Knowledge Management and Monitoring & Evaluation Specialist

Position description

Under the climate hub, UNDP’s Climate adaptation portfolio assists government partners to scale up the integration of climate change adaptation into policy, planning, and investments at both national and local levels through the support to the National Adaptation Planning (NAP) process and the NDCs. UNDP supports climate change adaptation action in the context of agriculture and food security, water resources, coastal zone management, ecosystems protection, public health, resilient infrastructure, urban resilience, livelihoods, and climate information/early warnings.  

Under the portfolio, it is also working to enable countries to harness the land use and agriculture sectors’ potential for climate change mitigation and adaptation, aligned to countries’ national climate pledges through its Support Programme on Scaling up Climate Ambition on Land Use and Agriculture through Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) (SCALA). This German Ministry of Environment (BMU)-funded Programme is currently under implementation and is designed to assist countries to translate their NDCs and/or NAPs into actionable and transformative climate solutions in land use and agriculture with multi-stakeholder engagement. This Programme is a joint effort of UNDP and FAO. It works across 12 countries in Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. A key outcome of the programme is to increase private sector engagement and investment to support the achievement of NDCs and NAPs.   

Within this overall context, UNDP is recruiting Knowledge Management and M&E Specialist to coordinate knowledge production and management, monitoring, evaluation and reporting within the programme.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the comprehensive guidance and strategic direction of the programme leadership, the incumbent will provide Knowledge Management and Monitoring Evaluation and reporting functions within the programme.

Lead Knowledge Management:

• Assume a leadership role in continuously reviewing and updating the SCALA Knowledge Management Framework. This involves ensuring that the framework remains aligned with the evolving needs of the programme, incorporates the latest best practices in knowledge management, and strategically supports the project’s objectives in fostering sustainable climate adaptation practices.
• Lead the drafting and reviewing of periodic donor reports and relevant knowledge management products
• Oversee the process of coordinating, reviewing, finalizing, and disseminating a wide array of knowledge products particularly written KM products, related to SCALA.
• Lead the organization and delivery of a dynamic series of webinars and peer-to-peer exchange initiatives, in close collaboration with FAO and other key partners. 
• Provide strategic oversight and coordination of technical specialists and external consultants and oversee the editing, designing, and printing processes, ensuring that these materials meet the high standards set by the programme for quality and informative value.

Lead in Monitoring and Evaluation:

• Overseeing the programme’s comprehensive monitoring and evaluation framework. This includes ensuring the integrity of quality assurance processes, management of potential risks, and the meticulous reporting and evaluation of the programme’s outcomes and impacts. 
• Ensure that the internal information management system is meticulously organized and regularly updated. This responsibility entails managing a systematic approach to storing, retrieving, and updating project documents and communications, thereby facilitating efficient knowledge sharing and coordination among team members.
• Lead the coordination and preparation and drafting of detailed briefs and comprehensive project implementation reports, including final reports to donors. This involves synthesizing data and insights from various sources to provide a coherent and insightful overview of the programme’s progress, achievements, and financial status.
• Offer robust support to the SCALA Programme Coordinator in the monitoring of workplan implementation and the oversight of their implementation by Country Offices and provide strategic guidance to the Programme. 

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

Institutional Arrangement

• The incumbent will report to and be directly supervised by Technical Specialist on National Adaptation Plans/SCALA Global Coordinator;
• The incumbent will be given access to relevant information necessary for execution of the tasks under this assignment;
• Given the global consultations to be undertaken during this assignment, the incumbent is expected to be reasonably flexible with his/her availability for such consultations taking into consideration different time zones.
• The incumbent will be responsible for providing her/his own working station (i.e. laptop, internet, phone, scanner/printer, etc.) and must have access to a reliable internet connection.
• The incumbent will engage/interact with the Supervisor by email and Teams/Zoom on a regular basis. In addition, the incumbent will also engage with other UNDP colleagues based in NY, relevant regional hubs, and country offices through these same virtual platforms.

Travel:            

• Potential travel to at least two of the 12 programme countries might be expected;
• Any necessary mission travel must be approved in writing and in advance by the supervisor;
• The BSAFE course must be successfully completed prior to commencement of travel;
• The incumbent is responsible for obtaining any visas needed in connection with travel with the necessary support from UNDP and for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director;
• S/he is required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under https://dss.un.org/dssweb.

Competencies

Core Competencies

• 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  Development – Knowledge generation

• Ability to research and turn information into useful knowledge, relevant for context, or responsive to a stated need

Business  Development- Knowledge Facilitation

• Ability to animate individuals and communities of contributors to participate and share, particularly externally

Business Development – Integration within the UN

• Ability to identify, and integrate capacity and assets of the UN system, and engage in joint work; knowledge of the UN System and ability to apply this knowledge to strategic and/or practical situations

Business Development- Monitoring

• Ability to provide managers and key stakeholders with regular feedback on the consistency or discrepancy between planned and actual activities and programme  performance and results

Business Direction and 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 

2030 Agenda: Planet – Nature, Climate and Energy

• Climate Change Adaptation: Embedding adaptation into development policy/planning/decision making

2030 Agenda: Planet – Nature, Climate and Energy

• Climate Change Adaptation: Public and private finance for adaptation solution

Required Skills and Experience

 Education:

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in International Relations, International Development, Climate Change, Environmental Economics, or other closely related fields is required.  
• A first-level university degree (Bachelor’s degree) in the above-mentioned fields in combinations with an additional 2 years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of Master’s degree.

Experience:

• A minimum of 5 years (with Master’s degree) or 7 years (with Bachelor’s degree) of progressive experience in knowledge management and monitoring, evaluation and reporting of global or regional climate change projects is required.

Required skills 

• Demonstrated experience in knowledge management and production of technical documents and materials, including policy briefs; 
• Sound understanding of sustainable human development, environmental management issues, adaptation, vulnerability and impacts of climate change and other related sustainable human development issues demonstrated through work experience;
• Demonstrated experience in monitoring and evaluation, and especially preparing donor reports of development/environmental projects

Desired additional skills and competencies

• Experience in working on climate change adaptation planning and strategy is a strong advantage.
• Experience working on a multi-agency project/programme is an asset;
• Experience with UNDP and/or UN agency knowledge product production and quality assurance is an asset.
• Familiarity with the mandate and operations of UNDP and deep knowledge in operational frameworks of UNDP

Required Language(s)

• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of another UN language such as French or Spanish will be considered as an asset.

Application instructions

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