Technical Advisor- Small Grants Project

Background

The Global Environment Facility supported Small Grants Programme of UNDP is aimed at supporting the achievement of global environmental benefits and the protection of the global environment through community and local solutions that work in harmony with local, national, and global action. To that end, the objective of this project is to enable community organizations to take collective action for adaptive landscape management for socio-ecological resilience through the design, implementation, and evaluation of grant projects for global environmental benefits and sustainable development in three ecologically sensitive landscapes: a) the Knuckles Conservation Forest and its buffer zone; b) the coastal region from Mannar Island to Jaffna; and, c) the Colombo Wetlands. This will be carried out through participatory, multi-stakeholder, landscape management using the COMDEKS approach. The proposed interventions are aimed at enhancing social and ecological resilience through community-based, community-driven projects to conserve biodiversity, optimize ecosystem services, manage land (particularly agroecosystems) and water sustainably, and mitigate climate change. The pilots will build on experience and lessons learned from previous SGP operational phases, and lessons learned from the COMDEKS Programme, to assist community organizations in carrying out and coordinating projects in pursuit of outcomes they have identified in landscape plans and strategies. Organized community projects in the landscape will generate ecological and socio-economic synergies that will produce large and potentially sustainable global environmental benefits and at the same time increase social capital and local sustainable development benefits. Multi-stakeholder groups will also take experience, lessons learned, and best practices from prior initiatives and implement a number of potential scaling-up efforts during this project’s lifetime.

Duties and Responsibilities

The primary scope of the consultancy is to provide necessary technical advisory services on the implementation of key project activities, advise on the alignment of projects to the updated landscape strategies, direct capacity building, ensure proposals cater to the GEF indicators and landscape needs, and complete the organization of the multi-sectoral working groups. The advisory services are to be provided to both the SGP National Coordinator and the National Steering Committee.

1. Provide technical advisory support to the National Coordinator and the SGP Secretariat to implement the Project in line with the approved Project Document and to maximize the Global Environmental Benefits.
2. Provide regular updates to the National Coordinator and ensure that the technical aspects of the project are progressing appropriately, aligning with the updated landscape strategies, and taking necessary measures to mitigate anticipated risks.
3. Ensure monitoring and reporting formats are revised as needed to align with relevant indicators for Operational Phase 7 and ensure that training conducted in the relevant landscapes encompasses these indicators.
4. With the SGP Secretariat organize workshops and give technical advice, namely, induction workshop for all grantees, workshops conducted to enhance project proposal quality, capacity development workshops, etc., and provide updates to the National Steering Committee on the attainment of GEF indicators through projects, and incorporation of these in trainings.
5. Actively engage in monitoring progress and offer advice and guidance to ensure the achievement of indicator targets, provide support in implementing the Gender Action Plan (GAP), assist with the Social and Environmental Screening Procedure, GRM, Stakeholder Engagement Plan, and address technical challenges as needed.
6. Ensure partner co-financing is secured and maintain and update a co-financing table each month.
7. Resolving issues on grantees and liaising with respective Government agencies to support the grantees and the SGP Secretariat to address administrative bottlenecks on the request of the National Coordinator and NSC.

Competencies

Core
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

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies Thematic Area	Name	Definition
Business Direction & Strategy System	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 however alternating one element can impact on other parts of the system.
Business Development	Knowledge Generation	Ability to research and turn information into useful knowledge, relevant for content or responsive to a stated need.
2030 Agenda: People	Gender	Climate Change and Risk Management of Disasters with a Gender Perspective
2030 Agenda: Planet	Disaster Risk Reduction and Recovery	Disaster and Climate Risk Governance
2030 Agenda: Planet	Nature Climate & Energy	Climate Change Policies: Climate Finance
Resource Management	Business Management	Ability to allocate and use resources in a strategic or tactical way in line with principles of accountability and integrity
2030 Agenda: Planet	Nature Climate & Energy	Climate Change Adaptation: Strategies

Required Skills and Experience

Min. Education requirements	Master’s degree or equivalent in the areas of development, biodiversity conservation, natural resource management, or related fields.
Min. years of relevant work experience	Minimum 7 years of demonstrable experience in the areas of biodiversity conservation, natural resources management, land management, soil conservation on biodiversity, climate change, and M&E or related fields.
Required skills	Expertise, analytical skills, communication skills, problem-solving skills, collaboration and interpersonal skills, adaptability, critical thinking, cultural sensitivity, ethical conduct, etc.
Desired skills in addition to the competencies covered in the Competencies section	Prior experience in the application of indicator analysis is an asset. Demonstrated prior experience in working with multiple stakeholders across a wide range of disciplines are an asset. Demonstrated prior experience to synthesize relevant collected data and findings for the preparation of case studies and progress reports is desirable. Previous experience in applying knowledge, information, and best practices from multiple sectors is desirable. A proven background in the development and implementation of biodiversity monitoring, M&E and project management is desirable. Previous experience working with civil society organizations and multi-stakeholders using the landscape conservation approach is desirable.
Required Language(s)	Excellent command of English with Sinhala/ or Tamil written and spoken.