Horizon Technologies and Innovations Analyst- IPSA 9

Singapore

Organization: UNDP - United Nations Development Programme
Location: Singapore
Grade: Junior level - IPSA-9, International Personnel Services Agreement
Occupational Groups:
- Innovations for Sustainable Development
Closing Date: Closed

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.

Office/Unit/Project Description

The UNDP Global Centre for Technology, Innovation and Sustainable Development (GC-TISD) aims to identify, co-create, and share innovative and technological solutions for sustainable development. We aim to catalyse new insights, partnerships and action in the countries where UNDP works. Our areas of focus are: Sustainability and Climate Resilience, Smart Cities and Urbanisation, Digital Inclusion, Digital Sustainable Finance, and Digital Public Goods. The GC-TISD leverages Singapore’s deep expertise, solutions, knowledge, and ecosystem of Government and private sector partners, as well as knowledge from experts and partners around the globe, and across UNDPs Global Policy Network. More specifically, the GC-TISD connects policymakers, practitioners, think tanks, business, and other relevant stakeholders to each other from across the globe for learning and sharing of best practices on the themes of technology, innovation, and partnerships for sustainable development.

The GC-TISD is a joint initiative of the Singapore Government and UNDP, currently being led by a small team that is focused on programme and partnership development. Our Singapore Government partners are the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment, the Public Service Division, the Ministry of Communications and Information, the Infocomm Media Development Authority, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and the National Research Foundation. The UNDP GC-TISD was setup in 2018, and is currently at the outset of its next iteration – to run between 2022 and 2025. We collaborate with governments worldwide through the following:

- Agile Policy Development Support: Supporting governments in defining the policies and regulations needed for the digital and innovation economy, and providing guidance and methodologies to assist governments on agile policymaking.

- Research and Thought Leadership: Providing research, analysis, and insights on emerging technologies, including integrating the experiences of UNDP Country Offices with foresight and horizon-scanning
- Partnership and Global Ecosystem Building: Catalysing global and national digital and innovation ecosystems that are committed to digital inclusion and fostering collaborations with different players in the digital inclusion space
- Knowledge Exchange and Capacity Building: Collecting local intelligence and grassroots innovations, and ensuring that lower-income countries are equal participants in global discussions and explorations of digital inclusion

Duties and Responsibilities

Singapore offers a unique context as a ‘living lab’ where current and near-horizon technologies and innovations are tested, validated, and scaled as appropriate. Singapore also exemplifies a cross- ecosystem approach whereby actors from the public and private sector in different domains collaborate to address a range of challenges. The GC-TISD is well placed to harness the above assets of Singapore in support of developing countries worldwide through its focus areas of Sustainability and Climate Resilience, Smart Cities and Urbanisation, Digital Inclusion, Digital Sustainable Finance, and Digital Public Goods, and close collaboration with UNDP’s Sustainable Finance Hub, Chief Digital Office, and Climate teams.

The GC-TISD has three technical leads assigned to the areas of Finance, Climate, and Urban who focus on policy development, thought leadership, partnership and knowledge exchange. Reporting to the Director of the Centre, the role of the Analyst will be to support the leads by looking to the near-horizon and far future for innovations and technologies that are - or may - emerge, consider carefully how they could impact work in the respective thematic areas, forge parternships to explore such impact, and where opportunties arise support the development of innovative initiatives. The Analyst will also focus on developing think-pieces, policy advisory notes, or other documentation to highlight the emerging issues. The Analyst will be required to quickly build relationships with with key internal and external constituencies, and to leverage their professional network and expertise to deliver the activities.

Under the supervision of the Director of the GC-TISD, the Analyst will perform the following:

I. Undertake research and support thought leadership on emerging Singaporean innovations and technologies with potential development impact

- Providing research, analysis, and insights on topics related to the GC-TISD’s thematic areas of focus in the form of think pieces, blogs, and other content. Such pieces will draw on Singapore’s expertise and context, and focus specifically on emerging/near-horizon or future innovation and technologies and what the potential development impact could be.
- Ensure the useful and impactful dissemination of the above research and thought leadership material, including through opportunities such as webinars and creative utilization of digital and social media so as to widen appeal and uptake of the information.

II. Alliance building and business development

- Identify potential strategic partners for the GC-TISD that are demonstrating application current and near-horizon technologies and innovations to solve specific challenges.
- Conduct initial outreach to such partners to brief on UNDP and the GC-TISD, learn more about their work and interest, and establish whether parternship would create joint value for them and UNDP.
  - Develop potential business ideas with said partners, ensuring coordination with all relevant internal UNDP counterparts, with a focus specifically on how best to showcase their knowledge and experience within a development context.
  - Support partnership formalization efforts including due diligence and other mandatory processes as needed.
  - Build strategic alliances of multiple partners where possible to amplify the knowledge exchange potential.
  - Position the GC-TISD within relevant forums in Singapore and globally.

III. Support the implementation of the GC-TISD workplan

- Implementing priority activities for the workstreams, and in support of the GC-TISD’s broader strategy as related to future technologies and innovation. This will entail flexible support to the thematic leads of the GC-TISD in terms of inptus to events, publications, or other activities.
- Supporting the fielding of requests for information as related to thought leadership, research or other information published, ensuring accurate and timely reponse, and close coordination with thematic teams across UNDP.

Institutional Arrangement

The Analyst will work under the supervision of the Director of the GC-TISD, and in close collaboration with the thematic leads in the GC-TISD.

Travel arrangement: UNDP will cover the cost of travel of the individual to the duty station, as well as their return to their home upon completion of their services. Travel costs are covered only in the event that the function will be undertaken physically in the duty station and excludes working from home arrangements.

Competencies

*Core*
Achieve Results:	LEVEL 2: Scale up solutions and simplifies processes, balances speed and accuracy in doing work
Think Innovatively:	LEVEL 2: Offer new ideas/open to new approaches, demonstrate systemic/integrated thinking
Learn Continuously:	LEVEL 2: Go outside comfort zone, learn from others and support their learning
Adapt with Agility:	LEVEL 2: Adapt processes/approaches to new situations, involve others in change process
Act with Determination:	LEVEL 2: Able to persevere and deal with multiple sources of pressure simultaneously
Engage and Partner:	LEVEL 3: Political savvy, navigate complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaboration
Enable Diversity and Inclusion:	LEVEL 2: Facilitate conversations to bridge differences, considers in decision making
*Cross-Functional & Technical competencies (insert up to 7 competencies)*
	*Thematic Area*	*Name*	*Definition*
	Business Direction & Strategy	Entrepreneurial Thinking	Ability to create clarity around UNDP value proposition to beneficiaries and partners and to develop service offers responding to client needs based on UNDP’s organizational priorities and mandate
	Digital & Innovation	Policy/regulations for digital and emerging technology	Ability to design or advise on regulations and policy for digital and emerging technology.
	Digital and Innovation	Digital inclusion	Knowledge of how digital inclusion works, opportunities and challenges for governments and society
	Business Development	Knowledge generation	Ability to research and turn information into useful knowledge, relevant for content, or responsive to a stated need
	Business Management	Project Management	Ability to plan, organize, prioritize and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals
	Business Management	Partnerships Management	Ability to 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
	Business Management	Digital Awareness and Literacy	Ability and inclination to rapidly adopt new technologies, either through skilfully grasping their usage or through understanding their impact and empowering others to use them as needed

Required Skills and Experience

Min. Education requirements	A Master's degree, preferably in international development, international affairs, innovation, or other relevant field; or Bachelor’s degree in any of the above fields with required work experience.
Min. years of relevant work experience	Two (2) years of professional work experience with a Masters Degree, or four (4) years with a Bachelor’s Degree, in the area of innovation or technologies.
Required skills	Experience working in either public sectors (local, national or multilateral, including UN) or private (academia, non- governmental sector, corporate). Experience in supporting the implementation of projects related to data, innovation, digital or other technologies. Proven experience in public and private sector engagement. Ability to successfully manage multi-stakeholder project Knolwedge of technology and ability to stay abreast of emerging topics.
Desired skills in addition to the competencies covered in the Competencies section	Knoweldge of UNDP an asset Experience in building databases
Required Language(s)	Proficiency in written and spoken English required. Professional working knowledge of other UN languages would be an asset.

Disclaimer

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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