Regional Coordinator

Post Title: Regional Coordinator
Organization: United Cities and Local Governments Asia Pacific (UCLG ASPAC)
Duty Station: UCLG ASPAC Regional Office, Jakarta, Indonesia
Type of Contract: Service Contract– 1 year, with possibility of extension

Background
United Cities and Local Governments Asia Pacific (UCLG ASPAC) is one of the eight Regional Sections of the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) and based in Jakarta, Indonesia. UCLG is the largest local government organization in the world and the officially recognized voice of Local Government by the United Nations. The Asia and Pacific region is the biggest of the eight sections in UCLG with linkages to more than 7.000 local governments. It represents well over 3.76 billion people –more than half of the world population- and incorporates economically fast developing countries such as China, India and Indonesia. UCLG ASPAC is the key knowledge management hub on local government issues in the Asia-Pacific region. It promotes democratic local government, supports cooperation between cities and their associations, and facilitates programs, networks and partnerships to develop the capacity of local governments and the associations.

UCLG ASPAC implements the Project “Supporting Decentralization in Developing Countries” in close co-operation with UCLG headquarters, Barcelona. The project activities are carried out for a period of 30 months in South East Asian countries. The overall objective is to support the decentralization and local democracy processes in developing countries and notably in Least Developed Countries in order to strengthen local development and good governance. More specifically, it is aimed to capacitate local governments in analyzing and defining priority agendas and to engage in dialogues with states and regional institutions in South East Asia.

UCLG ASPAC is accepting expressions of interests from qualified Regional Coordinator candidates. The Regional Coordinator will be placed at the UCLG ASPAC regional office in Jakarta and provides support to the on-going operations ensuring high quality, accuracy and consistency of work. The Regional Coordinator reports directly to the Secretary General of UCLG ASPAC.


Responsibilities
The Regional Coordinator will be responsible for the following:

• Establish and maintain communication with project partners and relevant stakeholders incl. ASEAN Secretariat, LGAs/LAs, academic institutions, CSOs, decision makers and media
• Identification, placement and supervision of regional experts 
• Coordination of elaboration of regional report on decentralization 
• Establish of regional chapters of global observatory on decentralization
• Facilitate development of decentralization indicators and pilot study
• Organization of regional meetings and conferences
• Support press releases and conferences 
• Ensure appropriate documentation of project activities 
• Compose regular narrative and financial reports 
• Carry out project management incl. regular monitoring
• Respect EC visibility guidelines
• Perform other duties as required from time-to-time 

Special requirements of the assignment

• Minimum of a bachelor’s degree in public administration, international relations, economics, political science or related field
• At least five years of professional experience in governance and decentralization related work with key qualifications comprising capacity development, project management, public service provision, community participation
• Strong written and oral communication skills (Indonesia and English)
• Computer software skills in all basic Microsoft word programs
• Ability to develop liaison with senior representatives from partner organizations and stakeholders and work co-operatively
• Ability to work under pressure and to deadlines required
• Experience in working in an international environment, respecting different cultures and nationalities
• Considerable domestic and international travel may be required

Assignment period
The assignment will be for a period of 12 months with a possibility of further extension, subject to performance review. It will commence in January 2011.

Candidates should submit an updated CV incl. salary history along with the application to HRD-Division at aspac_rm@yahoo.co.id (Reference: ASPAC_RC_10_10) until 30th November 2010 at the latest.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.