Regional Specialist

The Regional Bureau for Arab States (RBAS) consists of its presence across 16 Country Offices, the Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People (PAPP), the Amman Regional Hub, and its Headquarters at RBAS New York. RBAS New York is responsible for the overall strategic vision and direction, strategic, substantive, and operational support to Country Offices, including with regard to partnerships and communications, and oversight of performance. The Bureau delivers on average $1 billion in development assistance through Country Offices and regional initiatives. It has a resource base of $900 million on average; and contributes to thought leadership through research, analysis, and publications.

The Country Support & Oversight Team is responsible for the provision of strategic and daily programmatic and operational support to Country Offices. It serves as the first point of entry for Country Office support overall, coordinating with other RBAS and corporate units to ensure comprehensive, timely and relevant country office support. The Team supports and ensures Country Office alignment with the Strategic Plan, including as articulated in the Country Programme Documents. It provides high-level engagement and representation on country level issues within UNDP, with UN Secretariat/UN partners, and Permanent Missions. It provides support, guidance, and information to the Bureau Directorate and UNDP leadership on country specific issues, through quality briefings and timely information. It ensures Country Office adherence to and compliance with UNDP corporate policy, including the POPP, and overall Bureau oversight on country office performance. It has front line responsibility for providing management and oversight of Country Offices on behalf of the Regional Bureau, including on audit.

Position Purpose

Under the supervision of the Regional Adviser for the Horn of Africa and Yemen in the Country Support & Oversight Team, the Regional Specialist provides technical support to the strategic oversight over RBAS Country Offices (COs) and regional programmes, as well as coordinated support on Country Support & Oversight Team representation at HQs for Somalia, Sudan, Djibouti, and Yemen. The Regional Specialist monitors and analyzes development trends, activities and evaluation results in the aforementioned COs and sub-region and offers substantive recommendations to inform future corporate decisions and enhance CO, sub-regional and regional programming results, and performance. The Regional Specialist provides substantive support to the Country Offices through the Country Office Support & Oversight Team, and supports RBAS senior management with representation on the development issues facing Country Offices in the diverse country contexts – namely middle income and/or crisis contexts, as relevant for the assigned countries by proactively engaging with internal and external stakeholders, preparing first drafts of briefing notes and position papers, and reviewing and appraising the quality, completeness and relevance of information provided by relevant parties. The Regional Specialist supports COs in programmatic and financial planning, monitoring, and reporting, and works closely with the respective Regional Advisers in the Country Support & Oversight Team to ensure that COs are in compliance with UNDP rules and regulations, also in collaboration with the Management & Oversight Specialists. Under the guidance of the Senior Adviser and Team Leader, the Regional Specialist collaborates across RBAS New York Teams and the Amman Regional Hub to ensure quality, integrated and effective support to the Country Offices. S/he should have strong teambuilding, interpersonal and communications skills, be client-oriented, and can look at issues from different angles and find creative solutions.  

Key Duties and Accountabilities

Effective Country Office Support and Oversight

• Support the Regional Adviser in providing integrated, high-quality support to Country Offices to ensure and assist overall Country Office programmatic, operational, and substantive performance while also supporting the Bureau’s oversight role as related to UNDP rules and regulations.
• Appraise and review assigned CPD and CO programming to assess the quality of UNDP positioning and translation of corporate strategy within programmes. Provide recommendations to Regional Advisers and CST for improved positioning in programme documents. Support RBAS leadership in the approval of the CPD, including HQ PAC and related discussions and negotiations with Permanent Missions.
• Review and appraise CO and regional evaluations in order to aggregate results and performance issues at a sub-regional and regional level and offering substantive recommendations for future programming and strategic decisions, in collaboration with the Operations, Management & Planning Team.
• Prepare dossiers for HQ leadership review of the CO Programme Document, HQ PAC and related discussions and negotiations with Permanent Missions, collect and consolidate all necessary documents, identifying any information gaps and working with the CST to complete the file.
• Support annual work planning exercises, results reporting and oversight on compliance issues together with relevant RBAS teams.
• Support the Regional Adviser in the preparation of regular work planning (including the annual Integrated Work Plan) with the Country Offices, including as related to overall performance, troubleshooting issues related to delivery and resource mobilization, and policy/strategy development.

Effective, Proactive and Targeted Support to Country Offices

• Undertake CO and sub-regional level research by engaging with relevant RBAS New York Teams, external stakeholders, and policy teams. Conduct desk research, track, and analyze emerging and evolving crisis and complex development situations, identify critical issues for UNDP programming and offer substantive recommendations to the Regional Adviser in the development of strategies to build positioning.
• Support the Regional Adviser in briefing RBAS leadership, liaise regularly with the Amman Regional Hub for their input and sharing information as requested.
• Support the Regional Adviser in the organization, implementation, and follow-up on developing sub-regional strategies, with Country Offices, to identify stronger synergies and entry points for programming and thought leadership.
• Contribute to the Regional Adviser’s efforts to support Country Offices in developing and strengthening new areas of programming and policy support, including in support of the Strategic Plan and its enablers (digitalization, finance, and innovation), by identifying and researching lessons learned and good practices within the region and globally, and to identify opportunities for exchange of knowledge and experience within and across regions, also in collaboration with the Amman Regional Hub.
• To support crisis-affected countries, provide substantive technical inputs to briefing notes on all CO, sub-regional and regional aspects, particularly ahead of crisis coordination meetings. Coordinate preparatory activities, liaise with stakeholders in advance of meetings in order to influence positioning and develop common perspectives. Prepare minutes from meetings and follow-up on action points with all relevant stakeholders.
• For crisis-affected countries, proactively engage with the CST, policy teams and relevant internal and external stakeholders to collect required information and inputs into internal and external briefings, position options and internal corporate papers. Undertake first quality review of the submitted information, appraising relevance, and completeness of the documentation. Prepare first drafts of analytical reports and presentations and participate in relevant internal UNDP interfacing/coordination activities, including on crisis response. Debrief supervisors and relevant parties as required. 
• On behalf of COs and with the CST, negotiate with UNDP central units to secure the necessary support on programme and operational issues.

Support External Partnerships and Relationships

• In collaboration with the Partnerships & Communications Team, undertake research for partnership building and resource mobilization in New York. Participate in relevant external meetings in line with RBAS partnership and resource mobilization strategy.
• Contribute to UNDP-led crisis and recovery-related resource mobilization efforts in close coordination with relevant units (within UNDP, DPPA and other agencies) by drafting substantive inputs on the CO and sub-regional contexts for proposals and technical presentations to donors and external partners.
• Research and identify opportunities to strengthen and deepen partnerships in middle income countries, in line with the Strategic Plan and the three enablers, i.e., innovation, financing and digitalization.
• Participate in relevant external meetings, including resource mobilization, partnerships and advocacy activities with UN partners, Permanent Missions, and external stakeholders.

Knowledge Management and Dissemination

• Keep an updated library of knowledge on COs and sub-regional portfolios, proactively sharing documents with Team and other Bureau members and respond to their specific requests for information.
• Contribute to the development and review of knowledge products in close coordination with Regional Advisers by analyzing and sharing lessons learned and programme evaluation results as well as targeted interventions in crisis countries.
• Support the Regional Adviser in the development, review and quality assurance process of knowledge products initiated by Country Offices and/or sub-regional reports, and/or references to the respective countries in RBAS regional or UNDP global publications, to ensure accuracy of data, information, and messaging.
• In close collaboration with the relevant RBAS New York and Amman Regional Hub Teams, support the Regional Adviser with a strengthened approach to identify Country Office results for use in further strengthening Country Office programming, identifying lessons learned for sharing within the RBAS region and globally, and for use in regional and global publications and knowledge products.

Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities: None

Requirements

Education

• Advanced University Degree (Masters’) in International Development, Public or Business Administration, Political or Social Sciences, Economics, or any development-related field.

 Experience, Knowledge, and Skills

• At least 5 years of professional experience in development cooperation with sound knowledge of UN/UNDP systems, procedures, and policies. 
• Substantive or related expertise in one or more of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• Knowledge and experience of UNDP’s programming in crisis contexts required.
• Knowledge of and experience with UNDP’s programming in middle-income countries desirable.
• Demonstrated knowledge of and experience with the usage of computers and MS Office packages (MS Word, Excel etc.) and web-based management systems.
• Required – Excellent knowledge of English as well as writing, presentation, and communication skills.
• Required - Excellent knowledge of Arabic as well as writing, presentation, and communication skills.
• Desired – Fluency in French.

Expected Demonstration of Competencies

Core

• Achieve Results: LEVEL 3: Set and align challenging, achievable objectives for multiple projects, have lasting impact
• Think Innovatively: LEVEL 3: Proactively mitigate potential risks, develop new ideas to solve complex problems
• Learn Continuously: LEVEL 3: Create and act on opportunities to expand horizons, diversify experiences
• Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 3: Proactively initiate and champion change, manage multiple competing demands
• Act with Determination: LEVEL 3: Think beyond immediate task/barriers and take action to achieve greater results
• Engage and Partner: LEVEL 3: Political savvy, navigate complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaboration
• Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 3: Appreciate benefits of diverse workforce and champion inclusivity

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies

Business Direction & Strategy 

• Business Acumen - Ability to understand and deal with a business situation in a manner that is likely to lead to a good outcome. Knowledge and understanding of the operational frameworks in the organization and ability to make good judgements and quick decisions within such frameworks.
• Negotiation and Influence - Ability to reach an understanding, persuade others, resolve points of difference, gain advantage in the outcome of dialogue, negotiates mutually acceptable solutions through compromise and creates “win-win” situations.
• Integration within the UN - Ability to identify, and integrate capacity and assets of the UN system, and engage in joint work. Knowledge of the UN System and ability to apply this knowledge to strategic and/or practice situations.
• 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 Management

• Portfolio Management - Ability to select, prioritize and control the organization’s programme and projects, in line with its strategic objectives and capacity. Ability to balance the implementation of change initiatives and the maintenance of business as usual, while optimizing return on investment.
• 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.

Engagement & Effectiveness

• Crisis & Fragility Policy and Engagement - Humanitarian-Development Peace (HDP) Nexus. Recovery and Peacebuilding Assessments.
• Strategic Policy Engagement - Influencing the policy agenda and collaboration with UNSDG, IMF, World Bank, G20, EU, OECD, SIDA, WEF.

For external applicants, please note that continuance of appointment beyond the initial 12 months is contingent upon the successful completion of a probationary period.