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 policies and guidance to support the results of UNDP’s Strategic Plan. BPPS staff provide technical advice to Country Offices, advocates for UNDP corporate messages, represent UNDP at multi-stakeholder fora including public-private, government and civil society dialogues, and engage in UN inter-agency coordination in specific thematic areas.

UNDP’s 2022-2025 Strategic Plan highlights 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 work with governments, civil society, and private sector partners to integrate nature, climate, energy and waste related concerns into national and sector planning and inclusive growth policies, support country obligations under Multilateral Environmental Agreements, and oversee the implementation of the UN’s largest portfolio of in-country programming nature, climate change, energy, and waste. This multi-billion-dollar portfolio encompasses:

• Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services including forests;
• Sustainable Land Management and Desertification including food and commodity systems;
• 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.

In recent decades, biodiversity finance tools and solutions have demonstrated their importance for achieving biodiversity goals and broader sustainable development objectives. Improved choice, design and implementation of effective, well-tailored finance solutions will strengthen countries’ chances of achieving national and global biodiversity targets. Biodiversity Finance Plans have become increasingly recognised as a relevant tool to help countries to identify and fill the biodiversity finance gap, including through the work of the Biodiversity Finance Initiative www.biofin.org. In December 2022, parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted the Montreal-Kunming Global Biodiversity Framework. This included numerous targets with relevance for financing. Target 19 on resource mobilisation includes reference for countries to design and implement national biodiversity finance plans.

The GEF created a global programme to support countries to design a national Biodiversity Finance Plan. A Biodiversity Finance Plan includes a systems analysis of a country’s economy including to map existing financing mechanisms, subsidies with potential harmful impacts on nature, drivers of biodiversity loss and gain, public and private expenditures committed towards biodiversity objectives and a country’s national financial needs for biodiversity. The biodiversity finance plan itself consists of a series of actions with the aim to significantly scale up available funding, green or phase out harmful finance flows and improve the effectiveness of available expenditures. The programme allows for active sharing of experiences across countries and includes a knowledge sharing platform and the provision of continuous technical support to country teams.

Position Purpose
The Project Management Associate will provide programme and administrative services in support of the Global Programme on National Biodiversity Finance Plans’s deliverables and operations. This includes programme support in data, financial management, project/programme design, planning, implementation, reporting, and information management.  The Project Management Associate promotes a client-oriented approach, in the framework of UNDP policies, rules and regulations.

S/he will report to the Project Manager, Global Programme on National Biodiversity Finance Plans (primary supervision) and  the BIOFIN Programme Analyst (secondary supervision).

UNDP adopts a portfolio approach to accommodate changing business needs and leverage linkages across  interventions to achieve its strategic goals. Therefore, UNDP personnel are expected to work across units, functions,  teams, and projects in multidisciplinary teams in order to enhance and enable horizontal collaboration.

• Coordinate annual multi-year workplan submissions, assist Technical Advisors in reviewing them in a timely manner, ensuring compliance with Donor requirements and identify irregularities. Provide feedback to country teams and technical advisors as required.
• Request relevant workplan clearances from Technical Advisors and Global Manager;
• Prepare country project budget revisions in Project Information Management System  (PIMS+) and Quantum and get all relevant technical and financial clearances;
• Prepare letters of authorization and obtain necessary clearances to transfer funds to country projects;
• Request transfer of funds from relevant sources of funding to country projects;
• Make quality assurance of multi-year workplans.

Portfolio Monitoring and Oversight of country projects’ implementation and delivery 

• Run expenditures and other financial reports from PIMS+ and/or Quantum, identify delays in implementation or deficits and alert Technical Advisors of any projects of concern;
• Ensure that country offices take action to correct any project deficits being identified;
• Provide support to country teams to ensure that they prioritize expenditures according to validity of various sources of funding;

Project Management and Administrative Support 

• Support to organization of international meetings and events;
• Provide support to other administrative tasks as required;
• Provide support to resource mobilization, maintaining information/databases on potential and actual donors, providing administrative information and editing support towards funding proposals;
• Support monitoring, and facilitating compliance with, UNDP-specific processes in managing financial resources and other administrative operations;
• Backstop other members of the Team and perform ad-hoc tasks, as required, to ensure the Team will deliver at the highest standard.

• Provide training to country teams as required on budgetary and financial matters as required;
• Prepare guidance and support on budget preparation and implementation as needed;
• Provision of guidance to the country teams on routine project implementation matters, such as travel, organization of workshops or other administrative matters.

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

Education

• Secondary education is required.
• University Degree in Business Administration, Public Administration, or equivalent field will be given due  consideration, but is not a requirement.
• Certification in project management would be an added advantage.

Experience, Knowledge, and Skills

• Minimum of 6 years of experience with Secondary education or 3 years with a Bachelor’s degree in finance, budgeting, accounting, administration, social sciences, environment, or project management is required.
• Specialized training in administration, accounting, finance or related field would be an advantage;
• Solid experience in financial or project management, budgeting or accounting is highly desirable;
• Experience with UNDP policies, procedures and practices, particularly in relation to project development and implementation, is highly desirable;
• Excellent MS Excel skills is an asset;
• Fluency in written and spoken Turkish and English is required.
• Working knowledge in other UN languages is an asset.

Achieve Results: LEVEL 1: Plans and monitors own work, pays attention to details, delivers quality work by deadline

Think Innovatively: LEVEL 1: Open to creative ideas/known risks, is pragmatic problem solver, makes improvements

Learn Continuously: LEVEL 1: Open minded and curious, shares knowledge, learns from mistakes, asks for feedback

Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 1: Adapts to change, constructively handles ambiguity/uncertainty, is flexible

Act with Determination: LEVEL 1: Shows drive and motivation, able to deliver calmly in face of adversity, confident

Engage and Partner: LEVEL 1: Demonstrates compassion/understanding towards others, forms positive relationships

Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 1: Appreciate/respect differences, aware of unconscious bias, confront discrimination

Cross-Functional & Technical Competencies:

Finance & Budget management: Ability to support budgetary aspects of work planning process, drawing and management of team budgets.

Business Management &Results-based Management: Ability to manage programmes and projects with a focus at improved performance and demonstrable results.

Business Management & Project Management: Ability to plan, organize, prioritize and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals.

Business Management & Resource Management: Ability to allocate and use resources in a strategic or tactical and in line with principles of accountability and integrity.

Business Management& Digital Awareness and Literacy: Ability and inclination to rapidly adopt new technologies, either through skillfully grasping their usage or through understanding their impact and empowering others to use them as needed.

Business Management & Working with Evidence and Data: Ability to inspect, cleanse, transform and model data with the goal of discovering useful information, informing conclusions and supporting decision-making.

Business Management & 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.

Digital & Innovation & Data Analysis: Ability to extract, analyse and visualize data (including Real-Time Data) to form meaningful insights and aid effective decision making.