UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT NO. UNDP/SC/013

      Date of Issue: 29 April 2008

Closing Date: 12 May 2008

Post Title  : Research Associate – Work & Employment Community

Organization  : United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Duty Station  :  New Delhi

Duration  :  One Year

Type of Contract : Service Contract

Band   : Five

This vacancy is open to applicants of either sex. Preference will be given to equally qualified women candidates.

Background:

Solution Exchange Communities

Active

1. AIDS
2. Decentralisation
3. Disaster Management
4. Education
5. Environment: Water
6. Food & Nutrition Security
7. Gender
8. Health: Maternal and Child Health
9. ICT for Development
10. Poverty: Work and Employment
11. Poverty: Microfinance

To be launched

1. Sustainable Environment
2. Clean Technologies

Website: www.solutionexchange-un.net.in

To be launched

1. Sustainable Environment
2. Clean Technologies

Website: www.solutionexchange-un.net.in

Solution Exchange is a unique initiative of the United Nations in India, which builds communities of development practitioners working in a common area of interest and passion. In these communities, people working in development learn about each other’s successes and mistakes in an atmosphere of trust and collaboration, thereby saving time and resources by not reinventing the development wheel. The eleven communities running now comprise of a wide variety of people, such as NGOs and activists, staff of multilateral and bilateral agencies, Government officials, scientists, donors, and private sector. Discussions are informed from these multiple perspectives and result in improved effectiveness of development interventions in field as well as policy.

Methods for knowledge sharing include email based discussions on specific queries, documents, and issues. Occasional face-to face meetings are also done, as are collaborative projects by members called “Action Groups”.

The Work and Employment Community of Solution Exchange has been in operation for nearly three years now, and focuses on the following issues:

• Employment generation schemes such as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act; labour-intensive public works; employment and mentoring schemes for out-of-school youth; alternate approaches to guarantee employment to the poor; employment infrastructure including marketing linkages.
• Work and livelihoods: Informal sector livelihood promotion schemes (e.g. non-farm sector development, micro-enterprise development); alternative employment schemes for vulnerable areas or populations; corporate social responsibility schemes benefiting local economies; livelihood challenges for the urban poor.
• Private enterprise development through micro and small enterprise (MSE) development; entrepreneurship development.
• Training and skill development: Skill development/capacity building for self-employment and entrepreneurship; vocational training; worker on-the-job training.
• Conditions of work and working conditions in hazardous industries and informal economy.
• Social protection: policies, tools and initiatives for informal sector; HIV/AIDS workplace policies and programmes; strategies to eliminate child labour and bonded labour; social dialogue and alternative labour dispute resolution mechanisms

We are looking for a highly motivated individual committed to working on the above issues as a Research Associate. S/he will work under the supervision of the Resource Person for Solution Exchange’s Work and Employment Community. S/he will support the Work and Employment Community by generating and maintaining knowledge products through desk research, documentation, codification, and analysis.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The Research Associate is expected to carry out the following tasks:

• Supports the Resource Person in Community knowledge sharing. Conducts desk research, mainly through web and document searches and networking, to enhance depth of response to member’s queries; follows up with community members to obtain material.

• Drafts material posted on Community mailgroups and websites under the guidance of the Resource Person (Consolidated Replies, e-discussion summaries, Updates, Newsletters etc.)

• Provides the Community with operational support. Organizes Community events, Action Groups, and initiatives; updates the website with documents and links; maintains member lists, performance indicators, and reporting information.

• Contributes to work addressing cutting edge issues of concern to the Community, under the guidance of the Resource Person. Helps to prepare TORs and organizes the work; participates in assignments and events in a supporting role; drafts minutes and reports of events

• Participates in Solution Exchange collective activities and collaborative initiatives. Promotes team-building; contributes to systems development; ensures conformity and compatibility with agreed systems norms and guidelines; shares information on Community initiatives

Educational Qualifications:

Post-graduate degree or equivalent in relevant disciplines related to development studies, social development, rural development, or rural management.

Experience:

• More than 4 years of practical substantive experience in relevant development specialization at the field or national levels, or experience in a research or academic capacity in the field of livelihoods promotion.
• Basic experience in carrying out desk research

Knowledge and Skills:

• Motivated, energetic, positive, thorough, and responsive to the needs of clients
• Good knowledge of the key concerns and challenges facing development practitioners in the areas to be addressed by the Community listed above.
• Highly effective at securing relevant information through desk research; effective at applying web search tools and conventions
• Excellent drafting skills
• Excellent analytical, organizational and presentational skills
• Proficient with all basic MS Office applications; proficient with or quick to learn new applications; e.g., mailgroup management and web design

Languages:

• Fluency in spoken and written English. Knowledge of one of the regional languages would be an added asset.

Interested applicants should apply for the vacancy, using the “Personal History Form – P 11”.

Application to this vacancy should be sent to jobs.in@undp.org . Please insert Vacancy Announcement Number in the Subject of the E-mail.  Applications without the Vacancy Number or with the incorrect Vacancy Number will not be accepted.

cc: All UN Agencies/ UNDP Projects/Programmes in New Delhi