Regional Technical Specialist for Climate Change Mitigation and Energy – P4

Background

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are core principles at UNDP:  we value diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate, we foster inclusion as a way of ensuring all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, and we ensure equity and fairness in all our actions. Taking a ‘leave no one behind’ approach to our diversity efforts means increasing representation of underserved populations. People who identify as belonging to marginalized or excluded populations are strongly encouraged to apply. Learn more about working at UNDP including our values and inspiring stories.

UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

 

Job Purpose and Organizational Context:

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, forms a contiguous spectrum of deep local knowledge to cutting-edge global perspectives and advocacy. In this context, UNDP invests in the 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 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. BPPS’s staff provides technical advice to Country Offices, advocates for UNDP corporate messages, represents UNDP at multi-stakeholder fora including public-private dialogues, government, and civil society dialogues, and engages in UN inter-agency coordination in specific thematic areas. BPPS works closely with UNDP’s Crisis Bureau (CB) to support emergency and crisis response. BPPS ensures that issues of risk are fully integrated into UNDP’s development programmes. BPPS assists UNDP and partners to achieve higher quality development results through an integrated approach that links results-based management and performance monitoring with more effective and new ways of working. BPPS supports UNDP and partners to be more innovative, knowledge and data driven including in its programme support efforts.

BPPS’s Hubs on Nature, Climate, Energy and Waste, with the support of the Vertical Fund Programme Support, Oversight and Compliance Unit, works 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.

The newly established UNDP Climate Hub is the arrowhead of UNDP’s commitment to the “Climate Promise” that aims to support programming countries designing and implementing pledges under the Paris Agreement, including ambitious National Determined Contributions, with climate change mitigation and adaptation interventions fully embedded in the national development planning and budgetary processes. The Climate Hub will build on UNDP’s existing over USD 4 billion country-level climate portfolio on Climate Change Policies and Strategies, Climate Change Adaptation, Climate Change Mitigation (CCM), Climate and Forests, covering over 142 countries, as well as on UNDP’s Nature portfolio, UNDP’s Sustainable Finance Hub, UNDP’s Digital offer and other relevant portfolios on youth, gender, health, climate security, among others. 

The UNDP Climate Hub is responsible for: 

• Thought leadership on Climate and to be the custodian of UNDP policy positions on Climate;
• Strategy and vision formulation;
• Pipeline development in coordination with the other hubs and the Vertical Fund Programme Support, Oversight and Compliance Unit;
• Provision of integrated policy and programme support to Country Offices;
• Global engagement, advocacy in collaboration with Bureau of External Relations and Advocacy (BERA);
• Integration across thematic areas;
• Strategic Partnerships development and resource mobilization;
• Lead and Support global flagship initiatives and partnerships on Climate;
• Serve as focal point with relevant UN coordination mechanisms and Conventions (UN Framework Convention on Climate Change);
• Cross-organization knowledge and learning; and
• Innovation

UNDP’s approach to energy aligns with the SDG 7 targets (renewable energy, energy efficiency and energy access), and is formulated around a Signature Solution on energy as set out in UNDP’s 2018-2021 Strategic Plan. This signature solution has three main areas of focus: in low-income countries, on energy access (electrification, clean cooking), with a UNDP commitment to electrify 100 million individuals by 2030; in middle-income countries, helping achieve transformational change and accelerate a just energy transition, including a focus on smart cities (energy efficiency, e-mobility, rooftop solar PV, battery storage); and in crisis settings, providing sustainable energy solutions in situations of displacement, around energy as a means to build resilience. The latter focus on crisis settings is particularly important in the Arab region. 

UNDP has developed a clear, market transformation-based theory of change on energy. UNDP assists governments to systematically identify the barriers and risks which can hold back private sector investment, and then supports policymakers to put in place packages of targeted public interventions to address these risks. Each public intervention acts in one of three ways: either reducing, transferring or compensating for risk. The end objective is to cost-effectively achieve a risk-return profile for investments that can attract large quantities of low-cost commercial financing at scale. UNDP’s comparative advantage lies with reducing risk, through well-designed policies and regulations, and working with its partners on integrated solutions across policies and finance. For more information please visit www.undp.org/DREI

The Regional Technical Specialist (RTS) works under the overall supervision and leadership of the Principal Technical Advisor (PTA) for Energy and Climate Change Mitigation and Energy based at HQ-New York, and the Environment Regional Team Leader based in UNDP’s Regional Hub in Amman, and in close collaboration with other Technical Specialists and Advisors at both global and regional levels.  RTSs have global responsibilities in their area of specialized technical expertise but are deployed from Regional Hubs, normally close to the countries to which they provide most support. 

 

Position Purpose:

The Regional Technical Specialist for Climate Change Mitigation and Energy is primarily responsible for providing technical, policy, and programming implementation support and oversight, and knowledge and capacity development services to UNDP country offices, and works with other UN agencies, governments and inter-governmental organizations, NGO’s, donors, the private sector, and many others. Specific results are expected in the areas of:

 

Duties and Responsibilities:

Innovation, Strategic Leadership, Policy Dialogue and Advocacy (10%) 

• Maintaining a strategic understanding of, and engagement with, the substantive technical issues, institutions, and processes within the region, including establishing contact and developing strategic partnerships with other agencies, donors, NGO’s, the private sector, scientific institutions and the like;
• Contributing to the development and implementation of new strategic programming opportunities and partnerships in the area of sustainable energy, climate resilient infrastructure and low carbon transport;
• Contributing to cross-substantive area technical dialogue, common strategic visioning, mainstreaming, programming, and other collaboration within the regional team;
• Providing policy development support and guidance;
• Contribute to the development of strategic UNDP policy position papers and internal briefing notes;
• Undertake policy analysis and develop technical tools and guidance;
• Maintaining a trusted leadership role within the region;
• Keeping the Regional Team informed of trends and issues with respect to the substantive technical area;
• Keeping the Principal Technical Advisors informed of trends and issues in the region.

Portfolio Management (10%)

• Developing strategic policy and guidance for strengthening UNDP Country Offices with energy and climate change mitigation project design and implementation including alignment with national priorities;
• Maintaining programme/project and portfolio information and corporate information systems;
• Identifying, and sourcing of, technical expertise and support including assisting with the preparation of TORs, identification and evaluation of experts and reviewing reports.

Programming and Resource Mobilization (35%)

• Programme and project identification and development;
• Providing timely quality information and technical advice on sources of funds, policies, priorities and activities;
• Identifying and suggest to the PTA/STA priorities and entry-points for UNDP assistance;
• Facilitate the process of preparation, design, submission and approval of programme/project concepts and full-fledged proposals for financing;
• Identification and sourcing of technical expertise and support including assisting with the preparation of TORs, identification and evaluation of experts and reviewing reports;
• Liaison with potential (co)financing agencies and institutions.

Development Impact (35%)

• Assisting with inception, contracting and startup of programmes/projects including establishment of indicators, benchmarks and work plans;
• Supporting UNDP country offices in the supervision, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, troubleshooting and adaptive management of approved projects, including preparing and reviewing annual reports and work plans;
• Promoting gender equity/empowerment in programming opportunities;

Learning, Knowledge Management and Self Development (10%)

• Evaluating, capturing, codifying, synthesizing lessons and stimulating the uptake of best practices and knowledge, including the development of knowledge materials;
• Peer reviewing, commenting on, and seeking to improve the technical quality of programmes/projects, policies, practices, guidelines, advisory notes, publications and the like;
• Developing and carrying out a personal learning plan.
• Assisting with preparation of regional Community of Practice meetings;
• Preparing and delivering training courses as needed;
• Responding to queries on programme/project progress, impacts and lessons;
• Developing knowledge products of relevance to UNDP-NCE’s support to countries on low emission climate resilient development in the area of energy, infrastructure and transport;

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

 

Competencies:

Core Competencies CoreBehaviouralCompetencies.pdf (undp.org)

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

 

People Management: UNDP People: Management Competencies can be found on the dedicated site. 

 

Cross-Functional & Technical Competencies:

2030 Agenda: Planet: Nature, Climate and Energy

• Energy: Energy access
• Energy: Energy planning, derisking energy investment and financial appraisal
• Energy: Market-based energy financing and practical application
• Climate Change Mitigation: Sustainable infrastructure
• Climate change Mitigation: Concepts and application

Business Management: Portfolio Management

• Ability to select, prioritise and control the organization’s programmes and projects, in line with its strategic objectives and capacity; ability to balance the implementation of change initiatives and the maintenance of business-as-usual, while optimising return on investment

Business Management: Partnerships Management

• Ability to build and maintain partnerships with wide networks of stakeholders, Governments, civil society and private sector partners, experts, and others in line with UNDP strategy and policies

Business Direction and Strategy: Strategic Thinking

• Ability to develop effective strategies and prioritized plans in line with UNDP’s objectives, based on the systemic analysis of challenges, potential risks, and opportunities; linking the vision to reality on the ground, and creating tangible solutions.

Business Management: Project Management

• Ability to plan, organize, prioritize, and control resources, procedures, and protocols to achieve specific goals.

Business Management: Communication

• Ability to communicate in a clear, concise and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience
• Ability to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media and other appropriate channels

 

Required Skills and Experience:

Education:

• Advanced University degree (Master’s Degree or equivalent) in Engineering, Environmental Economics, Finance or Environmental Sciences, development studies or other closely related field is required, or
• A first-level university degree (Bachelor’s degree) in the areas mentioned above in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree;
• Certification in project management is an advantage;

Experience:

• Minimum of 7 years’ experience with a Master’s degree, or 9 years’ experience with a Bachelor’s degree, working in sustainable energy (renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy access);
• Demonstrated experience in providing policy advisory services in areas related to climate change mitigation and sustainable energy;
• Experience with the design and/or implementation of development projects to promote sustainable energy investment;
• Experience working in Arab States region;
• Direct experience in the design and implementation of GEF and GCF CCM/energy projects is preferable;
• Experience in crisis settings in an asset;
• Demonstrated experience in structuring blended finance solutions is preferable;
• Experience at international organizations is an advantage;
• Direct working experience with Development Finance Institutions is an advantage;
• Demonstrated experience in mobilizing partnerships and resources at scale is preferable
• Fluency in French and/or Arabic.

Language:

• Excellent knowledge of the English language, with exceptional writing, presentation and communication skills;

 

Please note that continuance of appointment beyond the initial 12 months is contingent upon the successful completion of a probationary period.

 

Disclaimer

Important information for US Permanent Residents (‘Green Card’ holders) 

Under US immigration law, acceptance of a staff position with UNDP, an international organization, may have significant implications for US Permanent Residents. UNDP advises applicants for all professional level posts that they must relinquish their US Permanent Resident status and accept a G-4 visa, or have submitted a valid application for US citizenship prior to commencement of employment. 

UNDP is not in a position to provide advice or assistance on applying for US citizenship and therefore applicants are advised to seek the advice of competent immigration lawyers regarding any applications.

 

Applicant information about UNDP rosters

Note: UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement.  We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.

 

Non-discrimination

UNDP has a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual exploitation and misconduct, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.  

UNDP is an equal opportunity and inclusive employer that does not discriminate based on race, sex, gender identity, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, age, language, social origin or other status.

 

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