Climate Change and Green Economy Technical Specialist

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Job Purpose and Organizational Context

UNDP is the knowledge frontier organization for sustainable development in the UN Development System and serves as the integrator for collective action to realize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UNDP’s policy work carried out at HQ, Regional and Country Office levels forms a contiguous spectrum of deep local knowledge to cutting-edge global perspectives and advocacy. In this context, UNDP invests in the Global Policy Network (GPN), a network of field-based and global technical expertise across a wide range of knowledge domains and in support of the signature solutions and organizational capabilities envisioned in the Strategic Plan.

Within the GPN, the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) has the responsibility for developing all relevant policy and guidance to support the results of UNDP’s Strategic Plan.  BPPS staff provide technical advice to Country Offices; advocate for UNDP corporate priorities, represent UNDP at multi-stakeholder fora including government and civil society dialogues; and engage in UN inter-agency coordination.  BPPS works closely with UNDP’s Crisis Bureau (CB) to support emergency and crisis response, and ensures that issues of risk are fully integrated into UNDP’s development programmes. BPPS assists UNDP and partners to achieve higher quality development results through an integrated approach that links results-based management and performance monitoring with more effective and new ways of working.  BPPS supports UNDP and partners to be more innovative, knowledge and data driven including in its programme support efforts.

Addressing climate change is a top priority for UNDP. Working in over 170 countries and territories, UNDP is uniquely placed to work with all sectors of society to help mobilize the institutions and resources required to support countries design and implement climate policies and strategies.  This includes providing the guidance, global intelligence and technical support to countries to make the links between the Paris Agreement, 2030 Agenda and UNDP’s broader portfolio of support to countries climate change and related initiatives. UNDP’s Climate Promise is supporting over 115 countries to enhance their NDCs ahead of COP26, while the next phase of the Promise will focus on NDC implementation. The $72M NDC Support Programme, which was launched in 2017 with funding from the European Commission, Germany and Spain, provided the foundation for the Promise, through ongoing support to nearly 40 countries on NDC implementation and enhancement. In addition, a new initiative funded by Germany seeks to pilot new approaches and methodologies for strengthening the link between green recovery efforts and NDC enhancement and implementation in five pilot countries.

ABOUT THE ROLE

UNDP seeks to engage a Climate Change and Green Economy Technical Specialist to strengthen UNDP’s service offer on aligning NDC enhancement and implementation processes with COVID-19 green recovery efforts and the broader green economy landscape. The technical specialist will contribute to UNDP’s global thought leadership on linking climate change and green economy, particularly in the context of NDCs and green recovery, and coordinate support to COs on these efforts through the provision of policy briefs, technical guidance and foster peer-to peer learning between programme countries.

She/he will also facilitate coordination with strategic partners and encourage uptake and mainstreaming of good practices within UNDP. In this context, the chosen candidate will contribute to outreach and coordination within the GPN to ensure synergies between the green recovery components of the Climate Strategies and Policy Team portfolio, and other relevant UNDP and partner initiatives on climate change. This includes UNDP’s Climate Promise, the NDC Support Programme, and any new phase of support on NDC implementation, including, “Building the Economy of Tomorrow:  Using NDCs to Inform Green Recovery,” which will be launched in five pilot countries (one per UNDP region) in 2021.

Strategic and technical guidance on alignment of climate policies and strategies, particularly NDCs, with green recovery and economy efforts

• Support elaboration of a UNDP service offer on linking NDCs and climate action with green recovery and green economy efforts (e.g., green jobs, just transition, and NDC finance), including preparation of policy notes and technical guidance;
• Develop overall strategic approaches, frameworks, and integrated guidance to advise COs in strengthening alignment between COVID19 recovery efforts and NDC processes, leveraging UNDP’s existing climate change portfolio and ongoing efforts on UNDP’s green recovery offer;
• Enhance understanding within UNDP and with partners on linkages between NDCs and green recovery efforts, including good practices and lessons learned;
• Provide targeted technical support and guidance to countries on green jobs assessment and just transition analyses and on UNDP's suite of integrated climate finance planning tools that can strengthen use of public budgeting and private finance mobilization in support to green recovery.

Knowledge generation and management

• Contribute to UNDP’s thought leadership on linkages between climate action, NDCs and green recovery, in close collaboration with GPN experts; especially focusing on green jobs, alignment of NDC and green recovery finance, and just transition;
• Establish and/or contribute to peer-to-peer exchanges and communities of practice on alignment of NDCs and green recovery, in collaboration with UNDP and partner initiatives, sharing key results and good practices emerging from UNDP work in this field;
• Generate evidence, undertake research, and analyze various initiatives at country/regional level to identify trends and innovative approaches related to climate change, NDCs and green economy/recovery;
• Contribute to various types of knowledge products (policy briefs, lessons learned, guidance documents, webinars, etc.) on NDC enhancement and implementation, with a focus on green recovery, green jobs, just transition and NDC-green recovery finance.

Coordination and partnerships

• Build strategic partnerships with key organizations, partners and initiatives within and beyond the UN system, related to climate change and green economy/recovery, e.g. ILO, PAGE, NDC Partnership, IFIs, and the Coalition of Finance Ministers on Climate Action;
• Collaborate with relevant initiatives within UNDP’s Nature, Climate and Energy Team, the GPN, and the Regional Bureaus, to ensure coordinated, integrated support is delivered to countries on NDCs and green recovery;
• Serve as the Climate Strategy and Policy Team’s thematic collaborator on NDCs and Green Recovery, including monitoring relevant activities taking place under the Climate Promise and communicating key results in a way that strategically positions UNDP.

Country programme support

• Provide programme coordination, management and oversight to a new UNDP new initiative, “Building the Economy of Tomorrow:  Using NDCs to Inform Green Recovery,” to be launched in five pilot countries in 2021;
• Provide targeted technical support to COs on alignment of NDCs and green recovery efforts (green jobs, NDC-green recovery finance, and just transition), as required;
• Coordinate and provide management oversight to select countries under the NDC Support Programme and Climate Promise, to ensure timely delivery against targets, as required;
• Coordinate delivery of thematic and sectoral technical assistance with UNDP regional hubs, UN sister agencies, and strategic partners.       

Core

Innovation

• Ability to make new and useful ideas work.

Leadership

• Ability to persuade others to follow.

People Management

• Ability to improve performance and satisfaction.

Communication

• Ability to listen, adapt, persuade and transform.

Delivery

• Ability to get things done while exercising good judgement.

Technical/Functional

Primary

Technical understanding of climate change

• Knowledge of climate change (Including climate change international regime) and ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations; Knowledge of climate change mitigation concepts and the ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations; Knowledge of climate finance concepts and instruments, and ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations.

Green Economy / Green Growth

• Knowledge of Green Economy concept and green growth issues, including green jobs, green recovery and just transition, and the ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations

Knowledge management

• Ability to turn raw information into useful knowledge, relevant for context, or responsive to stated need; Ability to animate individuals and communities of contributors to participate and share.

Project Management

• Ability to plan, organize, and control, resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals; Ability to engage stakeholders to agree priorities, timelines, roles and responsibilities in support of timely Programme delivery and high-quality results.

Partnerships and global positioning of UNDP

• Ability to engage with other agencies, donors, and development stakeholders and forge productive working relationships; Knowledge of global institutions (such as the UN, IFIs), processes (such as G20 and various UN initiative), good grasp of UN’s niche, and ability to engage and foster strong networks with those institutions.

Coordination

• Ability to manage and nurture complex relationships through pathways of strategic engagement, knowledge exchange, and capacity development

Secondary

Monitoring and Reporting

• Ability to gather relevant data to support monitoring and evaluation efforts and accurate reporting of results.

Education:

• Master’s degree in climate change policy, environment and development, environmental economics, business, or related disciplines (Required).

Experience:

• A minimum of five years of progressively responsible work experience in sustainable development and/or climate change policy analysis, project formulation and management, knowledge management, coordination, and partnership building; (required)
• Demonstrated knowledge of climate-development nexus and building blocks of green recovery and NDCs; (required)
• Experience delivering technical support to countries on NDC formulation and implementation processes, in particular, related to green recovery, green jobs, just transition, and NDC finance; (desired)
• Demonstrated experience contributing to guidance, policy briefs, and other knowledge products, with a focus on NDCs and green recovery; (e.g., green jobs, climate finance, etc); (desired)
• Good knowledge of UNDP’s Climate Promise initiative and broader portfolio of climate action including climate finance tracking and public finance planning tools and how they can be leveraged to support green recovery efforts; (desired)
• Demonstrated experience working with key partners on green recovery, such as the ILO, PAGE, NDC Partnership, or other relevant actors; (desired)
• Good knowledge of UN system is an advantage, as is in-depth knowledge of UNDP policies, procedures and practices; (desired)
• Experience working at UN country/regional office(s), supporting national development planning process and managing interagency projects is an asset; (desired)
• Experience working in the field of gender and human rights as they relate to sustainable development and green economy is an asset (desired).

Language Requirements:    

• Fluency in English (Required);
• Fluency in French or Spanish is an asset (desired).

Important information for US Permanent Residents ('Green Card' holders)

Under US immigration law, acceptance of a staff position with UNDP, an international organization, may have significant implications for US Permanent Residents. UNDP advises applicants for all professional level posts that they must relinquish their US Permanent Resident status and accept a G-4 visa, or have submitted a valid application for US citizenship prior to commencement of employment. 

UNDP is not in a position to provide advice or assistance on applying for US citizenship and therefore applicants are advised to seek the advice of competent immigration lawyers regarding any applications.

Applicant information about UNDP rosters

Note: 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.

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