Background
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.
UNDP Seoul Policy Centre (USPC) is one of UNDP’s five Global Policy Centres and constitutes an integral part of UNDP’s Global Policy Network (GPN). Established in 2011, USPC represents UNDP in the Republic of Korea, works with Korea on international issues, and shares the ROK’s development experience with other countries. Through its ‘SDG Partnerships,’ USPC acts as a facilitator of global knowledge exchange on innovative and tested-and-proven policy solutions in three thematic areas: 
  1. Governance, specifically (i) transparency & accountability, and (ii) sexual & gender-based violence; 
  2. Resilience, specifically sustainable forestry; and  
  3. Development cooperation, specifically (i) capacity for addressing the challenges of development cooperation, and (ii) engagement of non-state development actors. 

SDG Partnerships facilitate triangular cooperation between the Republic of Korea, UNDP (USPC together with UNDP’s relevant global/regional teams), and partner countries (consisting of UNDP country offices and their partner government institutions). To this end, this modality seeks to capture the ROK’s development experience, facilitate the dynamic exchange of lessons learned, and support the national adoption of the tools at country level by channeling seed funding and technical cooperation to the partner countries through existing UNDP Country Offices projects and initiatives. 

It is expected that the topic of development cooperation will gain on importance in the next triennial work programme of USPC for 2023-2025 (currently under development). The development cooperation team is therefore expected to provide support to the existing thematic portfolios of USPC through: 

  • Conducting policy research on development cooperation issues, especially on development policy of the ROK, effective development cooperation, South-South and triangular cooperation (SSTC), and green as well as digital ODA.  
  • Advising on efficiency & effectiveness aspects of projects and partnerships facilitated by USPC. 
  • Exploring and initiating new partnerships with Korean and international partners on topics related to the centre’s mandate and work programme.  

As such, the incumbent, under the supervision of the USPC’s programme analyst and in partnership with other members of USPC and the GPN network, will support these aspects of the development cooperation portfolio. 

Duties and Responsibilities
The incumbent will be working directly under the supervision of the Centre’s Programme Analyst.

Policy research on Development Cooperation  

  • Support the preparation of policy briefs on international trends in development cooperation and help identify areas where new partnerships can be formulated
  • Support drafting of policy briefs and research papers on the application of digital technologies in the delivery of development cooperation projects
  • Conduct research on various topics related to effective development cooperation and SSTC 
  • Support GPEDC processes such as the Busan Forum, Learning and Accelerating Programme, and Action Areas on South-South and Triangular Cooperation

Supporting effectiveness & efficiency of USPC Partnerships 

  • Support the implementation of SDG Partnerships of USPC 
  • Support the preparation of inputs for corporate reporting exercises
  • Support the improvement of internal knowledge management systems at USPC and assist with the implementation of the corporate Knowledge Management Strategy
  • Support overall efforts of USPC to streamline its project management approach vis-à-vis its country-level work and overall budget delivery 

Exploratory work on new Partnerships 

  • Support the development of project proposals related to the ROK’s best practices on topics related to the Centre’s mandate and work programme and help facilitate the process leading up to their implementation 
  • Support the facilitation of partnerships on topics such as but not limited to vaccine management/distribution systems and a multi-country training programme for effective development cooperation

Cross-cutting

  • Assist the facilitation of partnerships between UNDP and relevant development actors, particularly international knowledge sharing institutions focusing on effective development cooperation and digital transformation
  • Support the organization of flagship events such as but not limited to Seoul Debates and the Human Development Report Launch in the RoK
  • Support outreach and communications activities on relevant USPC activities
  • Support other administrative processes such as but not limited to internship selection
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 & Strategy    

  • Strategic Thinking: Ability to develop effective strategies and prioritized plans in line with UNDP’s objectives, based on the systemic analysis of challenges, potential risks and opportunities; linking the vision to reality on the ground, and creating tangible solutions. Ability to leverage learning from a variety of sources to anticipate and respond to future trends; to demonstrate foresight in order to model what future developments and possible ways forward look like for UNDP.
  • 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

  • Knowledge Generation: Ability to research and turn information into useful knowledge, relevant for content, or responsive to a stated need.

Business Management

  • Digital Awareness and Literacy: Ability and inclination to rapidly adopt new technologies, either through skillfully grasping their usage or through understanding their impact and empowering others to use them as needed. 
  • Customer Satisfaction/Client Management: Ability to respond timely and appropriately with a sense of urgency, provide consistent solutions, and deliver timely and quality results and/or solutions to fulfil and understand the real customers' needs. Provide inputs to the development of customer service strategy. Look for ways to add value beyond clients' immediate requests. Ability to anticipate client's upcoming needs and concerns.

Digital & Innovation

  • Digital transformation design: Practical and strategic skills in digital transformation for governments and organisations. 
  • Monitoring: Ability to provide managers and key stakeholders with regular feedback on the consistency or discrepancy between planned and actual activities and programme performance and results.
Required Skills and Experience
Education:
  • Master’s or Bachelor’s degree in areas relevant to the position such as international development, international relations, environmental policy
Experience:
  • Two years of professional work experience providing policy advice and programme support on the topic of sustainable development is required with Bachelor’s degree, no experience is required with Master’s degree
  • Prior work experience with international organizations is required.
  • Familiarity with Korean development policy, effective development cooperation (particularly related to GPEDC), and SSTC is required.
  • Ability to multi-task and prioritize tasks is required.
  • Excellent communication and interpersonal skills is required.
  • Good cultural and gender sensitivity is required
  • Familiarity with issues related to digital transformation is an asset.
  • Familiarity with UNDP or other UN agencies is an asset.
  • Demonstrated experience in project management and events organization is an asset. 
  • Demonstrated experience in drafting and peer-reviewing research papers is an asset.  
  • Demonstrated capacity to write clear and well-constructed reports and knowledge products is an asset.  
  • Experience in the usage of computers, office software packages, video conferencing platforms (e.g. Zoom), social media is an asset

Required Language(s):

  • Excellent command of written and oral English is required. Working knowledge of other UN languages is an asset.
Disclaimer
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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