Vacancies

CONSULTANT VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT

Issued on: 19 February 2018
ORGANIZATIONAL LOCATION: UN-HABITAT Somalia Programme (YES, Midnimo, EU-Reinteg, DSI)
DUTY STATION: Nairobi/Kenya with travel to Somalia if security permits
FUNCTIONAL TITLE: Infrastructure Projects Expert
DURATION: 6 working months
START DATE: 1 March 2018
CLOSING DATE: 26 February 2018

BACKGROUND

UN-Habitat has been active in the Somalia urban sector for more than 25 years and is currently implementing a portfolio of interventions that target communities, local authorities and central government at the core of urban centres. These interventions have evolved from responding to immediate local needs for reconstruction to systematic attempts to address sustainable urban development through integrated human settlement programmes and beyond through interventions that strengthen the humanitarian, development and peacebuilding nexus in the areas of livelihoods, youth engagement, governance and sustainable urban development. UN-Habitat’s portfolio of current programmes implemented in Somalia are designed to address the dynamic political and socio-economic context in Somalia and more importantly respond to the needs of new member states and urban centers affected by rapid growth and large-scale displacement in southern and central Somalia in particular.
The following programmes are some of the key areas of interventions UN-Habitat is implementing in Somalia.

Youth Employment Somalia (YES): UN-Habitat Somalia is implementing the Federal Government of Somalia – United Nations Joint Programme on Youth Employment together with UNDP, FAO and ILO under the Peace and State Building Goal 4 “Economic Foundations”. The joint programme targets three outcomes:

I. Improved long-term potential for growth, productivity and inclusive employment through six value chains implementation plans.
II. Enhanced longer-term employability of youth in sectors with high growth and employment potential.
III. Productive infrastructure rehabilitated through labor-intensive methods.

UN-Habitat’s contribution lies in component 2: Enhancing longer-term employability through of youth through skills development. The goal of UN-Habitat’s contribution to the joint programme is to improve the livelihoods of conflict affected youth, both men and women, through the development of a One Stop Youth Resource Centre in Mogadishu and 2 satellite centres in other urban districts in Somalia that address the livelihood and psychosocial needs of Somali youth in a holistic manner.

Vocational Skills Training for Economic Growth Project:

UN-Habitat Somalia is implementing a number of projects to increase employment opportunities and improve livelihoods for vulnerable communities, in particular for women and youth. Among those projects is Vocational Skills Training for Economic Growth Project. This project has 3 key objectives:

I. Strengthen quality of, and access to, vocational training and improve workforce skills and productivity focusing on critical urban infrastructure (transportation, light manufacturing, construction sector/construction related industries) as well as in upcoming sectors of the urban economy;
II. Improve livelihoods and food security for urban women in the (renewable) energy sector
III. Create short and long terms jobs through the provision through repurposing waste for use in building housing, economic and environmental infrastructure

EU- Reinteg Programme: This programme is designed specifically to facilitate and support durable solutions for IDPs and RRs in Mogadishu.
It also seeks to substantially improve living conditions of IDPs and RRs through the establishment of governance systems, increased Housing, Land and Property Rights and social, economic and political inclusion.
In order to ensure a strategic, targeted and sustainable approach, tailored to the Mogadishu-specific displacement and socio-economic context, two outcomes were identified feeding into the specific and overall objectives, adding value and ensuring sustainability. The two intermediary outcomes, or results, are:
I. Strengthened local governance structures through capacity building and enhanced accountability mechanisms in order to make relevant offices and institutions accessible to IDPs and returnees and enable authorities to assume their primary responsibility to gradually enable durable solutions processes in Mogadishu.
II. Employment generation in support of improved access to affordable housing and protective and basic service delivery to IDPs and returnees.

Midnimo Project

UN-Habitat Somalia Programme’s newly established UN Peacebuilding Programme. Midnimo (Unity) is jointly implemented by UN-Habitat and the International Organization for Migration in target districts of Jubbaland State of Somalia and South West State. The Midnimo project aligns with broader peacebuilding and stabilization objectives championed by the Ministry of Internal and Federal Affairs and Regional Authorities in Jubbaland and South West State.
The project objectives specific to Midnimo are:
I. Local leadership, IDPs, returnees and the broader existing communities in areas impacted by return and displacement are able to achieve locally defined and led solutions to displacement, including the means to sustain a living, access to basic social services and participation for all in civic life.
II. Participatory and inclusive community-driven activities enhance social cohesion and trust among diverse population groups, in areas impacted by displacement and return, and with local authorities
III. IDPs, returnees and existing communities in areas highly impacted by population mobility, are able to coexist peacefully and withstand drivers of instability and conflict
IV. Participatory plans, actions and systems for dispute resolution / peaceful co-existence are incorporated into the programmes of longer-term recovery and development partners.
V. Spatial approaches are streamlined through spatial development plans and land use planning tools to reduce marginalization and increase community stabilization

Innovation Solutions Project: The main objective of this project is to support a sustainable, safe and durable integration of IDPs. In Mogadishu and Kismayo. In order to address the increasing number of displacements and returnees, the project looks for innovative solutions with the aim to test the applicability for further up-scaling in the pilot cities and across Somalia. Both projects contribute to attaining Durable Solutions for the displacement affected populations in these two areas and are complementary in character.

RESPONSIBILITES:
The incumbent will work across the projects outlined above under the overall supervision of the Programme Manager and will be reporting directly to the Project Leads. The incumbent will in charge of the following responsibilities:

• Provide survey and site assessment report with recommendation and the way forward.
• Develop architectural design, structural design, furniture/equipment list with complete specifications.
• Develop cost estimates, list of detailed specifications and bills of quantities.
• Prepare and present complete set of documents for procurement and tendering process.
• Develop an extensive work-plan for each project and timelines for site works.
• Support the recruitment of the required technical experts in the field and at the HQ.
• Develop a monitoring and reporting template for the field staff.
• Evaluate works and delivered items and approve payments requests to partners, contractors, sub-contractors and suppliers.
• Provide technical support to YES and Vocational skills training project coordination implementation and supervision of the works.
• Develop a detailed teaching curriculum for youth learning.
• Review and update training documents for production of cement tiles and pavement blocks based on learning from roll out of Shaqeyso programme.
• Provide reporting templates and review daily vocational trainers report and provide technical assistance to challenges. This should be compiled with a monthly progress report on vocational training from the field.
• Provide technical support to innovative and durable housing project in Kismayo on design of site plan, housing proto-types.
• Provide technical support to Midnimo projects in Kismayo and Baidoa on site assessment, design and costing, procurement and tendering, supervision of works and quality monitoring.
• Provide technical engineering and architectural information to enable works under construction.
• Supervise national engineers on their daily outputs across all project construction sites.
• Coordinate with implementing partner in the management of the construction works.
• Provide technical support to any other infrastructure or urban design project on the request from senior managers.
• Follow-up procurement, counter check specifications and monitor usage of technical tools and equipment for the programme.
• Provide support in preparation of visibility materials such as brochures, flyers and multimedia/social media based products.
• Support other project activities as requested by supervisor.

PROJECT OUTPUTS: The objective of this consultancy is quality control and technical assistance for the infrastructure, housing and urban design projects and activities. The detailed tasks entail assessments, preparation of technical and financial proposals, provision of technical/vocational training, tendering, evaluation and procurement, construction management, monitoring and quality assurance and reporting. The projects for which the consultant will contribute to are categorized as per thematic pillars that constitute the Somalia programmes key areas of focus and implementation including youth and livelihoods, infrastructure, housing for internally displaced, DSI and governance.

I. YES PROJECT & JOB CREATION THROUGH PUBLIC MARKET REHABILITATION

a) Provide technical support to MOSYC project in Mogadishu
b) Provide technical support to construction of Computer lab at Aquadotto
c) Provide technical supervision and support to construction of KOSYC in Kismayo
d) Provide technical support and supervision in the construction of Nagaad market P2
e) Provide technical supervision and support to completion of playground project in Mogadishu

II. VOCATIONAL SKILLS TRAINING FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH
a) Provide technical support to short term construction training course in Mogadishu
b) Provide technical support to project components in Kismayo including overseeing the production and training of use of charcoal briquette production activities and repurposed infrastructure

III. INNOVATIVE AND DURABLE SOLUTIONS FOR DISPLACEMENT
a) Proto-type house, survey, design and BoQ
b) Lead in the peoples process through providing supervision of construction skills training for beneficiaries
c) Coordinate and supervise project partner construction activities as per the AoC.

IV. MIDNIMO PROJECTS
d) Maintain the overall supervision of the teams implementing the community action plan infrastructure priorities, in this regard the consultant is expected to:
i. Provide technical support to construction project management
ii. Initiate survey and assessment of project sites
iii. Design and prepare drawings and BoQ to facilitate implementation
iv. Provide technical guidance in partner selection and tendering process
v. Supervise and quality control of projects in Baidoa and Kismayo, and any other target location of the project as needed.
e) In consultation with the senior urban planner and the urban planning team, assist and supervise any infrastructure related to pilot relocation of IDPs

V. EU-REINTEG

a) With reference to the Rental Housing pilot project in Mogadishu:
a. Hire and supervise local engineering teams
b. Monitor the procurement and delivery of construction materials for the rental housing construction or upgrading - in relation to this, lead all procedural technical and managerial steps related to collection of designs, preparation of RFQs/BOQs, tendering, selection of contractors etc.
b) With reference to the Construction of low cost houses through cash transfers to beneficiaries
a. Liaise with CESVI regarding the training on construction techniques manuals (quality control)
b. Monitor and plan the transfer of cash for physical construction
c. In cooperation with the UN Habitat Housing Unit, design of 3 housing options, incl. BoQ
d. Start, monitor processes related to the procurement of services for the construction of community infrastructure.

Any further tasks as assigned by project manager and supervisors

COMPETENCIES
Excellent drafting ability and communication skills, both oral and written; ability to defend and explain difficult issues with respect to key decisions and positions to donors, staff, senior officials and members of intergovernmental bodies; Speaks and writes clearly and effectively; demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed.
Communication: Speaks and writes clearly and effectively; listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately; asks questions to clarify, and exhibits interest in having two-way communication; tailors language, tone, style and format to match audience; demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed
Technological Awareness: Keeps abreast of available technology; understands applicability and limitation of technology to the work of the office; actively seeks to apply technology to appropriate tasks; shows willingness to learn new technology
Creativity: Actively seeks to improve programmes or services; offers new and different options to solve problems or meet client needs; promotes and persuades others to consider new ideas; takes calculated risks on new and unusual ideas; thinks “outside the box”; takes an interest in new ideas and new ways of doing things; is not bound by current thinking or traditional approaches.

EDUCATION
Under graduate or Post graduate degree in architecture, urban planning and design, and construction and other social science or related field.

WORK EXPERIENCE
A minimum of 10 years of experience working in construction, architecture field. Proven experience in executing and managing construction development projects. Comprehensive experience in overseeing monitoring and evaluation of youth projects and experience in working with government institutions on technical projects across urban centres Somalia.

LANGUAGE SKILLS
Proficiency in English (both oral and written) is required.

OTHER SKILLS
Proven knowledge in project management and coordination.
Proactive, results oriented, independent, able to identify and carry out duties and responsibilities with minimum supervision.
Professional, supportive and cooperative in all matters within the work setting, problem-solving oriented.
Maintain confidentiality with regards to all work-related issues.

Applications should include:
• Cover memo (maximum 1 page)
• Summary CV (maximum 2 pages), indicating the following information:
1. Educational Background (incl. dates)
2. Professional Experience (assignments, tasks, achievements, duration by years/ months)
3. Other Experience and Expertise (e.g. Internships/ voluntary work, etc.)
4. Expertise and preferences regarding location of potential assignments
5. Expectations regarding remuneration

All applications should be submitted to:
UN-HABITAT Somalia
P.O. Box 30030, 00100 Nairobi, Kenya
Email: un-habitat.som@unhabitat.org
Deadline for applications: 26th February 2018

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: recruitment@unon.org