Head of Experimentation

The UNDP Strategic Plan 2018-2021 embraces the complexity of development and commits the organization to helping countries find faster, more durable solutions to achieve Agenda 2030. Important development trends like urbanization, climate change, and rising inequalities pose significant challenges on our path to achieve the 2030 agenda of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

 

 

UNDP has begun incubating a number of strategic initiatives aimed at ensuring UNDP is ‘fit for purpose’ to deliver a new generation of solutions in line with the challenges the world faces. One such key strategic initiatives is the Country Accelerator Lab Network. The initiative is a recognition that increasingly interrelated development challenges require going beyond business as usual and single point, linear and silver bullet responses in development. Instead, they call for an interdisciplinary approaches and non-linear solutions that crowd in the collective efforts of variety of partners and tap into local insights and the knowledge of people closest to the problem and the solutions. The initiative is also a recognition and an investment in the emerging momentum among a growing number of UNDP Country Offices around joining together disruptive, cutting edge methodologies with contextual, country-based insights and expertise to accelerate impact and progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals.

 

 

 

US:

 

 

We are building the largest and fastest learning global network of Accelerator Labs (initially setting up 60 labs in 60 countries)embedded within UNDP’s global architecture and country platforms. The new offering builds on the latest thinking from the fields of complexity science , lead user innovation and collective intelligence to accelerate development impact.

 

 

Our network will surface and reinforce locally sourced solutions at scale while mobilizing a wide and dynamic partnership ofactors contributing knowledge, resources and experience. The idea is to transform our collective approach by introducing newprotocols, backed by evidence and practice, which accelerate the testing and dissemination of solutions within and acrosscountries. This will enable the global community to collectively learn from local knowledge and ingenuity at a speed and at a scale that our societies and planet require. This will be achieved by:

 

 

 

 

The Accelerator Lab will undertake i) external facing interventions addressing priority development challenges, and ii) internally facing experiments to embed new ways of doing development within the existing UNDP portfolio.

 

 

You:

 

 

You are capable and excited about starting, design and managing activities, direct engagement with local communities and collaboration across global networks. You are driven by learning new things, figuring out how they work and translating them across sectors. You tell stories of emergent solutions and you gravitate to solving global development challenges.

 

 

You have a natural inclination to interdisciplinarity, cross cultural mindset and cross sectoral experience with the cosmopolitan attraction for diversity. You are driven by a strong sense of purpose and commitment to make change happen and a keen eye to identify emerging opportunities and ‘at the edge’ trends. You are open to discovery and exploration, capable of articulating insights and ideas through visual thinking, open to serendipity and discovery yet are pragmatic and constructive working with public sector authorities. You are comfortable with ambiguity, capable of zooming out for context and zooming in for content and execution- sharp in pursuit of objectives, fast at adapting and changing course when needed. You have superb competencies in program and portfolio management, are at ease with decision-making processes and dynamics of different models of governance.

 

 

You are curious, quirky and fun, natural strategic thinkers and talented designers. You understand systems, the good, the bad and the ugly, and are capable of working within bureaucracies to make change, leverage technology to extend, enhance and multiply exploration, discovery and execution. You are digitally savvy, you hack tools, and you are keen to be a part of a large global organization exhibiting United Nations values.

Experiment portfolio design

 

 

Management of prototype experiments for sustainable development challenges

 

 

Undertake cultural and behavioral analyses for the accelerator lab portfolio of experiments

 

 

 

Working out Loud

 

 

Organizational learning , working out loud and grafting experimentation onto the core business of UNDP

 

 

Innovation

 

Ability to make new and useful ideas work

Level 4: Adept with complex concepts and challenges convention purposefully

 

 

Leadership

 

Ability to persuade others to follow

Level 4: Generates commitment, excitement and excellence in others

 

 

People Management

 

Ability to improve performance and satisfaction

Level 4: Models independent thinking and action

 

 

Communication

 

Ability to listen, adapt, persuade and transform

Level 4: Synthesizes information to communicate independent analysis

 

 

Delivery

 

Ability to get things done while exercising good judgement

Level 4: Meets goals and quality criteria for delivery of products or services

 

 

Technical/Functional Competencies 

 

Innovation

 

Ability to manage organizational resources and deployment in pursuit of innovation approaches and initiatives

Level 5: Originate: Catalyzes new ideas, methods, and applications to pave a path for

innovation and continuous improvement in professional area of expertise

 

Education:

 

Master’s degree in Social Science, International Development, Science, Engineering, Design or a related area and minimum of 2 years of professional experience in development programming or policy; social innovation; partnership building; engagement (public and private sector) and/or resource mobilization

 

OR

 

Bachelor’s degree in Social Science, International Development, Science,Engineering, Design or related area and minimum of 4 years of professional experience in development programming or policy; social innovation; partnership building; engagement (public and private sector) and/or resource mobilization.

 

 

 

• Professional experience in development programming or policy and social innovation.
• Proven professional knowledge and experience in social innovation approaches such as Design Thinking, behavioral insights, Qualitative and Quantitative User Research, Experiment Design & Validation, data empowerment, and collective intelligence
• Demonstrated ability to work with clients to help surface unarticulated needs
• Demonstrated ability to apply a portfolio logic to experiments
• Demonstrate ability to design experiments, validate hypotheses and test prototypes;
• Demonstrated ability in running co-design sessions and capacity-building in experimental design, lean iteration and impact evaluation.

• Experimentation (instituting rapid learning about emerging challenges through design and running of a portfolio of experiments that is coherent with the type of challenges that are part of UNDP’s strategic plan, and

• Solutions Mapping: deep immersion in community dynamics, identification of and work with lead users, and implications of bottom up solutions for the policy design

• Exploration: The exploration function focuses on discovery and sensemaking of emerging trends, implications for systemic impacts and risks, and their potential for accelerating progress toward SDGs. Its work feeds into the portfolio of experiments ensuring its coherence with the emerging risks and opportunities (direct collaboration with the Experimentation Lead), and connects local dynamics and solutions (link with the Ethnography Lead) into the broader national and international ecosystem of potential funders, partners, and allies thereby increasing the chances for acceleration. While critical for the functioning of the Accelerator Lab, the exploration function will also service the Country Office as determined and agreed with the UNDP senior management.

NOTE

 

The position is for Pakistani Nationals

 

HEC Attested degrees are a prerequisite for employment at UNDP. During the recruitment process candidates may be required to present HEC attested degrees.

 

 

Foreign Qualified Candidates: Foreign degree holders shall be required to (i) Present a verification/certification letter from the university verifying the degree & student enrollment, or (ii) Foreign degree Equivalence Letter from HEC.

 

 

UNDP provides the Equal Opportunity for all equally qualified male & female including the physically challenged candidates, female candidates are particularly encouraged to apply’’ (local and internal VA)

 

 

“United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) does not charge fee at any stage of the recruitment process including application, interviews, selection or induction etc. Moreover, UNDP does not concern itself with any information on the applicants’ bank accounts

 

 

UNDP has zero tolerance towards Sexual Harassment (SH) and Sexual Exploitation & Abuse (SEA)”.