Date: Senior Technical Advisor

​Requisition ID: 5152
Grade: L5
Country: Ethiopia
Duty Station: Addis Ababa
Category: Project-funded Professional and higher
Type of Job Posting: External
Employment Type: Staff-Full-time
Appointment Type: Fixed Term - 200 series
Indicative Minimum Net Annual Salary: 158,117 USD
Application Deadline: 28-Feb-2025, 11:59 PM (Vienna, Austria time)

Vacancy Announcement
THE APPOINTMENT IS LIMITED TO THE SPECIFIED PROJECT(S) ONLY AND DOES NOT CARRY ANY EXPECTATION OF RENEWAL.
Female candidates are particularly encouraged to apply.
Detailed information on the project can be found at UNIDO’s Open Data Platform: https://open.unido.org/

Organizational Context

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is the specialized agency of the United Nations that promotes industrial development for poverty reduction, inclusive globalization and environmental sustainability. The mission of UNIDO, as described in the Lima Declaration adopted at the fifteenth session of the UNIDO General Conference in 2013 as well as the Abu Dhabi Declaration adopted at the eighteenth session of UNIDO General Conference in 2019, is to promote and accelerate inclusive and sustainable industrial development (ISID) in Member States. The relevance of ISID as an integrated approach to all three pillars of sustainable development is recognized by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will frame United Nations and country efforts towards sustainable development. UNIDO’s mandate is fully recognized in SDG-9, which calls to “Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation”. The relevance of ISID, however, applies in greater or lesser extent to all SDGs. Accordingly, the Organization’s programmatic focus is structured in four strategic priorities: Creating shared prosperity; Advancing economic competitiveness; Safeguarding the environment; and Strengthening knowledge and institutions.

Each of these programmatic fields of activity contains a number of individual programmes, which are implemented in a holistic manner to achieve effective outcomes and impacts through UNIDO’s four enabling functions: (i) technical cooperation; (ii) analytical and research functions and policy advisory services; (iii) normative functions and standards and quality-related activities; and (iv) convening and partnerships for knowledge transfer, networking and industrial cooperation. Such core functions are carried out in Divisions/Offices in its Headquarters, Regional Offices and Hubs and Country Offices.

Under the overall direction of the Director General, and in close collaboration with all organizational entities within UNIDO, the Directorate of SDG Innovation and Economic Transformation (IET), headed by a Managing Director, is responsible for the development of innovative UNIDO services in the areas of agro-industry and agribusiness, sustainability standards and fair production, and climate-relevant or climate-improving technologies. It is also, in collaboration with ODG, responsible for developing innovative technical cooperation concepts, identifying new sources and means of finance and entering into new partnerships with a broad range of relevant stakeholders.

The position is located under the Division of Agribusiness and Infrastructure Development (IET/AGR), which supports Member States in their efforts to pave the way to sustainable rural development and a structurally transformed and modernized agribusiness sector. Capitalizing on the experience gained by UNIDO in this field over decades and on tried-and-tested and to-be-developed service modules, the Division will explore innovative approaches to maximise the potential that exists in agribusiness development, addressing emerging global trends, in particular food security, poverty alleviation and climate change. It will explore new ways to contribute to global efforts to reduce hunger, accelerate food systems transition, and generate income and employment, especially among women and youth.

The Division provides technical cooperation services to assist the modernization of agriculture and agro-industry, especially in less-developed countries, ensuring that enterprises add value to primary agricultural production, substitute the imports of food and other value-added agricultural products, and participate effectively in local, regional and global value chains. Where needed, it will develop infrastructure and agro-industrial parks and capacities for agro-industrialization, value addition, quality assurance and food safety. It will also bring innovative approaches to Member States to fully benefit from carbon-neutral and biodiversity-enhancing agricultural and agro-industrial production and development opportunities in the green and blue bioeconomy.

At the L5 level, the incumbent is expected to deliver (a) work that is integral to UNIDO's mandate; (b) in creating an enabling environment which is catalytic, gap-building and opportunistic; (c) in building partnerships and networks to strengthen Programmes; and (d) in achieving results within Cross Programme or Inter-Services teams. The measure of success is Programme Competence.

The UNIDO Staff Performance Management System reinforces the collaboration within formal units as well as among cross-functional teams. In this context, the incumbent collaborates with his/her supervisor and colleagues, within as well as outside the unit. Within the formal teams, the incumbent may be expected to backstop other team members as required.

Staff members are subject to the authority of the Director-General and in this context all staff are expected to serve in any assignment and duty station as determined by the needs of the Organization.

PROJECT CONTEXT

In 2024, China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) of the People’s Republic of China, Ministry of Industry of Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (MOI), and UNIDO agreed to jointly establish the China – Africa – UNIDO Center of Excellence (CoE) in Ethiopia and implement the projects under the programme framework. The Programme aims to serve the whole Africa with its base in Ethiopia. The overall purpose is to implement the Global Development Initiative and the Ethiopian Ten-Year Perspective Development Plan, and to facilitate Africa’s industrialization, agriculture modernization, and talent development, with a view to contributing the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The center will be built as an incubation platform for multilateral achievements, a demonstration platform for bilateral achievements, and an experimental platform for innovative cooperation methods.

Specifically, the center will have three pillars, namely industrialization, agriculture modernization and talent development. UNIDO will spearhead the design and implementation of the projects of each pillar, ensuring cohesiveness for systematic demonstration effects. The programme will benefit local communities by creating access to innovative solutions offered in the areas of digitalization, renewable energies, agro-processing, policy and enterprise capacity. Specific interventions will introduce demonstration facilities and capacitating them based on international best practices, with its base in Ethiopia and aiming to serve the whole Africa.

Responsibilities

The Senior Technical Advisor works under the overall guidance of the Director of IET/AGR and in close collaboration with the colleagues to support the mandate of the office. She/he will be responsible for leading the project implementation and providing technical support to the smooth and timely execution of projects in Ethiopia and be accountable for the achievement of project results as/if assigned. Specific responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Programme Development: Lead programme formulation missions as appropriate to develop and formulate technical cooperation projects/programmes focusing on agro-industrialization, rural development and agricultural and agribusiness modernization in line with the guidelines and procedures governing the delivery of UNIDO services and obtain internal approval. Propose new initiatives or changes to ensure that the Organization’s practices are current and reflect state-of-the-art approaches and up-to-date technical and management practices.
• Programme Management: Responsible for all aspects of implementation, management and quality assurance of the CoE projects, with a focus on projects in Ethiopia, in cooperation with the UNIDO project manager and the Output Coordinators, including supporting CoE’s Administrative Commission and its Secretariat, project reporting, and ensuring that assigned inputs are delivered on time, at the required level of quality and within the allocated budget. This will entail all technical and administrative aspects of the delivery of the project (technical and financial planning and management; procurement; team management; and reporting, etc.); Provide guidance, strategic leadership and coordination to the project team and ensure the on-going effectiveness of the administrative mechanisms and modalities of cooperation and coordination during implementation of the programme; Prepare the detailed input schedule for all resources required (financial, technical and personnel) to implement the project annually, as well as a detailed activity schedule based on the key tasks defined in the project document as adjusted for the nature of the pilot projects and their location. The schedules will be in accordance with the project budget and overall resource allocation; Guide and oversee of the overall communications strategy for the whole Programme.
• Resource Mobilization: Lead or cooperate with other units in-house in the design and planning of resource mobilization strategies and collaborate with relevant internal and external partners to mobilize the funds necessary for project and programme implementation. Manage external relations by maintaining close relationships with all stakeholders involved in the project, including government institutions and international entities, locally based donor institutions, international financial institutions and regional development banks, the private sector, civil society and academia to establish collaborations and synergies.
• Global Forum Function: Design, plan and organize in cooperation with other units in-house UNIDO global forum activities (conferences, seminars, expert group meetings, etc.). Prepare technical papers or other inputs for external seminars, conferences, expert group meetings, etc. Prepare UNIDO publications and other information dissemination aids and tools. Keep abreast of technical and economic developments related to productive sectors development in post-crisis and related to the development of special economic development zone, entrepreneurship and incubators programme, trend around financing development assistance, through close contacts with specialized institutions and industry representatives, following the technical press, market developments and trends.
• Advisory Services: Provide technical expertise and strategic guidance to counterparts, as well as substantive analyses and advice on strategies and policies for inclusive and sustainable industrial development and facilitates the underlying industrial policy-making processes. Lead, within his/her subject-matter expertise, the design and implementation of institutional capacity-building projects in the area of industrial strategy and policy, drawing in particular from successful national and regional experiences, preferably from emerging economies.
• External Relations: Support advocacy, communication and global forum activities related to the progamme/project and aimed at strengthening public relations, including the preparation of promotional materials, organization of media events, dissemination of information on the project activities through UNIDO/project website and network of UNIDO offices.
• Performs other related duties and assignments as required.

  Minimum requirements and desirable criteria

  Education:

  Advanced university degree (master’s or equivalent) in economics, agriculture, engineering, sciences, business administration, international relations, or related field is required.

  Experience, technical knowledge and functional expertise:

  A minimum of ten (10) years of relevant professional experience, including some at the international level, involving technical cooperation in developing countries, is required, including experience at a senior level, including donor, either within a public sector support organization or a private sector company.

  Experience in all phases of the Project Cycle, is required.

  Exposure to the needs, conditions and problems in developing countries, is desirable.

  Language Skills:

  Fluency in written and oral English is required. Fluency or working knowledge of Chinese is an asset/preferred. Fluency or working knowledge of another official language of the United Nations is desirable.

  Core Values and Competencies