The “Improving Adaptive Capacity and Risk Management of Rural Communities in Mongolia’’ project funded by the Green Climate Fund was launched in March 2021. The project will be implemented by the Ministry of Nature, Environment and Tourism (MET), the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry (MoFALI) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) for 7 years in Dornod, Sukhbaatar, Zavkhan and Khovd aimags.

The project is expected to benefit an estimated 800,000 people (approximately 130,000 direct and 800,000 indirect beneficiaries), of whom 50% are women.

The Objective of the project is to strengthen climate resilience of resource-dependent rural population in the 4 target aimags through feasible adaptation measures for maintaining ecosystem services. To achieve this goal, the following activities within the interrelated outputs will be implemented and reached to the expected results. This includes:

• Output 1: Climate information integrated into land and water use planning at the national and sub-national levels.
• Output 2: Climate-resilient water and soil management practices scaled-up for enhanced small scale herder resource management.
• Output 3: Herder capacity to access markets built for sustainably sourced, climate-resilient livestock products.

The Technical Specialist will be responsible for all aspects of the project as outlined in the project document, will support in delivering the project outputs as outlined in the project document to the required standards of quality and taking into account the implications of time and cost.

The incumbent liaises closely with the national authorities working in the thematic area of the project, the donor community, and other UNDP programmes and projects in the country. The incumbent works with the project experts and counterparts of the Government beneficiary institution(s), as well as engages with other national institutions, international organizations, and other relevant actors. The Technical Specialist will need to report to Deputy Resident Representative and liase with Programme Analyst on the results of the quality assurance work, partnership building, and resources mobilization.

• Propose strategic approaches and priorities for policy engagement, advocacy, and project implementation. Prepare policy briefs, papers, and advocacy messages; and contribute to local and national high-level fora and events.
• lead analytical work to identify key policy issues/gaps to improve policies for the Climate informed decision making in water and livestock sector.
• Lead effective project planning and implementation by providing technical advice for strategic planning for the project as well as formulation and periodic revisions of the project’s annual work plan (AWP), development of detailed implementation plans.
• Conduct thorough analysis of the political, social, and economic situation in the context of the project and provide strategic advice to the Project Implementation Unit and consulting service providers and national institutions, UNDP PA on issues related to the climate adaptation of the sectors and resilience of the herder communities.
• Act as a senior advisor on issues related to project activities. Preparation of corporate, donor and government reports in line with the reporting schedule and UNDP and donor requirements.
• Undertake technical review of project documents produced by the project team and partners, and ensure high technical standards are met.
•  Identify opportunities for synergies with other projects within UNDP and beyond, to advance the key objectives and grow its focus.

Provide technical oversight and quality assurance for project implementation.

• Provide technical expertise and strategic guidance to the Project Manager (PM) in effectively planning and implementing project activities to ensure achievement of targets and results. Oversight responsibilities include annual work planning and budgeting, monitoring, and reporting on progress and budgets, management of project resources, procurement of goods and services, and contractual management.
• Advise on adaptation options envisaged in the project document and identify needs for external technical support for effective implementation. Development and revision of terms of references. Update and revise project indicators, baselines, targets, and means of verification for project outcomes, outputs, and activities as required for effective planning, implementation, M&E, and reporting.
• Carry out assessments of the technical, financial, political, operational and management situations on the ground that affect the project implementation and keep the UNDP CO abreast of the situations and potential project risks. Provide leadership in developing risk mitigation measures during all project phases and identifying solutions to address existing gaps arising out of assessments. Prepare and consolidate information, data, and reports on the achievements of the project according to the indicators and targets in the log frame and requirements of FAA and UNDP policies.
• Lead the design and put in place quality control mechanisms, including coordination of contributions from relevant responsible parties to ensure highest quality of project outputs, products, publications, and policy discussion papers and briefs before review and approval by UNDP and the government partners (if needed).
• Provide technical guidance, input, and support to the project team. Ensure coordination between UNDP and all project stakeholders to ensure that financial and operational procedures of the project are in line with UNDP rules and regulations and GCF requirements according to the FAA.

Build strategic partnerships and support resource mobilization.

• Provide strategic guidance on partnership building and regularly liaise and engage in policy dialogue with government institutions, civil society, businesses, technical experts, think tanks, donors, and other national and international stakeholders in the climate adaptation and resilience building of local communities, to strengthen collaboration and maximize the impact of the project.
• Cultivate and maintain strong relationships and strategic linkages with implementing and development partners, government officials, businesses, NGOs, other national and regional stakeholders, and beneficiaries to support and ensure accurate interpretation of project objectives and promote inclusive project implementation.
• Develop and convene networks of collaborators both conventional and novel who are willing to participate in the dialogue, are attracted to the climate adaptation in water and livestock sectors and can advance the work and profile of UNDP. Encourage a dialogue of divergent viewpoints and ensure the voices of all are heard by UNDP.
• Support resource mobilization, which includes identifying funding opportunities and supporting the preparation of funding proposals and donor briefings. Work with CO to define roles and incentives for private sector participation and develop relevant mechanisms for private sector engagement.

Lead knowledge and capacity building, knowledge sharing, and advocacy relative to the assigned thematic area(s) and UNDP.

• Provide substantive advice and technical support to the development and implementation of a capacity development/ learning plan on project planned activities and participate in learning initiatives.
• Lead the process of knowledge capture of national and international know-how in provision of climate information and water and livestock sector adaptation and capacity of locals to the disaster risk management and document project lessons, experiences, and best practices that may be useful in design and implementation of similar projects for organizational and external sharing and learning. Produce materials with lessons learned and best practices and other knowledge-based tools.
• Keep abreast of the developments in the water and livestock adaptation, risk management of communities  and provide guidance on how to incorporate them into UNDP’s current and future programming in the relevant sector. Provide technical guidance and quality assurance to content development for knowledge products.
• Lead advocacy for and strengthening of national capacity for planning and coordination of development programmes in the sector.

Core competencies:

• 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 competencies:

• UNDP People Management Competencies can be found in the dedicated site.

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies:

Business Direction & Strategy

• 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.

Business Development

• Collective Intelligence Design: Ability to bring together diverse groups of people, data, information or ideas, and technology to design services or solutions.

Business Management

• Project Management: Ability to plan, organize, prioritize, and control resources, procedures, and protocols to achieve specific goals.
• Risk Management: Ability to identify and organize action around mitigating and proactively managing risks.

Partnership Management

• Resource Mobilization: Ability to identify funding sources, match funding needs (programmes/projects/initiatives) with funding opportunities and establish a plan to meet funding requirements.
• 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.
• Strategic Engagement: Ability to capture and sustain attention, interest and agreement of high-level, influential policy and decision makers and secure their buy-in of high-level vision and objectives.