The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the development arm of the United Nations. Present in 170 countries with over 17,000 people, UNDP works on the world’s biggest problems: extreme poverty, climate change, good governance, renewable energy, crisis prevention, and women’s empowerment, among others.

UNDP’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025 highlights the organisation’s commitment to scale and accelerate progress towards green, inclusive transitions that empower every last person through greater opportunity and resilience. It also clearly defines the role of digitalisation as a critical enabler for development outcomes. As further explained in the UNDP Digital Strategy 2022-2025 (publication forthcoming), UNDP aims to consider the changing development context through digitalisation in all its interventions and to systematically harness the potential of digital technology for development.

The Chief Digital Office at UNDP is leading this effort with the goal of embedding digital technology in the development projects that we implement, supporting government partners to build inclusive digital ecosystems, and transforming the organization internally to enable these changes. Including through the use of open-source software, digital public goods (DPGs), and promoting a digital public infrastructure (DPI) approach in our development work to foster the use of reusable, standards-based and interoperable digital systems to accelerate our path towards achieving the SDGs by 2030. UNDP is also a co-leading member of the Digital Public Goods Alliance (DPGA).

UNDP is looking for a project associate who can strategically integrate the use of open source digital technology in a shared project with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in two developing countries: 

The UNDP, in collaboration with the ITU, and generously sponsored by the European Commission, is launching a transformative project to enhance the capacity of government and local digital ecosystems in two low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) to harness the benefits of open-source technology for delivering effective digital government services. Over a period of three years, this partnership is committed to establishing and shaping two open-source technical facilities (OSTFs). OSTFs share a strong resemblance to Open Source Programme Offices (OSPOs).

OSPOs, and relatedly OSTFs, are dedicated divisions within an organization that manages its open source initiatives. Its primary role is to govern and oversee open source contributions, consumption, and compliance. By servering as a bridge between open source communities and the orga nization, these entities aide organizations to benefit from open source while also giving back to the local digital community.

The successful candidate, while primarily positioned within UNDP, will play a key role within this partnership framework, advising and supporting the two OSTFs. Working closely with both UNDP and ITU, the candidate will guide the establishment of open-source strategies, policies, and guidelines in close cooperation with the Programme Manager. The collaboration will extend to various departments to ensure that the open-source initiatives align with broader development goals and mandates.

• Oversee and guide the OSTFs in all open-source related activities and deliverables,  working in close collaboration with Programme Manager.
• Offer technical, capacity building, and community management advice and support.
• Enhance awareness of the partnership’s open-source strategy both internally and externally, particularly among the two host countries of the OSTFs, in open-source communities and other relevant fora.
• Support OSTFs build and scale open-source communities of contributors through community management, possibly via university partnerships, and support with events and communications.
• Work collaboratively with digital innovation and government digitization teams to align country digital plans with relevant open-source projects and DPGs.

The role is predominantly remote, yet requires the flexibility to travel to the two LMICs where the OSTFs will be situated to ensure on-ground alignment and effective collaboration.

Institutional Arrangement

The candidate will be part of the UNDP Chief Digital Office and report to DPI Manager a.i. in the Chief Digital Office (UNDP), with joint project implementation relationship and oversight with Programme Manager of the project (ITU).