Tiered Approach

In line with the commitment to safeguard capacity and support personnel already in the Organization, a majority of UNDP UNCDF/UNV vacancies are advertised using a tiered application process whereby:

  • Tier 0: UNDP/UNCDF/UNV IP staff holding permanent (PA) and fixed-term (FTA) appointments, whose posts will be abolished, or contracts will be terminated or not renewed during 2026.
  • Tier 1: Other UNDP/UNCDF/UNV staff holding permanent (PA) and fixed-term (FTA) appointments
  • Tier 2: UNDP/UNCDF/UNV staff holding temporary appointments (TA), personnel on regular PSA contracts, and Expert and Specialist UN Volunteers
  • Tier 3 or no tier indicated: All other contract types from UNDP/UNCDF/UNV and other agencies, and other external candidates

Please make note of the Tier(s) indicated in the vacancy title, if any, and ensure that you satisfy the eligibility to apply.

Background

In 2019, UNDP established a global network of Accelerator Labs—one of the largest learning networks focused on sustainable development by setting up 90 Accelerator Labs covering 114 countries. These labs aim to ignite progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through exploration, solutions mapping of grassroots innovations, and human-centered experimentation. The Accelerator Lab in the Philippines (ALab PH) continues to carry this mandate forward within UNDP Philippines by exploring, mapping, and testing solutions in various frontier development challenges, including local convergence, circular economy, sustainable cities, and inclusive, grassroots-based, and data-driven innovation.

Building on the Lab’s early momentum and learnings, ALab PH remains an active and valued capability of the Country Office—supporting UNDP’s programmatic priorities through practical experimentation, partnership-building, project implementation, and knowledge generation. UNDP ALab PH retains Social Innovation Analysts to help manage its portfolios of innovations by, among others, following through on the progress of components experiments or initiatives, collaborating with UNDP programme and operations teams, engaging a broad range of external stakeholders, overseeing outputs of service providers and partners, and documenting and disseminating knowledge and learnings. The current set of portfolios include:

  1. Inclusive Innovation – Empower the grassroots and various sectors to pursue and scale innovations that address socioeconomic development challenges and the inclusion of marginalized communities. This includes supporting the government in strengthening its innovation policies and programmes.
  2. Green and Circular Economy – implement an innovation portfolio that promotes a circular economy, where waste leakage is reduced through improved waste management and, more importantly, a radical rethinking of production and consumption systems so that waste is avoided in the first place.
  3. Inclusive Value Chains for Local Development – Unbundle local economic development issues—including informal livelihoods, food systems sustainability, and inequality—and facilitate multi-stakeholder design and experimentation on solutions aimed at ensuring that marginalized sectors are not left behind in prosperity.

In pursuing the portfolios above, ALab PH closely collaborates with relevant programme teams in the UNDP country office. ALAB PH also explores various themes that cut across the above portfolios. These include: (i) harnessing frontier technologies for development; (ii) entrepreneurship and private investment; and (iii) strengthening local governance capacity. 

UNDP ALab PH will recruit one (1) Social Innovation Analyst who will work across the Lab’s innovation portfolios. The Analyst is expected to actively collaborate with portfolio leads and team members to cross-pollinate insights, approaches, and learnings across Inclusive Innovation, Green and Circular Economy, and Inclusive Value Chains for Local Development. The Scope of Work below outlines the core responsibilities of the Social Innovation Analyst and will be implemented through a coordinated, cross-portfolio approach —supporting the delivery of initiatives while flexibly contributing expertise as needed to advance ALab PH’s overall objectives.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Social Innovation Analysts will directly report to the Head of Solutions Mapping of the Accelerator Lab Philippines. 

The Social Innovation Analyst shall work closely with the Pintig Lab, SDG Partnerships and Finance Team (both under IAT) and with the Programme Team (including the communications unit) relevant to the portfolio being managed. The Social Innovation Analyst is expected to coordinate with government partners (national and local), CSOs, and other key partners.

Ensure strategic management of the project and provide day-to-day financial and administrative management for the delivery of the project’s activities focusing on achievement of the following results:

  • Support the overall social innovation activities of the Accelerator Lab that includes, among others, exploration, solutions mapping, and experimentation including background research, organizing and facilitating meetings and activities to co-design experiments, project planning, etc.
    • Manage the implementation of programmes, including tracking tasks and deliverables, coordination within UNDP and with external stakeholders for required inputs and resources, contracting of and coordination with third-party service providers, etc.
    • Monitor, evaluate, and document the results of experiments, including the conduct of exploratory data analysis, field observation, interviews, and focus group discussions, etc.
    • Support the Lab’s foresight and future-related work, including horizon scanning, trend and signal sensing, sensemaking activities, and translating insights into portfolio directions and experiment opportunities.
    • Support work on frontier technologies for development (including AI), including identifying and assessing use cases, supporting prototyping/piloting where relevant, promoting responsible use, and documenting learnings for wider uptake.
    • Provide support in drafting terms of reference and support recruitment and management of a team of national and international consultants and subject matter experts.
    • Support the project for creating specifications/ evaluation criteria etc. related to procurement, subcontracting, and outsourcing of services, etc.
    • Assist partners in preparing their progress and financial reports for the project activities.

Develop and maintain effective working relationships and coordinate with key counterparts to ensure the strategic positioning of UNDP, focusing on achievement of the following results:

  • Ensure full alignment with UNDP PH Programme Teams by, among others, mapping existing programmes, projects, and activities that may be relevant to the experiments and ensure the relevant programme and project teams’ participation.
  • Identify relevant external stakeholders (national and local government, development partners, civil society, private sector, academic partners, etc.) and map their various initiatives which may help inform the design, implementation, and evaluation of experiments.
  • Identify potential opportunities, entry points, points of convergence with stakeholders, and other openings for scaling up of experiments in the future.
  • Support engagement with partners on foresight- and AI-enabled innovation initiatives, including convening stakeholders, coordinating inputs, and identifying opportunities for collaboration and adoption.
  • Provide inputs and insights on strategy for consolidated offer to cities

Efficient support to tasks related to advocacy, programming, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) focusing on achievement of the following results:

  • Ensure the implementation of the communications and advocacy plan for the project.
  • Establish suitable monitoring mechanisms and undertake regular monitoring and reporting on project progress, risks and constraints; updates the implementation plan as required.
  • Promote accountability through effective programme results reporting (monthly, quarter, and annual progress and financial reports), to the UNDP, government counterparts and the Project Board; and
  • Monitoring, reporting, and evaluation of outputs and accomplishments towards the achievement of project intended outputs.
  • Support documentation and communication of foresight and AI-related insights and learnings through briefs, presentations, and knowledge-sharing sessions, as needed.

Ensure provision of technical advisory services and facilitation of knowledge building and management focusing on achievement of the following results:

  • Maintain effective network with development partners and Government at regional level and co-develop with ALab and other UNDP personnel knowledge products on an agreed upon frontier challenge which consolidates lessons learned from the various parallel experiments. The consultant may be asked to present findings in a national or regional platform as necessary
  • Contribute to the drafting of plans and reports to be submitted within the country office as well as to relevant regional and global platforms, including but not limited to the SDG Innovation Commons (https://www.sdg-innovation-commons.org/) as applicable.
  • Review, analyze, and index related literature, including policies, academic research, data and other materials, and as needed translate or condense these into digestible formats.
  • Help understand the evolving policy terrain on localization and urbanization by mapping issuances and pronouncements from UNDP and other relevant UN bodies, national and local government, and other stakeholders.
  • Collaborate with ALab PH and other UNDP CO colleagues in drafting policy notes or briefs, blog posts, presentations, communication materials, and other materials.
  • Maintain strategy notes, partner directories, partnership agreements, contracts, and other important documents in ALab PH’s file system under the corporate SharePoint of UNDP.
  • Contribute to the ongoing development of the country office’s Local Government Engagement Strategy, including provision of inputs and other ad-hoc related tasks.
  • Upon agreement, perform other tasks that may be assigned.

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

Competencies

Core Competencies

  • Achieve Results: Level 1: Plans and monitors own work, pays attention to details, delivers quality work by deadline

  • Think Innovatively: Level 1: Open to creative ideas/known risks, is pragmatic problem solver, makes improvements 

  • Learn Continuously: Level 1: Open minded and curious, shares knowledge, learns from mistakes, asks for feedback

  • Adapt with Agility: Level 1: Adapts to change, constructively handles ambiguity/uncertainty, is flexible 

  • Act with Determination: Level 1: Shows drive and motivation, able to deliver calmly in face of adversity, confident

  • Engage and Partner: Level 1: Demonstrates compassion/understanding towards others, forms positive relationships

  • Enable Diversity and Inclusion: Level 1: Appreciate/respect differences, aware of unconscious bias, confront discrimination

Cross-functional & Technical competencies

Business Direction and Strategy 

  • System Thinking: Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgement to understand how interrelated elements coexist within an overall process or system, and to consider how altering one element can impact on other parts of the system. 

Business Development 

  • Human-centered Design: Ability to develop solutions to problems by involving the human perspective in all steps of the problem-solving process Knowledge and understanding of human centered design principles and practices.
  • Knowledge Generation: Ability to research information and to turn it into useful knowledge, relevant for context, or responsive to a stated need. Ability to apply existing concepts to new situations, and to develop new concepts to generate workable solutions and new approaches. Knowledge of relevant concepts, conceptual models, and theories that can be useful in addressing new situations.
  • Collective Intelligence Design: Ability to bring together diverse groups of people, data, information, ideas, and technology to solve problems and design solutions or services. Knowledge and understanding of Collective; Intelligence Design principles, methodology and practices.


Business Management 

  • Partnerships Management: Build and maintain partnerships with wide networks of stakeholders, Governments, civil society and private sector partners, experts and others in line with UNDP strategy and policies.
  • Project Management: Ability to plan, organize, prioritize and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals.
     

Digital 

  • Innovation management: Being able to create strategies, conditions, structures and systems to enable innovation at an organizational level. Ability to navigate uncertainty and ambiguity is able manage project-based principles of adaptation and emergence. Ability to shape demand for innovation services, navigate political constraints and make the case for allocation of resources to innovation, connect the appropriate innovation approaches based on business needs and make the case for innovation to be integrated at the planning level within their context. Having in-depth theoretical and experiential knowledge of innovation processes, methods, capabilities. 

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • Advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in Industrial Design, General Design, Technology & Innovation, Social Sciences, Sociology, Development Economics, Community Development, Public Administration, Management, Communication, Innovation, or other related field is required. Or  

  • First level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in the areas mentioned above in combination with two (2) additional   years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advance university degree.

Experience:

  • Minimum of two (2) years (with master’s degree) or four (4) years (with bachelor’s degree) of work experience in the field of design, planning, implementing, coordinating, monitoring, and/or evaluating development programs and projects and/or innovation and social impact enterprises or projects. 

Required skills:

  • Experience in Project Management: Demonstrated ability to plan, organize, and control resources, procedures, and protocols to achieve specific goals. 

  • Experience in Project /Programme Delivery: Demonstrated ability to get things done while exercising good judgement.

  • Experience in Data Analysis: Demonstrated ability to set goals and indicators and to interpret and synthesize results into usable information to inform policy, strategy, and/or action.

Desired skills:

  • At least 1 year experience in the use of social innovation tools and developing knowledge products, narrative content, designs, and other communication outputs in various platforms.
  • Experience in engaging with other agencies, and other development stakeholders inside or outside the organizations and forge productive working relationships.
  • Working experience with the UNDP or UN international organizations 

Required Languages:

  • Fluency in spoken and written English and Filipino is required.

Equal opportunity

As an equal opportunity employer, UNDP values diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate and, as such, we encourage qualified applicants from all backgrounds to apply for roles in the organization. Our employment decisions are based on merit and suitability for the role, without discrimination. 

UNDP is also committed to creating an inclusive workplace where all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, are valued, can thrive, and benefit from career opportunities that are open to all.

Sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse of authority

UNDP does not tolerate harassment, sexual harassment, exploitation, discrimination and abuse of authority. All selected candidates, therefore, undergo relevant checks and are expected to adhere to the respective standards and principles. 

Right to select multiple candidates

UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement.  We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.

Use of AI by candidates

Applicants are invited to read UNDP’s guidance for candidates on using AI responsibly in UNDP recruitment and selection

Scam alert

UNDP does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment process. For further information, please see www.undp.org/scam-alert.

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