Sustainable Urban Development Consultant

Result of Service The Sustainable Urban Development Consultant will be responsible for supporting the implementation of the Program of Support to Municipalities of Alagoas, which aims to engage, train and prepare Local Action Plans for Sustainable Urban Development, in two scales and under two lenses: the city scale, aligned to global development agendas, and the public spaces scale, guided by the practical localisation of these agendas, with emphasis on crime and violence prevention.

The activities planned for the Assistant Consultant are related to the support to the implementation of four City Action Plans, one for each city participating in the Programme and composed of two documents each: i) City Profile: document with a synthetic overview, prepared from the identification of the main public problems aligned to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the New Urban Agenda (NUA), based on data and the systematization of the discussions from the participatory workshops; ii) Urban Strategies Booklet: document with proposals structured according to the context, vision, objectives and logical framework of the priority recommendations.

The Programme will be implemented through several activities, such as technical visits, preparatory meetings, four different workshop formats (capacity building, thematic, validation, and feedback), in addition to the Programme launching and closing. These activities will take place in three different environments, depending on their objective, in order to facilitate the engagement, participation and execution of the steps: i) participating city: technical visits and thematic workshops; ii) Maceió: capacity building and feedback workshops, Programme launch and closure; and iii) ReDUS online platform: preparatory meetings, validation workshops, communication and information organization.

The expected results of the program are: i) municipalities engaged in a network to debate, exchange experiences and elaborate proposals that implement global development agendas at the local level; ii) public managers and representatives of civil society and academia with their institutional capacities strengthened in relation to the SDGs, the NUA and methods for public spaces evaluation; iii) practical diagnostic tools and strategies designed for sustainable urban development and for the intervention of public spaces with an inclusivity and safety perspective; and iv) projection and visibility opportunities provided to municipalities in UN-Habitat communication spaces, in addition to insertion in its mapping of opportunities for partner institutions.

The cities in Alagoas selected by the Government of Alagoas to participate in the Programme are Maragogi, Penedo, Santana do Ipanema and União dos Palmares, and each one will have a Working Group formed by public managers, civil society, and academia representatives.

The Consultant shall be paid with a monthly allowance, upon presentation and approval by the National Officer for Brazil of monthly activities' report.

Work Location Home based

Expected duration Four (4) months upon the signature of the contract, with the possibility of renewal.

Duties and Responsibilities Background

The main mandate of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is to promote sustainable development of human settlements and policies conducive to adequate housing for all. Within this framework, UN-Habitat supports central and state governments, as well as local authorities and other partners for the implementation of the Habitat Agenda, the 2030 Agenda with the Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda.

UN-Habitat helps the urban poor by transforming cities into safer, more inclusive, compact, integrated, resilient and connected places with better opportunities where everyone can live with dignity. It works with organizations at every level, including all spheres of government, civil society, and the private sector to help build, manage, plan and finance sustainable urban development.

The Regional Office for Latin American and the Caribbean – ROLAC – is based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Agency puts emphasis in developing and managing activities in the host country. Indeed, for the past years, UN-Habitat has expanded its portfolio in Brazil by working with the three tiers of government in order to support the formulation and implementation of more effective, sustainable, participative and socially fairer urban economic, social and environmental policies.

Through a partnership with the Government of the State of Alagoas to improve institutional and technical capacities of State and municipal stakeholders on sustainable territorial and urban development, UN-Habitat is now setting up the second phase of the project named “Sustainable and inclusive urban prosperity in the State of Alagoas”. This second phase shall lead to enhance State of Alagoas engagement toward sustainable and inclusive urban prosperity, through a better understanding of the urban setting, and the establishment or improvement of its public policies, plans, and actions.

In order to support the implementation of this project, we are looking for a Sustainable Urban Development Consultant to ensure the creation of graphic materials to support the project products and communicate the project.

Report to UN-Habitat Manager

The Sustainable Urban Development Consultant reports to the National Officer for Brazil, who will evaluate him/her.

Outputs/Work Assignment

The Sustainable Urban Development Consultant shall support and advise the implementation of projects according to the responsibilities indicated below.

Responsibilities

I. Support the implementation of two capacity-building workshops on the global development agendas, the first one for leveling up on the SDGs and the NUA (goals, guidelines, principles), and the second one for deepening on the SDGs and the NUA (goals, indicators, monitoring, and evaluation); II. Implement eight thematic workshops, four on identifying public problems aligned to the SDGs and the NUA and four on formulating urban strategies aligned to the SDGs and the NUA. The workshops will be held in four different cities in the state of Alagoas, involving public managers, civil society representatives, academia, and local residents; III. Support the presentation of the preliminary results of the thematic workshops in validation workshops with the Working Group on the ReDUS platform; IV. Support the UN-Habitat local team in the preparation of the feedback workshop after the validation and systematization of results; V. Support the preparation of material for facilitation of the capacity building workshops, including PPT presentations and suggestions for communication and support materials to be diagrammed and printed by UN-Habitat; VI. Prepare facilitation material for the thematic workshops, including PPT presentations and suggestions for communication and supporting materials to be diagrammed and printed by UN-Habitat; VII. Support the definition of participative methodologies for the realization of capacity-building, thematic and validation workshops, containing a proposal of group dynamics oriented to the identification of public problems, the formulation of strategies, profiling of participants and other necessary information for the conduction of the activities; VIII. Support the establishment of the schedule and monitoring of the preparation of the workshops; IX. Support the local UN-Habitat team in the activities necessary to prepare the workshops; X. Support the systematization and preparation of diagnostic reports of public problems aligned to the SDGs and the NUA, based on data and on the results of the participatory workshops to be held in the four cities of Alagoas; XI. Support the systematization and preparation of urban strategy reports for four cities in Alagoas, structured from: i) context, vision, goals aligned to the SDGs and the NUA; and ii) logical framework of priority recommendations listed from components such as: actions, justification, actors, places of implementation, deadlines, steps, resources and expected change.

The consultant will be responsible for completing all courses and training activities that are indicated to him/her by his/her supervisor. The security course BSAFE is required to be accredited during the first month of employment.

The consultant will be responsible for his/her own security, so the person should get familiarized with United Nations security mechanisms and comply with them according to the Framework of Accountability for the United Nations Security Management System.

Qualifications/special skills Academic Qualifications:

Required:

¿ Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture, Urban Planning, Public Policies, International Relations, or related fields is required, or additional three (3) years of relevant experience to the post, beyond the requirement.

Desired:

¿ Postgraduate Degree in Urban Sustainable Development, Public Policies, or related fields is required.

Experience:

¿ A minimum of six (6) years of progressively responsible experience in project/programme is required; ¿ Experience in drafting sustainable urban development action plans, aligned to global development agendas, based on data and participatory workshops; ¿ Experience in global development agendas, in particular by SDG 11 and NUA, is an advantage; ¿ Previous experience within the UN System would be considered an added advantage.

Skills:

¿ Good computer skills in Windows, as Microsoft Office, Outlook, Microsoft Teams, and Web search engines is required; ¿ Good knowledge on project management methodologies is desirable.

Knowledge Management

¿ The person must know the processes, procedures and norms of UN-Habitat, in order to guarantee an adequate quality of the activities described above, following the standards of the organization. ¿ The person will propose formats and procedures that allow the efficient implementation of the activities related to the project development. ¿ The person must know the file of the Office, work with it and ensure its proper maintenance, accessibility for all staff and due updating. ¿ The person will prepare databases related to the project running. ¿ The person will make sure that all relevant technical information will be adequately shared with the correspondent staff. ¿ The person will ensure that all produced material will be fit-for-purpose and delivered, in an organized way, for posterior consultation and use of the Agency.

Competencies

¿ Professionalism: Experience working in an inter-institutional environment, project management, monitoring-evaluation; approaches and strategies with regard to good urban governance and local and regional development. ¿ Planning and organization: Professional approach to work, strong sense of responsibility, operate with minimal supervision; proven organizational skills and ability to manage a workload efficiently and within set deadlines. ¿ Communication: Ability to write clearly and effectively; listen to others, interpret messages correctly and respond appropriately; show openness in information sharing and keep everyone informed; solid abstract reasoning skills together with a proven capacity to write documents for diverse audiences. ¿ Teamwork: Ability to work with teams, demonstrate leadership, conflict management and consensus facilitation skills; ability to work in a multicultural and multi-ethnic environment, and to respect diversity; sensitivity to the main streaming of vulnerability; willingness and ability to work in difficult environments.

Languages ¿ Fluency in Portuguese is required; ¿ English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat, and Spanish is the working language of the Regional Office. Good command in oral and written Spanish and English will be considered as an added advantage.

Additional Information Remuneration

SB-3/5 (UNDP Brazil Salary Scale): BRL 7.505,42.

Travel details

The consultant must be available to travel to the places related to the activities in the country, if requested by the National Officer for Brazil and/or the International Officer. Travels will be coordinated and financed by UN-Habitat, according to the United Nations travel rules and guidelines.

Notes

Appointment against this post is on a local basis and only nationals from Brazil or external candidates who hold a permanent visa in Brazil may apply.

It is required for all the curricular information to be inserted in the system, which may take a few hours. Only complete applications in English will be considered.

All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. Due to the volume of applications received, receipt of applications cannot be acknowledged individually. Only short-listed applicants will be contacted.

Applications should be submitted through INSPIRA and must include all documents required at the system, please be ready to include the following information at the “Candidate Profile” (CP) at Inspira:

1. Cover memo (maximum 1 page) 2. Educational Background (incl. dates) 3. Professional Experience (assignments, tasks, achievements, duration by years/ months) 4. Expertise and preferences regarding location of potential assignments 5. Other Experience and Expertise (e.g. Internships/ voluntary work, etc.)* * Please note that Internships, self-employment and part-time count as 50%. In addition to it, note experience not relevant to the position will not be considered.

All applications should be submitted to: Inspira.

Deadline for applications: UN-HABITAT does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process. If you have any questions concerning persons or companies claiming to be recruiting on behalf of these offices and requesting the payment of a fee, please contact: [email protected]

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.