Technical Facilitator (ISCBP)

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme, UN-Habitat, is the UN agency for human settlements. It is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all.

The project “Institutional Strengthening and Capacity Building Program for Urban Development in Vietnam (ISCBP)” is financed by Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs-SECO for technical assistance and capacity development. The main goal of this project is to strengthen capacities of national and local institutions to promote, plan and implement innovative and participatory solutions for sustainable urban development in Vietnam. The project will be implemented over a period of five years by UN-Habitat in close coordination with the Ministry of Construction, Ministry of Planning and Investment and city governments.

The project consists of three interlinked components:

Component 1: Institutional Strengthening and Capacity Building

a)         Support sustainable setup of the Institute for Urban Development Management

b)         Improve institutional capacity of national and local government agencies

Component 2: Policy and Regulation

a)         Strengthening of national urban legislation

b)         Support the implementation of the Planning Law

Component 3: Piloting

The project will be led by the Chief Technical Advisor/Habitat Program Manager, responsible for all technical and financial aspects of the program and coordination with key counterparts at the levels of ministries and city government. Implementation is guided by annual work plans that clarify tasks and responsibilities of UN-Habitat towards national and local counterparts. The Institute for Urban Development Management (IUDM) in Ministry of Construction will be responsible for the organization of the training activities as well as liaison with the city People’s Committees to ensure active participation and provide logistic support. The Urban Development Agency (UDA) in MoC will be responsible for the delivery mechanism of component 2.1 and provide the technical support for integration of successful pilot approaches into the New Urban Law and related regulations. The Department of Planning Management (DPM) in MPI will be responsible for the delivery mechanism of component 2.2 and provide the technical support for the integration of strategic planning approach into urban and rural planning regulatory frameworks. Finally, the three selected cities will be responsible for the implementation of the pilot projects.

UN-Habitat’s role in the project includes overall responsibility for project implementation, as well as for monitoring and reporting, receiving support from UN-Habitat Headquarters and the Asia-Pacific Regional Office.

UN-Habitat Vietnam is looking for a Technical Facilitator. The Project Technical Facilitator will work under the direct management of the Chief Technical Advisor/Habitat Program Manager in Vietnam and the technical supervision and guidance of Project Manager in order to provide day-to-day assistance to (ISCBP) Project Manager and the project team on project implementation especially in all strategic, operational and coordination matters critical to the achievement of technically robust quality of project interventions and knowledge products.

The incumbent will also support the coordination with other UN agencies, national and international institutes and organizations to contribute to the development of Habitat Country Programme in Vietnam.

Contact email: hr@unhabitatvietnam.org

Responsibilities

1. Project implementation

• Work closely with the HPM/CTA and (ISCBP) Project Manager to develop the project implementation strategy, TORs, annual workplan for each component, detailed plan of each activities in coordination with local implementing partners (AMC, UDA, DPM)
• Support HPM and PM in coordinate with co-implementing partners (IUDM, UDA, DPM and 3 pilot cities) and project consultation team to conduct the project component activities as project design and agreed schedule;
• For component 3: Pilot which will be implemented directly by UN-Habitat, work closely with the project team to detail activities at the chosen pilot cities, supporting the development and implementation of such plans
• Facilitate partnering/ networking with and connections among different local stakeholders (community groups, businesses, NGOs and local government agencies, etc.) to mobilize resources for project implementation
• Facilitate capacity building on relevant project components and urban development initiatives within the project stakeholders
• Mainstream cross-cutting issues related to gender equality, climate resilience, right-based and youth-led development approaches in all project activities whenever appropriate
• Assist in logistical organization of meetings, site visit, and working groups consultations and workshops, by preparing agendas, appointments and meetings both internal and external relations and write minutes from the meetings;
• Facilitate knowledge management and information sharing among project staffs and stakeholders;
• Assist in formulating and dissemination of project information reports to and responding to queries from concerned stakeholders;
• Manage resources with integrity and stewardship, in compliance with UN-Habitat’s financial policies and procedures
• Coordinates the generation of grant performance reports, providing inputs and reviews to financial reports, contributing to ensure the compliance with donors’ policies and regulations;

2. Programme implementation

• Facilitate the integration of ISCBP project activities as well as other projects into country programme strategy and implementation in making synergy with other programme activities at regional and global level;
• Support the HPM/CTA and ISCBP Project Manager in reporting to One UN, UN-Habitat HQ/ROAP and SECO
• Support in raising the requests for Travel Request, Expense Report, and data management for Agreement of Cooperation (AOC)/Community Agreement, etc., in Umoja
• Nurtures networks and maintain effective collaborative relationships with stakeholders and relevant program partners

Expected Output

The final product will take the form of the services (described in section 3- Responsibilities) satisfactorily delivered by the selected contractor.

Qualifications

Education:

Minimum Bachelor’s Degree in development studies or other fields that is relevant to urban management and social policy in developing countries.

Work Experience:

Minimum 4 year of experience in providing coordination and operational support to development projects in Vietnam; in climate change, urban planning and development. Working experience with UN-Habitat are preferable.

Technical Knowledge:

• Basic skills in facilitation of development processes, including organization, mobilization and influence of partners and networking among different development partners (especially at sub-national level)
• Experiences in providing coordination support for project activities at ministerial level and sub-national level (in provinces and/or cities of Vietnam), with multiple stakeholder facilitation, public private partnerships
• Capacity to identify relevant social, financial, human and intellectual resources for the project implementation;
• Research and analytical skills combined with good communication skills, including drafting skills and writing skills, in English and possibly another UN language;
• Able to work independently and as part of team and deliver on time under pressure.

Language Skills

For this consultancy, fluency in oral and written English and Vietnamese is required.