Republic of Moldova

Background

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the UNDP Deputy Resident Representative and in close collaboration with the UNDP Portfolio Manager, as well as with the administration of the Parliament and the project team, the Chief Technical Adviser will assist the Moldovan Parliament, and CO to deliver on project results with a special focus on consolidating institutional and technical capacity of the Parliament’s to better exercise its functions according to legislation and constitutional requirements. The CTA is the lead international expert and the team leader of the Parliament’s technical advisors and consultants.

Key responsibilities:

Overall design, management, implementation, monitoring and reporting of the project components.

• CTA will be coordinating with inputs from project team, i.e. project officer and assistant and in coordination with counterparts, development and oversight of work plans of the project, including implementation, monitoring and reporting according to the project resources framework, elaboration of reports and other relevant materials as necessary;

Engagement and coordination of international assistance, communication with the key stakeholders, officials of the Moldovan Parliament, partner organizations, international and national advisors and experts in the areas of the Project intervention.

• Close cooperation with and coordination of stakeholders that are/will be active in the area of project intervention. In this regard CTA will coordinate donors’ assistance to better integrate UNDP’s and other’s interventions and observe the avoidance of overlapping of assistance. Regular meetings with donors in this context will need to be organized.
• CTA will be the main liaison person with key stakeholders of the project. He/she will maintain effective and lucrative communications and interaction with Parliament’s officials, i.e. Speaker, Permanent Bureau; administration, other staff, partners and stakeholders as necessary.
• The CTA will oversee hiring processes for all expertise required for project needs. He/she will be drafting of Terms of Reference and other requested documentation related to the areas of the Project intervention, approve their working targets, oversee performance and report on results accordingly.

Provision of international expertise and policy advice on the Parliamentary Development matters in line with the international and European standards.

• Long term strategic planning and sustainable institutional development. CTA will assist the Parliament in developing and approving a medium- to long term strategic plan that will contain a detailed diagnostic analysis of parliament institution with a SWOT matrix, priorities for development as well as detailed annual action plans. This activity will also contain provision of advice and technical expertise to the Speaker and parliament administration on issues of strategic planning and organizational development.
• Policy recommendations on parliamentary development in the country. CTA will assist the Parliament in preparation of policy recommendations as of how to improve and manage parliamentary development in Moldova. On this matter the CTA will closely work and coordinate its actions with the Speaker, its apparatus and all relevant departments from the parliament. Policy recommendations will be prepared and presented in format of reports to the Parliament, including Parliament’s Permanent Bureau.
• Provide background papers, briefing notes and concept notes to inform decisions for a comprehensive, long-term approach to parliamentary development including strengthening of the legislatures law-making, representation, oversight and other roles of the parliament.
• Operational and technical assistance to the Parliament, including: operational planning, procedural development, cooperation and interfacing with other national and international stakeholders, all parliamentary development issues not covered by other experts. 
• CTA will provide specific technical expertise on operational level to the parliament on matters, including, but not limited to implementation of a modern and efficient information system for managing the Parliament’s information and documentation flows, including documentation for MPs and plenary sessions, voting systems, tracking, storing and back up systems, other capacity development issues for the parliament, including through coordination of trainings for staff and MPs, legal aspects, strengthening of legislative, representation, oversight functions, cross cutting issues of human rights and gender balance, MDGs, conflict prevention, anti-corruption, minority political involvement etc as well as other issues requested by the Parliament.

Ensured knowledge management (KM) across the organization regionally and globally, as well as synergies with other UN interventions in related areas of the UNDP Country Programme.

• CTA will ensure that all UNDP’s KM regulations and procedures are fulfilled. This will comprise but will not be limited to coordination of evaluation efforts, storage and dissemination of specialty reports and other actions as prescribed by UNDP procedures. CTA will investigate all possibilities and actively promote synergies between the Parliamentary Development initiative and other UN and UNDP programmes and projects, in accordance with the “Delivering as ONE” policy of the UN.

Provision of advice to the UNDP Senior Management that leads to strategic positioning of UNDP in the country and its sustainable capacity development of Moldovan Parliament.

• Advisor to the UN Resident Representative on parliamentary development matters.
• Coordination with other organizations providing support to the Parliament of Moldova.
• Compilation of project reports to the UNDP and donor community based on input from the project team.
• Advise the Country Office on possible key interventions with a longer term perspective that will complement the process of democratisation and facilitate the development of new projects that UNDP may decide to undertake in this or adjacent areas.
• Make recommendations for the envisaged role of the UNDP in the implementation of the project, and provide a detailed analysis of the capacity needed within the UNDP to fulfil the obligations that would arise from it.
• Other duties relevant to the unit, as requested by the direct supervisor.

Specific deliverables

• Parliament Development Strategy and Annual Action Plans for a five-year period.
• Specific concepts and action plans for strengthening legislative, representation and oversight function of the parliament.
• Concept and action plan for establishing and operating a continuous training system in the Parliament for MPs and staff..
• Concept and action plan for implementing of an Integrated Information Management System in the parliament.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies: 

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Considers and fully adheres to UNDP rules, procedures and best practices; 
• dvocates and promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of the UN system; 
• Displays cultural, gender, religious, ethnic and age sensitivity and adaptability; 
• Treats people fairly and without favouritism.

Functional Competencies:

• Proven analytical capacity and strategic thinking; 
• Ability for planning and establishing priorities, coordinating and monitoring the work of others, and delegating responsibility where appropriate; 
• Excellent interpersonal and supervisory skills; 
• Resourcefulness, initiative, and maturity of judgment; 
• Excellent communications, organizational and management skills in a complex multi-stakeholder environment; 
• Ability to handle effectively multiple tasks without compromising quality, team spirit and positive working relationships; 
• Excellent computer/information systems skills.

Management and Leadership Competencies:

• Strong results orientation; 
• Effective problem-solver; 
• Demonstrated capacity-building and facilitation skills; 
• Consistently approaches work with energy and positive-constructive attitude; 
• Ability to establish effective working relations in a multicultural team environment; 
• Effectively manages teams and creates an enabling work environment; 
• Flexible and responsive with a client-oriented approach

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced Degree in Public Administration, Law or related field

Experience:

• Minimum ten (10) years of international experience in the field of technical/policy expertise and assistance in Democratic Governance, preferably parliamentary development fields
• Previous experience working in an advisory capacity, acting as leading expert is preferred
• Experience of work in parliaments (staff and/or MP) in established democracies (in senior position - an advantage)
• Experience of advisory work on parliamentary development in Central and Eastern Europe is a strong advantage 
• Experience in work with electronic information systems for parliaments, and other related IT systems is an advantage

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English (written and spoken).  Working knowledge of Russian and/or Romanian is an advantage