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.
The Regional Specialist provides technical support to the RBA strategic oversight over assigned COs and regional programmes, as well as coordinated support to COs and the RBA in their representation in New York. S/He serves as liaison and representation of country offices and UNDP vis-à-vis other UN partners (DPO, DPPA, PBSO etc.). S/He monitors and analyzes development trends, activities and evaluation results in the CO and sub-region within his/her portfolio and offers substantive recommendations to inform future corporate decisions and enhance CO, sub-regional and regional programming results and performance.
S/He contributes to the oversight of the COs’ programmatic performance against corporate goals and delivery targets and provide support to CO’s translation of UNDP positioning in programmes and initiatives. S/he works closely with various Regional Bureau teams as well as Central Bureaux to ensure timely provision of policy, advisory and operational support services to the COs in his/her portfolio and adequate response to crisis management and complex development situations where applicable. S/He proactively engages with internal and external stakeholders, preparing first drafts of briefing notes, talking points and positioning papers, and reviewing and appraising the quality, completeness and relevance of information provided by relevant parties. S/he also advises the CO Support Team on New York based partnership and resource mobilization opportunities and enhances knowledge capture and management across the Regional Bureau.
S/he will report to the Regional Advisor; the specialist may manage one or more Programme Assistants/Associates.
Duties and Responsibilities
1. Enhancing effective Regional Strategic Performance Oversight over Country Offices by:
Appraising and reviewing CPD and CO programming within portfolio to assess the quality of UNDP positioning and translation of corporate strategy into the programme. Providing recommendations to supervisor and CO for improved positioning in programme documents. Supporting the Bureau leadership in the approval for the CPD, including HQ PAC and related discussions and negotiations with permanent missions;
Reviewing and appraising 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; and
Compiling and updating information from COs within his/her portfolio relating to annual and ad-hoc plans for advisory support, working with regional and the policy teams; Analyzing aggregated requests in order to identify trends and identify areas where CO may require additional resources, advice or training.
Providing input on country background and CO programme background to briefing notes, reports and other documents;
2. Enhancing effective, proactive and targeted representation & coordination by:
Undertaking CO and sub-regional level research by engaging with GPN/regional teams, external stakeholders and conducting desk research, tracking and analyzing emerging and evolving crisis and complex development situations, identifying critical issues for UNDP programming and offering substantive recommendations to the Regional Advisor in the development of positioning;
Support the Regional Advisor in briefing the Bureau leadership, liaising regularly with the regional hub team for their input and sharing information as requested by supervisors;
Providing substantive technical inputs to briefing notes on all CO, sub-regional and regional aspects, particularly ahead of crisis coordination meetings. Coordinate preparatory activities, liaising with stakeholders in the advance of meetings in order to influence positioning and develop common perspective. Prepare minutes from the meetings and follow-up on action points with all relevant stakeholders, and
Proactively engaging with policy team and relevant internal and external stakeholders to collect required information and inputs into internal and external briefings, position options and corporate internal papers. Undertake first quality review of the submitted information, appraising relevance and completeness of the documentation, drafting first drafts of analytical reports and presentations, and participating in relevant internal UNDP interfacing/coordination activities, including on crisis response, debriefing supervisors and relevant parties as required.
3. Enhancing partnerships and external relations by:
Undertaking research for partnership building and resource mobilization in New York, developing first draft of papers and marketing materials, and participating in relevant external meetings, in line with the Bureau’s partnership and resource mobilization strategy;
Contributing to UNDP-led crisis and recovery-related resource mobilization efforts in close coordination with relevant units (within UNDP, DPOA and other agencies) by drafting substantive inputs on the CO and sub-regional context for proposals and technical presentations to donors and external partners;
Participating in relevant external meetings, including resource mobilization, partnership and advocacy activities with UN partners, permanent missions, and external stakeholders.
4. Enhancing knowledge management by:
Continuously review and analyze the political, economic and social developments in portfolio of countries;
Keep an up-to-date library of knowledge on CO and sub-regional portfolio, proactively sharing documents with team members and responding to their specific requests for information;
Contributing to the development and review of knowledge products in close coordination with the regional teams by analyzing and sharing lessons learnt and programme evaluation results as well as targeted interventions in crisis countries.
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.
Technical/Functional
Primary
Development Planning
Knowledge of development planning processes at macro and sectoral levels and the ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations.
Results-based Management
Ability to manage programmes and projects with a strategy aimed at improved performance and demonstrable results.
Monitoring and Evaluation
Knowledge of methodologies, tools, systems and apply practical experience in planning, monitoring, evaluating and reporting and ability to apply to practical situations.
Risk Assessment / Management
Knowledge of risk assessment methodologies and ability to determine degree of risk and apply to strategic and/or practical situation;
Ability to identify and prioritize risks, and organize action around mitigating them.
Quality Assurance
Ability to perform administrative and procedural activities to ensure that quality requirements and goals are fulfilled.
Secondary
Project Management
Ability to plan, organize, and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals.
Data Measurement
Ability to set goals and indicators and to interpret and synthesize results into usable information to inform policy, strategy, and/or action
Brief & Speech Writing
Ability to prepare quality briefs and/or speeches.
Research (General)
Knowledge of various programme information for research to provide recommendation and guidance to management.
Required Skills and Experience
Education:
Advanced university degree in development-related studies, administration, international relations, political or social sciences.
Experience:
At least five years of progressively responsible professional work experience in development work or other related field of work.
Language Requirements:
Full proficiency in English and French is required.
In support of career progression of GS staff in Headquarter locations, staff possessing a first level university degree in combination with at least 10 years of continuous service with a 100-series and/or FTA appointment, may be considered for Professional posts provided they meet all other selection criteria
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.
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.
Apply Now
To help us track our recruitment effort, please indicate in your cover letter where (ngotenders.net) you saw this job posting.