Partnership Specialist - Sustainable Energy (Home based)

Job Purpose and Organizational Context

UNDP is the knowledge frontier organization for sustainable development in the UN Development System and serves as the integrator for collective action to realize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UNDP’s policy work carried out at HQ, Regional and Country Office levels offers a spectrum of deep local knowledge to cutting-edge global perspectives and advocacy. In this context, UNDP invests in its Global Policy Network (GPN), a network of field-based and global technical expertise across a wide range of knowledge domains and in support of the signature solutions and organizational capabilities envisioned in UNDP’s Strategic Plan. 

Within the GPN, the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) has the responsibility for developing all relevant policies and guidance to support the results of UNDP’s Strategic Plan. BPPS staff provide technical advice to Country Offices, advocate for UNDP corporate messages, represent UNDP at multi-stakeholder fora including public-private, government and civil society dialogues, and engage in UN inter-agency coordination in specific thematic areas. 

UNDP's 2022-2025 Strategic Plan highlights our continued commitment to eradicating poverty, accompanying countries in their pathways towards the SDGs and working towards the Paris Agreement. As part of the Global Policy Network in the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, UNDP's Nature, Climate Change, Energy, and Waste (NCE&W) Hubs promote and scale up integrated whole-of-governance approaches and nature-based solutions that reduce poverty and inequalities, strengthen livelihoods and inclusive growth, mitigate conflict, forced migration and displacement, and promote more resilient governance systems that advance linked peace and security agendas.

BPPS’ Hubs on Nature, Climate, Energy and Waste, with the support of the Vertical Fund Programme Support, Oversight and Compliance unit, work with governments, civil society, and private sector partners to integrate nature, climate, energy and waste-related concerns into national and sector planning and inclusive growth policies, support country obligations under Multilateral Environmental Agreements, and oversee the implementation of the UN’s largest portfolio of in-country programming nature, climate change, energy and waste. This work advances crosscutting themes on innovative finance, digital transformation, capacity development, human rights, gender equality, health, technology, and South-South learning.

UNDP’s Strategic Plan has embedded our collective UN-Energy's ambitious target to contribute to delivering energy access to 500 million more people by 2025 in partnership with others and accelerate a just energy transition with a new type of development policy in mind. UNDP supports countries to realize a just energy transition where the benefits of the transition are distributed evenly across people and society, and the potential negative impacts of the transition are minimized for the poorest and most vulnerable communities. UNDP’s focus is to make the transition more just by assessing the distributional social-economic impacts of energy transition (and access) policies, how to avoid exacerbating existing inequalities and minimize the impact on poor and vulnerable sections of the population that are disproportionately affected.

UNDP through its Sustainable Energy Hub (SEH) is designed to respond to these challenges and to harness networks, experience, and innovation. UNDP will focus on three pillars to guide its “Sustainable Energy for Development” pathway:

1.  Close the gap in energy access so that marginalized people and communities gain access to sustainable, clean, energy and the dignity and opportunities it brings.
2. Accelerate the energy transition through system changes that support a green recovery and improve efficiency by bringing together the best ideas from the worlds of government, business, finance, digital, and most importantly from people, communities, and civil societies.       
3. Increase energy resilience in crisis and fragile contexts to communities affected by conflict and crises to help them meet basic needs in the short term and build back better in the long term.

The Sustainable Energy Hub is a platform to bring together and catalyze UNDP’s work on energy for development. The Hub is a network of partners that work alongside countries to transform energy systems through an integrated agenda focused on the policy, technology and financial shifts that shape sustainable economic development. It helps countries build a net-zero society that puts people first and is driven by a just, sustainable energy transition that leaves no one behind.

The Sustainable Energy Hub focuses on five integrated lines of service, each of them offering viable entry points for additional partners to engage in these efforts. One of these lines of service is ‘Data Analytics and Digital and Exponential Technologies’. This workstream aims to orient our programming to be more innovative through new digital and innovative tools that can enhance project planning, preparation and results tracking, as well as implement the digital principles in the UNDP Digital Strategy 2022-2025 to catalyze inclusion and safeguards in a systemic approach to digital, data, and innovation in the context of sustainable energy. 

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Director of the Sustainable Energy Hub, the Specialist will be responsible for the following activities.

1. Strengthen and develop relationships and partnerships

• Provide expert advice and support in establishing strategic partnerships in areas of energy access and the energy transition to achieve results set within UNDP’s Strategic Plan, Energy Offer, SIDS Offer, and the work plans of Sustainable Energy Hub.
• Support analysis and mapping of potential partners for UNDP Sustainable Energy Hub, such as private sector, think tanks, civil society, academia, research institutes, think tanks, civil society, NGOs, youth organizations, etc.,
• Collaborate with global, regional, national and sub‐national staff to support UNDP’s partnership and new strategic approaches of the corporate sustainable energy strategy.
• Develop and coordinate partnerships across public and private sector to develop a pipeline of bankable projects in areas of energy access and energy transition
• Strengthen ongoing partnerships and promote engagement with a wide range of partners at global, regional and national levels,
• Track and analyze partnerships on key development priorities to inform UNDP policy positions.

2. Contribute to external and interagency representation

• Provide strategic advice and policy recommendations with a view to positioning UNDP strongly,
• Support the development of UNDP representation strategies tailored to specific partners and engagement settings,
• Apply multi‐disciplinary approaches, including setting up, coordinating, and engaging with other relevant technical teams, to meet policy and programming needs in line with corporate guidance and standards.
• Outreach to key partners for strategic advocacy for common objectives,
• Support initiatives and events that position UNDP’s global value proposition,
• Assist in the preparation, implementation and follow-up of external partnership engagements, including meetings, workshops, deep dives, dialogue and networking events.

3. Knowledge building and development

• Support research on thematic, regional and strategic interests of select partners, cross-referencing these with areas of mutual interest of UNDP and preparation of related briefing notes in areas of energy access, a just energy transition and climate change mitigation,
• Knowledge development on tracking current political and development trends in global energy landscape, organizations and businesses relevant to UNDP’s mandate and partnership building initiatives.

4. Support to pipeline of management requests

• Attend briefings and meetings to stay updated on UNDP and partner processes,
• Facilitate the Director of Sustainable Energy Hub in engagement in UN interagency coordination in relevant policy areas by organizing and participating in regional meetings.
• Support management of the pipeline of requests from internal and external sources,
• Provide technical support in preparing missions, meetings and other consultations with donors and partners, including notes, briefs and other materials. 

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 Specialist will work from home.
• The Specialist will report to, and be directly supervised by the Director of the Sustainable Energy Hub.
• The Specialist will be given access to relevant information necessary for the execution of the tasks under this assignment.
• The Specialist will be responsible for providing her/his own workstation (i.e. laptop, internet, phone, scanner/printer, etc.) and must have access to reliable internet connection.
• Given the global consultations to be undertaken during this assignment, the Specialist is expected to be reasonably flexible with his/her availability for such consultations taking into consideration different time zones.

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

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies

• 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 Development       
  • Knowledge Generation       
    • Ability to research and turn information into useful knowledge, relevant for context, or responsive to a stated need.
• Business Direction and 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 Management        
  • Communication    
    • Ability to communicate in a clear, concise and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience
    • Ability to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media and other appropriate channels
• Business Management        
  • Digital Awareness and Literacy         
    • Ability and inclination to rapidly adopt new technologies, either through skillful grasping their usage or through understanding their impact and empowering others to use them as needed.
• Communications  
  • Creative direction and copywriting  
    • Ability to creatively communicate concepts in an engaging and simple way.
• 2030 Agenda: Planet           
  • Nature Climate and Energy               
    • Energy: Renewable Energy

Qualifications

Min. Education requirements

• Advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in energy, climate change, international development, law, international affairs, business administration, development economics, or other relevant field OR 
• A first-level university degree (Bachelor’s degree) in said fields in combination with two additional years of qualifying work experience will be given due consideration in lieu of advanced university degree.

Min. years of relevant work experience

• Minimum 5 years (with Masters’ degree) or 7 years (with Bachelors’ degree) of relevant experience at the national and/or international level in international relation, project/programme formulation, management, finance, business, administration or development studies.

Required  skills

• Relevant work experience in development field and/or climate change/sustainable energy, multi-stakeholder initiatives at the domestic and/or international level is required; 
• Experience in strategy development/donor relations and UN partnerships/public relations at the international level is required;
• Experience in conducting policy research in international development or related field is required; 
• Knowledge of research activities needed to design and/or implementation of development projects to promote energy investment;
• Communications and social media skills to translate technical concepts for decision-makers; 

Desired additional skills

• Prior work experience at UNDP and/or other UN agencies; 
• Experience in energy-related projects in developing partnerships is desirable;
• Experience working with a wide set of energy stakeholders, such as the private and financial sector, government, and civil society is an advantage; 
• Knowledge of key actors, including partners, donors, and international organizations, as well as the global and regional energy landscape and the UN system (e.g., UN Permanent Missions); 
• Writing and communication experience; 

Required Language(s)

• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of another UN official language is desirable.

Travel:    

a)  UNDP will cover the cost of travel of the individual to the duty station, as well as their return to their home upon completion of their services. Travel costs are covered only in the event that the function will be undertaken physically in the duty station and exclude working-from-home arrangements.

b) Include any official travel expected to be associated with performing the functions.