Project Lead and Sustainable Finance Specialist

Background

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. 

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.

In recent decades, biodiversity finance tools and solutions have demonstrated their importance for achieving biodiversity goals and broader sustainable development objectives. Improved choice, design and implementation of effective, well-tailored finance solutions will strengthen countries’ chances of achieving national and global biodiversity targets. Biodiversity Finance Plans have become increasingly recognized as a relevant tool to help countries to identify and fill the biodiversity finance gap, including through the work of the UNDP Biodiversity Finance Initiative. In December 2022, parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF). This included numerous targets with relevance for financing (Target 14, Target 15, Target 16,Target 18 and target 19). Target 19 mainly focuses on resource mobilization to implement Biodiversity finance plans.

The GEF under replenishment 8 created a global programme to support countries to design a National Biodiversity Finance Plan with the objective to: support the development of biodiversity finance plans in 91 countries  including Lesotho and mobilize resources needed to implement the KM-GBF. 

A biodiversity finance plan includes a systems analysis of a country's economy including to map existing financing mechanisms, subsidies with potential harmful impacts on nature, drivers of biodiversity loss and gain, public and private sectors expenditures committed towards biodiversity objectives and a country's national financial needs for biodiversity. The biodiversity finance plan itself consists of a series of actions with the aim to significantly scale up available funding, green or phase out harmful finance flows and improve the effectiveness of available expenditures. The programme allows for active sharing of experiences across countries and includes a knowledge sharing platform and the provision of continuous technical support to country teams.

At the global level, this global umbrella programme will be supported by a Global Project Management and Technical Support Unit (GPMTSU). At the national level, each country will have, as a requirement and as part of the National Project Management Unit (NPMU), a full-time dedicated Project Lead and Sustainable Finance Specialist , a Finance Specialist supported by a part time Project Support Associate, and consultants, such an Environmental Policy consultant, and others, as needed. The NPMU should be co-located with appropriate government agency (ies) in principle working side by side with government staff. A dedicated technical advisor by GPMTSU will be available to support each country’s work. 

For the implementation of the GEF8 Umbrella Programme to Support Development of Biodiversity Finance Plans at the national level, UNDP is recruiting a BIOFIN Project Lead.

Scope of Work 

The Project Lead and Sustainable Finance Specialist “Project Lead” will be responsible for the overall supervision and management of in-country activities, ensuring a proper work-plan and budget are in place and implemented within set timelines, with an effective national team and strong partnerships. The Project Lead will work closely with the technical team of an Environmental Policy Expert, a Biodiversity Finance Specialist and a Project Support Associate, to ensure implementation mechanisms and technical working groups are established and meet regularly, that all planned workshops, technical studies and other activities are organized in a timely manner, and that they meet expected quality standards. 

S/he is expected to have senior experience and to provide substantial technical expertise in assuring horizontal integration and consistency of work-streams/studies, as well as advisory services and quality assurance of national products and processes throughout the duration of the national project. S/he will be responsible for relevant sections; the production of the Policy and Institutional Review (PIR), the Biodiversity Expenditure Review (BER) and the Financial Needs Assessment (FNA). S/he will also lead the preparation of the Biodiversity Finance Plan and will oversee the identification and implementation of finance solutions as requested. S/he will also specifically be responsible for outreach activities to national (Government, donors' delegation, academia, etc.) and relevant international stakeholders, and the preparation of synthesis reports, policy briefs, press releases and briefing notes for Government, UNDP etc.

Duties and Responsibilities

Lead, mange and develop project planning and implementation  

• Oversee the identification, selection and supervision of national consultants and experts, in close collaboration with the UNDP Country Office, Senior Finance Expert and the Global Project Management and Technical Support Unit (GPMTSU);
• Write/revise terms of references for national BIOFIN team members;
• In consultation with the UNDP Country Office and GPMTSU elaborate/revise the work plan and budget and submit draft workplans/budgets timely;
• Supervise the work of national experts and institutions to ensure outputs are delivered on time, within the set budget, and to high quality standards; facilitate, guide and monitor the work of the national team;
• Oversee the work of the Project Support Associate to ensure administrative requirements and budgets are managed and executed in a timely and appropriate manner and within UNDP and donor rules and regulations;
• Organize all relevant project workshops in a consultative manner, involving a wide variety of biodiversity finance stakeholders, including the government, private sector, NGOs, donors and academia; 
• Review the established national Steering Committee and follow up on the regular convening of the Committee and develop meeting reports to be shared with Steering Committee, the UNDP CO and GPMTSU; 
• Maintain regular communication with Ministries of Environment and Finance for the development and completion of all reports and products;
• Liaise with relevant national planning, biodiversity and finance processes, such as NBSAP updates and  implementation; 
• Ensure a timely identification of risks in implementation at the national level and communicate to the GPMTSU;
• Organize regular meetings of the national team and monthly calls with the Technical Advisor from the GPMTSU;
• Ensure participation of national team members in regional technical calls; 
• Participate in regional and global meeting organized by the GPMTSU.

Provide high level technical advises to ensure effective project implementation

• Act as principal technical contact for the project implementation with GPMTSU with regards to all questions and issues that arise during national implementation; 
• Provide key technical leadership on all finance issues and assure horizontal integration and consistency of workstreams/studies;
• Provide overall guidance and quality control for the four main deliverables of the project. Ethnical support to the national project team to complete all the deliverables of the BIOFIN methodology, in a consistent and high-quality manner; 
• Ensure drafts of all work are sent to the global Technical Advisor and GPMTSU regularly to provide backstopping and assure feedback is adequately integrated into national reports;
• Research and develop the sections on subsidies and financing incentives in the PIR according to the guidance provided by the GPMTSU and written guidance documents (especially the BIOFIN Workbook); 
• Provide technical support for the data collection, analysis, and conclusions of the BER;
• Support the data collection, modelling, quality checking, and validation of the FNA;
• Develop a BFP according to the guidance provided by the GPMTSU global BIOFIN team and written guidance documents (especially the BIOFIN Workbook). 

Lead effective monitoring and evaluation of the project activities, Communication and reporting

• Notify any delays in national deliverables compared to the workplan to the UNDP Country Office and the GPMTSU; 
• Lead project monitoring, reporting and evaluation at national level, draft monthly and quarterly reports for review by the lead expert and submission to the global BIOFIN team; 
• Coordinate the development of workshop reports for the inception workshop and all technical workshops; 
• Review all technical reports as required; 
• Ensure alignment of national work with global methodologies such as the BIOFIN workbook and others;
• Liaise with relevant initiatives and programs in UNDP and other organizations in support of the execution of the project, including BIOFIN, the NBSAP support programmes which align with the KM-GBF, the Nature Hub and other organizations and initiatives; 
• Review the final reports of the national Policy and Institutional Review, Biodiversity expenditure Review, Financial Needs Assessment and Biodiversity Finance plan;
• Develop with the collaboration of the rest of the team members, at least one brief overview publication per year, press releases, and web and media products.

Develop strategic partnerships and resource mobilization

• Substantively contribute to the harnessing of effective partnerships and lead the identification and onboarding process for implementing partners; 
• Cultivate and maintain strong relationships and strategic linkages with implementing and development partners, government officials, businesses, NGOs, other national and regional stakeholders, and beneficiaries to support and ensure accurate interpretation of project objectives and promote inclusive project implementation;
• Substantively contribute to project communications and visibility efforts;
• Make recommendations to the management team on activities with potential for scale-up, replicability and synergies; 
• Provide technical support to the implementing partners;
• Support resource mobilization efforts and project development.   

Contribute to knowledge management and information sharing 

• Organize training for the project personnel to enhance their capacities in the technical matters of the thematic area of the project;
• Identify, evaluate, synthesize, and document lessons learned and best practices directly linked to the project goals and activities. Develop knowledge sharing materials and respond to related queries.
• Contribute substantively to knowledge networks and communities of practice within the thematic area of the project.
• Develop and carry out a personal learning plan.

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

Institutional Arrangements

At the global level, this global umbrella programme will be supported by a Global Project Management and Technical Support Unit (GPMTSU). 

At the national level, each country will have, as a requirement and as part of the National Project Management Unit (NPMU), a full-time dedicated Project Lead and Sustainable Finance Specialist , a Finance Specialist supported by a part time Project Support Associate, and consultants, such an Environmental Policy consultant, and others, as needed. The NPMU should be co-located with appropriate government agency (ies) in principle working side by side with government staff. A dedicated technical advisor by GPMTSU will be available to support each country’s work. Similar to the global level, the Project Lead is the senior most representative of the NPMU and is responsible for the overall day-to-day management of the project on behalf of the Implementing Partner, including the mobilization of all project inputs, supervision over project staff, responsible parties, consultants, and sub-contractors. The Project Lead typically presents key deliverables and documents to the appropriate national governance mechanism and to the GPMTSU for their review and approval, including progress reports, annual work plans, adjustments to tolerance levels and risk registers. 

Finance

• Financial Planning and Budgeting: Ability to create and manage processes to achieve UNDP's long and short-term financial goals, including through planning, budgeting, forecasting, analyzing and reporting.

2030 Agenda 

• Partnership: Energy Access.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in Environment/Natural Resource Management, Biodiversity, Political Studies, Economics, Finance, or related field is required.
• A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in the areas mentioned above, in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• A minimum of 5 years (with Master’s degree) or 7 years (with Bachelor’s degree) of relevant experience preferably in the implementation of development/environment/ biodiversity/ climate/finance projects. 

Required  skills:

• Experience in gathering and processing data and information;
• Experience in managing work teams and supervising technical assessments, reports and technical documents; 
•  Knowledge of key software packages (MS Office).

Desired additional skills:

• Experience in project coordination, design and implementation; 
• Experience in development of analytical documents, briefs and project proposals; 
• Prior experience with UNDP projects would be an asset; 
• Knowledge in environmental or biodiversity related policies is highly desirable.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in Sesotho and English is required.
• Knowledge of any other UN language or national language is desired.

Equal opportunity

As an equal opportunity employer, UNDP values diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate and, as such, we encourage qualified applicants from all backgrounds to apply for roles in the organization. Our employment decisions are based on merit and suitability for the role, without discrimination. 

UNDP is also committed to creating an inclusive workplace where all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, are valued, can thrive, and benefit from career opportunities that are open to all.

Sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse of authority

UNDP does not tolerate harassment, sexual harassment, exploitation, discrimination and abuse of authority. All selected candidates, therefore, undergo relevant checks and are expected to adhere to the respective standards and principles. 

Right to select multiple candidates

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.

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