Urban Governance Expert

Position Information

• Organization: UNDP Saudi Arabia, through Stars Orbit Consultants and Management Development (SOC).
• VA No. VA24-154
• Position Title: Urban Governance Expert
  Consultancy Type: International Consultant
• Duty Station: Makkah/Jeddah and remotely
• Duration: Up to 90 days over 7 months with possibility for extension
• Vacancy Date of Issue: 20 October 2024
• Vacancy Closure Date: 30 October 2024
• Expected Starting Date: November 2024

This vacancy is announced by UNDP Saudi Arabia through Stars Orbit Consultants and Management Development (SOC). SOC is a sub-contractor for UNDP Saudi Arabia, assisting the programme in implementing their activities through HR and contract management of consultants working in their support.

Project Description

Makkah City is one of the two holy cities of Islam in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), the other being Madinah City. The two holy sites attract millions of Hajj and Umrah pilgrims every year. Indeed, the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages are the backbone of Makkah’s economy. However, the total population of Makkah City over the Hajj period reaches over 4 million, almost doubling the population density and severely straining infrastructure and services. Nonetheless, a key goal of the Saudi Vision 2030 — the Kingdom’s long-term development blueprint launched in 2016 which aims to cut Saudi Arabia’s dependence on oil, while promoting new sectors, from manufacturing and financial services to culture and tourism — is to provide quality services to 30 million international Umrah visitors (in addition to ~15 million local visitors) every year by 2030, tripling the international Umrah capacity existing today.

The Royal Commission for Makkah City and Holy Sites (RCMC) was established by Royal Decree as a result of KSA’s commitment to improve the pilgrimage experience within Makkah and to transform the city. Its primary mandate is to improve services in Makkah City and the Holy Sites in a manner that is commensurate with their sanctity, with the overall aim of enhancing, strengthening, and evolving the city of Makkah for the benefit of all. The RCMC’s vision for the City of Makkah is of a polycentric, liveable, cultural touristic, resilient, and sustainable city for 2040. The scope of this focus of this project covers the update the Makkah City Strategy (Stream A), the development of its Spatial Development Framework (Stream B), the development of a Detailed Masterplan for the Central Area (Stream C), and finally, the development of Al Mashaer Concept Master Plan (Stream D) for the target year of 2040 (Plan). Streams A and B cover the entire Plan boundary (approx. 2700 km2); while taking the entire Plan boundary into consideration, Stream B focuses on the urban envelope (approx. 560km2), Stream C focusing on the Central Area inside holy Makkah’s second ring road (approx. 6km2) including the Grand Mosque and its plazas and, and Stream D focuses on Al Mashaer Al Muqqaddasa area (approx. 32 km2 and yet to be launched). Work on this Plan via a selected international consortium of over 10 world-renowned companies has commenced in February 2024.

The RCMC seeks to be an effective contributor to the achievement of the ambitious objectives of KSA. Vision 2030 and to providing quality services to 45 million Umrah visitors annually by 2030 as will be. stipulated by the Plan. One of the main subject areas to be addressed in the Plan will be Utilities in a comprehensive manner with the aim of plugging any existing gaps and providing an adequate and integrated utilities network that is efficient, sustainable, and environmentally friendly towards 2040.

The RCMC is the main beneficiary of the Support to the Royal Commission for Makkah City and Holy Sites Project through which UNDP will provide technical assistance, quality control, advisory services, and capacity development support to strengthen the capacity of the RCMC to deliver on its mandate, fulfil its responsibilities and achieve its vision for Makkah City and the specific objectives of the Plan while also contributing to the realization of KSA Vision 2030.

Scope of Work

Broadly speaking, the scope of this assignment will cover the Urban Governance subject area (governance structures, roles and responsibilities, jurisdictions, communication lines, stakeholder engagement, and participation…. etc.) across all streams of the Plan, particularly Streams B and C (should stream D be launched then an adjustment to these ToR’s will be made). This will entail support and assistance to RCMC in ensuring that this subject area is being addressed in the best, most efficient and most accurate way by the consortium preparing the plan and that the outputs delivered by the consortium meet best international practise, local requirements, and RCMC expectations. While the main responsibility for Makkah’s planning and development falls under the jurisdiction of RCMC, several other public as well as private partners and stakeholders have important roles and these need to be fully engaged, accounted for and incorporated in the Plan’s governance structure. This aspect will be particularly important in and around stream C as well as D should it be launched as these two areas accommodate all the holy sites that are part of the Hajj and Umra rituals and since many public bodies like Security and Health heavily are involved and should be included in the governance structure. The appointed expert will also ensure that this subject area is addressed in alignment with relevant KSA 2030 Vision objectives and KPI’s included (including those adopted under streams B, C as well as D should the latter be launched, as well as in alignment with relevant RCMC policies and projects. In addition, the appointed expert will provide general support to RCMC on any urban governance related subject matter within the context of the Plan. As suc ,the scope is a hybrid between advisory & quality control duties related to how and to what extent the subject of urban governance is being addressed in the preparation process and outputs of the Plan, and technical support to the RCMC around the general domain of urban governance by as much as it relates to the preparation of the Plan as well as its implementation after release.

Duties and Responsibilities (Tasks):

The expert shall ensure the following are accurately captured and addressed with respect to the process and outputs of the Plan prepared by the selected consortium:

1. The current architecture and state of urban governance, its challenges as well as opportunities within the boundaries and jurisdictions of RCMC.
2. Urban governance vision, targets, structures, KPI’s and monitoring systems required for the successful production of the Plan by the end of 2025.
3. Urban governance structures, KPI’s and monitoring systems required for the successful implementation of the plan in increments towards the target year of 2040, mindful of the poly-centric (decentralized) urban system that will be promoted.
4. The accurate and sufficient interpretation and incorporation of the subject area of governance and all of the above in the preparation process and outputs of the Plan with emphasis on Streams B and C1.

As for general technical support to RCMC, the expert shall:

5. Support the RCMC planning and development departments and liaise with relevant stakeholders and consultants by as much as required to successfully undertake the above tasks within the Plan and other supporting projects within the RCMC.

Institutional Arrangement

Overall, the Urban Governance expert will work under the guidance of the Urban and Local Development Portfolio Management at UNDP Saudi Arabia Office. Technically, he/she will work under the guidance of the UNDP Chief Technical Adviser (CTA), coordinate with the RCMC PM and team, relevant stakeholders in addition to the UNDP appointed team of consultants throughout the duration of this mission.

Duty Station

This assignment will be run on a hybrid basis with the selected expert expected to spend up to 45 working days in Jeddah/Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Adjustment to this modality can be agreed in discussion with UNDP and RCMC

Qualifications and Competencies

Min. Education requirements

• BSc in urban or regional planning, urban governance or equivalent, plus:
• MSc or PhD in urban or regional governance, or in a related field.

Min. years of relevant work experience

• 15 years

Required skills

• Technical report writing.
• Ability to conduct and/or moderate meetings
• Deep understanding of centralized and decentralized urban governance structures and modalities.
• Decentralized planning and development.
• Stakeholders and partners’ engagement.
• Strong knowledge of good and inclusive governance.
• Knowledge of the public administration situation in KSA.

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

• Interpersonal and communication.
• Networking and engagement skills.

Required Language(s)

• Full proficiency in the English is required. Ability to read/write/speak Arabic will be an advantage.

Professional Certificates

• An asset if acquired in relevant fields.