Regional Cluster Leader - Climate Change & Disaster Resilience and Global Energy Policy Advisor

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.

The Regional Cluster Leader based in the Istanbul Regional Hub is responsible for guiding and leading the provision of policy and programme advisory services, in multidisciplinary technical areas, to country offices and regional programmes in the RBEC region.  Based on his/her recognized expertise in a relevant technical focus area, s/he contributes to formulation of policy standards, policies and frameworks in the thematic areas of Climate Change & Disaster Resilience. S/he leads advocacy and represents the organization in the programme dimensions of the respective thematic area, mobilizing of resources, promoting partnerships and directing the work of staff within the team at regional and country level. 

The Regional Cluster Leader will facilitate the environment for creation of Development Solution Teams (DSTs) in the Regional Hub and across regions and ensure an integrated multi-disciplinary approach to policy and programme support. As the Global Energy Policy Advisor, s/he will provide substantive support to the head of the global energy team in supervision and guidance to all energy policy and technical advisors. S/he will also liaise closely with key stakeholders to advance UNDP’s policy advisory services and programming at the global and regional levels in the areas of Sustainable Energy for All, energy access, energy efficiency, energy financing, and sustainable and renewable energy options. S/he will have double reporting lines to the BPPS HQ-based Chief of Profession for the Climate Change & Disaster Risk Reduction Cluster as well as the Istanbul Regional Hub Manager.

Summary of Key Responsibilities:

• Policy Advice and Programme Support Delivery;
• Support to Policy Formulation;
• Overall Management and Resource Mobilization;
• Partnerships, Representation and Advocacy;
• Knowledge Management.

Policy Advice/ Programme Support Delivery:

• Provide substantive leadership, supervision and guidance to the Policy Advisors in the Regional Hub in their delivery of regional and global programmes and in provision of policy advisory and programme support in the thematic areas of Climate Change, Disaster Resilience and Energy to country offices, ensuring relevance of the services provided to country and regional context including crisis situations;
• Support  UNDP’s Global Energy Policy Team, providing substantive supervision and guidance all  Policy Advisors, liaising with key stakeholders in the areas of energy access, energy efficiency, marked based energy financing, and sustainable and renewable energy options;
• Work closely with the Country Support Team in the Regional Hub to effectively manage and coordinate country office demand for policy advisory and programme support services and enable teams to provide quality, relevant and timely services;
• Provide leadership in ensuring that policies and tools in the thematic areas of Climate Change, Disaster Resilience and Energy are relevant for crisis contexts, as well as in coordination with CRU lead the provision of related contributions to UNDP SURGE for country offices;
• Ensure integrated and multi-disciplinary support to Country Offices working closely with other thematic clusters through the Country Support Team.

Support to Policy Formulation:

• As an expert in the Climate Change, Disaster Resilience and Energy, s/he provides substantive inputs to the formulation of interventions to achieve the related results in UNDP’s Strategic Plan.
• Working closely with the BPPS HQ-based Chief of Profession for the Climate Change, Disaster Resilience and Energy Cluster, guide the Cluster teams outposted in the Regional Hub to support policy formulation by sharing regional lessons learned and best practices;
• In coordination with the head of the global energy team and regional energy policy and technical advisors, support the formulation of UNDP’s policies in the area of Energy;
• Substantively contribute to the integration of UNDP’s work in the thematic area of Climate Change, Disaster Resilience and Energy into a coherent sustainable development policy and programming framework in support of the implementation of the UNDP Strategic Plan and post 2015 agenda.

Overall Management and Resource Mobilization:

• Lead, direct and manage the outposted BPPS teams in the cluster, including supervising staff and overseeing work planning, budgeting and reporting; and
• Facilitate the environment and drive the effort to mobilize financial resources to support the Cluster and ensure effective utilization of policy advisors and global programme staff in this Cluster outposted to the Regional Hub.

Partnerships, Representation and Advocacy:

Facilitate the team’s capacity to undertake the following:

• Mobilize, foster and strengthen strategic partnerships with UN and other relevant bodies and provide substantive inputs to those partnerships, in particular related to the Sustainable Energy for All initiative programming opportunities at the regional and country-levels;
• In close coordination with the Chief, Country Operations Support and the Country Advisor Support Team, represent the Cluster in its area of expertise at regional discussions including interagency coordination and other regional fora to engage partners in advancing the Cluster’s strategic agenda; and
• In close coordination with various Regional Bureau units, advocate the importance of the relevant thematic areas in various regional fora.

Knowledge Management:

• Oversee, influence and promote the advance of policy dialogue in the Cluster’s thematic areas through cross-regional exchange of knowledge and collaboration, and synthesizing of knowledge emerging from the development and implementation of programmes;
• Ensure the guidance and coordination of cross-regional exchange of knowledge to help influence/advance policy dialogue in the thematic areas of Climate Change, Disaster Resilience and present such material at regional and other forums; including support to South-South exchanges;
• Ensure the guidance and coordination of cross-regional exchange of knowledge to help influence/advance policy dialogue in the thematic areas of Energy and present such material at regional and other forums; including support to South-South exchanges; and
• Oversee the quality of knowledge extraction, analysis, documentation, codification of results/lessons learned in the thematic area, and ensure knowledge sharing and content management is in line with guidelines and using corporate tools.

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:

Climate Change (General):

• Knowledge of climate change (including climate change international regime) and ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations.

Disaster Risk Reduction:

• Knowledge of DRR concepts, frameworks and principles and ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations.

Energy:

• Knowledge of Sustainable Energy, including energy access, energy efficiency, renewables and marked based energy financing issues and the ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations.

Representation:

• Ability to productively share UNDP knowledge and activities (at UN and other venues).

Partnerships:

• Ability to engage with other agencies and forge productive working relationships.

Resource Mobilization:

• Ability to identify and organize programmes  and projects to implement solutions and generate resources.

Advocacy:

• Ability to advocate a point of view and influence others.

Knowledge Management:

• Ability to efficiently handle and share information and knowledge.

Trends and Emerging Areas Analytics:

• Ability to scan the horizon and identify approaches and initiatives to bring into policy and programme design.

Education:

• Advanced university degree (Master’s or equivalent) in economics, business administration, social sciences or related disciplines.

Experience:

• 15 years of professional work experience leading teams, providing policy advice and pioneering approaches in Climate Change, Disaster Resilience and Energy, including in crisis and post crisis settings, at the international level;
• Experience in developing country settings will be desirable.

Language:

• Fluency in English, both written and oral;
• Working knowledge of another UN language will be desirable.