Area manager

Under the direct supervision of the Team Leader, Management Support Unit (MSU), the Area Manager for Homs and Hama is responsible for the coordination and management of UNDP’s area-based strategies and interventions in Homs and Hama governorates.  The Area Manager analyzes social and economic trends and advises UNDP office accordingly on policy and programme interventions; builds strategic partnerships in the field with local authorities and development and humanitarian partners; and coordinates the formulation, management and monitoring of area-based strategies, plans and interventions. S/he ensures achievements of results within the timeline, allocated budget and according to UNDP quality and accountability standards and rules and regulations. The Area Manager is responsible for day-to-day management of the office and works together with programme portfolio and project managers and early recovery sector team for programmatic planning and implementation and relevant CO operations units for operational issues.
S/he liaises with other sister UN agencies in the area, other relevant local partners and stakeholders and supervises and guides field staff maintaining an enabling and conducive working environment ensuring quality design, plan, monitoring and reporting on implementation and achieving results.

• Leads the preparation of social and economic analyses and context analyses in the area and feeds results regularly to update the area profile and situation analysis;
• Regularly conducts analyses of the most critical resilience needs, response capacities, access situation, operational environment and applicable security issues;
• Provides guidance and manages the overall area office presences in Homs and Hama governorate programme development and implementation including planning, budgeting, implementation and monitoring.
• Ensures overall efficient coordination of programmes/projects including planning processes and timely delivery of results taking into consideration agreed upon work plans with the UNDP country office and consistency with CPD priorities.
• Support localization and implementation of Sustainable Development Goals in the region and promote joint initiatives and delivering as one-UN in the area.
• Ensures identification and promotion of joint programming and planning opportunities
• Identifies and develops new programme and project opportunities.
• Supports capacity building of national counterparts.
• Oversees project implementation through close monitoring of results. Ensures effective application of RBM and M&E tools, management of scorecard targets and other benchmarks.
• Coordinates and follows through on decentralized local evaluations.
• Ensures full compliance with audit requirements and timely follow-up to audit recommendations.
• Promotes identification and synthesis of best practices and lessons learned for organizational sharing and learning.
• Leads the preparation of local implementation strategies as per locally identified priorities; strategic goals of UNDP and available resources;
• Based on the above, identifies concrete thematic interventions, prepares the area-based implementation plan in coordination with technical teams in Damascus, and manages the process of formulating proposals in conjunction with local partners;
• Identifies different implementation modalities for the planned activities according to the operational environment in the target area.

2. Responsible for representation and coordination and effective management of the Area Office focusing on achievement of the following:

• Represents UNDP with UNCT and partners at the local level as requested and authorized by the Resident Representative;
• Provides strong coordination support to UN Agencies, local authorities and other organizations through the establishment of a wider consultation process.
• Ensures proper coordination and inputs to Interagency initiatives.
• Maintains collaboration and coordination with other Area Managers to ensure programmatic integration and sharing of best practices
• Maintains regular contact with strategic partners, project managers and implementation partners in the area office;
• Advocates for adherence to UNDP resilience principles with a view to enhance socio-economic recovery and local governance;
• Ensures smooth running of the Area Office and presences, builds an effective Area Office team, promotes teamwork and an environment that is conducive to delivering results.
• Ensures full responsibility for the appropriate use and management of resources attributed to the Area Office by tracking use of financial resources, ensuring the integrity of financial systems and consistent application of the Internal Control Framework (ICF) and/or rules and regulations. Continually find ways to systematically identify and integrate efficiency gains and cost reductions in all operations of the Area Office.
• Approves contracts and ATLAS transactions when delegated authority from the Resident Representative.
• Responsible for the management of the Area Office staff, monitors their performance, completing performance assessments where necessary.
• Ensures timely and regular reporting.
• In collaboration with the CO, ensures that the security needs of office and projects are met. Under the supervision of the Resident Representative and in collaboration with the Local Security Associate/Officer ensures enforcement of security procedures and MOSS/MORSS requirements in the Area Office.
• Identifies and mitigates possible security or operational risks and impacts associated with the Area Office operations (e.g. logistical, security etc.) by proactively designing reduction measures in collaboration with the Security Advisor.
• Builds capacity of the office staff by identifying capacity needs and establishing training/learning programmes.

3.  Leads development, implementation and monitoring of area-based work plans ensuring achievement of results according to UNDP quality and accountability standards, rules and procedures:

• Implements activities as per approved proposals and monitors implementation regularly to ensure timely delivery of results according to UNDP quality and accountability standards, rules and procedures;
• Supervises and monitors implementations of programme activities and updates progress against key indicators including inputs into the UNDP’s information management system and alert any potential risks for implementations and take risk mitigation.
• Identifies, assesses and prioritizes any potential risks (i.e. social and environmental, financial, operational, organizational, political, regulatory, strategic, and safety and security), escalates them to management if and as needed, and plans and implements appropriate mitigation measures and actions.
• Participates in the preparation of procurement and recruitment plans and follows up with the Field Management Specialist and relevant CO units as needed;
• Ensures effective application of RBM tools, closely monitors work plans of the area office and each of the on-going projects;
• Guides capacity-building of the area office staff in both programme and operations works;
• Provides regular briefings to the Field Management Specialist and UNDP Management, as needed;
• Supervises and mentors’ staff, ensuring regular feedback on their performance;
• Facilitates the work of national and international consultants and participates in missions to the area;
• Coordinates the preparation and review of all documentation pertaining to the area, such as project sheets, monitoring reports, briefs, stories, etc.;
• Manages the work of UNDP operationally ensuring relevant documentation is provided to the country office as per HR, financial, procurement and other operational rules and regulations and guidelines;

 

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies 

• Knowledge Management: Ability to capture, develop, share and effectively use information and knowledge.
• Community Management: Ability to maintain a community on assigned thematic areas.
• Collaboration and Partnership: Ability to develop, maintain, and strengthen partnerships with others inside (Programmes/projects) or outside the organization who can provide information, assistance, and support.  Sets overall direction for the formation and management of strategic relationships contributing to the overall positioning of UNDP.
• Relationship Management: Ability to engage and foster strategic partnerships with other parties, Inter-Agency Coordination and forge productive working relationships.
• Conflict Analysis and Risk Assessment: Knowledge of conflict analysis and risk assessment concepts and the ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations
• Gender Equality: Knowledge of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) policy and principles and the ability to apply them to strategic and/or practical situations

Required Skills and Experience

• Master’s Degree (or bachelor’s degree) in Business Administration, Management, Social Sciences, Development Studies.

• A minimum of 2 years of progressively professional experience in the field of development or 4 years of experience for bachelor’s degree holder;
• Hands-on experience in design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of humanitarian/development projects;
• Field experience in local development is a strong asset;
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages.
• Knowledge of the area and excellent partnerships is highly desired;
• Excellent written and spoken Arabic and English is required;