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The role of MRC is to promote and coordinate sustainable management and development of water and related resources for the countries’ mutual benefit and the people’s well-being.

MRC Secretariat is now recruiting a highly qualified candidate for the position of

Integrated Capacity Building Programme (ICBP), Human Resources Section
International: Post level L-5, based in Vientiane, Lao PDR

Integrated Capacity Building Programme (ICBP) will be responsible for building different capacity building systems, tools and methodologies for long term and sustainable capacity development at the MRC. This would require the ICBP team members at the regional and at national level to continuously document, develop and apply new capacity development methodology, tools, guidelines, checklist, database, etc that serve the purpose of long term sustainable institutional memories and systems for capacity development. The Chief Technical Advisor will assist and provide technical guidance and inputs to the ICBP team to design, manage, implement and monitor activities of the PIP 2011-2013 including but not limited to capacity needs assessment, designing, planning, coordination, scheduling, monitoring and technical backstopping.

The job description and other information can be obtained at MRC website http://www.mrcmekong.org. Women are encouraged to apply. Only short-listed candidates will be notified.

The application should include (i) a cover letter outlining clearly how the candidate meets the requirements of the position, (ii) a detailed CV, and (iii) MRC Personal History Form. The position tittle and division/section must be indicated in the cover letter. The application should be sent to:

Mekong River Commission Secretariat
P.O. Box 6101, Vientiane, 01000, Lao PDR
Email: mrcs@mrcmekong.org

JOB DESCRIPTION

The Mekong River Commission (MRC) was established by the 1995 Agreement on Co-operation for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong River Basin, between the governments of Cambodia, the Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam. In accordance with this Agreement, the Mission of MRC is: “To promote and coordinate sustainable management and development of water and related resources for the countries’ mutual benefit and the people’s well-being by implementing strategic programmes and activities and providing scientific information and policy advice.” The MRC Secretariat is the technical and administrative arm of the MRC. It provides technical and administrative services to the JC and the Council to achieve the MRC’s mission.

The Section aims to ensure the development of the right skills, competencies, and organisational culture in the MRC to support full implementation of the Strategic Plan. The Section is to provide the Secretariat and operational programmes with modern and highly efficient personnel support. The Section is also responsible for interacting effectively on such matters with the National Mekong Committees, riparian national agencies, international agencies and donor communities. HRS also manages the Integrated Capacity Building Programme (ICBP).

The goal of the ICBP programme is to significantly increase the effectiveness of the MRC, NMCs and prioritised national agencies in ensuring the sustainable development of the Mekong and related resources.

The overall objectives[1] of ICBP is “the MRC, NMCs and prioritized national agencies demonstrate an increased level of capacity to contribute to MRC Objectives”. ICBP has four Intermediate Outcomes which are:

At the regional level, the ICBP team consists of (a) ICBP Coordinator, (b) CTA (c) five Programme Officers, (d) one Project Assistant, and two administrative staff. At the national level, each Member Countries will have one National

ICBP Coordinator and one assistant to National ICBP Coordinator to manage the implementation of the national level ICBP capacity building activities.

Under the overall supervision of the Section Chief of HRS and the direct supervision of the ICBP Coordinator, the CTA will assist and provide technical guidance and inputs to the ICBP team to design, manage, implement and monitor activities of the PIP 2011-2013 including but not limited to capacity needs assessment, designing, planning, coordination, scheduling, monitoring and technical backstopping.

MRC is at a special transitional period with different MRC Strategies (Strategic Plan 2011-2015, IWRM-based Basin Development Strategy for the Lower Mekong Basin, etc.) developed to make the organisation a more effective and efficient world class river basin organisation while many of the core functions on river basin management will be decentralised to the Member Countries.

Capacity building and capacity development thus become increasingly important. ICBP will need strategic orientations and sound technical support to the ICBP team, the MRC Programmes, Member Countries and prioritised Line Agencies to effectively implement the different capacity building plans and activities, and to respond sufficiently to the increasing demands for capacity building and capacity development.

ICBP will be responsible for building different capacity building systems, tools and methodologies for long term and sustainable capacity development at the MRC. This would require the ICBP team members at the regional and at national level to continuously document, develop and apply new capacity development methodology, tools, guidelines, checklist, database, etc that serve the purpose of long term sustainable institutional memories and systems for capacity development. There will be requirements on result-based programme implementation, communication, monitoring and reporting.

The ICBP team needs a professional CTA who has multiple skills on capacity development to provide guidance to the team achieving the four different Outcomes of the Programme. In order to achieve those Outcomes, the Programme demands sound technical advices on (a) capacity development for IWRM, (b) organisational and institutional development for MRC in transition to a more decentralised river basin organisation, (c) gender mainstreaming, and (d) result-based capacity building planning and the communication on capacity building results.

Following are the 6 specific and immediate objectives which are elaborated with specific tasks and responsibilities for the CTA.

Objective 1: ICBP Team comprehends fully the alignment of ICBP to the different MRC Strategies (Strategic Plan 2011-2015, IWRM-based Basin Development Strategy for the Lower Mekong Basin, etc.) and thus be able to continuously develop, modify, improve and implement effectively the ICBP work plans, and to be responsive to the different emerging needs from MRCS, MRC programmes and member countries.

· Provide guidance and support to the ICBP team to further align the PIP 2011-2013 with a specific elaboration of Goal 4 and 5 of the Strategic Plan 2011-2015.

· Provide guidance and support to the ICBP team on the process of Basin Development Strategy and Basin Development Plans with the purpose to help the team to be responsive and strategic in meeting the capacity building demands and requirement from MRC to implement such Strategy and Plan at different levels.

· Provide guidance and technical support to ICBP Team (regional and national) to modify, plan and implement related activities.

· Provide guidance and support to facilitate the support from ICBP to BDP, ICCS, ISH, and M-IWRM-P in terms of methodology, communication and planning of related join capacity development activities.

Note: This work is to be lead by the ICBP Programme Coordinator. All other ICBP team members will be involved in this process.

Objective 2: ICBP Team will be confident to document, develop and produce different capacity building and capacity development frameworks, system, tools, guidelines, checklists, manuals, networks etc. to serve the purpose of MRC long term sustainable institutional memories and systems for capacity development.

· Provide technical guidance and support to ICBP team to do an institutional analysis of the current capacity development system (SWOT) at MRCS to design a plan for the development, improvement or modification of the different capacity building and capacity development tools and guidelines, etc. for MRCS.

· Guide and support ICBP team in raising awareness among MRC at different levels to apply the established systems above mentioned.

· Provide guidance and technical support to ICBP team to train and to help MRC staff at different level to comply with those systems.

· Provide guidance and technical support to ICBP team to monitor the application process and support the necessary modification and improvement of those systems.

· Provide guidance and technical support in documentation of successful capacity building and capacity development cases.

Note: This work will be lead by the Planning, Monitoring and Communication Programme Officer. All other ICBP team members will be involved in this process.

Objective 3: To provide methodological and technical support to MRCS, MRC programmes and member countries on the different aspects and areas required for capacity needs assessment, capacity building planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluation

· IWRM Capacity Building Programme Officer (IWRM PO) in different technical matters related to capacity building Integrated Water Resource Management capacity needs assessment, capacity building planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluation, as well as the effective implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the AusAID Support to MRC/AusAID/MDBC Strategic Liaison Partnership (Phase III),

· Human Resource Development Programme Officer (HRD PO) in designing and coordinating the different training and coaching processes for the on-the-job training Junior Riparian Professionals (JRPs), as well as providing advices to their MRC advisors on supervising and training the JRPs in the related programmes/divisions.

· Organisational Development Programme Officer (OD PO) in facilitating organisational assessment, institutional analysis, organisational development planning, organisational systems improvement, leadership and management skills enhancement, institutional development for effective decentralisation of the core functions, etc.

· Gender Programme Officer (GPO) in developing methodologies to more effectively mainstream gender equality into all MRCS organisational systems as well as IWRM related programmes and activities within MRCS, at NMCs and in prioritised Line Agencies.

· Planning, Monitoring and Communication Programme Officer (PMC PO) in developing planning tools and methodologies for capacity building planning, monitoring, evaluation and communication on results.

Objective 4: ICBP Team is confident in communicating with member countries and development partners on the different progresses and results achieved by ICBP through different professional communication modalities.

· Provide support and guidance on the drafting and finalising of the quarterly and bi-quarterly report to Development Partners and to MRCS.

· Provide support and guidance to the Team to prepare sufficiently and timely all necessary mid-term review and programme evaluation. In this relation, the CTA will help monitoring the performance of the review and evaluation missions and to ensure quality reports are produced.

· Provide support and guidance to the PMC PO to develop and apply an effective monitoring and evaluation system for ICBP.

· Provide guidance and support to the PMC PO on the establishment of a regional ICBP network;

· Provide guidance and support to the Programme Coordinator in writing inception reports, progress reports, completion reports and other routine reports in accordance with MRCS procedures and specific requirements of the programme;

Objective 5: All ICBP’s prioritised and mandated activities such as (a) facilitating the riparianisation process, (b) support the development of the road map for core function decentralisation, (c) support to implement capacity building plans of BDP, ISH, M-IWRM-P, CCAI, IKMP, FMMP etc. get sound technical advices on capacity building planning, implementation and monitoring.

· Provide guidance and support to the Team in planning, facilitating and monitoring of collaborated activities with BDP, ISH, M-IWRM-P, CCAI, ICCS and other MRC Programmes.

· Provide guidance and support to IWRM PO, the OD PO and the PMC PO on the planning, implementing and monitoring of the Riparianisation Process.

Objective 6: As requested, MRCS, MRC programmes and Member Countries will also receive direct technical support from the CTA, in concert with the the ICBP Programme Coordinator: When required, the CTA will be a resource person to MRCS, MRC Programmes and Member Countries on capacity building and capacity development processes, human resource development, Institutional assessment, performance assessment, organisational development, gender equality mainstreaming, monitoring and evaluation, documentation of good practices, facilitation of exchanges of expertise on IWRM knowledge and skills.

(a) Supervision requirement: the CTA does not directly supervise any staff of the program. S/he is responsible for providing guidance, support and mentoring to the ICBP Team for the development and implementation of the ICBP;

(b) Level of autonomy: This position reports to the ICBP Program Coordinator, with autonomy to provide guidance and recommendations on relevant decision-making.

(c) Level of problem solving required: the CTA is required to have an ability to solve complex situation and help the team to make sound decisions that support effective and efficient programme management, implementation and M&E;

(d) Level and type of communication required: high level of communication and people skills both within ICBP team and organisational wide,

(a) Core Values: integrity, professionalism, good people skills, conflict resolution skills, respect for diversity, empowering of other team members;

(b) Core Competencies: good communication skills, team work skills, client orientation, mentoring, transfer of appropriate knowledge and skills, highly aware of the emerging changes in capacity building and capacity development at MRC and facilitate the team to manage change well;

(c) Managerial Competencies: visioning, leadership skills, empowering others, building trust, rational decision making, efficient and pragmatic.

· Master’s Degree in a relevant field (Public Administration, Public policy, Institutional Development, Human Resources Development, etc.);

· At least 15 years’ experience in capacity development in the fields of public management, human resource management, organisational and institutional development, gender mainstreaming, capacity development processes (needs assessment, designing, planning, implementation and monitoring & evaluation) preferably within the context of natural resources management and planning;

· Extensive experience in policy and strategy development in capacity development for sustainable human resources development;

· Experience in project management, including preparation of annual work plans and budgets, and use of a logical framework for reporting, evaluating and monitoring;

· Knowledge and experience in Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is desireable;

· Experience with and good knowledge of the Mekong riparian countries and the Mekong River Basin is desirable;

[1] Objectives refer to the MRC objectives as set out in the Agreement on the cooperation for the sustainable development of the Mekong River Basin from April

1995 and in subsequent Strategic Plans

[i] This post level is L-5 (similar to the P-5 post level of the UN System).

The remuneration package, subject to change, includes (i) annual net base salary exempt from tax by Lao authorities, starting at US$86,791(L-05, step 1, dependency rate); (ii) a variable Post Adjustment which currently amounts to US$ 31,505; (iii) 6 weeks’ annual vacation; (iv) MRC’s contribution to staff member’s Provident fund of 14% of basic salary upon completion of 3 years in service; (v) Contribution of MRC to Health and Accident insurances (on shared basis with employee); (vi) other entitlements and benefits such as Hardship Allowance, Dependency benefits, Rental Subsidy, Education Grant, Relocation Grant, Travel cost and Shipment expenses on assignment and upon separation, Repatriation Grant, Home Leave Travel, etc.

THE MRCS RESERVES THE RIGHT TO APPOINT A CANDIDATE AT A LEVEL LOWER THAN
THE ADVERTIZED LEVEL OF THE POST.