Social and Environmental Standards Specialist

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.  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 addition to UNDP’s bilateral partnerships in Nature, Climate, Energy and Waste, UNDP is an accredited multilateral implementing agency of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Multilateral Fund (MLF), the Adaptation Fund (AF) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF). As part of UNDP’s partnership with these vertical funds (VFs), UNDP’s Environmental Finance Unit supports UNDP’s Nature, Climate, Energy and Waste related Hubs and provides countries specialized integrated technical services for eligibility assessment, programme formulation, capacity development, policy advice, technical assistance, training and technology transfer, mobilization of co-financing, implementation oversight, results management and evaluation, performance-based payments and knowledge management services. 

UNDP’s Social and Environmental Standards (SES) (www.undp.org/ses) underpin the sustainable development results that UNDP supports. While UNDP’s SES provides a robust safeguards framework for the organization, sustained investment in Country Office capacities for integrating SES into the project and programme design and implementation is critical. UNDP has put a global SES Implementation Plan supported by regional and country office plans managed by the Regional Bureau. 

The Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific delivers a full range of policy, programme, and operations support to 24 Country Offices (COs) in the Asia-Pacific region and provides support and oversight to a large regional portfolio of  projects  financed by  a  variety of  donors,  including the  Global  Environment Facility,  Green Climate Fund, and other vertical funds to which UNDP is accredited.

As part of the Global Policy Network in the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, UNDP’s Nature, Climate, Energy and Waste 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. The Vertical Fund Programme Support, Oversight and Compliance Unit has established a Safeguards Team covering the portfolio of NCE programming in UNDP to ensure compliance with the UNDP SES and by extension similar policies of key partners. 

The Regional Social and Environmental Standards Specialist (Regional SES Specialist) will support UNDP Country Offices in the Asia and Pacific region in providing oversight of the SES requirements for Vertical Fund projects. This support will focus on quality assurance of the required SES documentation necessary for project execution to comply with the UNDP SES. The Regional SES Specialist will be required to coordinate closely with SES focal points in UNDP to support broader SES capacity building in UNDP. The Regional SES Specialist will be part of the global  SES team. 

Scope of Work 

SES Oversight and Quality Assurance in the RBAP region 

• Provide quality assurance support to Country Offices and Project teams on social and environmental screenings and SES assessment/management plans of  VF projects in the region to ensure compliance with the SES. Provide comprehensive feedback to the Country Office on these documents to improve quality and build internal capacity.
• Provide internal SES clearance for VF projects with SESP rating of exempt, low or moderate and escalate clearance to SES Lead as needed, in line with the VF SES workflows.
• Track progress of SES priority projects’ implementation of required SES management plans and advise Country Office colleagues and project teams on new social and environmental risks, changes to project risk categorization, and other SES-related challenges.
• Ensure the required project-level grievance mechanisms are established and functioning for the assigned portfolio of VF projects.
• During project design and start-up, support the realization of SES opportunities and avoidance of SES risks (i.e., participate in Pre-investment steering committee meetings – PISCs) for VF projects
• During implementation, provide enhanced quality assurance technical SES support to Country Offices to oversee the implementation of SES management plans. Identify potential actions that may be needed to ensure the project complies with the SES.
• Advise on and, as needed, quality assure safeguards-related sections of VF project progress reports and evaluations (e.g., donor reports, annual progress reports, GEF Project Implementation Reviews /GCF Annual Progress Reviews, mid-term reviews, and final evaluations).
• Undertake safeguards oversight troubleshooting missions when requested.

 SES Knowledge Management and Outreach 

• Support Country Office Senior Management in their engagement with partners and stakeholders (including affected people, implementing partners, and donors) on VF project-related issues linked to the SES and its accountability mechanisms (i.e., SRM and SECU).
• Engage in regional safeguards networks and partnerships to ensure learning and exchange on safeguards with partners and UNDP’s leadership role in this area.
• Document and share lessons learned, including cases where things went wrong and promising models of SES implementation.
• Participate in and contribute to SES team learning.
• Support the Identification of common SES risks, capacity needs, and challenges in preparing required SES documentation and applying the SES across the VF programmes in the region and advise on the development of strategies to internalize this learning to build SES capacity in UNDP
• Coordinate with UNDP SES experts in the region and UNDP (including SES experts in other regions and the GPN SES network) to ensure a consistent interpretation and approach of the SES policy.
• The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

Institutional Arrangement

• The incumbent will work remotely from his/her home base within the Asia and Pacific Region;
• The incumbent will report to  the Head of Safeguards and Risk Management in the VF Programme Support, Oversight and Compliance Unit based in New York, USA.
• The incumbent will be given access to relevant information necessary for the execution of the tasks under this assignment;
• The incumbent will engage regularly with the supervisor by email and Teams on a weekly and/or as needed daily basis;
• The incumbent will be responsible for providing her/his own workstation (i.e. laptop, internet, phone, scanner/printer, etc.) and must have access to reliable internet connection;
• Given the global consultations to be undertaken during this assignment, the incumbent is expected to be reasonably be flexible with his/her availability for such consultations taking into consideration different time zones.

Minimum Qualifications of the Successful IPSA

Min. Education requirements   

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in Environmental Sciences, Environmental Management, Environmental Policy, Anthropology, Sociology, or a 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.

Min. years of relevant work experience              

• Minimum of 5 years (with master’s degree) or 7 years (with bachelor’s degree) of relevant experience in the area of environmental and social safeguards

Required skills  

• Direct experience in social and environmental risk management, due diligence, and/or quality assurance
• Direct experience in design and/or implementation of sustainable development projects in the Asia and the Pacific region
• Experience with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint skills; familiarity with e-presentation techniques and ability to operate with web-based applications
• Applicant must be residing in the Asia and the Pacific region at the time of application

Desired skills     

• Relevant safeguards work experience in an international development organization is an advantage
• Knowledge of and experience applying the UNDP SES or similar frameworks is an asset
• Experience with climate and environment vertical funds (e.g. GCF and GEF) or other relevant environment programming highly desired

Required Language(s)   

• Fluency in written and spoken English is required.
• Fluency in other official UN languages, Arabic or Chinese in particular, would be an advantage

Source: https://estm.fa.em2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/CX_1/requisitions/job/18444