Municipal Support Program (MSP) – DAI Hiring for Geographic Information System (GIS) Specialist at Amman, Jordan Full Time

1. PROJECT BACKGROUND

The Municipal Support Program (MSP) is a five-year program supported by USAID/Jordan, awarded in August 2022, and implemented by DAI Global LLC. The overall goal of MSP is to strengthen municipal-sector service delivery and promote Local Economic Development (LED) in Jordan. The MSP team will achieve this goal through the following interventions: Outcome 1: Inclusive local administration strengthened, and Outcome 2: Capital investment for municipalities increased.

USAID MSP utilizes approaches that address structural issues, systems, processes, interrelationships, behavior, and organizational culture change. USAID MSP aims to strengthen municipal-sector service delivery by supporting improved governance and organizational culture across three interventions: key policy and service delivery reforms, municipal sector public financial management, and community engagement.

The program will support increased capital investment in Jordan’s municipal sector with the goal of catalyzing local economic opportunities and strengthening service delivery by supporting improved development planning, facilitating investor partnerships, increasing access to finance, and supporting renovation and construction of fixed assets including the provision of material resources. Foundational to these efforts, USAID MSP will leverage and institutionalize the participation of marginalized groups, including women, youth, and persons with disabilities, in municipal-level decision-making. Participatory planning will improve marginalized groups’ access to public services and increase their economic opportunities. MSP will work across all of Jordan’s governates.

2. TASK DESCROPTION

Under USAID MSP’s Outcome 1: Inclusive Local Administration Strengthened the project will work to achieve Intermediate Result 1.3: Human resource and operational capacity for responsive municipal service delivery strengthened. Under which USAID MSP and the Ministry of Local Administration have co-designed a comprehensive intervention to build the capacity of the Geographic Information System (GIS) units at 11 Principle Partner Municipalities (Irbid, Ramtha, Mafraq, Zarqa, Ajloun, Jerash, Salt, Madaba, Karak, Tafielah and Ma’an). This is related to the fact that GIS is a powerful tool that complements many USAID MSP’s interventions, such as the financial management information system (FMIS), automation of zoning maps, solid waste management, and street naming and building numbering (SNBN). In a collaborative effort, USAID MSP provided essential computer hardware for 11 GIS units at Principle Partner Municipalities (PPMs), where MOLA committed to sponsor the GIS software (specifically, ArcGIS), which was installed on all the computers prior to their delivery to PPMs in November 2023. Moreover, the Greater Amman Municipality has also delivered pro-bono training courses (basic and advanced) for two staff members at said 11 units, following a peer-to-peer learning model, as GAM has experience with municipal uses for GIS.

Furthermore, USAID MSP has launched a paid internship program which aims at supporting MOLA’s efforts to archive documents related to HR, procurement, and municipal affairs, and most importantly, digitizing zoning maps, where USAID MSP upgraded scanning equipment to enable MOLA to archive and digitize municipalities’ zoning maps, preserving, and safeguarding them. As part of the said support, USAID is also assisting municipalities to make all zoning changes electronically which will encourage them to strengthen their GIS sections.

To complement and build on the abovementioned interventions, and ensure sustainability, USAID MSP will be hiring two GIS experts, where each expert will be working closely with a designated number of municipalities, providing them with on-the-job training to build their knowledge and capacities on the different applications of GIS. Each individual expert will be working closely with a precise number of designated municipalities being responsible solely for delivering the key duties and responsibilities highlighted in section (C) below.

3. KEY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The following tasks will be completed by the Expert in close coordination with USAID MSP’s Service Delivery Specialist:

1. Conduct rapid assessment and develop a capacity building action plans for GIS sections/units/directorates at five to six municipalities including staff capacity, needed enhancement to the existing GIS database (layers) if any, in addition to available equipment and solutions through completing the following tasks:

a) Conduct rapid assessment targeting the GIS sections/units/directorates at each of the five to six targeted municipalities. The assessment shall be done through conducting meetings and field visits to the targeted PPMs, and following the below criteria:

• Human resources: identify the knowledge of existing GIS staff in terms of ability to use the ArcGIS software applications.
• GIS layers: number of existing layers in use through the ArcGIS software.
• Integration with other public bodies: identify to what extent does the existing GIS platform at the targeted municipalities captures key information from key public bodies such as: Department of Lands and Survey, Water and Electricity Companies, Ministry of Education, MOLA, and any other relevant entity.
• Integration with internal municipal departments and teams: the level of integration of the existing GIS platform at the targeted municipalities with the daily work of relevant departments and teams such as zoning, land and property tax, solid waste, and any other department.
• Digitization of zoning maps: the level of digitization of zoning maps in partnership with the zoning department at MOLA.   

b) Draft a capacity building action plan for GIS staff at each of the targeted municipalities, taking into consideration the specific characteristics and level of maturity of GIS applications at each of the targeted municipalities.  The content of the plan should include the following (final version of the action plan needs to be approved by USAID MSP):

• Capacity building plan for GIS staff, including on the job training, training material, mentoring, and coaching.
• Guidance on data collection, management, and analysis.
• Providing technical support and troubleshooting making sure that GIS staff in each municipality is performing adequately. 

• Based on the assessment and taking into consideration the specific characteristics of each municipality, recommend the needed GIS layers to be developed, including but not limited to the below layers (the final list of layers must be approved by USAID MSP).

• Land plans converted from AutoCAD to ArcGIS.
• Land use and land parcels
• Roads and regulatory streets, including center lines and main intersections.
• Landmarks for public buildings, including schools, hospitals, universities, tourism sites, police centers, terminals, mosques …etc.)
• Water networks including drainage and sewage.
• Solid waste related layers including collection points and bins, solid waste transfer routes and transfer stations.
• Occupational licenses for the commercial sector.
• Municipal assets.
• Built up area.
• Street naming and building numbering.

2. Provide the needed technical assistance by delivering at least 6 on-the-job training and coaching sessions per each of the targeted municipalities. The sessions must take place at municipality’s premises with an objective of supporting the delivery of the action plans developed in task (1), including the enhancement of existing layers and developing a minimum of five new GIS layers for each of the targeted municipality.

4.         DELIVERABLES

5. QUALIFICATIONS

1) Holds a bachelor’s degree in urban planning, Civil Engineering, Survey Engineering or any relevant field.

2) At least 7 years of experience in using ArcGis software.

3) A certification in GIS applications is preferred.

3) Experience in municipal GIS is a plus.