Junior Urban Planner

Overview

Support UN-Habitat in urban planning for vulnerable communities

You have:

• Master’s degree in urban planning, urban development, or any related field is required.
• At least 2 years of relevant work experience in the field of urban development and planning (and/or related fields) in the local context with direct proven experience is required.
• Fluency in English and Arabic (both oral and written) is required.
• Direct proven experience of urban infrastructure development projects/processes is desirable.
• Experience working on migration and displacement issues is desirable.
• Ability to write technical reports, concept notes and project documents is required.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills are desirable.
• Understanding of and experience from managing urban data is desirable.
• Experience organizing local workshops and community engagement processes is desirable.
• Sound judgment and excellent analytical skills, ability to plan and organize workshops is desirable.

Result of Service Support the UN-Habitat Jordan National Programme Coordinator and project team to deliver the technical outputs, such as to: 1. Develop a comprehensive spatial understanding of the existing situation in their city and in urban settlements hosting displaced populations to inform decision making. 2. Support the development of detailed strategic visioning and scenario building for urban development in selected neighbourhoods, 3. Support municipalities in identifying bankable investment opportunities to support linking displaced and hosting communities to infrastructure financing. 4. Increase the capacities of local and national stakeholders, including in collecting and analysing data and information and use it to prioritize interventions. 5. Develop project proposals and concept notes in response to relevant calls for proposals. 6. Implement project outputs and activities under the guidance of the UN-Habitat Jordan National Programme Coordinator. 7. Support the localization of and contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals in Jordan.

Work Location Amman

Expected duration 6 Months

Duties and Responsibilities Org. Setting and Reporting Relationships: UN-Habitat, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities. It is the focal point for all urbanization and human settlement matters within the UN system. UN-Habitat envisions well-planned, well-governed and efficient cities and towns, with adequate housing, infrastructure and universal access to employment and basic services such as water, energy, and sanitation.

Background: The UN-Habitat Jordan office is implementing several public space projects around Jordan to enhance the wellbeing and livelihoods of vulnerable communities.

Additionally, UN-Habitat is partnering with the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) to improve access to reliable services and socio-economic opportunities for migrants and refugees in urban settlements. The Urban Planning and Infrastructure in Migration Contexts (UPIMC) programme will focus on activities that develop a common understanding of the issues affecting cities, towns and neighbourhoods, mapping provisions and gaps in public infrastructure services in coordination with humanitarian interventions.

The preparation of urban profiles for the selected vulnerable neighbourhoods will enable the development of shared visions and prioritised interventions that improve living conditions to be identified, agreed upon and potentially funded. The programme will support municipalities hosting displaced populations in Jordan, Egypt, and Cameroon. Cities in these 3 countries have been selected through full consultation with both SECO and UN-Habitat country representatives. In the selected cities, the programme will foster multi-sectoral collaboration between UN-Habitat, national and local governments, humanitarian actors, development banks and local communities including displaced populations. The scope of work will also ensure significant contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by supporting the selected cities and neighbourhoods to become increasingly inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.

This Programme will address the critical challenges in supporting refugees in urban areas, through integrating them into overall urban development processes, considering the Humanitarian-Development and Peace/Triple Nexus. The Overall Programme aims include:

• Support municipalities to mainstream migration challenges into spatial urban analytics and urban infrastructure investment planning.

• Conduct activities that will go beyond a pure planning stage, by supporting the prioritization of infrastructure investments and their linkage to financing.

• Benefit migrant communities and urban dwellers in general with better quality of life and better access to economic opportunities.

The programme will achieve this through 4 main components: 1. Spatial analytics and urban profiling; 2. Develop strategic vision and scenario building; 3. Define prioritized infrastructure investments and linkage to financing; 4. Knowledge exchange and capacity sharing. The project will be delivered across two phases. Phase 1 includes components 1 and 2, where component 1 has been completed.

UN-Habitat’s Project Team in Jordan now seeks to strengthen its team in the delivery of component 2 of the programme and in the implementation of it’s various projects by engaging a Junior Urban Planner with experience in the local context.

The UN-Habitat Country Office of Jordan has been working on several projects which target refugees and migrants in the country. At the national level, the office has been working on the development and application of a roadmap for a National Urban Policy to promote a participatory and inclusive approach to define a common urban vision for the country. This is through enhancing and ensuring the inclusion of all stakeholders, and the vulnerable populations in particular, which includes refugees.

Amman and Irbid have been selected for the first phase of the UPIMC programme in collaboration with the Greater Amman Authority (GAM) and Greater Irbid Municipality (GIM). Under the first component, Spatial profiles for both Amman and Irbid Cities have been developed and needs to be updated based on the validation session(s).

Reporting Line: The consultant will be hired and work under the overall supervision of the UN-Habitat Jordan National Programme Coordinator, work in coordination with the UPIMC Jordan Project Coordinator and Project Urban Planner. Due to travel restrictions related to the COVID-19, any remote working will be explored and require specific arrangements on reporting and communication.

Duties and Responsibilities: As per the ToR, the Consultant will support the UN-Habitat Jordan National Programme Coordinator for the duration of the consultancy. They will interact with certain stakeholders of the Programme on behalf of UN-Habitat and therefore he/she will be appointed on the basis of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. As a UN representative, he/she is expected to exhibit and adhere to the highest standards of ethical conduct.

The consultant will be responsible for providing technical advice for effective coordination and implementation of the relevant activities, including: - Provide technical support in updating and writing reports, spatial profiles, policy documents, and strategies. - Mobilise relevant stakeholders for workshops and bilateral meetings. - Provide technical input during community events and workshops and including, to prepare agenda and invitations, presentations, and workshop reports. - Provide technical support for the preparation of problem-framing, scenario-building, and visioning activities for the selected areas. - Provide technical support as needed to project team on assessments to be carried out with public and private sector actors and government authorities. - Prepare presentations and communication materials; to guide or facilitate the delivery of the local/national meetings and consultation to obtain necessary inputs for the design of the public spaces - Coordinate with all stakeholders and meeting with aligned Ministries, relevant municipalities, community groups, targeted beneficiaries, international and local NGOs and CBOs … etc. and conduct needs assessment which will feed into developing new proposals. - Collect data from government, non-government agencies, academia, private sector among other relevant stakeholders. - Provide technical inputs and support the development of concept notes, project proposals, project documents, and other relevant documents as required and mobilize further resources. - Support the development and implementation of the UN Jordan Cooperation Framework. - Report on UN-Habitat project activities and targets. - Represent UN-Habitat at stakeholder meetings under the guidance of the National Programme Coordinator.

Qualifications/special skills Academic Qualifications: - Master’s degree in urban planning, urban development, or any related field is required. Experience: - At least 2 years of relevant work experience in the field of urban development and planning (and/or related fields) in the local context with direct proven experience is required. - Direct proven experience of urban infrastructure development projects/processes is desirable. - Experience of working on migration and displacement issues is desirable. - Understanding of and experience from managing urban data is desirable. - Experience organizing local workshops and community engagement processes is desirable. - Experience working on social change projects is desirable. - Facilitating, designing, and managing capacity building processes is desirable. - Ability to write technical report, concept notes and project documents is required. - Excellent communication and interpersonal skills are desirable. - Sound judgment and excellent analytical skills, ability to plan and organise workshops is desirable. - Working knowledge and understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (and their monitoring/evaluation) and of the New Urban Agenda is desirable. - Working experience with international development organizations is desirable. Language: - English and French are the working languages of the United Nation Secretariat, for this position fluency in English and Arabic (both oral and written) is required.

No Fee THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.

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Added 4 years ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: careers.un.org