PAIDAR Technical Expert (Roster) – Productive Sector

​​Requisition ID: 2166 
Grade: ISA-Senior Specialist or National Expert (SB-5) 
Country: Pakistan 
Duty Station: Karachi and/or interior Sindh 
Category: International & National Expert 
Type of Job Posting: Internal/External
Employment Type: Non-staff
Contract Duration: TBD
Application Deadline: 10-Jan-2025  

Vacancy Announcement
TEMPORARY APPOINTMENT OF PROJECT PERSONNEL
Female candidates are particularly encouraged to apply.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is the specialized agency of the United Nations that promotes industrial development for poverty reduction, inclusive globalization and environmental sustainability. The mission of UNIDO, as described in the Lima Declaration adopted at the fifteenth session of the UNIDO General Conference in 2013 as well as the Abu Dhabi Declaration adopted at the eighteenth session of UNIDO General Conference in 2019, is to promote and accelerate inclusive and sustainable industrial development (ISID) in Member States. The relevance of ISID as an integrated approach to all three pillars of sustainable development is recognized by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will frame United Nations and country efforts towards sustainable development. UNIDO’s mandate is fully recognized in SDG-9, which calls to “Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation”. The relevance of ISID, however, applies in greater or lesser extent to all SDGs. Accordingly, the Organization’s programmatic focus is structured in four strategic priorities: Creating shared prosperity; Advancing economic competitiveness; Safeguarding the environment; and Strengthening knowledge and institutions.

Each of these programmatic fields of activity contains a number of individual programmes, which are implemented in a holistic manner to achieve effective outcomes and impacts through UNIDO’s four enabling functions: (i) technical cooperation; (ii) analytical and research functions and policy advisory services; (iii) normative functions and standards and quality-related activities; and (iv) convening and partnerships for knowledge transfer, networking and industrial cooperation. Such core functions are carried out in Departments/Offices in its Headquarters, Regional Offices and Hubs and Country Offices.

The Directorate of Technical Cooperation and Sustainable Industrial Development (TCS), headed by a Managing Director, oversees the Organization’s development of capacities for industrial development as well as industrial policy advice, statistics and research activities and the Organization’s normative contribution to Member States and global development community in achieving the SDGs. The Directorate also ensures the application of strategies and interventions for sustainable industrial development related to Environment, Energy, SMEs, Competitiveness and Job creation, as well as Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence. Through coordination in-house and with Member States and industry stakeholders, it ensures that the services provided in these areas contribute toward effective and appropriate technical, business and policy solutions and are focused on results and on realizing any potential for scaling up and positioning UNIDO as a leading platform for industrial development in developing countries and global fora.

The Directorate houses the technical Divisions of Capacity Development and Industrial Policy Advice (TCS/CAP); Circular Economy and Environmental Protection (TCS/CEP); Decarbonization and Sustainable Energy (TCS/DSE); SMEs, Competitiveness and Job Creation (TCS/SME); and Digital Transformation and AI Strategies (TCS/DAS). The Directorate also ensures close coordination and collaboration among the Divisions as well as with relevant entities in the Directorate of Global Partnerships and External Relations (GLO) and the Directorate of SDG Innovation and Economic Transformation (IET).

This position is located under the Competitiveness, Quality and Compliance Unit (TCS/SME/CQC) which builds national and regional production and quality infrastructure systems, with an emphasis on providing internationally recognized services, facilitating SME participation in regional and global value chains; strengthening institutional quality infrastructure capacities (i.e. standardization, metrology, and accreditation); building conformity assessment capacities (testing, inspection, certification, calibration, etc.); and supporting trade facilitation and quality awareness with the public sector, economic operators and consumers, placing a special emphasis on capacitating SMEs.

Poverty Alleviation and Inclusive Development Across Rural Sindh (PAIDAR) is a five-year programme funded by the European Union to support the Government of Sindh (GoS), Pakistan in implementation of its Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS). The long-term objective of PAIDAR is to contribute to sustainable poverty reduction and improvement of livelihoods of poor women, men and young people across Sindh province.

The PRS has three pillars: 1) Community Driven Local Development 2) Addressing Urban Poverty including Urban Economic Clusters and 3) Rural Growth Centres.

Purpose of PAIDAR programme is to support the GoS to implement its poverty reduction strategy as a whole and in particular sub-strategies that aim at:

• Fostering economic development, enterprise development and job creation with the objective of increasing income of the poor women, men and young people
• Optimizing public service delivery to enhance access to livelihood improving services such as water, electricity, health services and education with the ultimate objectives of both improving living conditions and quality of life and reducing poor household’ expenditure that arises as a cost resulting from lack of access to such services and poor living conditions.

To this end, the programme will:

• Provide necessary technical assistance, capacity building and financial support to a significant number of micro and small enterprises in target RGCs with the objective to overcome COVID-19 impacts on enterprises, support enterprise development and business development.
• Contribute technically and financially to building and upgrading public infrastructure for improvement in delivery of basic service with direct impact on poor people’s livelihood as well as services to support business development.
• Strengthen capacity of the GoS at provincial and local level for implementation of the PRS and assist the GoS to strengthen internal coordination and monitoring capacity, and to optimize provincial public resources allocation towards meeting PRS objectives.

PAIDAR will deliver on the above objectives through utilization of three key mechanisms:

1. Co-financing public investment projects of the GoS aiming to build and/or upgrade public infrastructure for delivery of basic services with high impact on livelihood improvement and poverty reduction, as well as for delivery of services with high potential to contribute to economic development of the target RGCs and foster enterprise development.
2. Provision of grants to support MSMEs investment projects which demonstrate strong potential for enterprise development, income generation, job retention and creation.

Technical assistance to the GoS and the MSMEs to ensure investment projects (both co-financed public infrastructure development projects and financially supported MSME investment projects) are designed, planned and implemented to deliver results in line with the objectives of the PRS; and to strengthen GoS capacity to plan, implement and monitor results PRS /Overview/UNIDO Project Summary/Project Purpose>/Rationale>

As the focus of the PAIDAR programme is on poverty alleviation through job creation and business development, especially the MSMEs, therefore one of the key thematic areas of importance for the programme is the productive sectors.  Keeping in view that the programme is being implemented in the districts of Thatta, Sajawal, Badin, Tharparkar and Larkana in Sindh, the following productive sectors have been identified from the growth and job creation perspectives:

• Productive sectors                
  • Food processing and distribution (especially rice & rice husk, tomato, edible oils
  • Handicraft (e.g., stitching, woodwork, furniture) 
  • Apparel and accessories
  • Logistics and cold chains
  • Recycling and circular businesses
  • Fisheries/aquaculture
  • Automotive/Vehicle Repair
  • Metal works
  • Furniture and Décor
  • Social entrepreneurship

In this connection, and in order to develop these sectors, the programme is seeking relevant experts and consultants to enlist in its roster of experts and, later on, their engagement in the programme as and when needed. The specific activities will depend on the needs of supported businesses and potential business development service providers. The relevant technical expertise areas may include the following, corresponding to one or more one of the above-mentioned sectors:

Areas of technical expertise

Productivity and Quality (including quality management, product certification, process optimisation, factory layout planning)

Skills, Technology and Innovation (including product design, research and development, process design, value-addition and product innovation, technology and equipment upgrading, skills development and training)

Entrepreneurship (including incubation, start-ups, social entrepreneurship, women entrepreneurship)

Market development (including Market study and assessment, Marketing and branding, market intelligence, marketing planning and strategies, Import/export documentation, export market planning)

Financial management (including feasibility studies, business plan development, financial accounting, planning and management)

Operations management (including inventory control and management, supply chain management, shop floor management, procurement, maintenance planning and repairs)

The engagement of the experts will depend upon the specific requirements of an intervention; however, a general description of the expected tasks is given below:

MINIMUM ORGANIZATIONAL REQUIREMENTS

Education: Advanced university degree (Master’s or equivalent) in one of the fields listed below is required.  In these specialized technical areas of expertise, a first level university degree or an advanced technical college diploma may be acceptable provided it is combined with a substantial number of years of professional hands-on experience that is directly relevant to the expertise required by the specific assignment.

• Food processing and distribution (especially rice & rice husk, tomato, edible oils)

Food processing, nutrition, food systems and supply chain or related fields)

• Handicraft (e.g., stitching, woodwork, furniture)

Creative industries or related field

• Apparel and accessories

Textile, apparel and footwear manufacturing and technology, or related fields

• Logistics and cold chains

Supply chain management, logistics, procurement, food safety, or related field

• Recycling and circular businesses

Environmental studies and engineering, sustainable businesses, green innovation, or related field

• Fisheries/aquaculture

Fisheries, aqua-marine studies, biology, agronomics, veterinary studies, or related field

• Automotive/Vehicle Repair

Mechanical engineering, electrical engineering or related fields

• Metal works

Metal works, jewellery, craft technology, or related fields

• Furniture and Décor

Metal and wood work, craft technology, industrial design, or related field

• Tourism
  Tourism and hospitality management, sustainable tourism, agro-tourism, cultural sciences and related fields

• Social entrepreneurship

Management, business studies, sustainable development, social and economic studies, entrepreneurship, or relate field.

Technical and Functional Experience:

• A minimum of ten (10) years practical experience in experience in at least one target sector and any field of technical expertise, supported with the Advanced University Degree from the list above is required. 

Note for candidates: It is required to clearly indicate any/all work experience with direct reference to the target sectors and the fields of technical expertise listed above.

• Experience in evaluating the needs, conditions and problems in the rural economies of developing countries is desirable.

Languages: Fluency in written and spoken English is desirable. Fluency in written and spoken Urdu or Sindhi is required.

REQUIRED COMPETENCIES

Core Values

WE LIVE AND ACT WITH INTEGRITY: work honestly, openly and impartially.

WE SHOW PROFESSIONALISM: work hard and competently in a committed and responsible manner.

WE RESPECT DIVERSITY: work together effectively, respectfully and inclusively, regardless of our differences in culture and perspective.

Key Competencies

WE FOCUS ON PEOPLE: cooperate to fully reach our potential –and this is true for our colleagues as well as our clients. Emotional intelligence and receptiveness are vital parts of our UNIDO identity.

WE FOCUS ON RESULTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES: focus on planning, organizing and managing our work effectively and efficiently. We are responsible and accountable for achieving our results and meeting our performance standards. This accountability does not end with our colleagues and supervisors, but we also owe it to those we serve and who have trusted us to contribute to a better, safer and healthier world.

WE COMMUNICATE AND EARN TRUST: communicate effectively with one another and build an environment of trust where we can all excel in our work.

WE THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX AND INNOVATE: To stay relevant, we continuously improve, support innovation, share our knowledge and skills, and learn from one another.

This appointment is limited to the specified project(s) only and does not carry any expectation of renewal.
Employees of UNIDO are expected at all times to uphold the highest standards of integrity, professionalism and respect for diversity, both at work and outside.
Only persons who fully and unconditionally commit to these values should consider applying for jobs at UNIDO.

All applications must be submitted online through the Online Recruitment System. Correspondence will be undertaken only with candidates who are being considered at an advanced phase of the selection process. Selected candidate(s) may be required to disclose to the Director General the nature and scope of financial and other personal interests and assets in respect of themselves, their spouses and dependents, under the procedures established by the Director General.

Visit the UNIDO website for details on how to apply: www.unido.org
NOTE: The Director General retains the discretion to make an appointment to this post at a lower level.
 
Notice to applicants:
UNIDO does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. If you have received a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Vacant positions within UNIDO are advertised on the official UNIDO website. Should you have any questions concerning persons or companies claiming to be recruiting on behalf of UNIDO and requesting payment of a fee, please contact: [email protected]