Effective Collaborative Action (ECA) Lead Advisor (Part-Time 75%)

UNDP is the knowledge frontier organization for sustainable development in the UN Development System and serves as the integrator for collective action to realize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UNDP’s policy work carried out at HQ, Regional and Country Office levels offers a spectrum of deep local knowledge to cutting-edge global perspectives and advocacy. In this context, UNDP invests in its Global Policy Network (GPN), a network of field-based and global technical expertise across a wide range of knowledge domains and in support of the signature solutions and organizational capabilities envisioned in UNDP’s Strategic Plan. 

Within the GPN, the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) has the responsibility for developing all relevant policy and guidance to support the results of UNDP’s Strategic Plan. BPPS staff provides technical advice to Country Offices; advocates for UNDP corporate messages; represents UNDP at multi-stakeholder fora, including public-private, government and civil society dialogues; and engages in UN inter-agency coordination in specific thematic areas. 

UNDP’s 2022-2025 Strategic Plan highlighting our continued commitment to eradicating poverty, accompanying countries in their pathways towards the SDGs and working towards the Paris Agreement. As part of the Global Policy Network in the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, UNDP’s Nature, Climate Change, Energy, and Waste (NCE&W) Hubs promote and scale up integrated whole-of-governance approaches and nature-based solutions that reduce poverty and inequalities, strengthen livelihoods and inclusive growth, mitigate conflict, forced migration and displacement, and promote more resilient governance systems that advance linked peace and security agendas.

BPPS’ Hubs on Nature, Climate, Energy and Waste works with governments, civil society, and private sector partners to integrate natural capital, environment and climate concerns into national and sector planning and inclusive growth policies; support country obligations under Multilateral Environmental Agreements; and implement the UN’s largest portfolio of in-country programming on environment, climate change, and energy. This multi-billion-dollar portfolio encompasses: 

Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services including forests;

Sustainable Land Management and Desertification including Food and Agricultural Commodity Systems (FACS); 

Water and Ocean Governance including SIDS; 

Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation; 

Sustainable Energy; 

Extractive Industries; 

Chemicals and Waste Management; 

Environmental Governance and Green/Circular Economy and SCP approaches. 

This work advances crosscutting themes on innovative finance, digital transformation, capacity development, human rights, gender equality, health, technology, and South-South learning.

The Food and Agricultural Commodity Systems (FACS) practice was launched in June 2020 to help UNDP, through the leadership of the Nature, Climate and Energy team, take an integrated approach to tackling FACS issues. The FACS practice operates a small global team and is designed to work in an agile manner to harness networks, experience, and innovation both within and outside UNDP. 

However, among the common action agendas and prevailing discourse on what is needed for systemic change to happen in the sector, barriers are often overlooked: 

• Solutions and improvements in the functioning of food and agricultural production and consumption are often expected to derive from technical, financial or technological innovations. Yet individual, institutional and societal innovations are essential for change.
• The quality of current multi-stakeholder collaboration in the sector is often inadequate to meet the scale and nature of this challenge. Traditional governance mechanisms, including inter- institutional and multi-stakeholder components, are often characterized by power and information asymmetries. Fostering deeper spaces for collaboration and reflection and explicit inclusion of marginalized groups requires patience, time, and sustained commitment and support from participants, facilitators and sponsors.

Understanding and managing the interdependencies globally in this sector requires more collaborative mindsets. Accordingly, the UNDP FACS team released in 2021 its new flaghship methodology on Effective Collaborative Action (ECA) to fill these gaps and meet the needs of our time. This methodology is currently used in the following ways: 

• For training and learning on collaboration, innovation and systems change.
• For facilitating multi-stakeholder collaborative processes and initiatives at a national, subnational and landscape levels
• For bringing in ways of working more collaboratively and systemically at any point in a project/initiative’s journey.
  

The ECA Lead Advisor will provide technical and strategic guidance, support and expertise on the following areas: 

Training and learning on systems change and effective collaborative action

• Design and deliver strategic training and learning workshops/interventions on ECA’s key transformative practices internally and externally
• Lead and oversee the design, roll out of training, awareness raising, implementation and reporting on UNDP FACS signature methodology on Effective Collaborative Action through discovery sessions, deep dive training, masterclasses, micro-practices or other appropriate delivery mechanisms and the development of case studies to support fundraising efforts and upscaling
• Lead and oversee the updates of the ECA guide, methodology and associated guidance, website and resources, as well as reporting on training and direct ECA related advisory support provided
• Ensure oversight of dashboard regarding ECA initiatives
• Lead the efforts towards strengthening the FACS Community of Practice, integrating it – and the use of its digital platform – into ECA related initiatives and activities

Project design, formulation, implementation & other project related functions

• Develop annual strategy and budget for Effective Collaborative Action
• Provide strategic advisory support to embed Effective Collaborative Action and its key transformative practices into concept notes, project proposals, and project planning (e.g. Food Systems Country Support Programme, SECO III, SLPI, and others as needed) at global, regional and country levels
• Oversee the delivery of FOLUR Global Platform and SCALA activities related to ECA

ECA Advisory and country impact

• Provide advisory support (directly or through ECA Advisor/s) to priority countries and initiatives (e.g. Mongolia, Indonesia, Peru, Rwanda – ICO, Ghana Sea Project, Costa Rica under SCALA) to embed Effective Collaborative Action and its key transformative practices for the purposes of accelerating food systems change locally, at national, subnational or landscape levels
• Increase effectiveness of country platforms and dialogues through strengthened facilitation and capacity building
• Proactively seek for strategic opportunities to enhance country impact through direct support to country office teams and local projects where ECA could bring an added value

Resource mobilization:

• Co-lead the design and implementation of flagship/strategic initiatives such as ‘Food and Power’ and ‘Accelerating Policy Coherence through Leadership and Inner Capacities’ GEF MSP and Global IP offers, aimed at deepening and expanding the scope of impact on food systems transformation of Effective Collaborative Action, through its 10 key principles
• Proactively contribute to resource mobilization by identifying opportunities and shaping new project/fundraising proposals (Narratives and Thought Leadership for mindset change, GEF Food Systems & BGI IPs Global Platform Support, SCALA, and others as needed)
• Manage the high-level work planning of ECA implementation for existing and future projects ((e.g. Food Systems Country Support Programme, SECO III, SLPI, GEF8 MSPs, and others as needed) and oversee delivery

Build strategic partnerships

• Proactively work on identifying and building strategic partnerships within and outside UN/UNDP that hold the critical expertise to further develop knowledge around ECA’s transformative practices, deliver specialized training and advisory/consultancy that supports the methodology and attends to the needs of country practitioners

Team management and integration

• Proactively lead on learning and integration with other FACS team members and UN/UNDP teams as appropriate
• Line management for FACS Training and learning Specialist and junior support positions as appropriate

  Institutional Arrangement

1. The incumbent will work from home base.
2. The ECA Lead Advisor will be supervised by the UNDP FACS Global Head and will liaise with the other UNDP FACS team members, other UNDP staff both at global and country office level, partners agencies and donors.
3. CoFSA Interventions Advisor will be responsible for providing his/her own working station (i.e., laptop, internet, phone, scanner/printer, etc.) and must have access to a reliable internet connection.
4. Given the global nature of the work, the CoFSA Interventions Advisor is expected to be reasonably flexible with his/her availability for regional and country events to be undertaken during this assignment taking into consideration different time zones.

• Achieve Results: LEVEL 3: Set and align challenging, achievable objectives for multiple projects, have lasting impact
• Think Innovatively: LEVEL 3: Proactively mitigate potential risks, develop new ideas to solve complex problems
• Learn Continuously: LEVEL 3: Create and act on opportunities to expand horizons, diversify experiences
• Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 3: Proactively initiate and champion change, manage multiple competing demands
• Act with Determination: LEVEL 3: Think beyond immediate task/barriers and take action to achieve greater results
• Engage and Partner: LEVEL 3: Political savvy, navigate complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaboration
• Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 3: Appreciate benefits of diverse workforce and champion inclusivity

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies

• Business Direction & Strategy – Strategic Thinking:
  • Ability to develop effective strategies and prioriti]ed plans in line with UNDPs objectives, based on the systemic analysis of challenges, potential risks and opportunities; linking the vision to reality on the ground, and creating tangible solutions
  • Ability to leverage learning from a variety of sources to anticipate and respond to future trends; to demonstrate foresight in order to model what future developments and possible ways forward look like for UNDP
• Business Direction & Strategy – Systems 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 – Partnership Management:
  • Ability to build and maintain partnerships with wide networks of stakeholders, Governments, civil society and private sector partners, experts and others in line with UNDP strategy and policies
• Business Development – Knowledge Facilitation:
  • Ability to animate individuals and communities of contributors to participate and share , particularly externally
• Digital & Innovation – Creative Facilitation:
  • Ability to design workshops that considers and addresses multiple interests, agendas, worldviews; set out clear objectives and engaging activities; select appropriate tools, materials, resources that are needed to enable or support the activities.
  • Ability to swiftly build rapport with participants and create a safe space (on- and offline) where they feel comfortable to share their views, concerns, experiences and reflections; supporting this with a range of tools to stimulate active participation.
  • Ability to facilitate inclusive conversations, ability to work with a diverse set of people with different backgrounds, seniority and expert levels, using different approaches tailored to fit the people in the room, drawing out the perspectives and ideas of each individual and making decisions through deliberation and discussion across a group.
  • Ability to pace a session, adjust to the abilities and energy levels of attendees and the nature or purpose of an exercise. Being flexible and able to improvise; adapting and changing approaches in response to the needs, while staying true to the intent and objectives of the session.
• Business Management – Communication:
  • Ability to communicate in a clear, concise and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience
  • Ability to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media and other appropriate channels
• Digital & Innovation – Co-creation:
  • Ability to design and facilitate a process that enables a diverse group of stakeholders to solve a common problem, develop a practice, or create knowledge together.
  • Ability to embrace diversity, work with a diverse group of stakeholders understand their interests, perspectives and views and tap into to them as a source for creativity.
  • Ability to facilitate processes and create conditions that are open for diverse inputs, stimulate collaboration and sharing

Desired additional skills and competencies

• Experience working with UNDP Country Office, UNDP global projects and multi-agency programmes.
• Experience on multi-stakeholder engagement for sustainable development .
• Experience designing and facilitating workshops and conferences on sustainability.
• Experience designing learning and training – delivered virtually and face-to-face.