Project Manager (Climate Adaptation)

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 to provide adequate shelter for all.

The project “Enhancing the resilience inclusive and sustainable eco-human settlement development through small scale infrastructure interventions in the coastal regions of the Mekong Delta in Viet Nam” is financed by the Adaptation Fund – AF from 2020 to 2024. To align with a government request to promote sustainable eco-human settlement in Viet Nam, this project aims to improve (as a pilot model) for the poor and vulnerable communes that climate change produces negative impacts. It is structured around the following components:

Component 1: Institutional and community capacity building toward eco-human settlement development for supporting enhance local climate response actions

Component 2: Action plan and strategy development for eco-human settlement, and integrating into planning and policy with the participatory approach

Component 3: Sustainability built through small-scale protective infrastructure

Component 4: Awareness Raising and Knowledge Management

The project will be executed at three levels: 1) national level, 2) provincial level (with support from the districts) and 3) commune level. At the national level, the overall coordination of the project’s execution will be led by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. UN-Habitat is the multilateral implementing entity of the project and will then provide project management support, oversight, management of fund flow and executing partners’ delivery, and secretariat of the Project Steering Committee. UN-Habitat will have the Agreement of Cooperation (AoCs) with PMU under the MONRE.

OBJECTIVES

The Project Manager will work under the direct management of the HPM and the technical supervision of the international Chief Technical Advisor of the project. He/she will provide support to the project planning, management, oversight, management of fund flow and executing partners’ delivery to ensure compliance with the UN-Habitat’s mandate and the agreement with AF, and ensure close collaboration between the project and co-implementing partners (MONRE, DONREs) and other relevant stakeholders in the project sites. The incumbent will coordinate/provide the necessary information in consultation with HPM and CTA to the regional office and units in Head Quarters on request.

The incumbent will also support the coordination with other UN agencies, national and international institutes and organizations to align the project with the UN’s priorities in Vietnam, contributing to the development of the Habitat Country Programme in Vietnam.

RESPONSIBILITIES AND EXPECTED OUTPUTS:

1. Management of Climate Adaptation project

Support to HPM and UN-Habitat team to mobilize the internal and external resources (e.g expertise, knowledge, funds) to help to achieve the expected project outputs and outcomes.
Act as focal point person to assist CTA in daily managing all project activities:
Work closely with UN-Habitat project team, internal and external project partners to develop the project implementation strategy, TORS, detailed plan of each activity, set up the local institutional implementation framework based on project design and assumption;
Work closely with project teams of co-implementing partners and project consultation team to conduct the project component activities as project design and agreed schedule;
Cooperate with programme support staff to manage the project budget, procurements and financial authorization, actual disbursement report to AF, HQ and ROAP, and UNCT;
Being responsible to set up the result-based monitoring framework of the project implementation and substantive quality of activities and expected outputs and report to ROAP and AF Secretariat for project implementation and report to ROAP/HQ in PAAS system and directly to AF through templates;
Work closely with UN-Habitat team to supervise and provide the comments/inputs to the deliverables of implementing partners;
Ensure gender mainstreaming in project activities, promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in project implementation;
Ensure the project documentation compilation and dissemination of project outputs in the UN-Habitat, UN system.

2. Contribution to UN-Habitat country programme development

Ensure project implementation quality and further develop the country program in line with UN-Habitat’s strategic direction and long-term planning;
Ensure the linkage between Climate Adaptation project with other projects/programmes of UN-Habitat, UN agencies and other strategic development agencies as well as HQ/ROAP;
Actively participate in, and provide inputs to, developing new concept notes/proposals and program strategies to ensure the maximize the potential resources and synergy to support AF project achievements;
Build and maintain effective partnerships and networks with relevant technical groups, civil society groups, NGOs, and UN agencies for effective implementation and scalability of the project;
Regularly coordinate and collaborate with other sectors/thematic teams to strengthen programmatic synergies and impact;
Assist HPM to ensure the effective coordination of policy dialogues and advocacy with stakeholders.

3. Other tasks

The job duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the post holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience, including adjustment on a job description, and also in cases of any humanitarian emergency.

REQUIRED SKILLS:

Professionalism: Knowledge and understanding of theories, concepts and approaches relevant to climate change, urban planning and design. Strong analysis of urban climate and eco-systems, underlying social, legal and financial mechanisms and the political context. Ability to observe deadlines and achieve set goals. Ability to work and deliver under pressure.
Communication: Excellent written and oral presentation skills in English. Good presentation skills. Ability to communicate complex interventions in clear language and convincing narratives.
Teamwork: Ability to work collaboratively with colleagues to achieve agreed goals.
Planning and Organizing: Ability to prioritize activities and assignments and to easily switch between different projects.
Creativity: Strong conceptual thinking. Is not bound by current thinking or traditional approaches, takes calculated risks on new and unusual ideas; thinks “outside the box”, and offers new and different options to solve problems or meet client needs. Can easily develop clear plans in contexts with limited information and datasets.
Management: Ability to manage smaller project teams, divide the workload and sustain efficiency

QUALIFICATIONS

Education:

Minimum advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in urban development planning, management, construction engineering, environment and climate change adaptation in developing countries. A first-level university degree in combination with qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree.

Work Experience:

Minimum 2-3 years of relevant work experience in project management, project development and implementation, preferably in areas related to urban planning, infrastructure development, urban environmental management and climate change-related issues (i.e., climate change adaptation) in developing countries, especially Viet Nam; with experience and exposure to participatory and community base climate change adaption. A combination of academic and public sector experience would be considered an asset. Working experiences with MONRE and the UN system are preferable.

Technical Knowledge:

Project development and management related to urban environmental engineering, infrastructure development, environmental management in developing countries
Knowledge about climate change adaptation and community-based project development and 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 a team and deliver on time under pressure.

Language Skills

For this consultancy, fluency in oral and written English is required. Knowledge of other languages (using in the UN) will be an advantage.

TOR and P11 are attached.

Interested candidates are requested to send their application to UN-Habitat Vietnam via hr@unhabitatvietnam.org

Deadline for Application: 03 September 2021.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.