UNDP invites applications for the post of Project Associate under the project Uddyam

Organization: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Position: Project Associate

Project Name: Project Uddyam – Talasari Integrated Skills Development Project
Supervisors: Chief, Business Development & Skills and Value Chain Expert

Job Type: Service Contract
Duration: Till 31 March 2018

Location: Talasari, Palghar district, Maharashtra

Minimum Eligibility Requirements:

Educational Qualification:
Essential: A minimum of Bachelors in the Social Sciences preferably in Economics, Public Policy, Governance, social science or rural management related discipline.
Desirable: Minimum Master Degree in Social Sciences preferably in Economics, Public Policy, Governance, social science or rural management related discipline with relevant professional qualification and necessary knowledge to undertake the assignment.

Experience:
Minimum 2 years of working experience in large implementation project, donor assisted projects or development agencies with focus on project management, institutional development and capacity building of non-profit organisation; partnership development and management with private sector and government institutions and development sector public sector institutions.

Skills required: 
Working knowledge and skills in IT (MS office) is a prerequisite for the assignment. Preference will be given to the candidate possessing high quality of professional excellence in result based project management. Being part of a dynamic team, he/ she must be able to perform effectively as a good team member and equally capable to undertake independent assignments.

Functional Competencies:

Project Management:
— Ability to provide technical inputs on livelihoods and skill development to partner institutions.
— Ability to create and catalyse partnerships with multiple stakeholders.
— Expertise on business development and sustainability of livelihood based enterprises and skilling initiatives

Result Orientation:
— Ability to achieve objectives of the project in a time bound manner.

Knowledge Management and Learning:
— Promotes a knowledge sharing and learning culture in the project
— Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more Practice Areas,
— Acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills in the project

Development and Operational Effectiveness:
— Ability apply conceptual models in support of formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development programmes and projects, mobilize resources
— Good knowledge of Results Based Management
— Strong IT skills
— Ability to lead implementation of new systems (business side), and affect staff behavioural/attitudinal change

Management and Leadership:
— Ability to provide leadership to partnership institutions
— Focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback
— Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude
— Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills
— Remains calm, in control and good humoured even under pressure
— Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complex situations

Language Requirements:
— Fluency in English required and Marathi (preferred)

Project Overview:
L&T Public Charitable Trust (LTPCT) has been working in Talasari taluka, in close coordination with government departments, local governments and communities since 2011. It has undertaken several initiatives related to health, education, water, infrastructure development and agriculture in villages across the taluka. LTPCT implements its projects itself, as well as in partnership with NGOs.

LTPCT and UNDP has forged a partnership which would converge, leverage on and build up on existing (and past) initiatives and resources of L&T Public Charitable Trust (LTPCT), UNDP and the Government of Maharashtra (GoM) in the region.

Project location:
The Uddyam – Talasari Integrated Skills Development Project will cover Talasari taluka, with special focus on three group Gram Panchayats of Zari, Girgaon and Kochai. The villages under the group gram panchayats are part of the Sustainable Village Transformation project of the Government of Maharashtra.

The project aims to benefit the entire population of the intervention area – men, women, and children. For community level, social capital creation – institution building and capacity building – focus will be on the women, as primary change agents. This is borne about from experiences elsewhere in the country; and is part of the social mobilization strategies of the Deendayal Antyodaya Mission – the flagship poverty reduction intervention of the Government of India which in Maharashtra State is anchored by the Maharashtra State Rural Livelihoods Mission (Umed-MSRLM).

The Uddyam – Talasari Integrated Skills Development Project is an extension and expansion of the existing interventions of LTPCT in the taluka. The goodwill that has been created in the area by LTPCT’s existing work will be built upon – with local communities, government functionaries and other relevant stakeholders.

Results and benefits:

Longer term results
The Uddyam partnership between LTPCT and UNDP is the first step, to demonstrate how an effective multi-stakeholder partnership – between Government, Private Sector, UN and the Community – can result in an area-based intervention to bring about SDG-aligned social transformation.

The expected outcome, over a period beyond the project duration, is to enable w omen and their families and vulnerable communities in Talasari taluka of Maharashtra to experience a transformational impact in their lives. The transformational impact will be seen in terms of:
— Increased incomes and economic well-being of the families
— Improved human development outcomes, with higher levels of productive skills and ways to engage in productive occupations
— Improved access to benefits and programmes of the Government
At the outcome level, it is expected that Uddyam will contribute to micro-level achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly the following:

SDG 1 End poverty in all its forms everywhere
SDG 2 End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
SDG 3 Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
SDG 4 Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
SDG 5 Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
SDG 8 Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
SDG 12 Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

Immediate results from the Project:
Through the first-year interventions of the Uddyam project, the following outputs are expected.
— Incomes of participating families increased through improved utilisation of land and animal-bird resources in the villages under the three selected Group Gram Panchayats
— Increased income for families engaged in Warli painting and crafts

Interventions made by the Project will lead to increased incomes for participating families. The exact nature of increase will be determined while preparing the detailed implementation plans, considering the nature of involvement of the families in different activities and the resource and skills base from which they engage in the activities. However, given the current understanding of the context, the increase in cash incomes should not be less than Rs.9000, on average per participating family, during the first year. It needs to be noted that the increased income flows will continue, on an increasing basis, after the end of the one-year intervention.
— Career guidance, counselling and support mechanisms catering to students and school drop-outs are made available locally

Employability of students of the government ITI and selected high-schools in Talasari taluka will be enhanced by creating a community based career guidance and counselling system. This will also result in increased interactions between job seekers, training institutions and employers. The project will result in increased focus on aspirations, employability, skills and support mechanisms for young women.

The Project will result in increasing the capabilities of the Sancharaks in the existing LTPCT supported high-school interventions and selected faculty members of the Talasari ITI to continue to provide career guidance services to the youth in the taluka.
— Effective project management, monitoring and reporting mechanisms for multi-partner interventions developed and demonstrated

The Project management and monitoring systems established for Uddyam Talasari will serve a demonstration for similar initiatives at much larger scales across India.

Project Strategies:
As indicated earlier, the Uddyam Project in Talasari will build on the existing work done by LTPCT in the taluka. It will also synergize directly, with interventions of the Government, particularly that of Umed-MSRLM and the Directorate of Vocational Education and Training. Convergence will be achieved with other government schemes, especially those related to land and water management, school education and strengthening of digital services. The Project will also draw upon the technical capabilities of non-governmental organizations with substantial sectoral experience as well as those active in the taluka. It will draw upon the global experience that UNDP brings, to learn from best practices and build a comprehensive management and monitoring system in line with the SDGs. The specific field-level strategies to be adopted by the Project are the following.
— Strengthening the community institution network (SHG-VO) promoted by Umed-MSRLM to take part in the project and achieve its results
— Strengthening technical support cadre at the local level to implement and sustain interventions
— Creating institutions and mechanisms for backward and forward market linkage to strengthen farm and non-farm production systems
— Capacity building of community members, local governments, government departments and agencies and other stakeholders
— Creating project management and monitoring system that allows for transparent monitoring, avoid duplication of efforts and synergising the capabilities of the community, local governments, government departments and agencies, civil society organisations and the UN
— Effective documentation and reporting of the processes, results and challenges

Key Activity Areas:
To achieve the above results, the Uddyam project in Talasari, during Year 1, will focus on the following activities.

Activities in the three-gram panchayat including all villages
— Increasing agriculture production with special focus on a second crop of vegetables/pulses
— Value-added farming – horticulture, floriculture, apiculture and spices – production and sales
— Backyard small ruminant and poultry production and sales
— Building specific capabilities of the community cadre of Umed-MSRLM to enable effective market linkages

Activities covering the entire taluka

— Warli art and crafts production and sales
— Career Guidance and Counselling Centre (CGCC) mechanisms catering to students of 29 High-schools, ITI Talasari
— Detailed activity plans will be developed at the start of the project, that will enable proper scheduling and implementation of activities and measurement of results.

Functions / Key Results Expected:

Summary of Key Functions:
Working under the overall guidance of the Chief, Business Development & Skills, and direct supervision of the UNDP Value Chain Expert, Poverty Unit and day to day collaboration with the State Focal Point, Maharashtra and Larsen & Toubro Public Charitable Trust, the Project Associate will support the project officer in planning, implementation, management, monitoring and coordination of the project and achievements of its results. The Project Officer will set strategic directions for the project, provide expertise and technical assistance and manage the project’s day to day activities and ensure proper management of financial and human resources.

Roles and Responsibilities:
In this role, the Project Associate will be responsible for implementation and execution of project strategies by:
— Supporting implementation of project activities and implementation of Project Action Plans as per detailed project report prepared by partners;
— Support and manage communication with internal and external stakeholder related to the project
— Supporting partner NGOs in achieving their objectives in a timebound manner
— Ensure timely reporting of the project activities and achievements by the project partners
— Providing effective administrative and logistics support to the project in compliance with UNDP rules and regulations policies and strategies;
— Providing effective support in coordinating project review meetings, steering committee meetings, workshops etc; preparing agenda for such meetings and workshop etc
— Providing effective support in financial management focusing on quality assurance, and;
— Participating in knowledge building and sharing activities.
— Supporting the preparation of different project proposals and concept notes to facilitate resource mobilization efforts in consultation with UNDP country office and LTPCT
— Supporting the preparation of different concept notes for project implementations, project documents, progress reports and concept notes to facilitate proper implementation of project
— Contribute in formulation of any research and policy intervention, as appropriate

Remuneration:  INR 52,809/-per month (taxable)

Application Process: Interested candidates should apply online through Job_Project Associate_UNDP

Last date to apply: 16 June 2017

Note:
— UNDP also offers additional benefits which include medical insurance coverage and limited pension reimbursement for contract holder and encourages work life balance.
— UNDP strives to have a workforce which reflects diversity and gender balance, and applies an equal opportunities approach. All selection is on merit.