Project Assistant

Contract

This is a UNV National Youth contract. This kind of contract is known as National UN Volunteer. It is normally only for nationals. More about UNV National Youth contracts.

The objective of this assignment is to support youth programming and the implementation of the Youth Leadership programme at the country level as well as the regional and global levels. The Project Assistant will work under the supervision and guidance of the UNDP Youth Focal Points both at the country and regional levels. S/he will be an integral part of the UNDP Country Office and Regional Programme team and will play an important role in supporting UNDP’s Country Offices and partners, with a strong focus on coordination, advocacy, planning, and evaluation.

This position is part of the Youth Development Delegates in the Arab Region programme that is the result of a partnership between The Arab Youth Center (AYC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the Arab States. This youth employment initiative, in its second cohort, will provide an opportunity for 14 young people passionate about achieving Sustainable Development Goals to work at the UNDP offices in their countries, in the field of youth work, to achieve the common vision of both parties aimed at enabling and empowering the youth in the Arab region

Within the delegated authority and under the supervision of the Senior Programme Associate or his designated mandated representative(s): • The Project Assistant is expected to substantially contribute to the effective management of youth programming by performing the following duties: • Directly supports the Regional Youth Project, inclusive of the Youth Leadership Programme (YLP), where relevant and youth programming by following up on implementation, coordinating with partners and UNDP Country Offices, accessing regional networks, creating linkages and providing technical support. • Contributes to strategic planning, developing innovative responses to emerging challenges and opportunities for youth in the Arab region around SDGs. • Supports the timely preparation and quality control of all substantive technical reports, briefs and required documents, including progress reports, concept notes, background documents and briefing notes. • Works closely with the regional team members in the development of project activities to promote youth’s social, political and economic empowerment in the Arab region. • Publicly advocating for and speaking out on youth engagement in development (and the pursuit of SDGs achievement) nationally, which will include monthly vlogs, leading online public webinars, and social media outreach. • Facilitates the delivery of YLP activities by monitoring results achieved during implementation. S/he ensures and guides the appropriate application of monitoring, reporting and evaluation systems and procedures and develops enhancements if necessary. • Captures stories which reflect on know how (procedures, processes, tactics) and know why (lessons learned, reasons for failures/success). • Coordinates the YLP’s mentorship support, where relevant. • Conducts an overview and analysis of the relevant partners, donors and stakeholders to the project, and develops a plan for efficient flow of information between them and the project, and vice versa. • Develops general tools/guidelines for operative communication measures at regional/national/local levels, for instance press releases, social media, press events, social media and campaigns. • Carrying out other tasks as assigned by Regional Coordinator in coordination with respective supervisor, and any other required administrative work

• Accountability • Adaptability and flexibility • Creativity • Judgement and decision-making • Planning and organising • Professionalism • Self-management • Delivery • Communication • People management • Leadership • innovation

• Experience in implementing Project Management. • Experience in working with government/private sector /international agencies • Experience in project design, financial literacy • Experience in organizing trainings/workshops • Working experience UN System will be an added advantage • Experience in documentation will add value • Experience in liaise and maintaining partnerships
• Strong skills in MS Office Suite/ editing softwares like Adobe Illustrator

Additionally:

• Ability to leverage learning from a variety of sources to anticipate and respond to future trends; to demonstrate foresight in order to model what future developments and possible ways forward look like for UNDP. • Event Management (Including retreats, training and meetings) • Ability to Plan monitoring, organizing, and control human and financial resources of a Bureau, team or Project and others in line with UNDP strategy and policies. • Ability to create clarity around UNDP value proposition to beneficiaries and partners and to develop service offers responding to client needs based on UNDP’s organizational priorities and mandate.

Riyadh, city and capital of Saudi Arabia. The city grew from a small, fortified desert village in the 17th century into a modern metropolis of several million inhabitants in the 20th century. Area city, 600 square miles (1,550 square km). Pop. (2010) 5,188,286. Life in Riyadh is concentrated around the city’s more than 4,000 mosques and its numerous busy shopping centers. The city’s central core and its many souks (marketplaces) attract heavy pedestrian traffic, emphasizing the city’s intense feeling of vitality. Riyadh is an important financial, business, and manufacturing center. A number of banks are headquartered in the city. Riyadh’s climate is characterized by extreme heat in the summer, with average temperatures reaching the low 100s F (low 40s C), and coolness in the winter, with lows averaging in the low 50s F (low 10s C), though there is a large difference between daytime and nighttime temperatures. Humidity in Riyadh remains low throughout the year, especially during the summer. Riyadh is served by the King Khālid International Airport, which is located about 22 miles (35 km) north of the city and handles both domestic and international flights. There are thousands of miles of paved roads in Riyadh, including the King Fahd (running north-south) and Mecca (Makkah; running east-west) highways, which constitute the two main axes of the city. With its grid system of wide thoroughfares and expressways, modern Riyadh was designed as an automobile-oriented city. Taxis are a significant form of transportation in Riyadh; local buses are also available. Conditions of Service for International UN Volunteers The initial contract is issued upon arrival for the period indicated above. The contract can be extended depending on the continuation of the mandate, availability of funding, operational necessity, and satisfactory performance.

As this is a national UN Volunteer assignment, the UN Volunteer will be responsible for arranging his/her own housing and other living essentials.