Technical Specialist- Partnerships and Policy [Open to internal and external applicants]

Tiered Approach

In line with the commitment to safeguard capacity and support personnel already in the Organization, a majority of UNDP UNCDF/UNV vacancies are advertised using a tiered application process whereby:

• Tier 0: UNDP/UNCDF/UNV IP staff holding permanent (PA) and fixed-term (FTA) appointments, whose posts will be abolished, or contracts will be terminated or not renewed during 2026.
• Tier 1: Other UNDP/UNCDF/UNV staff holding permanent (PA) and fixed-term (FTA) appointments
• Tier 2: UNDP/UNCDF/UNV staff holding temporary appointments (TA), personnel on regular PSA contracts, and Expert and Specialist UN Volunteers
• Tier 3 or no tier indicated: All other contract types from UNDP/UNCDF/UNV and other agencies, and other external candidates

Please make note of the Tier(s) indicated in the vacancy title, if any, and ensure that you satisfy the eligibility to apply.

BACKGROUND AND ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

The Central African region is home to the second largest tropical rainforest in the world, is sucking out about 1.5 billion tons of CO2 of the atmosphere or 4% of the world’s emissions every year and provides a habitat to more than 10,000 plant and animal species. Forest loss is accelerating despite ongoing efforts, as government action alone has not been enough to establish an effective balance between the interests of the forest and of economic development. On this basis, a coalition of donors – the European Union, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Kingdom of Norway, the Republic of France, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Republic of Korea – together with Central African partner countries – Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of Cameroon, the Republic of Congo, the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, and the Republic of DRC – have decided to enter into a collaborative partnership to establish the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI). 

CAFI’s objective is to recognize and preserve the value of the forests in the region to mitigate climate change, reduce poverty, and contribute to sustainable development. This objective will be attained through the implementation of country-led, national scale REDD+ and Low Emissions Development (LED) investment frameworks that include policy reforms and measures to address the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation and promote sustainable development. The CAFI Trust Fund is the principal means to implement the Central African Forest Initiative. It is administered by the MPTF-O, that also provides the Secretariat services.

The CAFI Trust Fund is the principal means to implement the Central African Forest Initiative. It is administered by the MPTF-Office (http://mptf.undp.org/factsheet/fund/AFI00). As per the Fund Terms of Reference and the direct cost Secretariat project document, the UNDP Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office (MPTFO) hosts the CAFI Secretariat, under the oversight of the CAFI Executive Board and other participating UN organizations.

POSITION PURPOSE

The Technical Specialist will play a key role in the orientation, coordination, and communication of CAFI activities in DRC, acting as the national focal point for the secretariat to the government and implementing organizations (accredited agency and government implementation entities), as well as facilitate CAFI secretariat engagement with other national and regional initiatives (CBFP, etc.). The Technical Specialist (Policy) will lead CAFI programmes via cross-program synergy development, national stakeholder engagement, and disseminating/communicating lessons learned.

UNDP adopts a portfolio approach to accommodate changing business needs and leverage linkages across interventions to achieve its strategic goals. Therefore, UNDP personnel are expected to work across units, functions, teams, and projects in multidisciplinary teams in order to enhance and enable horizontal collaboration.

KEY DUTIES AND ACCOUNTABILITIES

1.) Contributes to the development, manages and implements CAFI`s country engagement process in DRC, including liaison and coordination with relevant officials internal and external to CAFI at both strategic and technical levels.

•               Serve as the national focal point for the secretariat to the government and partner institutions.

•               Drive and coordinate all stakeholder engagement efforts in DRC under the supervision of the Chief Policy Dialogue and Country Engagement, to identify and document opportunities for initiating a strategic dialogue.

•               Establish and maintain strategic engagement with relevant institutions developing strategic partnerships with government institutions, donors, NGOs, the private sector, academia, civil society, and other stakeholders and beneficiaries at the national, regional, and local levels.

•               Facilitate dialogue and advocacy mechanisms, forums, south-south cooperation, political and technical exchanges.

•               Support country engagement with relevant multilateral and regional initiatives & fora (COMIFAC, ECCAS, CBFP, IMF, IFIs, EITI, etc.).

•               Participate in meetings with CAFI donors and partners, prepare and deliver presentations of project results, and follow up with relevant counterparts.

•               Prepare and coordinate generic and country-specific background materials, briefing notes, agendas and meeting documentation to support strategic dialogues and stakeholder meetings.

•               Proactively identify innovative opportunities to strengthen and create synergies between existing country and regionally led initiatives, platforms and mechanisms that support CAFI`s mandate to maximize collective impact

•               Support the design of and delivery of strategic investments and engagement opportunities with donors and DRC government partners to optimize programme efficiency.

•               Enable, with support from CAFI Secretariat experts, the development of standardised models for innovative financial support mechanisms to support DRC’s sustainable development objectives whilst reducing and avoiding negative impacts on forests.

•               Synthesize and document lessons learned and best practices from CAFI programmes to develop knowledge products, inform strategic communications, and respond to queries regarding programme progress and impacts.
 

2.) Support the implementation of CAFI`s engagement process in DRC, including the policy dialogue under the LOI, as well as the development and implementation of partnership agreements between CAFI and DRC.

•               Identify key engagement areas, and develop engagement plans including actor mapping, to maximize CAFI`s programme strategies and interventions.

•               Collaborate within the technical and political outreach efforts with all stakeholders (line ministries, prime minister’s office, president’s office, CAFI Embassies, RCO, implementing organizations and non-state actors).

•               Research and analysis of information to donors, preparation of substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation.

•               Develop texts for partnerships agreements and identify solutions to resolve outstanding negotiating position between CAFI and DRC.

•               Participate and represent CAFI in the different development partner coordination mechanisms (general, national and sectoral development partner coordination mechanisms in DRC to identify relevant points, strategic issues and topics for collective action.

•               Oversee the development of milestone monitoring matrices further to the existing LOI.

•               Oversee the organization of the annual partnership reviews in-country and other ad hoc coordination meetings as required by national circumstances.

•               Facilitate dialogue between the DRC government and the CAFI Secretariat by leading discussions and proposing draft language for political commitments and milestones, governance bodies and monitoring mechanisms.

•               Enable and strengthen the policy dialogue between CAFI and the DRC government by identifying and documenting key areas for strategic support. Produce papers, policy briefs, and notes with strategic analysis and policy recommendations.
 

3.) Support the executive management of the CAFI Secretariat and ensure liaison with other sub-teams within the CAFI Secretariat such as Operations, M&E, Programming, Communications

•               Reviews and takes due diligence on the annual work planning and target setting for the CAFI DRC portfolio including reviewing workplans, tracking deadlines and flagging bottlenecks.

•               Promote effective coordination and communication among CAFI supported programs and partners.

•               Facilitate CAFI programming operations through identification, support and monitoring of institutional capacity building & reform projects and initiatives to ensure delivery of defined programme outcomes.

•               Coordinate and participate in quality control mechanisms to ensure the technical quality of the project outputs, publications, and policy discussions.

•               Mobilize partnership engagement for strategic interventions such as Expressions of Interests, specific projects, Fast-Tracks, etc.

•               Advise and proactively support the CAFI communications team on defensive and proactive policy dialogue related communications, the production of communication products and content for the CAFI webpage.

•               Oversee the development and presentation of policy dialogue related topics for the CAFI Executive Board meetings.

•                Contribute to resource mobilization efforts by identifying strategies and opportunities and providing inputs to the Head of Secretariat and the Chief Policy Dialogue and Country Engagement.

•               Advise programming team on policy support programs and vice versa obtains input from programmes for policy dialogue.
 

4.)  Ensure provision of top quality advisory services and facilitation of knowledge building and management.

•               Identify policy-driven issues; and identify and synthesize best practices and lessons learned directly linked to programme country policy goals.

•               Establish/strengthen national and international advocacy networks. Implement relevant, high -impact advocacy with key partners.

•               Coordinate and ensure integrated support in development of policies and institutions to address country problems and needs in collaboration with the Government and other strategic partners.

•               Support policy advisory services that contribute to inclusive societal digital transformation and take digital technology risks and opportunities or futures signals into account.

•               Provide sound contributions to knowledge networks, communities of practice, and digital knowledge platforms.

•               Organize and deliver training for the operations/ projects staff on programme related matters.

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

Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities: None.

REQUIREMENTS

Education

•        Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in Environment, Ecology, Forestry, Business Management, Law, Economy, or related field is required, or

•        A first-level university degree (Bachelor’s degree) in the areas mentioned above in combination with additional 2 years of qualifying experience, will be given due consideration in lieu of Master’s degree. 

Experience, Knowledge, and Skills 

•        Minimum 5 years (with Master´s degree) or 7 years (with Bachelor´s degree) of professional experience in the field of natural resource management, development economy and/or climate change policy in Central Africa is required.

•        Demonstrated work experience in partnership agreements and programming modalities of the UN, the World Bank or other development cooperation institutions is required.

•        Demonstrated direct experience with development assistance policies and procedures, including programmes in the sectors covered by CAFI’s mandate is required.

•        Experience in working with senior-level development partners at a minimum head of country office level is desired.

•        Proven experience with political engagement with government counterparts, at a minimum with DG level is desired.

•        Proven experience in the management of complex multi-stakeholder processes and the engagement of various groups of stakeholders including constituencies from local communities, civil society, and private sector is desired.

•              Fluency in both French and English is required.

 

Expected Demonstration of 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

Business Direction & Strategy - Strategic Thinking: Develop effective strategies and prioritised plans in line with UNDP’s mission and objectives, based on the systemic analysis of challenges, opportunities and potential risks; link the general vision to reality on the ground to create tangible targeted solutions; learn from a variety of sources to anticipate and effectively respond to both current and future trends; demonstrate foresight.

Partnership management - 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

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 with regular activities for optimal return on investment. Knowledge and understanding of key principles of project, programme, and portfolio management.

2030 Agenda: Planet - Climate: Climate Strategies and Policy: Long-Term Strategies

2030 Agenda: Planet - Climate: Carbon markets

2030 Agenda: Engagement & Effectiveness         - Effectiveness: Project Quality Assurance

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.

KEYWORDS

• Policy
• Partnerships Management
• Multi-stakeholder Management
• Strategic Communication
• Knowledge Management

Equal opportunity

As an equal opportunity employer, UNDP values diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate and, as such, we encourage qualified applicants from all backgrounds to apply for roles in the organization. Our employment decisions are based on merit and suitability for the role, without discrimination. 

UNDP is also committed to creating an inclusive workplace where all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, are valued, can thrive, and benefit from career opportunities that are open to all.

Sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse of authority

UNDP does not tolerate harassment, sexual harassment, exploitation, discrimination and abuse of authority. All selected candidates, therefore, undergo relevant checks and are expected to adhere to the respective standards and principles. 

Probation

For all new UNDP fixed term appointments (FTA), including for staff members being transferred or seconded to UNDP under the Inter-Organization Agreement concerning Transfer, Secondment or Loan of Staff, on an appointment of more than one year, continuation of the appointment beyond the initial 12 months is contingent upon the successful completion of a probationary period.

Right to select multiple candidates

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.

Use of AI by candidates

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