Urban Planning Monitoring and Capacity Building Consultant

CONSULTANCY JOB OPENING

(Issue date:29 APRIL 2015)

ORGANIZATIONAL LOCATION:UN-Habitat, Urban Planning and Design Branch in Nairobi, Kenya

DUTY STATION:UN-Habitat in Nairobi, Kenya

FUNCTIONAL TITLE:Urban Planning Monitoring and Capacity Building Consultant

DURATION:One year

CLOSING DATE:7 May 2015

Organizational Setting
The United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON) is the UN headquarters in Africa and the representative office of the Secretary-General. UNON supports programme implementation of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) globally, as well as other UN offices in Kenya, by providing administrative, conference and information services (www.unon.org). This post is located in The Urban Planning and Design Branch (UPDB) of UN-Habitat.

Background
The Urban Planning and Design Branch (UPDB) of UN-Habitat supports countries in developing urban planning methods and systems that address current urbanization challenges. It promotes urban planning approaches to address urban expansion and transformation.

Cities face an enormous backlog of services and housing. There is indeed an urban planning crisis: the unplanned city is largely inefficient and requires increasing resources to make it more functional and liveable. In an era of growing oil prices and climate change challenges, low-carbon development also needs to be envisaged. Only those cities able to embrace different patterns of growth and address inequalities and inefficiencies will be able to provide better lives for their residents, while limiting ecological damage.

In order to further advance innovations, five principles of sustainable urban planning are being promoted by UN-Habitat:

1. Plan in advance of population increase, with the view to remain basic but relevant and comprehensible but not necessarily comprehensive, and to leverage plans for revenue creation through value capture.
2. Plan at the scale of the problem, particularly the projected growth of the urban population.
3. Plan incrementally, starting with streets and following with water and sanitation, drainage, energy and lighting, transport, etc. This gives priority to improving the proportion of land allocated to streets and in turn supports service delivery and progressive taxation.
4. Plan for density and mixed land use, aiming at vertical features that lower transaction costs, positively impact the economies of scale (and economies of agglomeration), and improve revenue from taxation.
5. Provide for urban networks for sustainable mobility and sustainable energy.

In relation to the above, the UPDB is implementing a biennial workplan under Focus Area 2 of the UN-Habitat Strategic Plan, focusing on Urban Planning and Design, with the aim of improving urban plans and design of partners cities. In order to achieve this, tools development, capacity building and technical assistance is undertaken. This work complement that of the Urban Planning Lab which engages in local projects with cities through development of plans and designs which create a feedback loop from practice to policy and normative development.

A consultant is required to provide technical support to UPDB and the City Planning Extension and Design Unit in normative and tool development as well as in monitoring.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The objective of this consultancy is to provide technical support to the Urban Planning and Design Branch, City Planning Extension and Design Unit of UN-HABITAT on capacity building, tool development and monitoring.

The consultant will work under the supervision of the Leader of the City Planning, Extension and Design Unit and in close collaboration with the various components of the Unit (Urban Planning and Design Laboratory, Public Space Programme and Capacity Building component) and she/he will contribute to the implementation of the Unit activities by performing the following tasks:

General focus:

The consultancy will focus on 1) tools development and normative work to consolidate the Unit’s methodology and working materials for use across projects; 2) technical assistance and capacity building to provide direct support to ongoing projects and 3) Programme management, monitoring and reporting, to track progress and assist in improving workplanning.

Specific Responsibilities:

• Normative work and Tool Development:
• Develop effective and innovative urban planning tools and guidance to support local action, reform and learning, including awareness materials, documented case studies and analysis of good practices;
• Collect, analyze and present information gathered from diverse sources to enhance the knowledge base on city planning and design, with a focus on extension and densification , city wide planning and public space planning
• Develop technical tools on specific planning topics
• Technical assistance and capacity building
• Contribute and assist in preparing reports, draft background papers, analytical notes and inputs to publications and project documents
• Provide technical and advisory support on ongoing planning projects in partner cities
• Coordinate provision of appropriate technical support to projects through project design, field visits, training and evaluation, organization of meetings and other events,
• Organize, coordinate and facilitate training events on Urban planning matters
• Develop design training programs and materials related to programmes
• Programme management, monitoring and reporting
• Coordination and monitoring activities and prepare project and donor reports,
• Act as focal point for Asia within the Unit and in particular the Public Space Programme
• Identify activities and projects on urban planning and fundraising
• Liaise with relevant programme partners such as government institutions, cities, expert non-profit agencies, private companies and professional networks and associations;
• Support to financial/budgetary planning, exercise quality control over all procedures and documents within the unit under the supervision of the Unit leader

In addition, the consultant will provide inputs as requested on planning documents and initiatives, undertaken by the Unit and develop presentations related to the above outputs.

COMPETENCIES

Professionalism: Knowledge and understanding of theories, concepts and approaches relevant to urban planning and design. Ability to develop written documents and substantive reports and analysis of planning experiences and planning documents; Overall knowledge of urban development issues; ability to work under pressure, independently and accountably; observe deadlines and achieve set goals
Communication: Excellent written and oral presentation skills in English
Teamwork:Ability to work collaboratively with colleagues to achieve agreed goals.
Planning and Organizing: Ability to prioritize activities and assignments.

QUALIFICATIONS

Education:
Minimum advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in Architecture or Urban/Regional Planning, or related field that is relevant for sustainable urban development. A first-level university degree in combination with qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree

Experience:
A minimum 5 years of experience in urban planning or sustainable urban development, with substantial recent work experience in developing countries, a significant part of which should be directly related to capacity building. Experience in training of planners and other urban stakeholders in urban planning is also required. Experience in activities of the United Nations, both in field projects and policy dialogues with member states of developing countries is desirable.

Languages:
English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this consultancy, fluency in oral and written English is required. Although not a requirement, knowledge of a second UN official language will be an advantage and in particular good working knowledge of Spanish or French would be a definite asset.

HOW TO APPLY:

Applications should include:

• Cover memo or motivation letter (maximum 1 page)
• Summary CV (maximum 2 pages), indicating the following information:
• Educational Background (incl. dates)
• Professional Experience (assignments, tasks, achievements, duration by years/ months)
• Other Experience and Expertise (e.g. Internships/ voluntary work, etc.)
• Expertise and preferences regarding location of potential assignments
• Expectations regarding remuneration
• UN Personal History Form (please use the United Nations standard personal history form available upon request or via: http://www.unhabitat.org/content.asp?typeid=24&catid=435&id=3867)
• Proof of relevant work (at least two)

Please be advised that since April 15th 2010, applicants for consultancies must be part of the
UN-HABITAT e-Roster in order for their application to be considered. You can reach the e-Roster
through the following link: http://e-roster.unhabitat.org

All applications should be submitted to:
Mr. Geoffrey Oluoch
UN-Habitat
P.O. Box 30030, 00100 Nairobi, Kenya
Email:Geoffrey.Oluoch@unhabitat.com
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

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, TRAINING OR ANY OTHER FEES). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION

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