Project Assistant, Public Administration Reform

UNDP in Montenegro has been providing the support to the Government in public administration reform process ever since 2003, focusing on the sustainable development and at the same time ensuring ensure efficient response to the particular demands from the citizens and national and local level. At the current stage of the process is guided by the principles set The Public Administration Reform Strategy in Montenegro 2016-2020, which defines that "the general goal of reform activities by 2020 is to create an efficient and service-oriented public administration characterized by the growth of citizens' trust in its work." Matching overarching goal of Montenegro’s public administration reform is an establishment of the administrative system, ready to respond to the requirements stemming out of the ongoing EU accession process. In this context UNDP in Montenegro is starting a new cycle of projects within Public Administration Reform portfolio, oriented towards providing support to the Government in establishing more efficient public administration system. 

The Government of Montenengro demonstrated that it recognizes public administration reform as a pivotal prerequisite for the EU accession by fully aligning the The Public Administration Reform Strategy 2022-2026 and its accompanying 2022-2024 Action Plan, with EU guidelines and SDG 16 principles.. This alignment underscores the nation's collective dedication to efficient administrative systems and superior service delivery. Despite notable progress in areas like mid-term policy planning and electronic governance, substantial gaps persist. In order to address this, UNDP is Montenegro is implementing the ‘’More Efficient People-centred Public Administration’’ project, focusing on standardizing the functioning of public institutions, where normative framework is lacking by support drafting the Law on Public Institutions, in order to provide better services to the citizens. Also, through the Project will improve institutional capacities of the Ministry of Public Administration, as a coordinating body of public administration reform. Finally, support will be provided for the standardization of customer- centred public e-services and further development of digital skills of the citizens and businesses.

In addition, as highlighted in the Montenegro 2023 Report, the amendments to the civil service legislation adopted in 2021, introducing relaxed qualification requirements and ample discretion of appointing authorities to dismiss heads of administrative authorities, remained in place. The relaxed requirements introduced by these amendments are a source of continuing concern for merit-based recruitment, competence and independence of civil servants. Continued staff changes in the public administration led to further loss of know-how on matters related to the EU accession process and an overall slowing of the pace of reforms.  In this framework, UNDP in Montenegro is initiating the implementation of the ‘’Enabling Merit-Based Recruitment in Public Administration in Montenegro’’ project, aiming to strengthen the merit-based recruitment practices in Montenegro's public administration to enhance the civil service's competence, efficiency, and independence. The aforesaid backdrop related to the merit based recruitment  requirements in the public sector presents the core problem that this project seeks to address.. The project aims to support the Ministry of Public Administration in addressing this demand by introducing a clear competency framework, ensuring transparent recruitment processes, and placing an unwavering emphasis on skills and expertise over affiliations.

Hence, UNDP CO Montenegro, through its combined programmatic efforts in the area of public administration reform, strives to facilitate the fulfilment of the EU accession criteria in the relevant field and also enable better positioning of the country in the international arena. 

• Assist the Project Analyst in day-to-day management and oversight of project activities;
• Assist the M&E officer in matters related to M&E and knowledge resources management;
• Assist in the preparation of substantive progress and financial plans and reports;
• Ensure all project documentation (progress reports, consulting and other technical reports, minutes of meetings, etc.) are properly maintained in hard and electronic copies in an efficient and readily accessible filing system, for when required by the Project Boards, Technical Advisory Committee, UNDP, project consultants and other PMU staff;
• Provide required administrative and logistical assistance to Team Leader and Project Analyst.

The Project Assistant is responsible for all the administrative and accounting matters under the Public Administration Reform portfolio of projects as set out in the overall Project documents, and in accordance with the UNDP standards and best practices. Under direct supervision of the respective Project Analyst, the main task of the Project Assistant will be to ensure overall administrative, logistics and accounting support to implementation/delivery of different aspects of the Project, which focuses onimprovement Montenegro’s institutional capacity for long-term adaptation planning. 

In performing these responsibilities, the incumbent will be required to carry out the following main tasks on a regular basis:

• Draft routine correspondence, facsimile, memoranda and reports from oral instructions, previous correspondence or other available information sources, in accordance with the standard office procedures, and ensure appropriate follow-up; write minutes from the meetings; provide translation/interpretation services into English and vice versa, when needed. 
• Provide logistical support to the Public Administration Reform portfolio of projects and ensure provision of adequate secretarial and interpretation facilities (organization of Projects’ events, meetings and study tours, travel arrangements, arrangement of shipments, project vehicles maintenance, conference facilities arrangements, visits of experts, timely processed daily subsistence allowances, etc.).
• Assist the M&E officer in matters related to M&E and knowledge resources management and in the preparation of progress reports. The project teams reports progress twice a year to the donors, at least once a year to the Project Boards, and continuously to the CO management, the task is to support these reporting process with continuous track record of implemented activities. Maintain administrative files relevant to the Projects;
• Maintain day-to-day communication with Operations Unit regarding the projects related administration matters: procurement, human resources, travel and finance matters; provide administrative support regarding recruitment of experts and procurement of goods and services under the Projects;
• Provide support to procurement processes related to the implementation of projects in hand: enter project procurement plans in Quantum, provide support to organization of procurement processes including preparation of tender documents, provide support to organization of the tendering and contracting procedure (publishing tender, if necessary organizing pre-bid conference and site visit, selecting and contracting companies), support to receipts of quotations, bids or proposals, and their preliminary evaluation; provide support to monitoring and supervision of consultants works (according to UNDP procedure and MNE legislation), provide support to identification of needs for equipment, and procurement and installation of necessary equipment;
• Perform regular financial and administrative duties necessary for the successful and timely  implementation of projects within the said portfolio: 
• Ensure daily transactions are processed in the Quantum system (vendors, invoices, requisitions, etc.);
• Keep track of all transactions in a budget notebook;
• Perform regular budget revisions;
• Provide regular delivery estimation and monthly expense estimation to the Finance Unit; provide regular reporting regarding the Projects’ expenditures;
• Prepare periodic Projects’ asset/inventory reports;
• Ensure completeness of documentation, check accuracy of calculation for all financial transactions related to the Projects, and prepare/process financial transactions in the system in accordance with UNDP rules and procedures. 

Institutional Arrangement

The Project Assistant will be responsible for providing daily support to respective Project Analyst. The incumbent will be based in UNDP Montenegro office in Podgorica.