Coordinator, Boots on the Ground

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, South-South and Triangular cooperation initiatives, and engages in UN inter-agency coordination in specific thematic areas.  BPPS works closely with UNDP’s Crisis Response Unit (CRU) 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.

UNDP’s Strategic Plan 2014 – 2017 focuses on supporting the organization’s mission to help countries eradicate poverty and reduce inequalities and exclusions while ensuring environmental sustainability, good governance and resilience. In line with the Strategic Plan there is a critical need to provide leadership and technical support to deliver on and contribute to sustainable development and resilience-building, including addressing the challenge to development generated by climate change.  This challenge threatens to further exacerbate inequities, degrade natural resources, and impoverish vulnerable populations. The Strategic Plan sets out to improve the capacity of the poor and increase their prospects for sustainable employment and livelihoods that are resilient to future climatic changes. In this context, the need for expertise to assist countries to plan, adopt policy frameworks, and build institutional capacities to substantially reinforce action on climate change continues to be a crucial area of work for UNDP.

The Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction Team (CDT) in the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) is contributing to the above objectives by concentrating on three key climate change policy-focused work areas:

1)         Corporate climate change policy coherence: key services include promoting programme and policy coherence on climate change issues across UNDP, providing inputs to corporate messaging, briefs and knowledge products on climate change and supporting cross-UN activities on climate change;

2)         Capacity building for climate change: key services include technical and policy support to better position developing countries to plan for, access, deliver and monitor and report different sources of financing and support to low-emission, climate-resilient development pathways; and

3)         Policy and technical support to regional service centers and country offices, particularly focused on Small Island Developing States (SIDS)/Least Developed Countries (LDCs): key services include support for the mainstreaming of climate change concerns into development planning and processes at the national, sub-national and/or sectoral levels, climate finance and climate-poverty linkages.

This work builds on UNDP’s growing portfolio of projects and programmes for which UNDP provides oversight, quality assurance, global and regional policy support and national technical advisory services throughout implementation, as well as learning to enhance the delivery of results and to inform future climate change programming.  Support is provided in particular through the UNDP Global Environment Facility (GEF) and Montreal Protocol funds and global climate change programmes. UNDP’s climate change portfolio is active in over 140 countries throughout five regions. These programmes also link to UNDP’s actions in the areas of disaster risk prevention and reduction, biodiversity and ecosystem management, forests, drylands, water and oceans, and gender empowerment.

A key programme to support the work of the Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction Cluster at country level is the Strategic Initiative to Address Climate Change in LDCs, also referred to as the "Boots on the Ground programme” that supports LDCs in responding to the threat of climate change by strengthening high-quality and timely policy advice and providing sustained institutional and capacity development support on climate change at the country level. Through this initiative, UNDP has intensified its policy support to LDC governments through a network of 20 national climate change specialists.  Over the course of 2016,in light of Agenda 2030, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the Sendai Framework on DRR, there is opportunity to develop and strengthen the role of Boots on the Ground to support country level action for an integrated approach to climate, energy and DRR.

The Coordinator will be responsible for managing and developing the Boots on the Ground programme as well as contributing experiences to and supporting coherence with UNDP’s overall strategy and objectives for the Climate and DRR Cluster. The Coordinator will report directly to the Global Team Leader for Climate Change. S/he will work closely with the Climate Change Specialist, Global Team Leader for Disaster Risk Reduction, Global Team Leader for Energy and other members of the CDT team.

This Coordinator will support the Boots on the Ground programme in relation to UNDP’s strategic priorities on Climate Change, DRR and Energy through the following functions

1)    Policy Coherence and Programme Support:
•    Coordinate timely guidance and support from HQ to Regional Policy Hubs and national Boots on the Ground officers as they engage in policy dialogues and programme support at the national level with key partners such as governments, donors, civil society, ensuring adherence with and consistent and integrated application of HQ/global approaches and strategies;
•    Coordinate  and develop HQ guidance and briefings on regional and national  policy issues to Boots on the Ground Network related to post-2015 climate action and an integrated approach to climate, energy and disaster risk reduction  as developed by HQ;
•    Coordinate and develop briefings from HQ to Boots on the Ground Network regarding the formulation of national low carbon and climate resilient development strategies building on methodologies developed by HQ;
•    Coordinate and develop briefings on HQ guidance to Boots on the Ground Network to build capacity of governments in programming climate related resources and provide advice on the effective use and management of different climate financing mechanisms, including multidonor climate funds;
•    Coordinate briefings on HQ guidance to Boots on the Ground Network on cross cutting initiatives that can maximize synergies between climate change, gender, poverty and Agenda 2030, including south south cooperation and energy access;
•    Supports and coordinates work on future positioning of the Boots on the Ground Programme to advance support for country level action on Agenda 2030 in relation to climate change, disaster risk reduction and sustainable energy.

2) Knowledge Management, Networking and Partnerships:

•    Provide substantive background to Boots on the Ground Network based on HQ briefings to Regional Policy Specialists on global and regional events and initiatives of strategic importance being implemented by UNDP and other UN organizations;
•    Secure a flow of information to  Boots on the Ground Network from HQ, Regional Service Centres and Country Offices about major climate, energy and DRR related activities underway by UNDP HQ as well as by other UN bodies and major global and regional actors whilst also feeding back information on national needs to inform HQ policy support;
•    Secure the effective flow of information between Boots officers, Regional Hubs and HQ to ensure that all are informed about national, regional and global activities of the Boots on the Ground programme;
•    Coordinate the development, publication and dissemination of programming toolkits and other knowledge products for the Boots on the Ground cohort;
•    Disseminate information, data and knowledge from the Boots on the Ground programme through corporate and other prominent knowledge management mechanisms (e.g. UNDP website, Adaptation Learning Mechanism, Climate Finance Options, CC: Learn, etc.);
•    Identify relevant lessons learned to be disseminated between countries and identify and develop linkages between countries as appropriate to support south-south cooperation;
•    Contribute to the collection and analysis of results from the Boots on the Ground programme, including the development and finalization of Boots on the Ground external reports and products, including the Global Activities Report;
•    Liaise and coordinate with development partners (i.e. governments, NGOs) and donors, supporting strategic alliances at the global level;
•    Provide substantive inputs, including lessons from the Boots on the Ground programme, to HQ briefings prepared in collaboration with other teams in BPPS  on links between climate change and other development concerns under Agenda 2030 such as governance, private sector, poverty alleviation, gender, crisis prevention and recovery and capacity development.

3) Project Management and Budget Management Functions:
•    Support hiring of Regional Policy Specialists and National Officers under the programme;
•    Oversee project budget formulation and budget revisions within Atlas system, prepare for year-end closure of accounts in timely manner;
•    Ensure records are maintained in Atlas so as to produce managerial information and other corporate reports on real time;
•    Prepare project progress reports (quarterly and annual/financial and substantive).

Core Competencies

• Innovation: Ability to make new and useful ideas work;
• Leadership: Ability to persuade others to follow;
• People Management: Ability to improve performance and satisfaction;
• Communication: Ability to listen, adapt, persuade and transform;
• Delivery: Ability to get things done

Technical/Functional    
Primary    

• Climate Change (General): Knowledge of climate change Including climate change international regime) and ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations    
• Climate Change Adaptation: Knowledge of climate change adaptation concepts and the ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations    
• Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  

Secondary

• Knowledge Management: Ability to efficiently handle and share information and knowledge
• Results Based Management: Ability to manage programmes and projects with a strategy aimed at improved performance and demonstrable results
• Global Positioning: Knowledge of global institutions (such as the UN, IFIs), processes (such as G20 and various UN initiatives), good grasp of UNDP’s niche, and ability to engage and foster strong

Education:    
•    Masters degree in environment, energy, development studies, international relations or a related field

Experience:    
•    A minimum of 5 years relevant work experience on climate change and international development areas
•    Experience working in developing country on climate change and/or development programming in a UN country office required. Experience working with a One UN country and/or UNCT teams an asset
•    Policy advisory experience at Headquarters level for an international organization
•    Excellent knowledge of climate change and key development issues. Knowledge of disaster risk reduction, energy an asset
•    Work experience in an international organization required, UNDP experience an asset
•    Work experience in a national government and in collaborating with national governments on climate change issues
•    Knowledge of UNDP rules, regulations, policies and procedures is an asset
•    Proven excellent oral and written communication and presentation skills 
•    Experience in project management

Language Requirements:    
•    Excellent knowledge of English, as well as writing, presentation and communication skills
•    Knowledge of another UN language an asset