UNDP has been working in India since 1951 in almost all areas of human development. Together with the Government of India and development partners, we have worked towards eradicating poverty, reducing inequalities, strengthening local governance, enhancing community resilience, protecting the environment, supporting policy initiatives and institutional reforms, and accelerating sustainable development for all.

With projects and programmes in every state and union territory in India, UNDP works with national and subnational government, and diverse development actors to deliver people-centric results, particularly for the most vulnerable and marginalized communities. As the integrator for collective action on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within the UN system, we are committed to supporting the Government of India’s national development vision and priorities and accelerating the achievement of the SDGs for the people and the planet.

Our new Country Programme (2023-2027) builds on our prior work and aims to provide an integrated approach to development solutions in three strategic portfolios:

• Strong, accountable and evidence-led institutions for accelerated achievement of the SDGs
• Enhanced economic opportunities and social protection to reduce inequality, with a focus on the marginalized.
• Climate-smart solutions, sustainable ecosystems and resilient development for reduced vulnerability

South-South cooperation, gender equality and social inclusion are promoted across the pillars. The programme is supported by a framework of renewed partnerships and blended finance solutions, strategic innovation and accelerator labs, and data and digital architecture.

You are invited to join a team of future-smart development professionals to support India in achieving the national and globally agreed goals. As part of the UNDP team, your focus will be to work with diverse stakeholders to find country-specific solutions that lead to sustainable development and reach those furthest behind first.

The Action for Climate and Environment (ACE) Unit focuses on the interconnected challenges of climate change, nature protection, disaster management and circular economy and chemicals management. Under the ACE Unit, the Plastic Waste Management Project is designed to minimize negative impacts and risks to environment and human health in India. The aim is to enhance sustainable plastic waste management (segregation/collection/recycling) practices through a socio-technical model in line with Swachh Bharat Mission in India, while ensuring compliance with regulations and ensuring improved use of resources. The project targets institutionalization of waste pickers (safai sathis) through improved governance mechanisms, capacity building and improved social conditions. The project also targets community engagement to enhance responsible waste disposal behaviour, and cross-stakeholder engagements for improved action on plastics.

To achieve the project objective and outcomes, the project is structured in 4 components.

• Component 1 aims to develop, support, and implement an economically sustainable model (ESM) for packaging plastic waste management.
• Component 2 focuses on design and implementation of Pilots in Material Recovery Facilities (Swachhta Kendras) for improved plastic waste management in administrative wards of selected cities.
• Component 3 is directed mainly to design, sustain, and provide elements to institutionalize Swachhta Kendras in governance bodies and to obtain improved socio-economic conditions for waste pickers.
• Component 4 aims towards developing knowledge management, monitoring and communication mechanisms based on in-built adaptive feedback system during the project duration.

This position directly reports to Project Analyst, Plastic Waste Management and Overall reports to Senior Advisor and Team Leader, Action for Climate and Environment

Main Purpose: The overall objective of the proposed engagement is to support the monitoring and evaluation tasks of the Action for Climate and Environment Unit with a focus on the Plastic Waste Management Programme, including the design of data collection and analysis tools, analysis and reporting, documenting learnings from the various projects implemented under the programme and support alignment of M&E activities with UNDP India Country Office goals. The candidate will lead the conceptualization, planning, implementation of the overall monitoring and evaluation of project activities under the Plastic Waste Management projects and other projects in the Action for Climate and Environment unit. The position is based in New Delhi with travel across India.

• Support in developing and implementing the programme and project’s M&E plans from results-based management perspective along with indicators, targets, means of verification and monitoring steps at output and activity level in multi-year work plans and annual work plans, and support in developing and updating the project’s risks and issues matrices in line with UNDP guidelines.
• Maintain MIS and actively monitor programme and projects through field visits, remote monitoring tools to assess progress, support in identifying bottlenecks and potential problems, and take timely action to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant colleagues in the Action for Climate and Environment team for timely resolution.
• Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme & project reviews and annual reviews, both internal and external, to assess progress and to determine required interventions to achieve the results.
• Support collection and analysis of data for project in accordance with timeframes set in the project and track and maintain database, SOPs, Issues Log and Risk Log for the project.
• Support Project Team and leadership in defining and implementing the key project performance indicators (KPI) as well as suggest ways to facilitate data collection and the flow of data within project field teams.
• Develop the Terms of Reference and evaluation design of high quality in line with UNDP’s programme and project evaluation policies and guidelines. Support in monitoring and ensuring quality of the field work and data management during the implementation phase, and the quality of the analysis and ease of understanding during the report writing phase. Coordinate in disseminating evaluation findings and recommendations to the stakeholders.
• Provide feedback to the Project Analyst and field team on project strategies and activities for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the project by identifying bottlenecks and developing plans to minimize or eliminate such bottlenecks. Contributing to institutional learning processes and preparation of best practices, knowledge reports for integration in the project.
• Provide inputs, information, and statistics in the development of the work plan and prepare monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, annual progress reports as well as other relevant reports and documents such as AWP, etc.
• Support in organizing and conducting training for project field team, project partners and other stakeholders for the adoption of M&E tools & practices, SOPs, compliances, audit related exercise, etc. Support in liaising with UNDP, relevant government agencies like MoHUA, MoEFCC, etc., and all project partners, including donor organizations and implementing organizations for effective coordination of all project inputs.
• Participate in annual project reviews, planning workshops, audit exercise and assist the Project Analyst, Plastic Waste Management in preparing relevant reports including midterm and end term evaluation, risk assessment, quality assurance reports.
• The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.