervisor
• Participation in Unit/Team/Office meetings to ensure integration and operational effectiveness
• Guidance and advice in relation to learning and training opportunities within the field of expertise
• Completion of the yearly UNDP Results and Competency Assessment (RCA)
• If more than one supervisor; clear agreement of the roles and responsibilities between the relevant parties. 

In addition, the following specific supervision arrangements will apply:

The JPO will also engage on a process of implementation of a structured programme for the promotion of Local Economic Development, which will enable supervision along the various stages of programme rollout including the following:

• The introduction of the LED functions at the local level and its institutionalization;
• The introduction and implementation of methodologies for the assessment of local economies;
• The structuring of LED Forums that facilitate communication between the public and private sectors;
• The articulation of LED strategies and of their annual implementation programmes;
• Identification of innovative and responsive sources of finance for LED interventions;
• The Implementation of annual programmes and the coordination of inputs by a multitude of actors;
• Monitoring and Evaluation of impact of annual programmes on the state of local economic development;
• The JPO will be assigned specific tasks within each of the above phases of LED process implementation and will be supervised in each.

Duties, Responsibilities and Output expectations
The JPO will enage in the following categories of work: 

LED Research & Development:
The JPO will carryout research in support of the process of development and fine-tuning of the UNCDF LED Programme approach. S/he will research global experience in LED promotion focussing on comparable contexts and documenting challenges and successes. S/he will review methodologies used by other agencies that could be used to enhance the UNCDF approach. S/he will identify global sources of knowledge on LED as well as providers of specialized technical services that could supplement UNCDF's in-house expertise. S/he shall also investigate institutional arrangements that are used at the local and central level for guiding LED promotion. 25%

LED programme Development:
The JPO shall engage with the UNCDF Senior Advisor on the development of the UNCDF LED Programme modality and its adaptation to the context of Arab States where the programme is being introduced. This work will be mainly focused on Egypt and Jordan during the coming year and will gradually be expanded to cover Libya, Iraq, Tunis and other Arab States. 25%

Support to LED Programme Implementation:
Particularly in Egypt, the JPO will participate with the National LED Team, which is currently piloting the UNCDF LED Programme. This will entail the provision of support to the Team as they implement the LED promotion activities at the pilot governorates and as they provide support to the Governorate LED Teams where the programme is being piloted. 25%

Administrative support to programme design and implementation:
To ensure that the JPO is receives a well rounded scope of experience, s/he will also be expected to work closely with the Administrative Support Unit of the Regional Service Centre (RCC) to follow-up on transactions performed by the RCC in support of UNCDF's regional operations. The JPO shall also engage with the Operations Support Unit and with the Local Development Finance Practice (LDFP) at UNCDF HQ in New York to facilitate their provision of support to regional operations. 15%

Programme impact documentation:
The JPO will also participate on the process of documentation of programme activities and the tracking of programme impact starting with the Egypt pilot. This effort will contribute to building the informational foundation for introducing the UNCDF M&E System. 10%

 

Qualifications and Experience
Required Education and Work Experience:

• Master's Degree or equivalent Advanced Degree in a related field of expertise
• A minimum of two years of paid working experience in a relevant field
• Working knowledge of English
• Other working knowledge language requirements, if applicable
• Age: Must not be more than 32 years on the date of application
• Information Technology skills, including word processing, database application (excel) presentation software (power point) and internet appreciation.
• An interest in adapting to varied physical environments; and a desire to work with people with different language, national and cultural backgrounds;
• Evidence of ability to think strategically, work independently and demonstrate a sense of self-assuredness.
• Respect for the UN principles of the United Nations Charter and the participating UN organization’s mission statement

Other desirable education and work experience:
The following areas of exposure are desirable and would be considered positively when evaluating applicants to this JPO position:

• A developed understanding of economics and economic development concepts and past exposure to economic activities in the area of agricultural production, manufacturing, tourism or other sectors;
• Exposure to or understanding of economic sectors, subsectors, clusters and value chains and familiarity with productive enterprises;
• Exposure to and understanding of finance and particular, financing needs of micro, small and medium enterprises;

Core competences:

• Ethics & Values
• Working in Teams
• Communicating Information & Ideas
• Self-management & Emotional intelligence
• Decision making

Functional competences:

• Basic research skills
• Economic assessment
• Sector, subsector, cluster and value chain mapping and analysis skill
• Exposure to Feasability and Market study skills
• Good communication skills both oral and written

Training and Learning
As part of the UNDP JPO programme overall framework, the JPO will benefit from the following training and learning opportunities:

• Participation in a two-week long Programme Policy and Operations Induction Course in New York within the first 3 to 6 months of assignment
• Use of yearly JPO duty-related travel and training allocation (DTTA), as per the online DTTA guide
• Other training and learning opportunities, as presented in the UNDP JPO Orientation Programme. 

Mode of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Note:

• All Vacancies sorted by State (Applicants are to apply for vacancies in their state of origin)

Application Deadline: 31st December, 2013 by 11:59pm