Research Specialist – national position

Within the context of SDG Financing, UNDP has launched the Sustainable Finance Hub, which is a finance and innovation platform that draws on a critical mass of UNDP expertise, initiatives, and partnerships to support the mobilization and leveraging of resources for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and lead the implementation of the new UNDP private sector strategy. As part of UNDP’s Sustainable Finance Hub, development finance has a central role to play in delivering support to the UN member-countries, in leveraging new sources of capital, offsetting high debt burdens, and in innovating for long term solutions to challenges around climate change, disaster resilience, and fragile ecosystems.

The Istanbul International Center for Private Sector in Development (ICPSD) is one of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) global policy centers mandated to leverage the role of the private sector in development. The ICPSD was established in Istanbul, Turkey on the basis of the Partnership Framework Agreement signed between the Government of the Republic of Türkiye and the United Nations Development Program in March 2011. The Center is one of the five global thematic centers of UNDP, advocating and facilitating the contribution of the private sector to human development and inclusive growth through the following thematic priority areas:

• Private sector engagement through South-South cooperation for the SDGs
• Role of the Private Sector in Skills Development
• Impact Investing
• Private Sector Resilience and Crisis Response

Under its impact investment thematic area, ICPSD and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) established the Global Islamic Finance and Impact Investing Platform (GIFIIP) in 2016 to position Islamic finance and impact investing as leading enablers of SDG implementation around the world. Bringing together the private sector, governments and key stakeholders operating in the Islamic finance and impact investing markets, the platform aims to promote market-based solutions to sustainable development challenges. 

Recognizing that the principles of Islamic finance and impact investing, with their rigorous moral and social criteria, their emphasis on inclusiveness and broader understanding of business-society relations complement each other, the Green Sukuk Initiative has been launched under GIFIIP. Further to this, ICPSD initiated the “Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)” project to establish an online training platform to build expertise on Islamic finance, in partnership with IsDB and Durham University. ICPSD, also provides technical assistance on private sector led engagements, including, but not limited to, green sukuk, Islamic micro and SME financing, Islamic credit guarantee fund mechanisms. 

The Research Speicalist will guide and support the coordination and production of reports and knowledge management activities of ICPSD in Islamic finance and inclusive business areas; toolkit and training development initiatives of the Center, cooperation, technical advisory and implementation assistance offered to other UNDP units, including Country Offices and Regional Bureaus. The Research Specialist will support coordinating, managing and implementing the Islamic finance activities ongoing and planned under GIFIIP, as well as the broader Islamic finance projects of the Center. The Research Specialist will promote the organization’s capacity as a reliable partner with national as well as international counterparts, ensure coordination of sectoral activities with broader country/regional/global programmes and advocate on behalf of organization’s goals. The Research Specialist will also conduct research on Islamic finance tools and mechanisms under the impact investing thematic are of the Center and will participate in the formulation, management and evaluation of knowledge management activities within ICPSD’s mandate.

Ensures implementation of the strategies of ICPSD on the private sector’s role in Islamic finance in following areas:

• Provide thorough analysis and research of the role of private sector in Islamic finance and inclusive business, focusing on good practices and lessons learned that enhance inclusive growth.
• Conduct research and support preparation of high-quality policy and programme guidance material for fields such as innovative financing mechanisms, Islamic finance ecosystem and inclusive business models.
• Analysis and synthesis of proposals on the areas for support and interventions within these thematic areas.
• Conduct the necessary internal procedures related to editing, design, clearance of documents and advocacy materials.
• Contribute to the facilitation of partnerships and regularly cover industry related stories and their development impact through briefs and blogposts.

Participates in the effective formulation, management and evaluation of knowledge management  activities of Islamic finance and inclusive business thematic areas of ICPSD focusing on quality control from formulation to implementation of the ICPSD activities:

• Design and formulation of some parts of ICPSD activities within the area of responsibility, translating ICPSD’s priorities into local interventions and partnerships.
• Initiation of projects, finalization of contribution agreements; determination of required revisions; coordination of the mandatory and budget re-phasing exercises, closure of projects through review.
• Application of conceptual models in support of partnership and intervention design.
• Financial and substantive monitoring and evaluation of ICPSD activities in the knowledge management activities under Islamic economic & finance, identification of operational and financial problems, development of solutions.
• Prepare inputs for reporting, including reporting to Portfolio Lead and management of ICPSD.
• Supervise consultancy works and review and assess products/services provided by consultants and experts counterparts and notify/advise the Project Manager/Portfolio Lead and Deputy Director on quality and recommend appropriate actions to undertake for improvement of results.
• Manage, supervise, guide and review the work and outputs of interns, fellows and national personnel in the Islamic Finance Portfolio.
• Review terms of reference for national/international short-term and long-term consultants on projects’ needs as per UNDP policies and provide support during the recruitment and evaluations processes based on UNDP procedures.

Creation of strategic partnerships and implementation of the outreach and resource mobilization strategy:

• Review and oversee communication materials including press releases, speeches, briefs, blogposts as per UNDP policies.
• Organize and coordinate roundtable discussions, press conferences, briefing sessions, conferences, workshops, retreats, national and international events.
• Design and formulate ICPSD activities within the area of responsibility, translating ICPSD’s priorities into local and international interventions and partnerships.
• Apply conceptual models in support of partnership and intervention design.
• Analyze and research information on donors, preparation of substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation, identification of opportunities for initiation of new projects.
• Initiate and maintain partnerships with development partners, government institutions, private sector, civil society and other stakeholders to contribute to the achievement of the ICPSD’s objectives.
• Identify and link to related ongoing activities within other institutions and encourage collaboration and synergies.
• Prepare any follow-on project proposals as per the needs identified by UNDP/donor.
• Support communication, advocacy and outreach activities for smooth implementation in line with the respective guidelines of UNDP.

Provision of top-quality advisory services to the relevant stakeholders and facilitation of knowledge building and management:

• Identification of sources of information related to policy-driven issues.
• Identification and synthesis of best practices and lessons learned directly linked to the thematic areas.
• Sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice.
• Organization of high profile dialogue on the thematic area.
• Supervision and management of the archive of briefings, meeting minutes and ppt presentations, including review and regular update and guidance for internal partners. 

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

The Research Specialist will be working under the guidance of and reporting directly to ICPSD Deputy Director.

• 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

• 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.
• Knowledge Generation: Ability to research and turn information into useful knowledge, relevant for context, or responsive to a stated need
• Relationship management: Ability to engage with a wide range of public and private partners, build, sustain and/or strengthen working relations, trust and mutual understanding
• 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
• Multi-stakeholder engagement and funding: Knowledge and ability to forge multi-stakeholder partnerships, and remove any obstacles to resource mobilization and multi-stakeholder funding platforms
• System Thinking:  Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgement to understand how interrelated elements coexist within an overall process or system, and to consider how altering one element can impact on other parts of the system

Advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent)  in Economics, Management, Business Administration, Islamic Finance, International Development, Development Finance, Economic Development, International Relations, Political Science, or related field is required.

OR

 A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in the areas stated above, in combination with  additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree