Website UNDP
e-Governance and Data Management Specialist
Location : Programme Coordination Unit, Kathmandu, NEPAL
Application Deadline : 05-Sep-23 (Midnight New York, USA)
Additional Category : Democratic Governance and Peacebuilding
Type of Contract : Other
Post Level : Other
Languages Required : English
Starting Date :
(date when the selected candidate is expected to start) 15-Oct-2023
Duration of Initial Contract : One year with possibility of extension
Expected Duration of Assignment : Until the end of project
UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.
UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.
Background
The Provincial and Local Governance Support Programme (PLGSP) is the national flagship programme of the Government of Nepal (GoN) to build institutional, organizational and individual capacity at all levels of government, with special focus on the provincial and local levels. The ultimate goal of the programme is to attain functional, sustainable, inclusive and accountable provincial and local governance. The Programme aims to contribute to delivery of quality services at provincial and local levels, promote better local infrastructure and enhance economic prosperity. The Programme will achieve 14 outputs under the following three outcomes:
- Government institutions and inter-governmental mechanisms at all levels are fully functioning in support of federal governance as per the Constitution.
- Provincial and local governments have efficient, effective, inclusive and accountable institutions; and
- Elected representatives and civil servants at provincial and local governments have the capacity and serve citizens to their satisfaction.
The Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration (MoFAGA) is the executive agency of the Programme. The seven provincial governments, the 753 local governments, the restructured Local Development Training Academy (LDTA) and seven provincial-level training centers (Provincial Center for Good Governance) are the implementing agencies of the Programme. The Programme is supported by four international development partners, namely, the Department for International Development (DfID) of the United Kingdom, the European Union (EU), the Government of Norway, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and the United Nations.
Context
MoFAGA is partnering with UNDP for services of Technical Assistance (TA) for the implementation of the Programme. The key priority of the TA is recruitment of TA personnel, their capacity building and knowledge enhancement, including orientation and continuous backstopping support in coordination with the Programme Management so that they deliver on the intended outputs.
The Provincial governments have a major role to facilitate and implement the programme, benefitting both province and local governments. All the province governments have entered the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with MoFAGA to be a part of the Programme implementation. There is a Program Coordination Unit (PCU), seven Provincial Program Implementation Units (PPIUs), one in each province and seven Provincial Good Governance Centers (PCGGs), one in each province.
The Programme Coordination Unit (PCU) headed by the National Programme Director (NPD) functions as the secretariat to the governing bodies of the Programme at the federal level namely, National Executive Committee, chaired by the MOFAGA secretary, and the National Steering Committee, chaired by the Minister of Federal Affairs and General Administration.
Regarding the Programme implementation, the PCU will have dual tasks: (i) provide technical support to federal agencies on demand basis, ii. serve as federal anchor point to guide, backstop, and mentor the Provincial Programme Implementation Units (PPIUs). Additionally, the PCU under the leadership of the NPD and NPM will be responsible for overall results of the Programme, meaning that PCU has an important role to make ensure that the activities carried by the federal agencies and the provincial governments are within the scope of the Programme and are properly coordinated and monitored. The PCU is also responsible to facilitate the implementation and prepare consolidated progress reports to be submitted to the National Executive Committee (NEC), National Steering Committee (NSC).
The e-Governance and Data Management Specialist position of the PCU is supposed to contribute to all outputs of the PLGSP, particularly under Outcome 2. Under the overall supervision of the National Project Director (NPD) and day-to-day supervision of the National Project Manager (NPM), the e- Governance and Data Management Specialist is responsible for overall management of activities related to e-Governance, Data Management, Knowledge Management and other Information and Communication Technology (ICT) related issues, and support coordination of programme initiatives.
This Terms of Reference (ToR) describes the functions, responsibilities and expected results of the e-Governance and Data Management Specialist in the PCU as well as qualifications/experience, competencies and selection criteria required of the incumbent, in connection to recruit and deploy individual consultant for fulfilling the position.
Duties and Responsibilities
The overall objective of this assignment is to support PLGSP in overall planning, implementation, and coordination of the program interventions. The specific objective of the assignment includes:
1. Lead the domain of e-Governance, Data Management, Knowledge Management and other Information and Communication Technology (ICT), provide strategic advice on related issues, and support coordination of programme initiatives.
2. Contribute to the achievement of PLGSP Outputs, particularly on Output 5: Modernized provincial government systems enable horizontal and vertical accountability to all citizens and mainstream GESI; and Output 8: Modernized LGs have strong administrative systems, and accountable PFM systems.
3. Serve as the focal person of the ICT and E-Governance Experts at the PPIUs, IT Officers at LGs and provide them with backstopping support as required.
4. Support in ensuring mainstreaming of Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) throughout programme interventions.
5. Perform any other tasks assigned.
1. Lead the domain of e-Governance, Data Management, Knowledge Management and other Information and Communication Technology (ICT), provide strategic advice on related issues, and support coordination of programme initiatives.
- Provide advice and guidance to MOFAGA and PCU on strategic and policy issues to strengthen the E-Governance, data management and knowledge management systems at all levels of government.
- Lead the planning of the PLGSP activities related to ICT, E-Governance & data management and provide inputs on the preparation of the Annual Strategic Implementation Plan (ASIP) and trimester work plans of the programme particularly in relation to Outputs 5 and 8;
- Guide PPIU and PCGGs in the preparation of ASIPs and trimester work plans relating to ICT, e-Governance, data management and knowledge management.
- Oversee and manage program related data, ensuring it meets predetermined reporting and monitoring requirements.
- Serve as the focal point for data-related tasks in an assigned area.
- Coordinate the production of data and review prepared data to ensure it is adequate, accurate, and in-line to program objectives.
- Support analysis of information and take stock of actions on issues related to e-Governance and data/ knowledge management.
- Provide regular backstopping support to provincial experts for monitoring and quality reporting;
- Support MoFAGA and the PCU in providing necessary technical guidance in relation to E-Governance and data management across programme implementation.
- Capacitate programme staff and external stakeholders on concepts, issues, challenges and opportunities related to ICT, E-Governance, data and knowledge management.
- Serve as communications focal for PLGSP.
- Review the initiatives, knowledge products, and training packages created for various stakeholders on IT, E-Governance systems, data management and knowledge management.
- Document and share success stories and good practices monthly and contribute to the monthly review report of the programme.
- Support PCU management in producing PLGSP periodic reports.
- Support PCU/MoFAGA in archiving the documents in the system including websites and others.
- Work with the M&E section and relevant staffs/ experts to develop comprehensive monitoring as well as reporting frameworks/ format.
2. Contribute to the achievement of PLGSP Outputs, particularly Output 5: Modernized provincial government systems enable horizontal and vertical accountability to all citizens and mainstream GESI; and Output 8: Modernized LGs have strong administrative systems, and accountable PFM systems.
- Support in delivery of the PLGSP activities
- Support federal level government to develop tools, systems, policy and guidelines in support of the province and local governments in promoting e-governance and data and knowledge management.
- Coordinate with PCU, Provincial Programme Implementation Units (PPIUs) and the Provincial Centers for Good Governance (PCGGs) in developing, introducing and maintaining e-Governance and data/ knowledge management systems to promote transparency and accountability.
- Support in development and harmonization of the ICT based management tools, systems and guidelines at the province and local levels.
- Support to ensure that the use of e-Governance, data and knowledge management systems for data integration and information sharing are in place both vertically and horizontally, within and between different levels of government.
- Provide regular backstopping support to the Information Technology and E-Governance Experts based in PPIUs to develop necessary monitoring system for quality reporting.
- Support to develop and roll out of computer software on public finance management, planning etc. including SUTRA.
- Coordinate with other PCU based specialists to make sure the province level ASIPs are harmonized to contribute to the above programmatic outputs.
3. Serve as the focal person of the ICT and E-Governance Experts at the PPIUs, IT Officers at LGs and provide them with backstopping support as required:
- Provide backstopping and coordination support to the ICT and E-Governance Experts (PPIU), Local Governance Experts (PCGG), IT Officers (LG) on ICT and E-Governance related issues;
- Ensure regular communication with the ICT and E-Governance Experts and IT Officers and serve as their focal person, providing guidance and support on a regular basis and as needed;
- Support the IT and E-Governance Experts to monitor and analyze the trends on E-Governance at provincial and local government levels to ensure they receive the required support to strengthen and effectively utilize their E-Governance systems;
- Coordinate with National Programme Manager (NPM)/National Programme Director (NPD) and UNDP to provide training and other capacity development activities to the IT and E-Governance Experts and facilitate learning and experience sharing among them;
- Review reports received from PPIUs relating to e-Governance, Data and knowledge management, and compile inputs to PCU progress reports as required;
- Regularly monitor the risks and issues pertaining to E-Governance, support implementation of mitigation measures in discussion with ICT and E-Governance Experts and PCU team, and provide inputs to the overall risk log of the Programme;
- Provide backstopping support in drafting of Terms of Reference for programme activities and consultancies/procurement actions related to ICT and E- Governance data and knowledge management as well as other activities.
- Support PPIU based experts in data management at the provincial level as well as producing the knowledge products.
- Work with the National Planning Commission and Planning and Monitoring Division of the Ministry to develop comprehensive monitoring as well as reporting frameworks/format
- Participate in field visits to provincial and local level, as required.
4. Support in ensuring mainstreaming of Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) throughout programme interventions:
- Provide inputs related to IT and E-Governance to GESI Specialist (PCU) for the development of GESI tools and support their implementation at federal level;
- Ensure that accessibility for women and excluded/marginalized groups is a key factor in the development and roll-out of ICT and E-Governance systems at all levels, with particular attention to digital accessibility for persons with disability;
- Develop and facilitate capacity development sessions for PLGSP TA Staff and external stakeholders on the importance of GESI-responsive ICT, E-Governance systems, data management and knowledge management; and
- Support in producing disaggregated data for inclusion as required.
- Support dissemination of information, learnings and good practices to promote GESI mainstreaming, and GESI-responsive capacity development initiatives related to ICT, E-Governance, data management and knowledge management.
5. Perform any other tasks assigned.
- Any other task assigned by NPD, NPM
Impact of Results
- Strengthened e-Governance and data management systems are available and utilized at the federal, provincial and local levels;
- Strengthened data governance- data generation, data storage, dissemination, and data usage, knowledge management of PLGSP, and other agencies at federal, provincial and local levels;
- Streamlined and coordinated support is provided to provincial and local governments on E-Governance, data management and other IT related themes.
Competencies
Corporate Competencies:
- Demonstrates integrity by modelling the Government of Nepal (GoN) and UN’s values and ethical standards;
- Serves and promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of the GoN and of UNDP;
- Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
- Good inter-personal skills;
- Clear and upfront communication skills;
- Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
- Display cultural and gender sensitivity and adaptability;
- Collaborates effectively in a team environment;
- Organized and good with following-up on pending issues; meets deadlines;
- Promote learning and knowledge management/sharing;
- Focused on delivering results by taking calculated-risks and problem-solving approach;
- Fair and transparent decision making; regularly shares information with team members; and
- Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development.
Functional Competencies:
- Promotes sharing of knowledge and experience, and actively works towards continued learning and development on personal level as well as for supervisees;
- Good practical knowledge of inter-disciplinary development issues;
- Ability to go beyond established procedures and models, propose new approaches which expand the range of projects;
- Demonstrates strong numerical and analytical skills;
- Has experience working with Monitoring and Evaluation tools;
- Experience in developing business plans for financial institutions including energy enterprises;
- Experience in coordination, technical assistance and advisory support top government and private institutions;
- Experienced in delivering training and other needed capacity/ institutional building support to a wide range of stakeholders including financial institutions;
- Demonstrates excellent organizational and administrative skills;
- Identifies and communicates relevant information for a variety of audiences for advocating GoN and UNDP’s mandate;
- Analyzes and selects materials for strengthening strategic alliances with partners and stakeholders;
- Understands and applies fundamental concepts and principles of a professional discipline or technical specialty relating to the position;
- Possesses basic knowledge of organizational policies and procedures relating to the position and applies them consistently in work tasks;
- Demonstrates good knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments;
- Effectively networks with partners seizing opportunities to build strategic alliances relevant to GoN and UNDP’s mandate and strategic agenda;
- Assesses project performance to identify success factors and incorporates best practices into project work;
- Monitors specific stages of projects/programme implementation;
- Researches linkages across programme activities to identify critical points of integration; and
- Oversees and documents the process of strategy formulation for programs at Project level.
Required Skills and Experience
Education:
- Master’s Degree in e-governance, Information and Communication Technology, Computer Science or any other related field. Additional degree on the domain of governance will be an advantage.
Experience:
- At least seven years of experience working in areas related to information and communication technology and e-governance with introduction of innovative strategies and tools in public service delivery;
- Experience in working at the national/international level with IT/E-Governance systems development is essential;
- Experience of working on governance systems will be added advantage;
- Demonstrated track record of delivering high-quality reports, data systems and knowledge products on time;
- Sound understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their implications on local governance would be an advantage.
Language requirements:
- Fluency in English and Nepali, both written and oral, at professional level are essential.