UNDP Liberia

UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT No.ISSA /07/001

Post Title: Consultants – Civil Service Reform
Post Level: Special Service Agreement (International)
Duty Station: Monrovia, Liberia
Duration: 3 months
Date of Announcement 8 March 2007
Closing Date 19 March 2007
Contract start date: 15 April 2007
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BACKGROUND OF ASSIGNMENT

The UNDP Governance programme, one of the key thrusts of the Liberia Country Office programme framework, has the following objectives:
1. To contribute to the on-going post-war national reconstruction and development efforts in Liberia, with specific emphasis on good governance and sound economic management.
2. Arising from the above, to strengthen public institutions/organizations responsible for economic management, public sector reforms and gender empowerment, so as to make them more efficient, transparent and accountable in the performance of their onerous functions.
3. Support the government of Liberia in restoring capacity (technical and logistical) for the effective and efficient operation of the government institutions and agencies in collaboration with other donors

The Governance Reform Commission of Liberia (GRC) was established as the government institution to initiate and coordinate public sector reforms in Liberia. The GRC has a programme of work to strengthen public sector institutions to serve as vehicle for social transformation and economic development; it is required to develop policies, to draft and implement laws and to manage the system defined by laws; to deliver services and manage the public expenditure. One of the main priorities of the new political dispensation of Liberia is to strengthening democratic governance based on the principles of meritocracy, participation of citizenry, accountability and transparency.

So far the GRC has carried out activities, which can be described as laying the foundation for implementation of the public service reforms; and seeking to build a consensus on the nature of the decentralization process that is desirable for Liberia. These activities include: -

(a) Conducted a census of civil servants.
(b) Reviewed the mandates, functions and structures of government Ministries and agencies and undertaken the in-depth definition of staff establishment of 3 ministries
(c) Prepare a Code of Conduct for Public servants.
(d) Revised civil service rules and regulations.
(e) Prepared a blue print for decentralization.
(f) Developed a draft national Leadership Programme.
(g) Formulated a program for developing a National Shared Vision.

There are also a number of public sector reform initiatives, which have been undertaking my other national and international governance actors such as auditing of the government payroll and removal of ghost names; restructuring the General Auditing Commission, enactments of a Public Procurement Act and establishment of a Public Procurement and Concession Commission.

The GRC therefore requires the services of an international consultant to work along with three national consultants to assist GRC determine optimum staffing levels in the remaining 15 ministries.

TASKS OF THE CONSULTANT

The consultant will carry out the following tasks:

a. Undertake an assessment of manpower needs in each of the ministries and define ideal establishment for them. This is an important activity, which is to establish the optimum number of staff required to deliver on the mandates of the Ministries effectively and efficiently at the least cost to government.

b. Define Job description -. This activity will define the type of work, which the staffs are supposed to do to enable the Ministry or Agency to deliver on its mandate. The consultants will assist the Ministry/Agency to define and properly document the essential and relevant type of work, which the individual staff member is supposed to carryout in relation to outputs of his or her department and the Ministry as a whole.

c. Person Specifications. This activity will define the competencies of the people that are required to deliver on the mandates of the Ministry/ Agency. The consultant will make a quick assessment of existing capacity in each Ministry and identify capacity gaps and propose short term and long term measures that the Government would take to address the identified gaps.

3. EXPECTED OUTPUTS

The expected outputs are:
a) Redefined proposed organization structures of the 15 Ministries
b) Proposed staffing levels for 15 Ministries
c) Proposed job descriptions and person specifications for key senior positions in the Ministries.
d) A report of the analysis of the data of the National Census of Liberian Civil Servants.

The Consultant will present the above outputs to stakeholders in workshops that will be organized by the GRC in the last month of the consultancy.

Competencies:

The general minimum requirements for the position of the Consultant are:

• Solid and proven experience in Public Service Reforms and in particular Institutional Development and Human Resources Management
• Substantive knowledge of issues and challenges in the area of political governance in Africa and Liberia in particular;
• Strong analytical and writing skills
• Computer literacy in Microsoft Software and IT packages;
• Good writing skills;
• Fluency in English.

Education & Experience:

• A university postgraduate degree in a relevant field or other postgraduate qualification e.g. Legal practitioner’s qualification (barrister, solicitor, advocate, attorney etc.);
• 8-10 years experience working in similar or related fields;

Email application to this vacancy should be sent to vacancies.lr@undp.org. Please insert Vacancy Announcement Number in the Subject of the Email or written application. Applications without the Vacancy announcement Number or with the incorrect Vacancy Announcement number will be accepted. and a one-page cover letter indicating your interest and suitability for the position.

Kindly note that applications upon receipt will be reviewed and only short listed candidates will receive acknowledgement, and be contacted for an interview and /or test.

Please forward all written applications to:

Deputy Resident Representative for Operations (Attention: HR Unit)
United Nations Development Programme
Simpson Apartment, Sekou Toure Avenue
Mamba Point
Monrovia, Liberia

 

Note: All applications/queries must be addressed to: vacancies.lr@undp.org
Also you can download the P11 Form here