Policy Specialist

Position Purpose:

Position Context: The Policy Specialist is part of the Policy team and the PPC Unit and contributes to ensuring that UNCDF is positioned strategically in the evolving partnership and policy environments in the area of sustainable development, financing for development and innovative finance, with a focus on the least developed countries (LDCs). Under the guidance and direct supervision of the Policy Advisor, the Policy Specialist is expected to work closely with teams across UNCDF priority areas and to provide actionable advice and support to the Directorate on matters of strategic planning, policy analysis and relevant advocacy and partnership development.

The Policy Specialist works to strengthen partnerships and develop policy products with a view to improving UNCDF’s contributions to relevant policy debates; support UNCDF’s engagement in key inter-governmental and inter-agency processes; build effective partnerships with UNDP and the wider UN development system, development finance institutions, and other stakeholders; support development of UNCDF country strategy notes for programme countries; and strengthen UNCDF’s ability to develop, capture and share knowledge within UNCDF.

• The Policy Specialist also helps monitor and advise on developments related to UN reform and their potential implications for UNCDF; track and craft UNCDF’s contributions to developments and policy debates in the financing for development landscape; and helps shape UNCDF’s responses and strategies to a shifting financing for development landscape.
• The Policy Specialist will work closely with the Directorate, other PPC staff, the thematic units of the organization, the Finance and Management Support Office, and other teams. The Policy Specialist maintains a network with colleagues from UNCDF, UNDP, UN entities, IFIs, private sector and civil society, and will also be tasked with supporting strategic projects of an ad hoc nature as they may arise.
• UNDP/UNCDF adopts a portfolio approach to accommodate changing business needs and leverage linkages across
• interventions to achieve its strategic goals. Therefore, UNDP/UNCDF personnel are expected to work across units, functions, teams, and projects in multidisciplinary teams in order to enhance and enable horizontal collaboration.

Duties and Responsibilities

Provides strategic planning and policy advice on inter-governmental processes and UN inter-agency related matters, with a view to ensuring a robust contribution from and positioning of UNCDF.

• Supports UNCDF’s corporate engagement in key UN intergovernmental processes, including especially related to the preparations for the Fourth Conference on Financing for Development in 2025, the Summit of the Future, negotiations of the Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review (QCPR), and other key processes;
• Contributes to inter-governmental debates and developments, including providing policy advice and support on strategic engagement opportunities for UNCDF, preparing UNCDF contributions to background papers, reports, official events, and side events;
• Facilitates UNCDF’s engagement with its Executive Board, including helping to prepare and review UNCDF reports to the board, arrange informal briefings, and manage relationships;
• Follows and proactively engages in relevant UN interagency processes and mechanisms and advises on strategic opportunities for UNCDF participation and engagement, including in relation to UNDP and other UN development system entities;
• Represents UNCDF in select interagency mechanisms as appropriate and prepares relevant documentation for the participation of the Executive Secretary or Deputy Executive Secretary;
• Advises UNCDF country teams in UN reform processes, including providing guidance on and quality assurance of UNCDF inputs to the development of UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks (UNSDCFs) and Common Country Analyses (CCAs);
• Ensures compliance with and prepare UNCDF inputs to various intergovernmental / interagency processes.

Actively participate in advocacy and partnerships within and outside the UN, including with UN Member States and other multilateral organizations.

• Facilitates development and monitoring of UNCDF partnerships with UNDP and other UN entities, including pursuing opportunities to expand partnerships in line with UNCDF’s mandate;
• Maintains and updates UNCDF’s internal knowledge database on UN partnerships;
• Works with UNCDF colleagues to ensure strategic engagement with Permanent Missions of LDCs to the UN on their priorities through consultations and bilateral meetings;
• Advises UNCDF country teams to identify strategic partnership opportunities, including with UNDP and UN entities and other partners on the ground;
• Works with UNCDF teams to integrate relevant strategic policy components and UN inter-agency elements into project proposals;
• Facilitates select other strategic partnerships and resource mobilization efforts.

Leads office efforts to thought leadership, knowledge capture and sharing, including preparation of select knowledge products.

• Works closely with UNCDF units to support strategic knowledge management initiatives, to help ensure that lessons are captured and made available to inform future UNCDF programming and investment activities;
• Identifies and acts on opportunities for thought leadership across the areas of UNCDF’s expertise, including through drafting lessons learned documents, holding webinars, and drafting policy papers and opinion pieces;
• Supports research and knowledge capture on good practices in the area of blended finance, including through UNCDF’s membership with Convergence;
• Tracks development and programme innovations in the financing for development space, both within and beyond the UN, with a view to identifying potential synergies with UNCDF’s programmatic work;
• Advise to articulate and disseminate UNCDF policy and programme offers in support of implementing UNCDF’s Strategic Framework;
• Manage the review and clearance process for corporate publications, and works with UNCDF teams to ensure high visibility for said products.

Actively participate to UNCDF’s investment committee and other internal institutional processes, select policy and strategy development, and preparation of relevant briefings and speeches for meetings.

• Performs the function of Secretariat for the UNCDF Investment and Disbursement Impact Committee (IDIC). Ensures that transaction teams submit complete documentation and performs required quality assurance standards are met.
• Maintains a pipeline of planned transactions for IDIC review, organizes IDIC meetings, prepares minutes of meetings, develops and manages an IDIC knowledge database, coordinates with the Executive Secretary for final decision-making of transactions reviewed by IDIC.
• Develops and revises as needed Standard Operating Procedures and standardized templates for IDIC.
• Helps organize biannual impact and performance reviews of UNCDF transactions, as per IDIC Terms of Reference.
• Supports development, testing and rollout of an impact score system, to be applied to all UNCDF transactions reviewed by IDIC.
• Contributes to  corporate results measurement exercises as needed;
• Contributes to development and reviews of select institutional strategic policy products and guidance documents;
• Facilitates timely preparation of relevant background documents, briefings for meetings for the Executive Secretary and the Deputy Executive Secretary;
• Provides inputs to drafting of key speeches and other strategic policy papers and communication products;
• Serves as UNCDF focal point for engagement with UNDP’s Executive Office;
• Performs other official duties and special assignments, which may be required, including support for emerging corporate strategic priorities and initiatives

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced University Degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in Economics, Finance, Social Sciences, International Relations, Political Science or related field is required. OR
• A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• Minimum 5 years (with Master’s degree) or 7 years (with Bachelor’s degree) of relevant experience at the international level in strategy development and policy-level analysis and advocacy, with a focus on development and innovative finance is required.
• Experience in a UN organization is desired
• Experience in supporting UN inter-agency and intergovernmental processes is required.
• Proven experience of developing strategy and policy documents in an international organization is required.
• Experience in research and gathering data, statistics, and relevant information to support policy recommendations is highly desirable.
• Experience working in an Least Development Countries (LDC) context is an added advantage.
• Experience working collaboratively with colleagues, stakeholders, and external partners to develop and implement effective policies is a plus.

Languages:

• Fluency in English, with excellent writing and editing skills is required.
• Fluency in French will be considered a distinct advantage.

Source: https://estm.fa.em2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/CX_1/requisitions/job/18031