Background UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. 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.
UNDP’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025 emphasizes strategic innovation and development finance as key enablers for accelerating and scaling up development impact. UNDP has already invested significantly in innovative approaches and infrastructure and now is the time to orient these assets more purposefully towards supporting partners with systems transformation and mobilizing financing at scale.
The UNDP Regional Hub for Europe and the CIS (based in Istanbul, Turkey) is UNDP’s main knowledge and advisory hub for the countries serviced by UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS (RBEC). Through its regional programme, the Hub provides advisory support, organizational learning and innovation services to UNDP Country Offices in the ECIS region in the areas of sustainable development, effective democratic governance, energy and resilience, gender, health and development, development finance.
Based on the experience accumulated in the last years, and in line with the guidance articulated by the new UNDP Strategic Plan 2022-2025, the Partnerships team aims to broaden the scope of its activities, expanding its donor portfolio, including the emerging donors portfolio and further stimulating partnerships with IFIs, the private sector and partner governments for a more efficient and coordinated development financing ecosystem, for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Within the framework of the Regional Programme 2022-2025, the UNDP RBEC Partnerships Team seeks to hire an international consultant to undertake the responsibilities of a Knowledge Management and Partnerships Specialist. The Knowledge Management and Partnerships Specialist will support the team and selected UNDP Country Offices in mapping partnership opportunities (including donor portfolios) and providing on-demand support to information gathering and devising best practices and strategies for resource mobilization with a specific focus on the private sector among others. The Knowledge Management and Partnerships Specialist will be contracted to support the afore-mentioned efforts of the Partnerships Team in the Regional Hub, complementing the team’s service offers (including thematic/country-level RM maps, capacity building/trainings and partnerships advise, intel and scoping) particularly through SDG financing and private sector angles. She/he will report to the Partnerships Team Leader for the RBEC, based in Istanbul. Duties and Responsibilities Under the supervision and overall guidance of the Partnerships Team Leader, the Knowledge Management and Partnerships Specialist will support the Partnerships team on a series of activities, related to implementation of the Regional Programme and provision of CO support with a specific focus on active Knowledge Management: putting knowledge management and intelligence at the center of partnership activities and the support provided to the CO’s and facilitate a Community of Practitioners working on partnerships and resource mobilization in the region, with a particular emphasis on private sector and other non-state actors.
The Knowledge Management and Partnerships Specialist is expected to continuously engage with country offices and other partners in coordination with the Partnerships/KM core team, to make sure that demand/need for knowledge and intelligence is collected and relevant knowledge, information and intelligence (on resource mobilization and partnership opportunities, new developments, modalities etc.) is timely shared using various channels. This assignment is a key function in the Partnerships Team and the incumbent is expected to actively engage with other teams promoting and adapting different learning opportunities and knowledge management tools. In addition, the Knowledge Management and Partnerships Specialist will be contributing to key team activities – including conducting high quality desk research, will draft knowledge products, including on best practices and a regional strategy for private sector engagement, will contribute to donor intelligence, organization of events and support resource mobilization and partnership development activities of the UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub and selected UNDP Country Offices.
The incumbent will:
Conduct high quality desk research, draft knowledge products, contribute to donor intelligence, organization of events and support resource mobilization and partnership development activities of the UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub (40% of the work input): Assessment of opportunities for resource mobilization and mapping of current and potential traditional and non-traditional donors; Monitoring and provision of regular updates on the international development landscape and finance, i.e. on green finance, climate finance, in the RBEC region for UNDP Country Offices and thematic teams at the UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub; Identification of emerging sources of funding and emerging partnership opportunities, including assessment of their potential for the future; Assessment of various partnership opportunities with the private sector (both for country offices and Regional thematic teams) Provision of options for private sector engagement for development cooperation of emerging donor/strategic partners of RBEC region, packaged in a draft regional strategy. Ensure coordination with relevant units and corporate initiatives on private sector/SDG financing for the region's priorities. Direct on-demand information gathering support in the area of resource mobilization for several selected Country Offices and/or initiatives. Preparation of donor intelligence reports for selected Country Offices / initiatives. Other research and information collection tasks related to partnership building and resource mobilization as required by the RBEC Partnerships Team and BERA, including the sub-regional and country level RM maps. Contribute to implementation of the Knowledge Management and new corporate KM approach, in line with the Strategic Plan (35% of the work input): Under the supervision and overall guidance of the Partnerships Team Leader, the Knowledge Management Specialist will actively take part to contribute and extract knowledge from the Global Policy Network to connect with partnership opportunities; Maintain and promote the continuous updates of a repository of documents relating to partnerships (in the Teams infrastructure) to ensure efficient and effective knowledge sharing for all team members when needed. Any other duties within the scope of tasks and responsibilities specified in this Terms of Reference. Perform Results Reporting & Support to Corporate Initiatives on KM/Organizational Learning (25% of the work input): Support the Partnerships Team Leader in preparation of results reporting requirements; Support the collection of information from COs and other partners, as may be deemed necessary; Ensure the Partnerships Team reporting is in line with the agreed upon indicators and requirements in close cooperation with the relevant focal points in the team; Provide inputs or draft briefs and Talking points for the team leader, RBEC senior management or others as needed; Upon request from the Partnerships Team Leader, prepare reports and maintains an updated database with innovative initiatives.Institutional Arrangement
• The incumbent will work from home;
• The incumbent will report to, and be directly supervised by the Partnerships Team Leader;
• The incumbent will be given access to relevant information necessary for the execution of the tasks under this assignment;
• The incumbent 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 incumbent is expected to be reasonably flexible with his/her availability for such consultations taking into consideration different time zones.
Competencies Core Competencies:
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 inclusivityCross-Functional & Technical Competencies
Business Development - Knowledge Generation: Ability to research and turn information into useful knowledge, relevant for content, or responsive to a stated need Partnership management - Private sector engagement: Ability to identify, conduct outreach, and support in the management of the relationships with the private sector Learning & development - L&D Planning: Ability to identify organizational learning priorities aligned with the business strategy using key stakeholder involvement to ensure appropriate learning and optimal return-on-investment Entrepreneurial Thinking - Business Direction & Strategy: Ability to create clarity around UNDP value proposition to beneficiaries and partners and to develop service offers responding to client needs based on UNDP’s organizational priorities and mandate Working with Evidence and Data - Business Management: Ability to inspect, cleanse, transform and model data with the goal of discovering useful information, informing conclusions and supporting decision-making Digital & Innovation - Visualisation & Mapping: Ability to visualise and clarify ideas, processes or (complex) situations by making quick sketches, drawings or using diagrams, illustrations, photos, videos, animations, three dimensional mock-ups to support group dialogues, reflection, ideation, problem solving or decision making. General (across the functions) - Event Planning and Execution: Ability to plan, manage and execute of public and private events to ensure that they support and amplify individual communications and advocacy initiatives, as well as UNDP's overall brand and mandate. Required Skills and Experience Education: Master’s degree in relevant development studies, or related social sciences or other fields related to the scope of the assignment. Bachelor’s degree in the fields listed above with additional 2 (two) years of relevant experience will be given due consideration in lieu of Master's degree. Experience: Minimum 5 years (with Master’s degree) or 7 years (with Bachelor’s degree) of relevant work experience on development finance, resource mobilization or partnership building for an international organization, non-governmental organization or private sector, with strategic research or knowledge building/sharing. Minimum 2 years of solid experience in the area of knowledge management, organizational learning, and innovation in development context. Experience in knowledge management, including organizing events/webinars, drafting reports and developing knowledge products. Experience in partnership development and resource mobilization, including with the private sector.Required skills:
Report writing Event/Webinar Organizing Partnership Development and Resource MobilizationDesired skills in addition to the competencies covered in the Competencies section:
Experience in development finance with focus on green/climate finance is a strong asset; Work experience and familiarity with the private sector/private financing is an asset; Experience in international development cooperation landscape with specific focus on strategic partnerships and resource mobilization (through relevant previous work experiences/research /other knowledge products produced) is an asset. Experience in engagement with donors is an asset. Experience in organizing events is an asset.Required Language(s):
Excellent writing and oral communication skills in English.The following documents shall be required from the applicants:
Personal CV or P11, indicating all past positions held and their main underlying functions, their durations (month/year), the qualifications, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate, and at least three (3) the most recent professional references of previous supervisors. References may also include peers. A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page) indicating why the candidate considers him-/herself to be suitable for the position. Managers may ask (ad hoc) for any other materials relevant to pre-assessing the relevance of their experience, such as reports, presentations, publications, campaigns or other materials. Disclaimer 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. Scam warning The United Nations does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web.This vacancy is archived.