Project Development Lead, Malaysia GEF Child Project

Result of Service

CEO Endorsement Request Package including UNEP’s annexes for the project “Transforming Malaysia’s Port Infrastructure Development through a Nature-Centric Approach for Biodiversity Conservation and Land Degradation Control.”

Work Location

Home-based

Expected duration

7 months

Duties and Responsibilities

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. UNEP’s Ecosystems Division works with international and national partners, providing technical guidance and capacity development for the implementation of environmental policy, and strengthening the environmental management capacities of developing countries and countries with transitional economies. The Global Environment Facility (GEF) Biodiversity and Land Degradation Unit plays a key role in the implementation of GEF projects. Through this unit, the organization provides support to countries and partners in the development and implementation of GEF projects in focal areas of biodiversity and land degradation. The unit has staff based in various regions with its work coordinated from headquarters in Nairobi, in close collaboration with various regional and sub-regional offices. The unit would like to recruit a consultant to lead the planning and execution of the Project Preparation Grant (PPG) process for the GEF project “Transforming Malaysia’s Port Infrastructure Development through a Nature-Centric Approach for Biodiversity Conservation and Land Degradation Control” (GEF ID 11469). UNEP, acting as an implementing agency of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), is providing assistance to the executing agency for the project, Maritime Institute of Malaysia (MIMA), in the preparation of the GEF Full-Sized Project ” Transforming Malaysia’s Port Infrastructure Development through a Nature-Centric Approach for Biodiversity Conservation and Land Degradation Control.” As part of the GEF PPG, UNEP is hiring a consultant to develop, in full compliance with the enforced GEF rules and standards, a CEO endorsement package for submission to the GEF Secretariat. In accordance with the GEF procedures, the full set of project documentation must be submitted to the GEF Secretariat no later than February 15, 2025. Through the present announcement, UNEP is seeking to engage an experienced consultant who has a strong background in GEF requirements for project design, implementation, and monitoring, as well as experience in sustainable land management, land use planning, and creation of new protected areas. The objective of the assignment is to develop the GEF CEO Endorsement Request, including all applicable annexes, for the project ” Transforming Malaysia’s Port Infrastructure Development through a Nature-Centric Approach for Biodiversity Conservation and Land Degradation Control.” The consultancy will be home-based, with travel to Malaysia. The specific tasks to be performed by the consultant are as follows: • Organize, coordinate, and lead the project design; present a plan for the entire PPG from the beginning of the process, with a logical timeline, detailed agenda, and methodology. • Participate in field missions when possible. • Participate in periodic discussions, in the presence or virtually when needed, with the project design team and partners (i.e., governmental agencies and civil society) on the project progress and, when needed, on specific issues (i.e., organizational and governance structure of the project). • Monitor the PPG process at the request of UNEP´s Task Manager, MIMA, and other relevant parties (Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change, port authorities, and states), and/or with key stakeholders, including the project’s lead agency, WWF US, for purposes of informing them about the project and the ongoing PPG processes. • Periodically, inform UNEP’s Task Manager and MIMA on the status of the work and highlight, in a timely manner, risks related to the quality of the information received and the fulfillment of the project’s development schedule. Work in close coordination with and assign tasks to national consultants and ensure that all coordination and assignment tasks are communicated to and through MIMA. • Review risks and their respective rankings and propose mitigation measures with inputs from the project design team and other relevant stakeholders. • Prepare and compile the CEO Endorsement, including all annexes and appendices. • Prepare costed M&E work plan for all activities, with defined indicators, to be funded by the GEF including clear identification of responsibilities and accountabilities, as well as an appropriate M&E budget. The plan will be based on the standard template provided in the package template that reflects the mandatory requirements of the GEF M&E Policy. • Finalize the project results framework as regards all activities. Further define the results framework with appropriate objective-level and outcome-level quantitative and qualitative SMART indicators, mid and end-of-project targets. Establish baseline and targets for indicators reporting on the UNEP Integrated Results and Resources Framework. Ensure that all related activities are in conformity with GEF-8 focal area guidelines and indicators. Special attention should be paid to include socio-economic and gender sensitive indicators. • Prepare draft responses to comments from the UNEP´s Project Review Committee (PRC) and the GEF Secretariat (GEFSEC) and submit them to UNEP´s Task Manager and MIMA. The lead consultant is responsible for ensuring: i. The project proposal follows relevant national/ respective ports’ policies and programs and in alignment with strategic and planning documents, such as the National Transport Policy (NTP), demonstrating Malaysia’s commitment towards sustainable infrastructure, with the National Port Master Plan (NPMP), National Policy on Biological Diversity (NPBD) 2016-2025, Guideline for Erosion and Sediment Control in Malaysia (GESCM), and Malaysian Shipping Master Plan (MSMP). ii. The existing baseline analysis provided in the Child Project Concept and Project Framework Document is updated. iii. The package includes a Gender Analysis, a Gender Action Plan, and a Stakeholder Engagement Plan, personnel ToRs, project workplan, procurement plan etc.; and iv. The package includes an assessment of environmental and social safeguards, encompassing, when needed, applicable mitigation measures. The consultant must also verify and, if this is the case, include the identification of potential institutional linkages with ongoing and proposed GEF Projects and other project-relevant initiatives (e.g., International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) GreenVoyage 2050 Accelerators Program, the Heart of Borneo Initiative, the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI), Mangrove Rehabilitation and Conservation projects to restore degraded mangroves and raise awareness by the Global Environment Centre (GEC), Hong Leong Bank and Malaysian Nature Society, and Restoration and Conservation projects based on the ministry of natural resources, environment and climate change (NRECC) National Action Plan for Peatlands). The Lead Consultant will be responsible for the day-to-day supervision of the National Consultants and must ensure that all supervisory activities are communicated to and through MIMA. Reporting Lines: The Lead Consultant will report to Kavita Sharma, Task Manager, GEF-Biodiversity, and Land Degradation Unit, under the supervision of Johan Robinson, Head, GEF-Biodiversity, and Land Degradation Unit, and MIMA, Malaysia. The consultancy will be home-based with possible project site visits.

Qualifications/special skills

• An advanced university degree in biodiversity sciences, environmental sciences, natural resource management, natural resource policy, environmental policy, environmental economics, or a closely related field is required. • A minimum of 7 years of professional experience in environmental planning, sustainable land management, management, and protection of biodiversity and ecosystem services is required. • Demonstrated knowledge of GEF policies and programming, as well as senior experience in GEF project formulation and writing of the GEF Project Document and CEO Endorsement is highly desirable. • Work experience in ecological restoration, and nature-based solutions, particularly in coastal areas, working with a broad range of stakeholders and international donor agencies, preferably with experience working with various GEF Implementing Agencies on GEF project design and/or implementation, midterm and terminal evaluation reviews is desirable • Work experience in coastal wetlands and near-shore tropical and sub-tropical marine ecosystems management (e.g., coral reefs, seagrass meadows, mangrove forests and/or peatlands) is desirable. • Experience in leading and/or participating in multi-disciplinary teams addressing a range of environmental planning and management issues) and Experience working in the South and Southeast Asia Region is highly desirable.

Languages

• Fluency in oral and written English is required.

Additional Information

Not available.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.