Project Officer (Forestry and Wood Products)

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations. Its mandate is to promote and accelerate sustainable industrial development in developing countries and economies in transition, and work towards improving living conditions in the world's poorest countries by drawing on its combined global resources and expertise.

PROJECT CONTEXT

UNIDO successfully completed Phase I (pilot phase) of the 'Revitalization of Forest Training Centres in the SADC Region for Green Employment' project on 31 December 2015. Based upon the experienced gained over the project cycle, UNIDO and our local counterparts reviewed key components of inception phase interventions and identified a number of high potential follow up technical assistance initiatives that would compliment on-going efforts to revitalized training delivery service provision in key wood value chain segments.

To that end, UNIDO has designed our Phase II follow up assistance to leverage our comparative advantage in the implementation of livelihoods support programming and will focus on expanding technical skills delivery for vulnerable groups whose livelihoods are at risk in KZN. In addition, the Organization will make a dedicated effort to engage with and support the development of a dynamic micro and small-scale enterprise sector that has the potential to make an immediate impact on employment creation and income generation outcomes.

To assist in the implementation of UNIDOs Phase II wood value chain technical assistance modality, project managers will require a national project officer to assist in the design, development, implementation, monitoring, reporting, and close-out of a number of project activities under Phase II.

MAIN DUTIES

The Project Officer (PO) will work under the overall and direct administrative supervision of UNIDOs Chief Technical Advisor for the project. The PO is expected to undertake the following duties:

1. UNIDO Project Officer in KwaZulu-Natal province supervising and reporting on sub-contracting works and the implementation of project activities with Project partners;
2. Provide procurement and contracting support for various training-related activities planned under Phase II programming;
3. Support social media and advocacy efforts to highlight UNIDOs technical assistance model planned under Phase II;
4. Local project representative to support any project relevant customs, shipping/transport, and VAT collection and reporting initiatives;
5. Identify any relevant market/demand factors and/or technical inputs to strengthen capacity building trainings and ensure that all agree project set training targets are achieved;
6. Assist in communicating Phase II objectives with various local stakeholder groups that are interested in engagement with UNIDO under the Partnership component of Phase II programming;
7. Under take missions to Pretoria on behalf of the project to meet with UNIDO Regional Office colleagues, finalize any financial reconciliation reports, and support monitoring and follow up with any Pretoria-based stakeholders; and
8. Support the design and development of a dynamic Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development outreach programme for women-owned or operated forestry contractors; and
9. Undertake any other activities as requested by the project managers that support project implementation and sustainability.

COMPETENCIES

Practical and analytical thinking; planning, organizing and problem-solving abilities; good inter-personal skills; cultural sensitivity; professional verbal and written communication skills; high quality presentational skills; clear and focused report writing skills; proactive and willing to keep abreast of new developments in the relevant technical and business fields.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

* University degree preferably in forestry, wood sciences, vocational training, or related discipline;

• Authorized to work in South Africa;
• Experience and knowledge in project management practices (design, development, implementation, monitoring, and close out);
• Demonstrated experience in working in business or private sector. Higher level Education like MBA will be considered in lieu of marketplace experience;
• Project implementation or commercial operational experience in Africa;
• Knowledge of UNIDO contracting and administrative practices is considered a strong advantage;
• Previous experience with shipping, transport, customs/clearance is an asset

LANGUAGE, COMPUTER, SKILLS AND CERTIFICATES

Fluent in written and spoken English.

• Computer literacy and strong working knowledge of Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• Ability to use a camera, GPS hand held, tablets computers, and document scanners
• Possess a South African motor vehicle drivers licence
• Demonstrated communications skills in Zulu and Afrikaans

HOW TO APPLY:

This is a three month probationary contract with the option to renew. The expected start date is 01 June 2016. The closing date for CV submissions is 29 April 2016. Interviews are planned for the early May.

Thanks to all that apply but kindly note that due to the large number of CVs received that if you have not heard back by early May 2016 the submission can be considered unsuccessful.

Interested candidates can send their CVs to Mr.Sean Paterson at S.Paterson@unido.org
Subject Line Reference: Project Officer CV Submission (Sur/Family Name of Candidate)

For more information on working with UNDO follow the link: http://www.unido.org/employment.html