Project Coordinator (PROSPECTS Digital Economy), UNOPS LICA-10, Home-based at UN High Commissioner for Refugees

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is offering a full-time individual contractor position supporting the Innovation Service and the Self-Reliance and Inclusion Section of the Division of Resilience and Solutions. The position is home-based.

The Project Coordinator will oversee the delivery of the PROSPECTS proposal on “Promotion, Inclusion and Protection of Refugees in the Gig Economy: Realising rights at work and mitigating digital risk”, taking place between January 2022 and June 2023.

UNHCR is a global organisation dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for refugees, forcibly displaced communities and stateless people. Every year, millions of men, women and children are forced to flee their homes to escape conflict and persecution. We are in over 125 countries, using our expertise to protect and care for millions of displaced people and supporting the communities where they live.

• Title: Project Coordinator (PROSPECTS Digital Economy)
• Duty Station: Home-based, working hours corresponding to that of the PROSPECTS countries
• Working Hours: Core hours between 10:00 and 16:00 EAT, 40 hrs a week
• Duration: 1st January 2022 to 30th June, 2023 (18 months)
• Contract Type: UNOPS Individual Contractor Agreement – Local ICA Specialist-10 (P3/NOC equivalent)
• Closing date: 10^th December 2021
• Start date: 1^st January 2022

Organisational context

Led by UNHCR’s Innovation Service, the Digital Inclusion programme aims to ensure that refugees and the communities that host them have the right, and the choice, to be included in a connected society, and can have their voices heard in the design and implementation of humanitarian response and development programmes. This programme seeks to break down barriers to digital inclusion spanning the technological, economic, social and cultural. Our efforts to advance digital inclusion are closely linked to broader goals around financial inclusion of refugees and leveraging digital as a pathway for developing livelihoods and advancing economic inclusion.

The Digital Inclusion Programme is beginning a new stream of work in 2022, supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that focuses on digital risk and fair work in the digital economy (hereinafter referred to as ‘Digital Economy Project’), with a focus on the gig economy and digital labour platforms. This workstream is grounded in a joint-project between UNHCR and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) as part of the PROSPECTS partnership Opportunity Fund window that will be delivered between January 2022 and June 2023. The PROSPECTS partnership is delivered across two regions (East and Horn of Africa and Great Lakes, and Middle East and North Africa, per UNHCR’s regionalization), spanning eight countries in total – Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Sudan. For more information on the types of issues covered within the proposal see the UNHCR report “Connecting with Confidence” and ILO report “Towards decent work for young refugees and host communities in the digital platform economy in Africa: Kenya, Uganda, Egypt”

The position

As the Digital Economy project enters its inception phase, UNHCR is bringing in additional staffing to support delivery of the project and advance the workstream. The Project Coordinator postholder will be responsible for the overall delivery of the PROSPECTS Opportunity Fund project, ensuring key deliverables are achieved, smooth project management, strong coordination with the partners, and timely reporting to the donor. They will also work closely with the Digital Inclusion Programme lead to ensure activities are aligned and complementary, furthering broader Digital Inclusion goals within UNHCR.

While high level activity parameters have been established through the project proposal, there will be freedom within the framework to build out suitable activities to achieve the goals of the project. The postholder will be closely supported on the project by regional colleagues in the East and Horn of Africa and Great Lakes and Middle East & North Africa offices, and at HQ by the Innovation Service resource management unit.

Duties and responsibilities

• Oversee delivery of the Digital Economy Project, leading on project management, oversight of implementation of all project activities, and budget management and reporting
• Global coordination with ILO and other partners engaged through the project inc. digital labour platforms
• Support with the design and development of country-level innovation / pilot project
• Coordinate and support regional and country teams with technical support and guidance
• Facilitating M&E across the initiatives, ensuring adequate documentation is produced including a mapping of projects and activities, in liaison with Innovation Service staff
• Support national and regional advocacy platforms as applicable
• Oversee development of capacity building materials and facilitate training in liaison with regional and country teams
• Support global level project management and delivery, including liaising with expert consultants on key deliverables
• Leading on global level activities centred in the two pillars on policy solutions and capacity development
• Ensure that activities undertaken in the PROSPECTS project are carried out with due consideration of data protection policies and frameworks
• Support on other digital and innovation activities / interventions as required

Essential minimum qualifications and professional experience required

Academic Qualifications

• Undergraduate degree (essential) or graduate degree (desired) in a related discipline (Politics, Human Rights, Social Sciences, Telecommunications, Innovation, Technology, Engineering etc.)

Experience (Required / Desired)

• Minimum of 5 years of previous job experience (with a graduate degree) or 6 years (with an undergraduate degree) working in a humanitarian aid or development context with prior experience or interest in issues relating to technology, telecommunications and digital services – with a focus on emerging digital risks
• Strong experience in coordination and project management required, with experience in the UN system a distinct advantage
• Prior Experience working on issues of financial and economic inclusion and livelihoods desired
• Prior experience in a supporting function to humanitarian country operations (particularly strategy design and implementation pilot projects designed for scaling)
• Prior experience working in forced displacement contexts

Skills and Competencies

• Excellent knowledge of English (both written and spoken) and working knowledge of another UN language an advantage
• Specific knowledge on digital technology and digital risk
• Knowledge of protection principles and community-based protection a distinct advantage
• Highly organized and autonomous, able to multitask and prioritize workload when necessary
• Excellent writing and documentation skills, demonstrating high levels of attention to detail
• Works well in a multicultural team and has a strong work ethic: strives to deliver high-quality, error-free deliverables potentially targeting different types of users (e.g. senior management, fundraising specialists and advocacy officers)
• Some knowledge of the telecommunication sector

Core competencies

• Innovation and Creativity – Generates innovative and creative solutions to problems that contribute to Organizational and inter-agency effectiveness. Tries different and novel ways of approaching work to create added value in the services provided.
• Knowledge sharing – Actively develops and shares knowledge, leverages expertise to improve organizational and inter-agency effectiveness and add value within sphere of influence
• Collaboration and Influence – Encourages teamwork and cooperates with others to achieve mutually beneficial results. Gains the support of others for own ideas and initiatives, regardless of formal authority and organizational boundaries
• Critical Thinking and Judgment – Uses data, experience, and good judgment to make sound decisions and devise effective solutions to problems. Assesses and manages risk in own work

Location

The position is home based, with potential travel as necessary.

Conditions

The successful candidate will be expected to work core hours of between 10:00 and 16:00 EAT, 40 hours a week. A candidate based in a PROSPECTS partnership country of focus (Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq) is preferred but the vacancy is not limited to those countries only.