Regional Team Leader (Environment & Energy)

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 is carried out through a network of advisors and specialists located at HQ, Regional and Country Office levels, to ensure that local knowledge and context specific expertise is linked to cutting-edge global perspectives and advocacy. In this context, UNDP provides its policy advisory and programme support functions through the Global Policy Network (GPN), a network of field-based and global technical expertise across a wide range of knowledge domains, in support of the signature solutions and organizational capabilities envisioned in the 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 and works closely with the Crisis Bureau (CB) that has the responsibility to guide and implement UNDP’s corporate crisis-related strategies and vision for crisis prevention, response and recovery.  

In line with its Strategic Plan, UNDP supports countries to eradicate poverty and reduce inequalities and exclusion through five inter-related areas of environment and climate work: (i) sustainable management of ecosystem goods and services; (ii) scaling up of climate change adaptation and mitigation; (iii) sustainable, affordable and accessible energy services; (iv) sustainable management of chemicals and waste; (v) improved water and ocean governance. These areas of work are fully aligned with the four environmental outputs of the Strategic Plan and are financed through various sources including the Global Environment Facility, Green Climate Fund, and other bilateral/multilateral donors.

UNDP has specialized technical and policy advisory teams in New York, Addis Ababa, Amman, Istanbul, Bangkok and Panama working to catalyze environmental and climate finance for climate-resilient, sustainable development. These teams provide support to UNDP country offices and work closely with staff in other Bureaus through the Global Policy Network to develop country capacities needed to design and implement regulatory and financial incentives, remove institutional and policy barriers, and create enabling policy framework that attract and drive public and private sector investment into sustainable development and the SDGs. In doing this, UNDP assists partner countries to access, combine, and sequence resources from a wide range of funds, financial instruments, and mechanisms.  

UNDP’s Environment and Energy work is organized into substantive technical hubs (Nature, Climate, Chemical and Waste, Sustainable Energy Hub), and the Vertical Funds Programme Support, Oversight and Compliance Hub.    Thematic Pillar Heads including Vertical Funds Principal or Senior Technical Advisor (PTA/STA) within the Nature, Climate and Chemical and Waste hubs provide substantive leadership in respective areas of policy and programming support.  Each Pillar Head supports and guides a team of Regional Technical Advisors (RTAs) or Specialists (RTSs) as well as policy and programme advisors or specialists. In addition to being a member of a technical team, each RTA/RTS and global and each regional project team member who are based in regional hubs, is also a member of a regional team, which consists of RTAs/RTSs from all technical teams working together under the leadership of a Regional Team Leader and technical quality assurance of the Principal Technical Advisors. The regional teams are based in regional hubs from where they support UNDP’s country offices and partners in their region.

The expected focus for the Regional Team Leader position is to dedicate 80% of time to country support functions (40% on technical support areas and 40% on cross-thematic/integration support areas), with the other 20% of time spent on Global and Regional focused support. The Regional Team Leader will work across units by supporting greater integration of UNDP’s environment and energy portfolio and positioning UNDP as a solution provider to complex development challenges. 

Position Purpose

The Regional Team Leader for Environment and Energy will coordinate and work closely with regional hub management, liaising across the RTAs and desk officers, to promote policy and programme development and implementation that focuses on integrated work and innovative and scalable solutions across UNDP’s biodiversity and ecosystems, water and ocean, climate change, energy, chemicals, and green/circular economy portfolio integrated with other areas of work of UNDP in the People, Planet, Partnerships, Peace and Prosperity thematic areas. The role of the Regional Team Leader is to provide strategic and technical leadership to guide the policy and programming support to country offices across technical areas in an integrated manner. The incumbent will promote cross-unit collaboration within the Amman Regional Hub and globally as part of UNDP’s Global Policy Network (GPN) to ensure integrated, holistic support to countries to tackle environmental, climate change, and energy-related challenges as a means to achieving the SDGs. The Regional Team Leader will matrix manage with global Principal and/or Senior Technical Advisors a team of RTAs/RTSs, policy and programme advisors/specialists, programme assistants, and administration staff to ensure that high quality technical guidance and support is delivered to policy and project development, implementation support and risk management in line with the UNDP Strategic Plan, Signature Solutions, Nature Pledge, Climate Promise, and complementary service offers. This includes support provided through UNDP country offices, and with other UN agencies, governments, inter-governmental organizations, NGOs, and donors. 

The Regional Team Leader is also responsible for providing detailed knowledge related to sources of funds for environment work in the region, and assisting partners to obtain, use, and report on such funding, including Sida.  Currently, UNDP serves as an Implementing/Accredited Agency for a number of Environmental Vertical Funds: the Global Environment Facility Trust Fund (GEFTF), Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF), the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF), the Green Climate Fund (GCF), and the Adaptation Fund (AF). UNDP also works with various bilateral, multilateral, and sub-national donors and partners including governments, NGOs, and the private sector.

The Regional Team Leader should be mindful of different country contexts in the region (crisis, MICs and NCCs) and provide targeted guidance and support that allow for COs  and the Regional Programme to grow their environment and energy portfolio.  The Regional Team Leader should ensure close linkages between crisis and scare natural resources  (Food, water and energy nexus) as well as  promote inclusion and ensure programming are considering  gender and  PWDs. 

The Regional Team Leader is expected to travel frequently. The Regional Team Leader position is rotational and may be periodically redeployed, in accordance with capability, consent, and due process, to a different regional hub or HQ as needed. The Regional Team Leader position reports to the Regional Hub Manager, with secondary reporting to a designated environment hub director, BPPS.

UNDP adopts a portfolio approach to accommodate changing business needs and leverage linkages across interventions to achieve its strategic goals. This is a recognition of interconnected nature of development risks & crises that the world is facing and that call for assembling of multidisciplinary teams for an integrated & systemic response. Therefore, UNDP personnel are expected to work across issues, units, functions, teams and projects in multidisciplinary teams in order to enhance and enable horizontal collaboration.

With the responsibility of overseeing, coordinating and integrating a large environment and energy portfolio, the role of the Regional Team Leader is to:

Provide leadership, technical guidance and team management :

• Provide integrated technical guidance to UNDP’s environment and energy portfolio, and matrix manage a regional team of Regional Technical Advisors and Specialists and Programme Associates and consultants as necessary.
• Represents UNDP in regional and national fora, liaises with external clients and a broad range of constituencies and UNDP counterparts in government, local and international media, other international organizations, and in civil society.
• Promotes good cooperation and coordination among all technical programme and operations staff and between the various units of UNDP under the GPN, as well as external parties.

Key Results:  UNDP is widely recognized for the high quality of its programmes on environment and energy in development. All UNDP nature, chemicals and waste management, energy and climate change work is on the cutting edge of current knowledge and thinking and contributes to country priorities on integrated environment, energy, and climate change solutions in ways that advance sustainable development and poverty eradication and accelerate progress on the SDGs in line with UNDP’s Strategic Plan.

Develop and advocate innovative policy and financial mechanisms

• Respond to country office requests for integrated policy support on environment, energy and climate change, with UNDP’s direct partners, and as a contribution to global debates on environment, climate change, and energy.
• Contribute to the development of complex policy positions at the interface of scientific knowledge and social, political, and economic feasibility, wide ranging consultation with key players, the development of partnerships around positions and initiatives, and dialogue and advocacy.

Key Results:  UNDP is widely recognized for its ability to drive change and innovation in global, regional, and national level discourse on environment, energy and climate change and resultant policy making, and for its ability to fully integrate and leverage its environment portfolio towards progress on the SDGs overall.

Identify, lead and direct the development of cutting-edge strategic programmes, projects and activities, and mobilize resources and partnerships

• Lead and direct the development of integrated programmes, projects and other initiatives in consultation with, and in support of, PTAs.
• Identify funding and scaling sources and opportunities, as well as new and cutting-edge partnerships.
• Negotiate funding and partnerships, including with the private sector, development banks and other development finance institutions.
• Identify, develop and roll-out of new business opportunities, business lines, and self-funding integrated nature, chemical and waste, energy and climate change service facilities.

Key Results:  Continued growth in the quality, scope, impact and influence of the UNDP environment, energy and climate change programme through integrated solutions.

Produce development impacts and results for country partners

• Effective delivery of results and impacts through high quality strategic guidance, implementation support and risk management, including technical support, monitoring, risk mitigation, troubleshooting, evaluation, reporting, and dissemination of results and impacts.
• Support RTAs by working with desk officers, country office management, and regional hub management to accelerate implementation, including by identifying integrated solutions for augmented implementation support.

Key Results:  UNDP widely recognized for its ability to efficiently deliver timely and responsive high quality, strategic, cutting-edge, results and impacts, including for its Climate Promise and Nature Pledge. 

Facilitate effective learning and management of knowledge

• Analysis and synthesis of data, information, results and knowledge into papers, lessons, guidelines, methodologies, programming kits, training, and other new tools and codified knowledge products.

Key Results:  UNDP widely recognized as a source of cutting-edge tools, knowledge and information on integrated environment, energy and climate change solutions for development.

Education:

• Advanced university degree (Master’s or equivalent) in Environmental Economics, Finance, Environmental Sciences, Natural Resource Management or other closely related field, ideally with a focus on biodiversity, water, oceans, renewable energy, and/or climate change mitigation and/or adaptation is required OR
• A first-level university in one of the aforementioned disciplines with two additional years of relevant work experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree

Experience:

• Minimum of 10 years (with masters degree) or 12 years (with bachelors degree) of progressively responsible relevant leadership experience in the fields of integrated environment solutions (biodiversity, water/oceans, energy, climate change mitigation/adaptation, and/or climate/biodiversity finance), strategic management, business development.
• At least 7 years’ work experience with development-related organizations (especially multilateral development banks) and private sector is required;
• Extensive experience with programme and project development, integrated planning and analysis implementation, and management that connect the dots across environment and energy, and their linkage with sustainable development issues is required;
• Experience in business systems, human resources management and budgeting is desired;
• Proven track record of resource mobilization experience is an asset;
• Experience programming with the Global Environment Facility and the Green Climate Fund at the global level or similar bilateral and multilateral funding sources is desired;
• Experience in the policy development processes associated with integrated environment and sustainable development issues is an asset;
• Policy advisory and/or programming experience focusing on technical aspects of nature-climate nexus is an advantage;
• Working experience in an international organization is an advantage as is knowledge of UNDP policies, procedures and practices.

Language:

• Fluency in English is required, with exceptional writing, presentation and communication skills; (Required)
• Working knowledge in other UN languages (French or Arabic) is an asset.