Myanmar: Senior Advisor – Peace Architecture – Joint Peace Fund

Background

The Joint Peace Fund (JPF) is a platform for coordinated international financial, technical and advisory assistance. It seeks to support a peace process that will end ethnic armed conflict in Myanmar and result in a sustainable peace from which all the people of the country benefit. With many donors pooling their funding, the JPF offers a coherent, efficient approach to providing assistance to the parties in the peace process, as well as other Myanmar organisations working at all levels of Myanmar society – Union, State and local.

The JPF comprises a Technical Secretariat (TS) and a Trustee and Contract Manager (TCM), managed respectively by the Nordic International Support Foundation (NIS) and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). This position is being recruited by NIS for the Technical Secretariat.

NIS is a Norwegian-registered, non-profit foundation engaged in stabilisation and reconciliation initiatives in conflict and post-conflict areas. NIS’s primary areas of intervention are institutional development, public service delivery, and conflict resolution. In addition to project implementation, NIS is administering and providing technical support to the Paung Sie Facility (PSF) in Myanmar.

The Technical Secretariat has overall responsibility for the JPF’s operations, and for providing analysis, advice and support to the Fund Board, the JPF’s governance body. The primary responsibility of the Technical Secretariat is to solicit and assess proposals for funding, and to supervise the implementation of the grants provided to peace process actors in Myanmar. These grants fall into three main areas:

• Peace Architecture: Direct assistance to a nationally owned and inclusive peace process. This support is for both ongoing negotiations, and for the implementation of agreements already made between the parties at Union and sub-national level - for example the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) and the various bi-lateral ceasefires.
• Peacebuilding: Initiatives and activities that strengthen the participation of Myanmar civil society and civil society organizations in the peace process, with a particualar emphasis on women.
• Research and Innovation: The JPF supports applied research and communication initiatives that enhance shared understanding, inform and enable public participation, and harness digital technology to promote awareness raising, collaborative learning, and engagement in the peace process.

The Senior Advisor – Peace Architecture will be the focal point for the JPF’s efforts to support the formal actors and institutions of the peace process. The Senior Advisor will lead a small team of specialists who will work across various thematic project clusters. The Senior Advisor will oversee some of the clusters in order to lead the development and support of JPF work for Myanmar’s peace architecture.

Main Responsibilities

• By drawing on a strong knowledge both of Myanmar’s peace process and international best practices, ensure that the JPF provides effective, timely and relevant financial support and technical assistance to the formal peace process, in a strategic, conflict-sensitive, and programmatically sound manner.
• Oversee the development, appraisal and monitoring of grants relating to the peace architecture program stream within the JPF Secretariat.
• Support the Director in maintaining strong working relationships with key stakeholders, including parties to the peace process, JPF donors and civil society representatives.
• Support the Director, working with the other senior staff, to ensure a consistent strategic vision in the work of the the JPF.
• Ensure that Peace Architecture work is informed by and contributes to the other work streams of the JPF.
• Work closely with JPF personnel across programmatic streams (Peacebuilding, Research & Innovation) and cross-cutting functions (M&E, Gender, Communications).
• Ensure the JPF is meeting or exceeding international best practice in its support of the Myanmar peace architecture, and contribute to the JPF’s learning culture.
• In overseeing a portfolio of projects related to support for Myanmar’s peace architecture, ensure that timely decisions on any responsive or corrective action are made in a consultative and evidence-based manner, and are implemented efficiently and effectively.
• Identify and respond to expressions of demand and/or need for assistance from the Peace Architecture program stream in a timely manner, based on the participatory and equity principles of the JPF.
• Provide advice and support to implementing partners in areas of required expertise, including dialogues, negotiation, and ceasefire support as needed.
• Work closely with JPF personnel to embed inclusion and conflict sensitivity into Peace Architecture’s strategies and projects.
• Manage the Peace Architecture team, to include selecting and supervising key staff, providing regular feedback and undertaking performance reviews.
• Actively solicit feedback from stakeholders and from JPF projects to ensure the continuous improvement of the Peace Architecture component of the JPF.
• Support the Director in matters related to the Peace Architecture program area.
• Carry out other duties of temporary or permanent nature within the organization at the Director’s request and as necessary.

Required Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Peace and Conflict Studies, Social Sciences, Management or equivalent.
• Minimum 15 years of professional experience in peace and conflict. Strong understanding of best-practice support to peace processes and initiatives, particularly as they relate to supporting dialogue, negotiation, and/or security matters, in particular ceasefire support.
• Demonstrably strong hands-on skills in program and project design and management, with experience of responding to donor requirements.
• Minimum 5 years of relevant field experience in a transitional environment.
• Strong leadership abilities combined with the ability to work well in teams that contribute to cross-cutting goals; experience in management in a matrix-based organization would be an asset.
• Excellent communication, diplomatic and liaison skills and demonstrated experience in working with a range of national and international stakeholders; demonstrated ability to build and maintain relationships in a complex and rapidly changing context.
• Excellent computer skills.
• Excellent written skills, and spoken fluency in English are essential; fluency in Myanmar or other ethnic languages of Myanmar would be an asset.
• Understanding of the Myanmar context would be an important asset.

An application comprising a CV/resume and a covering letter outlining relevant experience and qualifications must be sent to hr@jointpeacefund.org, with the position title and the reference PCAH-019 in the subject line. Applications must include a minimum of 3 referees.