UNDP is the development arm of United Nations. Present in 170 countries with over 17,000 people, UNDP works on the world’s biggest challenges, from rising poverty and inequality to a rapidly changing climate, the emergence of crises and the continued degradation and destruction of our natural world.  Our UNDP Digital Strategy 2022 – 2025 aims to support our partner countries to unlock the power of digital to tackle these pressing issues. The strategy lays out UNDP’s ambition to use a rights-based approach to digital technologies to improve our development results and help build inclusive digital ecosystems globally that leave no one behind.  These aims are supported by the transformation of our internal operational systems and building an agile, digitally capable workforce.

We are looking to recruit an Advisor for Digital Experience for UNDP to lead a key part of delivering on UNDP’s digital strategy. The Advisor for Digital Experience will work closely with teams across the headquarters, regional bureau and country offices levels of the organization to design and build digital products, services and offers for our programming work, in addition to identifying and scaling existing and emerging digital solutions from UNDP teams and external startups and organizations to accelerate UNDP’s mission.  This position also serves as the focal point within the Chief Digital Office for horizon scanning and identification of emerging technologies and their implications for UNDP’s work.

UNDP adopts a portfolio approach to accommodate changing business needs and leverage linkages across interventions to achieve its strategic goals. Therefore, UNDP personnel are expected to work across units, functions, teams, and projects in multidisciplinary teams in order to enhance and enable horizontal collaboration.

• Lead and grow the Digital Studio team. Hire a diverse range of global talent in product, design, software development, AI development, consulting, facilitation, and emerging technologies.
• Lead on the design, build and implementation of digital products, services and offers for UNDP’s programme work.
• Build long term agreements (LTAs) with a range of top performing vendors from the Global South to support the design and build of AI tools, platforms, web and mobile apps, dashboards, search and knowledge products, services, and new offers.
• Build ‘digital as a service’ to help UNDP thematic and programme teams to easily use digital solutions to accelerate their impact and deliver on UNDP’s mandate.
• Drive a product culture and new ways of working to empower UNDP teams to apply a ‘product approach’ to their programme work, including a community of product owners to build new product skills in UNDP personnel.
• Engage with start-ups, start-up accelerators, and vendors with proven impactful digital solutions for the problems UNDP is solving. Lead on effective ways for UNDP teams to work with start-ups and proven digital solutions to accelerate UNDP’s work.

Lead on human-centered approaches to digital at UNDP

• Lead a shift in the way UNDP serves our partners, stakeholders, and the countries we serve with new human-centered approaches to our digital communication, strategy, design, planning, and programming work.
• Apply strong facilitation, communication, speaking, and leadership skills to drive a rights-based and human-centered approach to digital work in UNDP.
• Build capacity in UNDP personnel in human-centered design approaches, participatory methods, and lean product approaches, particularly in relation to digital product and service design work.

Lead on digital futures thinking and emerging tech for UNDP Digital

• Facilitate the engagement of experts in futures and emerging tech to help corporate efforts to advise UNDP leadership in the formation of rights-based and green positions on emerging tech for development.
• Work with the Strategy and Futures team in the Executive Office to ensure CDO is aligned with, and contributing to, the corporate approach on Futures and Foresight at UNDP.
• Build capacity in UNDP teams to engage with emerging technologies and digital futures in ways that support our mandate and values.

Lead broader Global and distributed CDO team, including performance, wellbeing, culture, engagement, alignment, strategy, and ways of working.

• Lead the Digital Product team workplans, budgets and reporting mechanisms.
• Strategically lead, supervise, develop, and empower staff under supervision.
• Promote culture of performance management, providing timely guidance, feedback and support to team. Monitor work progress and ensure results are achieved according to schedule and performance standards.
• Develop work plans and targets based on strategic division and organizational priorities.
• Promote a team environment of staff well-being, accessibility and inclusion.
• Lead a healthy team culture for the Chief Digital Office global team.

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization

Achieve Results:              

• Level 4: Prioritize team workflow, mobilize resources, drive scalable results/strategic impact

Think Innovatively:         

• Level 4: Easily navigate complexity, encourage/enable radical innovation, has foresight

Learn Continuously        

• Level 4: Create systems and processes that enable learning and development for all

Adapt with Agility           

• Level 4: Proactively initiate/lead organizational change, champion new systems/processes

Act with Determination 

• Level 4: Able to make difficult decisions in challenging situations, inspire confidence

Engage and Partner        

• Level 4: Construct strategic multi-partner alliances in high stake situations, foster co- creation

Enable Diversity and Inclusion   

• Level 4: Create ethical culture, identify/address barriers to inclusion

People Management:

UNDP People: Management Competencies can be found on the dedicated site. 

Business Direction & Strategy – 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 programmes 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

Business development – Human-centered design             

• Ability to develop solutions to problems by involving the human perspective in all steps of the problem-solving process.

Digital & Innovation – Digital public goods

• Knowledge of how they work, understanding of the opportunities and challenges for governments and society

Digital & Innovation – Digital product management         

• Ability to design and lead digital product development including testing, ongoing product iteration, product strategy and delivery.

Business Direction & Strategy – Effective Decision Making            

• Ability to take decisions in a timely and efficient manner in line with one’s authority, area of expertise and resources

Digital & Innovation – Team design & management         

• Ability to create a clear sense of shared purpose while leveraging curiosity, expertise and agency at an individual level.
• Set up and manage team rituals and rhythms that create a safe space for learning and reflection. Foster a positive culture around failure, encourage exploration, experimentation.
• Set the conditions and structures for ‘fluid’ team modelling and distributed leadership enabling the team to continuously develop and renew itself.
• Ability to create synergy between team members with diverse professional and cultural backgrounds, being able to leverage their broad knowledge and skillsets