National Project Coordinator (Policy/Technical/Finance Lead)

Office/Unit/Project Description 

The GEF funded Circular Solutions to Plastic Pollution Integrated Program aims to address the root causes of plastic pollution: ever-growing unsustainable consumption and production of single-use and problematic plastic products and packaging with low circularity. The Program will demonstrate and scale up upstream and midstream solutions in the food and beverage sector, including the elimination of single-use plastic products/packaging and reduction of using crude oil as the primary feedstock; circular design of materials, products and business models; as well as ensuring materials and products are actually circulated in practice through reuse and refill systems.

This specific focus on upstream and midstream interventions will be transformative as there is a lack of critical support to address the plastic pollution from source, and it will strategically complement existing funding, projects and actions on plastic pollution which have a dominant emphasis on downstream actions (waste management and clean-ups).

This Program will provide an innovative and transformative stimulation to transition towards a circular economy of plastics, to prevent plastic pollution at national, regional and global levels. The Program will be delivered through 14 national child projects and one global child project (Global Plastic Reboot). The Program activities will focus on five interlinked intervention areas throughout the whole Program: 1) Enabling a Regulatory and Policy Environment; 2) Mobilizing Finance; 3) Engaging with Food and Beverage Private Sector; 4) Activating Behavior and Social Change to support program strategy; and 5) Knowledge Management, Communication, and Project-level and Program-level Coordination.

The Circular solutions to plastic pollution in Morocco project is one of the 14 national child projects of the global integrated Program.

In Morocco, plastic pollution in marine environments is severely affecting the blue economy's potential, marine habitats and ecosystem services and coastal waters. The plastics industry plays a crucial role supporting around 75,000 direct and 320,000 indirect jobs, and achieving a turnover of approximately $2.3 billion in 2019. Plastic pollution has a profound economic impact on Morocco's Blue Economy, incurring annual losses of $26 million. There is a need for industry to enhance its competitive edge by securing access to high-quality alternatives to new plastic imports. The aim of the Morocco’s child project “Circular solutions to plastic pollution in Morocco “ is to hasten the shift toward a circular economy for plastics within Morocco's food and beverage industry, by advancing circular practices and supporting Morocco’s National Strategy to Sustainable Development.

This National project will deliver seven key outcomes:

• Enhanced management of plastics and items containing Persistent Organic Pollutants.
• Raised standards regarding harmful chemicals in disposable plastic items.
• Strengthen frameworks, policies, and guidelines to foster a circular economy for plastics.
• Expanded opportunities for the replacement or reuse of disposable plastic items.
• Improved ability of the private sector to enact policies and strategies for circular solutions.
• Increased sharing of experiences and replication of successful practices.
• Heightened awareness of the project's achievements within the global plastics initiatives.

The project will deliver Global Environmental Benefits including:

• Reduction in plastic pollution lessening the anthropogenic impact on the marine environment and biodiversity;
  • Replacement of plastic materials with more sustainable alternatives reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions;
  • Reduced pollution from harmful additives in plastic food and beverage products;
  • Support to job creation.

Following are the five components of the project :

Component 1: Tools for enabling the creation of standards to tackle pollutants in Food & Beverage plastics ;

Component 2: Improving Recyclability and Enhancing Recycled Content through Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and Regulatory Frameworks ;

Component 3: Promoting Sustainable Alternatives for single-use plastics within the framework of Circular Economy practices ;

Component 4: Engaging private sector to anticipate the need for highly recyclable materials ; Component 5: Knowledge management and coordination with the Integrated Program ;

The project is implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as the GEF Implementing Agency. The Ministry of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development (MTEDD) acts as the national lead agency. The project is executed by UNDP Morocco, and the Project Coordination Unit (PCU), consists of the UNDP Morocco assigned Project Manager (25% function of staff time), National Project Coordinator (Public Policy/Technical/Finance Lead), Public Policy Specialist, Technical Specialist (Plastics/Alternatives.POPS), Private Sector /Finance Mobilisation Expert, Information Coordinator, and Administration/Financial Assistant Officer, as defined in Annex H of the Project Document. These experts will be confirmed taking into account the actual needs of expertise for the project.

It is within this framework that UNDP, in collaboration with UNIDO and MTEDD, recruits a National Project Coordinator (Public Policy/Technical/Finance Lead), herein referred to as the Coordinator, for the project’s duration (5 years), on an annually renewable contract. The first six months constitute a probation period.

The Coordinator will also maintain close coordination with the Global Child Project (Plastic Reboot GCP), ensuring that Morocco’s national project contributes actively to programme-wide learning, thematic working groups, global reporting (including PIR inputs), and dissemination of technical deliverables. This will include proactive “upload” of national outputs to the GCP for review and sharing, and “download” of global guidance, tools, and best practices to strengthen national delivery.

The Project coordinator will be based in the Department of Sustainable Developpement.

The Coordinator will be recruited and selected through an open competitive process.

He/she is responsible for the coordination of all aspects of the implementation of the Circular Solutions to Plastics Morocco project, and with significant functional inputs in either Public Policy, Technical (Plastics/POPs) or Private Sector/Finance mobilization depending on the skill set of the candidate. This function constitutes the backbone of all actions required to achieve the project objectives. The Coordinator will work in close collaboration with the Project Manager (UNDP Morocco), the other PCU members, the Project steering committee (PSC) members which are the GEF Implementing Agency (UNIDO) the MTEDD and the UNDP, the GEF funded Global Child Project (Plastic Reboot GCP), and all relevant stakeholders.

Project Coordination and Technical Guidance

The Coordinator provides significant functional inputs for the project’s policy (component 2), technical (components 1,3,4) and finance mobilization (component 4), ensuring that national outputs are delivered with high quality and contribute effectively to the Plastic Reboot Integrated Programme.

He/She provides technical guidance and oversight to consultants, contractors, and partners to ensure high-quality, impactful outputs. Their function also ensures gender, social inclusion, and environmental safeguards are integrated into all substantive activities. In support of the Project Manager (UNDP Morocco), the Coordinator will also contribute to administrative and financial follow-up, human resources coordination, and the establishment of internal communication systems, ensuring that these management processes effectively underpin the delivery of substantive project outcomes. Working in collaboration with the Project Manager and other PCU members (as outlined in Annex H), the Coordinator helps foster team motivation, contributes to clarifying technical responsibilities, supports capacity-building for staff and partners, and provides inputs to performance monitoring systems related to substantive project delivery.

He/she is responsible for:

• Providing substantive input on technical, policy, and/or finance mobilization activities in line with the approved workplan and budget, ensuring timely delivery of expected results.
• Coordinating with the Project Manager (UNDP Morocco) and other PCU members to align technical implementation with project management processes.
• Preparing and providing technical inputs to terms of reference, work specifications, and contractor deliverables, ensuring outputs are of high quality and consistent with programme objectives..
• Supporting the Project Manager in monitoring financial and administrative processes by providing technical justifications and ensuring that expenditures are aligned with substantive activities.
• Contributing to risk monitoring (including social and environmental risks), identifying potential challenges in the delivery of technical outputs, and proposing corrective measures as needed.
• Facilitating linkages with the Global Child Project (Plastic Reboot GCP) to ensure that national deliverables contribute to programme-wide learning, reporting, and dissemination.

Partnerships

The Coordinator plays a central role in the promotion of the project with national, regional, and local stakeholders, including ministries, local authorities, private sector, academia, professional associations, civil society, and the media. Working in collaboration with the Project Manager and other PCU members (especially the Information Coordinator), the Coordinator fosters collaboration through awareness-raising, advocacy, and by building trust- based partnerships in line with the project’s objectives.

He/she ensures:

• Implementation of partnership agreements and facilitation of knowledge transfer to national institutions and stakeholders.
• Alignment of project activities with other donor-funded initiatives, national strategies and sectoral priorities.
• Promotion of the project to related national and regional programs addressing similar themes, and effective liaison with the Plastic Reboot Global Child Project (GCP) to align Morocco’s work with programme-wide activities, thematic working groups, and shared learning processes.

Planning and Monitoring

The Coordinator contributes substantive inputs to the annual and quarterly workplans, as well as revisions to the multi-year workplan (if needed), in consultation with other PCU members, UNDP, UNIDO and MTEDD. He/she also ensures:

• Monitoring of technical and policy-related project indicators in line with the Results-Based Management approach.
• Tracking progress against the GEF core indicators, gender action plan, stakeholder engagement plan, and environmental/social management plans, with a focus on substantive results.
• That the indicators included in the Project results framework are monitored annually in advance of the GEF Project Implementation Report (PIR) submission deadline so that progress can be reported in the GEF PIR and that Morocco’s contributions are provided to UNDP/UNIDO and uploaded to the Global Child Project (GCP) for programme-wide reporting.
• Updating of the project monitoring plan, risk log, issues log, and lessons learned log, particularly as they relate to technical and policy implementation.
• Substantive support to mid-term review and terminal evaluation processes, including provision of technical documentation, lessons learned, and evidence of policy and market transformation.
• Preparation of sunstantive inputs to the inception report within one month after the inception workshop, including linkages with the GCP.

Reporting

The Coordinator provides substantive inputs to the reporting of project progress, including contributions to quarterly financial reports to UNDP/UNIDO, support the annual Project Implementation Reports (GEF PIR), and mission reports. He/she also reports to the Project Board/Steering Committee on substantive progress, highlighting challenges, opportunities, and corrective actions.

He/she also ensures:

• Assist with substantive contributions to the GEF PIR, mid-term review, and terminal evaluation.
• Provision of technical documentation and evidence of policy and market transformation to support audits, spot checks, and evaluations.
• Timely identification of substantive risks and lessons that should be communicated to the Project Manager and captured by the Information Coordinator for programme-wide learning.

Studies, Consultancies, and Field Missions

The project relies on several studies and consultancies. The Coordinator provides substantive leadership for these activities, including:

• Identifying technical needs and priorities in consultation with project partners and the PCU.
• Providing substantive inputs to TORs and work specifications, and reviewing deliverables to ensure alignment with project objectives.
• Ensuring that gender equality, woman empowerment, and social inclusion considerations are systematically integrated into studies and activities.
• Coordinating with the Project Manager and Administration/Financial Assistant Officer for the logistical and contractual arrangements of field missions, meetings, and visits, while focusing on substantive preparation, partner engagement, and follow-up.

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

Institutional Arrangement

The Coordinator is a member of the Project Coordination Unit (PCU). The Coordinator is expected to provide significant functional inputs in either Policy, Plastics/POPs or Private Sector/Finance mobilisation depending on the skill set of the candidate, and working in close collaboration with the all the PCU members.

The Coordinator reports to the Project Manager (UNDP Morocco) and works under the overall guidance of UNIDO (as Implementing Agency) and MTEDD (as national lead agency). In this capacity, the Coordinator provides substantive leadership across the policy, technical, and finance mobilization areas of the project, collaborates closely with other PCU members, and ensures that technical progress is aligned with project outcomes.

The Coordinator also serves as the primary liaison with the Plastic Reboot Global Child Project (GCP), ensuring that Morocco’s national project contributes effectively to programme-wide coordination, knowledge sharing, and reporting.

Competencies

Minimum Qualifications of the Successful NPSA

People Management 

UNDP People Management Competencies can be found in the dedicated site.

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies:

Min. Education requirements: 

Advanced university degree (master's degree or equivalent) in Engineering diploma in environmental management, sustainable development, chemical engineering, circular economy, or related field is required, or

A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in the above field in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree.

- A PhD in relevant fields is an asset.

Min. years of relevant work experience:

At least 5 years (with Master’s degree ) or 7 years (with Bachelor’s degree) of progressively responsible professional experience in the fields of plastics, chemical safety, sustainable industry, circular economy, or related field.

Required skills:

Desired skills in addition to the competencies covered in the Competencies section:

• Proven experience in providing technical (plastics/POPS), public policy, or finance mobilization leadership for donor-funded projects, preferably with UN agencies or international organizations.
• Experience working with government, private sector, and civil society partners in Morocco in the field of environment, industry, or sustainable development.
• Demonstrated experience developing performance indicators, monitoring technical results, and preparing substantive contributions to evaluations and reports (e.g. PIR, MTR, TE).
• Experience managing consultants and working as part of inter-disciplinary and/or multi-cultural teams.
• Experience with UN agencies .
• Experience with circular economy projects

Required Language(s):

• Fluency in French and Arabic is required.
• Fluency in English is required.

Travel:

National and international travel is required for project execution.