Programme Specialist, Youth, NOC (m/f)

Duties

Strategic Thinking, Technical Development, Monitoring and Oversight

• Ensure the strategic alignment of the SDG, UNFPA Strategic Plan with UNDAF, CPD and national policies and strategies, through sound advice and technical support in the area of Adolescents and Youth
• Provide technical and programme leadership, management advice and strategic support and guidance, in Youth Development, including Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (ASRHR), life skills education, youth empowerment, and prevention of and response to gender-based violence (GBV), including child marriage
• Identify and provide evidence-based advice, in Youth Development, on UNFPA’s comparative substantive role and specific contribution in the changing development agenda and participate in policy dialogue, particularly in reaping the benefits of the demographic dividend
• Contribute to the development and implementation of an integrated strategy for the delivery of technical assistance and programme support to partners, grounded in, and responsive to national priorities, considering the balance between demand creation and ASRH and GBV service provision
• Analyze and interpret the political, social and economic environment relevant to the area of youth development that issues are appropriately addressed at the national level
• Keep abreast with new policy developments and strategies, analyzing policy papers, strategy documents, national plans and development frameworks. Support to manage and implement UNFPA’s organizational engagement strategy with partners in line with the overall institutional funding strategy and vision
• Identify and analyze trends, threats and risks in SRHR and gender equality among adolescents and youth that may affect the ICPD agenda and UNFPA’s work in Mozambique and the region. Identify and integrate evidence-based effective and culturally acceptable behavior change communication strategies to address social norms for a sustainable change

Programme and Project Management and Coordination

• In collaboration with Government counterparts, NGOs and other partners, provide substantive leadership and inputs into the design and formulation of the Country Programme and its youth component. Include the gender perspective across all UNFPA programme areas to ensure women and girls who experience GBV have access to good quality essential services, including support for long term recovery from violence
• Introduce the results from programme reviews and evaluations, best practices, as well as innovative strategies, approaches and policies into the formulation of interventions
• Lead youth programme and project implementation, guiding and orienting executing agencies, related partners and personnel and introducing effective modalities and practices of implementation
• Promote a high standard of compliance with UNFPA rules and regulations, including financial requirements and management, provide guidance on effective implementation of youth projects, in compliance requirements and due diligence processes. Assist with the organization of audits as necessary
• Advise and report on achievement of youth programme results, and proactively measures substantive progress and the effective utilization of financial and human project resources, using timely and appropriate monitoring and measuring mechanisms and tools
• Coordinate and create synergies between the youth programme and other UNFPA programme components (SRH and population and development), including on the implementation of demographic dividend roadmap and integration of adolescent-friendly health services into health services
• Participate actively and lead relevant Joint UN Teams, ensures alignment of youth programmes with relevant joint programming initiatives, support and contribute to all relevant joint programmes/activities among the UN agencies

Policy Dialogue

• Represent UNFPA on substantive issues in Mozambique and the region and elaborate UNFPA’s national perspectives for youth development
• Identify requirements for new or updated policies, positioning, frameworks, guidance, standards, instruments and tools
• Address policy issues and provides substantive inputs to facilitate policy dialogue and the central positioning of youth agenda within policies, national and international plans and strategies, UN system initiatives, and development frameworks in national and development partners’ coordination mechanisms in line with the new aid environment
• Participate in the UNFPA technical network in youth development, access to ASRH and GBV services, and ensure that relevant issues are incorporated in national development plans and frameworks
• Collaborate on substantive issues with UN agencies, academia, research and training institutions, professional societies

Quality Control of Technical Support and Capacity Development

• Advise the CO and partners on the implementation and proper application of UNFPA policies, strategies, guidelines and tools on substantive matters in the region, ensuring consistency and coherence in addressing priorities for UNFPA. Support the development of national institutional capacities for delivering high-quality technical support in youth programming, linking to the demographic dividend
• Lead the analysis and synthesis of substantive trends, emerging needs and research findings in the country in order to produce new, cutting edge technical knowledge
• Create substantive knowledge of sexual and reproductive health issues in the country by evaluating programmes, lessons learned, best practices, and replicable strategies and approaches
• Assess technical assistance needs in these areas and advise on the suitability of programmes and related interventions to meet these needs. Build staff capacity to access and manage projects through provision of training, toolkits, guidelines, mentoring and advice
• Assess and undertake field trips to monitor programmes under the team, provide capacity building, grant and proposal development support
• Document, disseminate and apply learning on applications, compliance issues and audit recommendations
• Initiate, develop, strengthen, and monitor strategic partnerships in youth development

Advocacy and Resource Mobilization

• Identify opportunities to advocate and advance UNFPA’s agenda by participating in public information events
• Collaborate with and build effective partnerships with other UN agencies, national government and NGOs
• Contribute to the resource mobilization efforts by analyzing information on potential donors, preparing substantive briefs and proposals in line with donor priorities, creating feedback mechanisms and providing information on progress of donor funded initiatives. Identify, continuously update and disseminate information on potential sources of funding to the youth portfolio
• Develop and manage relationships with relevant donor representatives at national level, represent UNFPA in partners funding networks and working groups and ensure information from these networks is disseminated within CO as appropriate. Maintain records of all donor intelligence and donor interaction. Link with the technical team to ensure coherent messaging across funding and policy workstreams. Work closely with the Humanitarian team on funding opportunities and engagement with humanitarian assistance
• Identify opportunities for cost-sharing, leveraging and collaboration with civil society, government and other partners as well as through joint UN programmes
• Advise on building strong technical and programme multi-sectoral partnerships for advocacy for ICPD agenda and the attainment of SDG targets and indicators at the national level through national institutions, networks, alliances and coalitions

People Management & Leadership

• Lead the UNFPA Youth Programme, including Rapariga Biz and Spotlight Initiative projects, and ensure high standard of staff management within the team using a participatory style
• Supervise, mentor and coach the team members in order to strengthen or further develop their capacity. This includes the implementation of UNFPA performance management system for his/her direct reports
• Ensure that regular team meetings take place and are recorded Supervise and direct expert consultants and facilitate working groups and task teams
• Proactively ensure that youth programmes and projects remain aligned with the broader aims of the CO and Country Programme
• Exchange relevant information and maintains an open line of communication with colleagues and his/her supervisor to ensure that synergies across programming activities are obtained
• Coach and supervise national professional and support staff, responsible for staff performance and advise on development needs
• Other: When appropriate, undertake other managerial and/or programme implementation duties assigned by the Assistant Representative, Deputy Representative and/or Representative

Requisites

• Advanced degree in Public Health, Education, Youth Development, Gender, Social Development, Sociology, or other related disciplines
• Prior training and experience in adolescent sexual reproductive health and rights, life skills education and gender and their application in development settings is desirable
• 5 years of increasingly responsible professional experience in the substantive area, preferably in programme/project management in the public, NGO and/or international institutions
• Field experience in ASRHR, health service demand and provision, community work, child marriage and life skills education is required, preferably in the Africa region, particularly in Mozambique
• Strong track record of technical leadership, including in planning and evaluation, and proven ability to produce demonstrable results
• Good knowledge of the programme development mechanism of the United Nations country programmes and familiarity with UNFPA programmes and policies
• Experience in coordination and leadership on aid mechanisms, working groups or task forces in Mozambique, is an asset
• Excellent oral and written communication in English and Portuguese
• Proficiency in the latest office software applications
• IT Ability to familiarize with ERP (Atlas), PeopleSoft, SAP, or other web-based integrated system

Notes

• Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted