Carbon Specialist - IPSA 10

Geneva

Organization: UNDP - United Nations Development Programme
Location: Geneva
Grade: Mid level - IPSA-10, International Personnel Services Agreement
Occupational Groups:
- Environment
- Renewable Energy sector
- Climate Change
Closing Date: Closed

Background

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are core principles at UNDP: we value diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate, we foster inclusion as a way of ensuring all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, and we ensure equity and fairness in all our actions. Taking a ‘leave no one behind’ approach to our diversity efforts means increasing representation of underserved populations. People who identify as belonging to marginalized or excluded populations are strongly encouraged to apply. Learn more about working at UNDP including our values and inspiring stories.

UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Office/Unit/Project Description

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 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 Gabon – have decided to enter into a collaborative partnership to establish the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI).

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.

CAFI aims to contribute to two impacts: mitigate climate change and contribute to sustainable development, working both though high level policy dialogue and funding 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 portfolio is at the same time maturing, with projects on the ground that started in 2016, and expanding in scope (increased number of partner countries with Letters of Intent) and depth, while shifting to new modalities. These include the development of a private sector pipeline and an ambitious initiative of payments for environmental services (PES), based on performance, to both empower and incentivise land and forest resource users to adopt more sustainable practices that reduce pressures on forests and rebuild forest carbon stocks. Carbon revenues are considered an important source of finance for many private sector-led projects in the thematic areas covered by CAFI (agriculture, energy including clean cooking, forestry, etc).

Duties and Responsibilities

CAFI’s climate change impact is measured through reductions of carbon dioxide emissions and conservation of carbon stocks (and their proxies in surface areas). The Carbon Specialist primarily assists in the first impact, assisting the Head of Programing and his/her team in planning, guiding, estimating, projecting and verifying CAFI’s impact in terms of tons of CO2 emissions.

1.Developing robust carbon estimate methodologies.

1.1 Develop and refine a methodology to estimate the anticipated carbon impact of the various CAFI funded activities (projects, programs, initiatives) in a systematic and simple way.

1.2 Develop and refine a more sophisticated model (i) to quantify the expected outcomes from CAFI’s initiative for PES, including the expected carbon impact and related multiple benefits; (ii) to test various factors and variables in order to optimize impacting a cost-effective way.

1.3 Map carbon impact potential based on existing and potential land uses, including for PES

2. Estimating and disseminating actual carbon impact

2.1 Develop and ensure the dissemination and proper use of guidelines for spatial reporting.

2.2 Develop, maintain and continuously improve the online database to compile cartographic (GIS) and regular data from CAFI-funded projects, including working – for DRC-based interventions – in close collaboration with the DRC National REDD Fund.

2.3 Advise on the tools, methodologies and processes that support and streamline the collection, centralization and analysis of data from CAFI interventions, as well as on forest cover change, and well as the analysis of causality. This includes mobile data collection, drones, remote sensing digital applications, etc.

2.4 Collect and organize such data and provide inputs on methodologies and criteria to verify data.

2.5 Analyse data to derive carbon impact estimates.

2.6 Develop, feed, maintain and enhance online platforms, such as on power BI, to visualize carbon impact (estimated and actual) from CAFI investments, including in relation to PES.

2.10 Support communication of these results to the CAFI community, including the CAFI Executive Board and partner governments, in collaboration with CAFI communication team.

3. Exploiting external research

3.1 Map and help develop partnerships with relevant international and national research institutes.

3.2 Analyse existing datasets from the wider scientific community to estimate CAFI’s carbon impact related to its support to agriculture, forestry and energy sectors.

4. Ensure effective project oversight

4.1 Support the CAFI Secretariat in providing guidance and oversight on relevant projects funded by CAFI, at national or regional levels, including remote sensing and payment for environmental services.

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

Institutional Arrangement

The Carbon Specialist will be supervised by the Technical Specialist (Private Sector & Carbon Finance), P4 in Geneva, under the team leadership of the Chief Programming P5 in Geneva.

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 Management	Portfolio Management	Ability to select, prioritize and control the organization’s programmes and projects, in line with its strategic objectives and capacity; ability to balance the implementation of change initiatives and the maintenance of business-as-usual, while optimizing return on investment
Business Direction & Strategy	Strategic Thinking	Ability to develop effective strategies and prioritized plans in line with UNDP`s objectives, based on the systemic analysis of challenges, potential risks and opportunities; linking the vision to reality on the ground, and creating tangible solutions. Ability to leverage learning from a variety of sources to anticipate and respond to future trends; to demonstrate foresight in order to model what future developments and possible ways forward look like for UNDP.
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.
2030 Agenda: Planet	Nature, Climate and Energy	Climate and Forests: REDD+/UNFCCC and access to emission reduction results-based payments (GCF or carbon markets).
2030 Agenda: Engagement & Effectiveness	Effectiveness	Programming principles & standards and development effectiveness principles.
2030 Agenda: Planet	Nature, Climate and Energy	Environmental Governance: Global Environmental Governance
2030 Agenda: Planet	Nature, Climate and Energy	Climate and Forests: Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation

Required Skills and Experience

Min. Academic Education	Advanced university degreee (Master’s degree or equivalent) in Forest Carbon, or Carbon Finance or equivalent is required, or A first level university degree (Bachelor’s degree) in the areas mentioned above in combination with an additional 2 years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the master’s degree.
Min. years of relevant Work experience	Minimum 5 years (with master’s degree) or 7 years (with bachelor’s degree) of work experience in forest and carbon evaluation research is required.
Required skills and competencies	- Expertise in geographic information systems, data analytics and statistics - Proven work experience with forest carbon accounting and forest ecology - Demonstrated work experience in monitoring and evaluation. - Demonstrated experience of working in teams managing large portfolio across different countries. - Demonstrated work experience with various online platforms establishing systems and process to track results. - Experience and solid knowledge of Central African forest, driver of deforestation and climate issues. - Experience and knowledge of Payment for environmental services
Desired additional skills and competencies	- Experience in Remote sensing - Experience in socio economic surveys and land-use planning
Required Language(s) (at working level)	Fluency in English and French is required

Disclaimer

Important information for US Permanent Residents ('Green Card' holders)

Under US immigration law, acceptance of a staff position with UNDP, an international organization, may have significant implications for US Permanent Residents. UNDP advises applicants for all professional level posts that they must relinquish their US Permanent Resident status and accept a G-4 visa, or have submitted a valid application for US citizenship prior to commencement of employment.

UNDP is not in a position to provide advice or assistance on applying for US citizenship and therefore applicants are advised to seek the advice of competent immigration lawyers regarding any applications.

Applicant information about UNDP rosters

Note: 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.

Non-discrimination

UNDP has a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual exploitation and misconduct, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.

UNDP is an equal opportunity and inclusive employer that does not discriminate based on race, sex, gender identity, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, age, language, social origin or other status.

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This vacancy is now closed.