SDG Impact Specialist

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.

Job Purpose and Organizational Context

Anchored in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and committed to the principles of universality, equality and leaving no one behind, SDG Impact is a UNDP flagship initiative focused on supporting mobilization of private sector capital and investments in support of the SDGs. The vision of SDG Impact is “to contribute to a world where all private sector capital flows contribute to the SDGs”. It does so by providing investors, businesses and others with clarity, insights, tools and capacities required to authenticate their contributions to achieving the SDGs and to identify SDG investment opportunities in emerging economies and developing countries.

SDG Impact is a “start-up” which aims to develop and demonstrate a viable approach for UNDP to support countries to mobilize significant volumes of private sector investments for SDG achievement. The initiative emphasizes experimentation, innovation and partnerships as it focuses on developing prototype products and services that will be tested, refined and brought to the market in a relatively short time frame. SDG Impact provides services in three areas:

SDG Impact launched in 2018 as a flagship initiative of UNDP’s Finance Sector Hub focused on eliminating barriers to and driving integrity for SDG-enabling investment at scale. Increasingly, investors and business leaders see the SDGs as their guideposts for what it means to be sustainable, responsible, and inclusive – but, they do not know the most efficient nor effective way to allocate resources to achieve the SDGs. They lack the clarity, insights, tools, and capacities required to support and authenticate their contributions to achieving the SDGs. SDG Impact fills this gap and makes it easier for private sector investors to identify and strengthen their contributions to the SDGs through three pillars of work:

Impact Management: developing SDG Impact Standards for private equity funds, SDG bonds, and enterprises, an accompanying assurance framework, and robust impact measurement and management trainings.

Impact Intelligence: producing SDG Investor Maps to provide investors with country-level market intelligence that identifies Investment Opportunity Areas (IOAs) where local policy priorities, SDG-needs, and economic potential coalesce.

Impact Facilitation: convening investor forums to foster investor connections and partnerships, as well as public-private policy dialogues aimed at improving the environment for SDG-enabling investments. Additionally, a SDG Investment Platform is under development to bring SDG Investor Map data to the desktop, available to domestic and foreign investors as a public good to catalyze SDG-enabling investments.

In 2020, a year marked by unpredictability and disruption, SDG Impact navigated uncertain waters, proved the value and adaptability of its tools to new realities, and supported UNDP country offices and partners with increasingly in-demand tools and services. 2021 will be another significant year as SDG Impact moves beyond proof of concept to embedding streams of work and driving uptake and adoption of the tools created. This marks a shift from a start-up mindset, resourcing, and structure, to more mature operations. UNDP is seeking to bring on board a SDG Impact Specialist to support the team through this new phase of implementation.

The SDG Impact Specialist will report to the Senior Specialist and the Director of SDG Impact.

Duties and Responsibilities

The SDG Impact Specialist will be responsible for the following functions:

1. Project Management to deliver the SDG Impact business plan

Coordinate and support the roll out of SDG Investor Maps and other services in 40+ countries, under the leadership of the Senior Specialist and in collaboration with regional experts, including quality assurance

Ensure appropriate coordination across UNDP HQ, Regional Bureaux, and Country Offices for the successful implementation of the SDG Impact workplan.

Oversee regular technical updates of the SDG Investor Map methodology, lead on collecting lessons learnt and updating materials and tools to meet investors’ and COs’ evolving needs. Produce CO-centered guidance and support materials.

Develop capacity of country office staff, partners, and SDG Impact clients in impact intelligence, management, and facilitation services.

Lead on the mainstreaming of gender and human rights considerations in all SDG Impact products and services, including producing tools and guidance materials, build capacity of staff and partners, and build partnerships and collaborations to identify opportunities to advance gender equality and human rights principles through SDG Impact

Support UNDP country offices in the development of SDG Investor Maps and hosting investor convenings.

Actively support the SDG Investment Platform, including overseeing the data analyst, writing blogs, collecting case studies from COs to publish on the Platform, and any other support necessary

Contribute to the development of Impact management trainings and education materials, and other SDG Impact services as required

Facilitate knowledge sharing and learning across CO, RB and HQ levels.

Represent SDG Impact at relevant impact investing conferences and meetings.

Contribute to functioning of the overall Finance Sector Hub functioning to ensure alignment and effective deployment of SDG Impact’ tools and thought leadership.

2. Launching and Sustaining Strategic Partnerships

Manage the SDG Impact-Temasek partnership in Asia, including supervise consultants and support COs in using SDG Impact products and services

Lead SDG Impact’s engagement in the Nordic region, including with the UNDP SDG Accelerator Lab

Engage with existing and identify new potential partners to expand SDG Impact’s networks and strategic and implementing partnerships, including proposing new strategic areas for collaboration

Support the Senior Specialist in engaging with partners and the SDG Impact Steering Group, include producing or oversee the production of guidance documents, partnership concept notes, monitoring plans, background documents, etc.

3. Communications and Resource Mobilization

Support Senior Specialist in resource mobilization, including writing proposals, producing accompanying budgets, results-based monitoring plans, logical frameworks, and risk analyses

Reporting to donors and partners as required

Lead on SDG Impact’s communications strategy, provide new ideas and identify outreach opportunities, and develop/oversee the production of communications materials for internal and external use and consumption.

Support the capacity development of UNDP staff in application of tools and practices.

Contribute to an exchange of knowledge by collaborating with policy teams across UNDP on knowledge-based tools and guidance to help influence/advance policy dialogue around impact measurement and management.

Engage with the overall Finance Sector Hub, BPPS and BERA to ensure cross-fertilization of work, ideas and processes.

4. Programme and operations support & team management

Support Senior Specialist and Director of FSH with project plans, organizational planning, and budget development of SDG Impact

Provide strategic, programmatic and technical advice to senior staff

Supervise consultants to ensure the effective implementation of the SDG Impact workplan

Onboarding, training, guidance and support to new colleagues and team members

Participate in knowledge management and practice networks.

Represent SDG Impact in events and forums.

Competencies

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

Sustainable Development Goals

Knowledge of the Sustainable Development Goals and the ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations.

Team Building

Ability to work effectively with diverse groups of professionals towards common goals.

Collaboration & Partnerships

Ability to develop, maintain, and strengthen partnerships with others inside (Programmes/Projects) or outside the organization who can provide information, assistance, and support. Sets overall direction for the formation and management of strategic relationships contributing to the overall positioning of UNDP.

Communication

Ability to effectively communicate intensions and requirements to internal and external stakeholders.

Gender mainstreaming

Ability to integrate technical gender concepts into concrete guidance, tools, and learning for UNDP staff and external partners.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:
Advanced university degree (Masters’) in Public Administration, Political and Economic Development, Development Studies, Development Finance, or related area.

Experience:
7 years of professional work experience in sustainable development-related organizations is required.

Demonstrated experience in project management, resource mobilization, stakeholder engagement, policy analysis and research, and programme development and implementation is required.

Understanding of and experience working with SDG financing, the financial sector, and/or private sector actors is required.

Experience mainstreaming gender and conducting gender analysis is required.

Understanding of and experience working with SDG Impact tools and services is an asset.

Experience working in developing countries is an asset.

Language Requirements:
Fluency in English, French and Spanish are required. Additional languages are an asset.

Other:
Completion of a relevant programme management course is 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.

Scam warning

The United Nations does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web.