Chief Technical Advisor AT UNIDO - Namibia

VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT TEMPORARY APPOINTMENT OF PROJECT PERSONNEL INTERNAL/EXTERNAL

Female candidates from all Member States are particularly encouraged to apply.

Vacancy Announcement No: VA2014_ISA_INT_000155
Duty Station:  Namibia
Date of Issuance: 22 December 2014
Post Title and Level: Chief Technical Advisor (CTA), Namibia, ISA-Senior Specialist
Type of Appointment: Individual Service Agreement
Closing Date: 15 January 2015 

Organizational ContextThe United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is the specialized agency of the United Nations that promotes industrial development for poverty reduction, inclusive globalization and environmental sustainability. The mandate of UNIDO is to promote and accelerate inclusive and sustainable industrial development in developing countries and economies in transition.

The Trade Capacity Building Branch (TCB) is responsible for helping developing countries and countries with economies in transition to participate effectively in the rule-based global trading system, in which they face key constraints arising from the lack of competitive supply capacity of tradable goods, and the need to ensure internationally recognized conformity of their goods to quality and safety requirements.

The position is located under the Compliance Infrastructure Unit (PTC/TCB/CIU) of the Branch which is responsible for providing services to strengthen the capacity of developing countries and countries with economies in transition to establish the legal and institutional frameworks for standards and conformity assessment. Specifically, the Unit provides policy guidance and institutional capacity-building interventions related to standards, metrology, testing, inspection, certification and accreditation, which are needed to participate effectively in the multilateral trading system, in particular with regard to the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) agreements. The demonstration of market compliance enables exporters to reduce the cost of compliance and facilitate access to global markets. Assistance is also provided to strengthen consumer authorities and consumer associations in developing countries. Stricter market requirements, including food safety standards and import inspection mechanisms are becoming a challenge, and the Unit provides national institutional capacity-building for domestic and global food safety compliance. The Unit also facilitates a global forum function addressing developing country standards, conformity and food safety issues.

DUTY STATION: Windhoek, Namibia
DURATION: 6 months with possibility of extension

PROJECT CONTEXT:“Trade capacity building for exports in Namibia” is implemented by UNIDO in coordination with the Government of Namibia through the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI). The main beneficiary institutions are the Namibian Standards Institution (NSI) and the Central Veterinary Laboratory (CVL).

The overall objective of the project is to strengthen Namibia’s quality infrastructure in order to support Namibian exporters in maintaining current markets and in developing new ones. The fulfilment of this outcome will be achieved through the following outputs:

•       Dialogue on National Quality Policy (NQP) is facilitated and leads to improvement in the national quality system and in awareness of the services it provides. • NSI metrology laboratory service offering strengthened and recognized regionally and internationally, the technical competency of metrology staff enhanced.

•       The fish sector related quality infrastructure services are strengthened, internationally recognized and demanded by private sector.

•       The meat sector related quality infrastructure services are strengthened, internationally recognized and demanded by private sector.

By the end of the project, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, together with NSI, will have the required knowledge to maintain and further develop the quality infrastructure and concomitant technical regulation regime, while NSI and CVL will be able to further broaden the scope of accredited calibration and testing services. The acceptance by trading partners of testing results and certificates will be the best measure of the effectiveness of the project, as this would determine the capability of the Namibian quality infrastructure to support intra-regional and international trade.

The project takes a value-chain/sectoral approach to quality infrastructure upgrading for meat and fish exports (calibration, certification, testing and inspection services). Quality infrastructure institutions providing services to fish and meat sectors will be strengthened and a link with private sector through training on food safety management systems will be created.

Main FunctionsWith the objective of assuring technically sound and smooth implementation of the project, the CTA will be providing advisory services to the project counterpart and shall be responsible for the overall technical management of the project under the supervision of the UNIDO Project Managers (UNIDO HQs) and in close cooperation with the National Counterpart(s), National Project Coordinators (NPC) as well as with the UNIDO Representative in South Africa. Specifically the CTA will provide technical and managerial support in close consultation with the counterpart institution to ensure the successful implementation of the project, and will perform the following duties:

A. PROJECT MANAGEMENT:

1.     . Ensure the coordination of activities with the NPC; guide her/him in evaluation and record keeping of participants of various training activities;

2.     Prepare the short-term (monthly and semi-annual) work plans and guide the NPC in preparing the monthly reports on the progress;

3.     Elaborate terms of references for and supervise national and international consultation missions;

4.     Assist and supervise the elaboration of requests/tenders for procurement and logistics;

5.     Carry out measures for the control of the efficiency of the undertaken actions by experts and sub-contractors;

6.     Ensure efficiency and effectiveness of the financial, administrative, and technical management of the project and ensure permanent support and general follow-up of project activities, in accordance with UNIDO rules and regulations;

7.     Liaise with all relevant stakeholders to ensure achievement of the objectives of the project, prepare for and participate at the National Steering Committee meetings.

B. ADVISORY SERVICES:

1.     Provide technical support to agencies and project partners; as well as other involved institutions in appropriate domains of competence and assist in the elaboration of the programme of project activities; in particular related to the effective functioning of national standards, metrology and conformity assessment systems as well as technical regulations framework.

C. REPORTING AND AD-HOC ASSIGNMENTS:

1.     Prepare a quarterly progress report including the activities carried out, progress in terms of performance indicators, analysis of lessons learned and recommendations. The reports should be prepared in accordance with the reporting system established by UNIDO and sent to UNIDO by e-mail for clearance;

2.     Prepare ad-hoc project reports upon request of UNIDO, NORAD and the counterparts;

3.     Prepare a final/terminal report at the end of the contract comprising all relevant information compiled from the interim reports, conclusions and recommendations;

4.     Carry out ad-hoc assignments for the counterpart in agreement with UNIDO/NORAD.

Core Competencies:Results orientation and accountability, planning and organizing; communication and trust, team orientation, client orientation, organizational development and innovation.
Core values: integrity, professionalism, respect for diversity.

Managerial Competencies:Conflict resolution, Judgement and decision making, Managing people and performance, Strategy and direction.

Minimum Requirements

Education:University - Master's degree or equivalent, in Science, Engineering, Business Administration or related field.

UNIDO Languages:English (Fluent).

Computer skills:E-mail (Fully proficient), Internet (Fully proficient), Spreadsheets (Fully proficient), Word processing (Fully proficient).

Field of Expertise:More than 12 years of professional experience in the field of quality infrastructure (i.e. standards development, metrology, upgrading of testing and calibration laboratories, and certification capabilities) and/or food safety and quality, ideally including within developing countries. Knowledge in economic aspects of TCB, technical barriers to trade and conformity infrastructure; Proven experience in overcoming deadlocks and difficulties in the implementation of complex projects and in bringing them back on track; Proven ability to lead and coordinate multidisciplinary teams; Knowledge and experience of work with UN constituents and knowledge of UN procedures would be an asset..

This appointment is limited to the specified project(s) only and does not carry any expectation of renewal. Employees of UNIDO are expected at all times to uphold the highest standards of integrity, professionalism and respect for diversity, both at work and outside. Only persons who fully and unconditionally commit to these values should consider applying for jobs at UNIDO.

All applications must be submitted online through the Online Recruitment System Correspondence will be undertaken only with candidates who are being considered at an advanced phase of the selection process. Selected candidate(s) may be required to disclose to the Director General the nature and scope of financial and other personal interests and assets in respect of themselves, their spouses and dependants, under the procedures established by the Director General.

Visit the UNIDO web site for details on how to apply: www.unido.org

NOTE: The Director General retains the discretion to make an appointment to this post at a lower level.

Notice to applicants: UNIDO does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. If you have received a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Vacant positions within UNIDO are advertised on the official UNIDO website. Should you have any questions concerning persons or companies claiming to be recruiting on behalf of UNIDO and requesting payment of a fee, please contact: recruitment@unido.org