The conflict over land and the productive functions of the environment constitute the oldest and most diffused forms of conflict in Darfur, as the livelihoods of the great majority of the people is centered on land and the direct utilization of the environment and natural resources. The historical and longstanding conflict between pastoralists and sedentary farmers is an evident example in this case. Environmental degradation and climate change have had additional impacts by reducing the area of arable land and, as such, increased the competition over the scarce natural resources. Land in Darfur, apart from its economic importance and value, has also acquired special symbolic significance linked to identity, history and geography. The returns of refugees and IDPs, nomadic corridors, long-term investment, recovery and reconstruction processes all depend on effective management of the land. UNDP has developed a project to look into land rights and land tenure in Darfur under the Darfur Development Strategy (DDS) to provide conducive environment for post recovery and development while reducing the natural resource based conflicts through adoption of good governance approaches that reflects deep understanding and incorporation of Darfur long standing legacy in conflict management and organization of land tenure.

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the Darfur Programme Coordinator, the Project Manager - Land is responsible for management of UNDP project titled “Assessment and Technical Support to Darfur Land Commission and Addressing Land Concerns at Return Sites” within the thematic/sectoral areas assigned. The Project Manager - Land will assume the overall responsibility for managing the achievement of the project results (outputs) as defined in the UNDP Project Document “Strengthening land Management for peaceful co-existence in Darfur”.

The Project Manager – Land will lead, supervise and manage the project staff, coordinates activities of the projects between different agencies participating in the project.  The Project Manager - Land shall work in close collaboration with the operations teams, programme staff in the UN Agencies, UNDP HQs staff and Government officials, technical advisors and experts, and civil society ensuring successful project implementation. He/She will be responsible for the overall performance of the project and will lead the project outreach for Darfur community constituencies.

The Project manager – land will be based in Darfur and shall work closely with Darfur land Commission (DLC) at all political and technical levels and should handle the communication with the state governments in the five Darfur stats as well as the legislative councils, line ministries and other relevant institutions.

Summary of Key Functions:

1. Implementation of project work plan in accordance with UNDP Sudan Standard Operating Procedures.
2. Management of the project resources according to UNDP Roles and regulations
3. Creation of strategic partnerships and implementation of the resource mobilization strategy 
4. Provide high-quality strategic planning, analysis and policy advice to the process of support and to the Government while facilitating knowledge building.
5. Coordinate joint project activities between the different agencies
6. Monitoring of progress and risks, ensuring that changes are controlled and problems are addressed.
7. Reporting on progress including measures to address challenges and opportunities,
8. Support partnerships and advocacy activities at project level,
9. Ensure implementation of knowledge management activities,
10. Any other support function which may be required to be provided to the Governance and Livelihood Stabilization (GLS) Cluster  projects in coordination with the Head of Peace Building and Social Cohesion unit (PBSC)  and other programme officers in UNDP, UN-Habitat and FAO.

1. Ensures implementation of  project activities focusing on achievement of the following results:

• Assessment, consultations and research conducted on customary land registration and to determine current linkages between Hakura traditional system and relation to modern land title system across the five states.
•  
• Policies for adjudicating land claims cases drafted and endorsed and gender sensitive, appropriate land dispute mechanisms initiated across the five states.

• Monitoring mechanism for nomadic corridors established and fully functioning
•  
• Communities informed on their role in land administration through outreach and sensitization.
•  
• Land title system is improved, made more gender-equal and strengthened and land concerns at return site addressed

• Sketch map/plan produced for 50 return village including existing boundary and possible direction(s) of settlement future expansion in order to draw a draft future boundary and grazing buffer zone and land for livelihood.
•  
• Ensure timely implementation of project activities relevant to the project work plan while synchronizing project activities done by different UN agencies, government counterparts, contractors and consultants in a well-coordinated manner that ensures synergies with other DDS projects and interventions.

2. Management of the project financial resources:

• Substantive programmatic and operational monitoring and evaluation of the land project, identification of operational and financial issues well ahead and develop workable solutions.
• Reviews and identify resource needs and gaps (human, financial, material) of project required to meet expected targets and prepares the project audit
• Follow up on audit recommendations. All exceptions are timely reported.
• Aggregate reports are regularly prepared on activities, outputs and outcomes. Preparation of donor reports.
• Approve project expenses as per UNDP rules and oversee progression of expenditures vs budget

3. Ensure creation of strategic partnerships and implementation partners focusing on achievement of the following results:

• Development of partnerships with the UN Agencies, UNAMID, DLC, state government institutions, ministries of Urban planning, Agriculture and other line ministries in Darfur states, civil society in the five Darfur states, local leaders, research centers, universities, national and international experts on land issues as well as donors aiming at achieving project outcomes and ensuring sustainability through resource mobilization.
•  
• Assists project proposal with the technical assistance from UNDP CO and Regional Center and briefing documents for donors, organizes donor briefing for resource mobilization.
• Coordinates with the Government counterpart and various stakeholders for effective coordination and policy dialogue in relation to Land and NRM
•  
• Analysis the local programmatic context and research for information on land tenure practices and initiatives across Darfur, Sudan the region and the world.

• Preparation of substantive summaries, briefs and presentations on partnerships creation, political environment development.
•  
• Identification of opportunities for initiation of activities that supports women and other vulnerable groups within the scope of the land project.
•  
• Keeps representatives of the Project Board informed on progress of project and act as PB Secretariat; plans and organize meetings of the project technical committees

4. Ensures synergies between Land Project and return project as well as other DDS projects and other interventions taking place in Darfur five states through:

• Identification and authentication of sources of information related to policy-driven issues, synthesis of best practices and lessons learnt directly into project policy to serve achieving project policy goals and mainstream learning results into UNDP’s broader corporate knowledge networks
• Coordinates Darfur-level studies on Land and the use of the studies in programming
• Support the development of policies and institutions that will participate in solving the problems generated around land and natural resources in collaboration with the DLC and other strategic partners.
• Sound contributions to UNDP knowledge networks and communities of practice.
• Contributes to CO website and CO publications and public events
• Organization of trainings for the operations/ projects staff on programme issues.
• Identifies and develops suitable media partnerships to increase the visibility of project mandate and activities and attract more attention and support towards its objectives in Darfur media, national and international fora.

11. Build the capacity of actors related to land project through:

• Supervise the capacity assessment for the DLC, line ministries and other actors and ensure standards are followed to create specific workable results
• Supervise creation of capacity building work plan, implementation, monitoring and evaluating the capacity building gains.

Impact of Results

The key results have an impact on the success of land project. In particular, the key results have an impact on the design, operation and programming of activities, creation of strategic partnerships as well as reaching sustainability targets.

Competencies and Critical Success Factors

Functional Competencies:             

Results-Based Management and project Management

• Strong ability to conduct strategic planning, results-based management and reporting,
• Strong ability to lead management of development and capacity development projects,
• Strong ability to perform a variety of specialized tasks related to Results-Based Management including support to design, planning and implementation of the programme, managing data, reporting,
• Strong analytical and strategic thinking/results orientation,
• Ability to assesses project performance to identify success factors and incorporates best practices into project work
• Researches linkages across project activities to identify critical points of integration
• Analyzes Darfur situation to identify opportunities for project development
• Participates in the formulation of project work plans and application of proven successful approaches and best practices

Building Strategic Partnerships

• Maintains an established network of contacts for general information sharing and to remain up-to-date on partnership related issues
• Analyzes and selects materials for strengthening strategic alliances with partners and stakeholders
• Create strong ties with government counterparts including DLC and line ministries as well as governors of the five Darfur states and gain their trust to pave the way for smooth project implementation.
• Establish and maintain links with global research centers and previous projects in the land domain.

Innovation and Marketing New Approaches

• Generates new ideas and proposes new, more effective ways of doing things
• Documents and analyses innovative strategies/best practices/new approaches

Promoting Organizational Learning and Knowledge Sharing

• Generates new ideas and approaches, researches best practices and proposes new, more effective ways of doing things
• Documents and analyses innovative strategies and new approaches

Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise

• Understands and applies fundamental concepts and principles of a professional discipline or technical specialty relating to the position
• Possesses basic knowledge of organizational policies and procedures relating to the position and applies them consistently in work tasks
• Strives to keep job knowledge up-to-date through self-directed study and other means of learning
• Demonstrates good knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments
• Demonstrates in-depth understanding and knowledge of the current guidelines and project management tools and utilizes these regularly in work assignments

Global Leadership and Advocacy for UNDP’s Goals

• Identifies and communicates relevant information for advocacy for UNDP’s goals for a variety of audiences
• Identifies and takes advantage of opportunities for advocating for UNDP’s mandate

Client Orientation

•  Researches potential solutions to internal and external client needs and reports back in a timely, succinct and appropriate fashion
• Organizes and prioritizes work schedule to meet client needs and deadlines
• Anticipates client needs and addresses them promptly

Leadership skills

• Ability to affect staff behavioural/attitudinal change,
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing using both Arabic and English.
• Ability to establish effective working relations in a multicultural team environment across project staff from different UN agencies
• Excellent supervisory, management and team-building skills.

Core Competencies:

• Demonstrating/safeguarding ethics and integrity  
• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment
• Self-development, initiative-taking
• Acting as a team player and facilitating team work
• Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively
• Creating synergies through self-control
• Managing conflict
• Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of others. Promoting learning and knowledge management/sharing is the responsibility of each staff member.
• Informed and transparent decision making

Recruitment Qualifications

Education:

• Master’s Degree in Natural Resource Management, Law, Political and Social Sciences, or related field.

Work Experience:

• 5 years of relevant experience at the national or international level in providing project management, including rural/community development initiatives and Crisis Prevention and Recovery. In addition, the incumbent should: have excellent command of MS office suite applications (Word, Excel, Access, and Power Point), have experiences on networking and strengthening capacity of CBOs/CSOs, proven ability to lead a teams, be able to effectively plan and organize work productively with the team.
• Experience in Darfur and Land related sectors is highly desirable.

Languages

Fluency in the English and Arabic is required.

All applications must be submitted online. Applications received through other means will not be considered.