Partnerships Research Internship

Background

UNDP India works to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by facilitating transformative change and development impact at scale through three outcome areas aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Framework and the national development agenda: (1) Institutional and Systems Strengthening for Service Delivery; (2) Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Livelihoods; and (3) Energy, Environment, Climate and Resilience.

In India, the private sector is emerging as a major source of development cooperation. As a result of the amendment in the Indian Companies Act 2013 which prescribes private corporations and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) to dedicate 2 per cent of net profit as part of a company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) spending, companies are known to be moving away from grant giving and appreciate the commercial value of entering long-term partnership arrangements for direct association with development outcomes, especially towards meeting the SDGs. UNDP, as a trusted development partner and considerable presence across India is well positioned to grasp this opportunity presented by entering into new qualitative partnerships with the private sector.

UNDPs strategic engagements model to engage private sector in sustainable development is as follows:

Resource transfer: Strategic partnerships that includes financial or in-kind resources from a company to UNDP (both at the global and country level with majority of financial and in-kind at the country office level). Co-Creating Value: UNDP is also increasingly looking to align with core business propositions of companies well-aligned to UNDP’s vison and commitments to co-develop partnership propositions that leverage finances from the business side, beyond the CSR mandate and offer value to the donor from a business perspective as well.

Technical and financial assistance: Strategic partnerships that primarily build on company expertise including technology transfer and technical and financial assistance to developing country-based enterprises from UNDP. Such partnerships usually are fostered with the private sector companies or through blended partnerships with a few other donors on board. These would be especially critical in leveraging knowledge from the private sector in more emerging domains such as AI, green jobs and 21st Century skills.

Public policy regulation and advocacy: Strategic partnerships that offer a platform to facilitate dialogue between the public and private sector. Examples include UNDP’s role in setting up Global Compact local networks in 40+ countries, the Business Call to Action which challenges companies to undertake inclusive business approaches, and the World Business and Development Awards etc.

Philanthropy and foundations: Strategic partnerships for advocating and raising awareness about the SDGs. For example, the SDG Philanthropy Platform is a global initiative that connects foundations and philanthropists with knowledge and networks that can deepen collaboration, leverage resources and sustain impact

Advancing value chains: Strategic partnerships to promote women’s leadership, entrepreneurship and apprenticeships and linking them with the core business operations and CSR.

Innovative Value Propositions: UNDP is also looking to engage with private sector partners and corporate donors to diversify the value proposition being offered to include Cause Marketing Campaigns and Corporate Employee Volunteer Engagement programmes, and NextGen UNDP engagement, including by leveraging the work of the Accelerator Lab Network.

Duties and Responsibilities

As part of the Strategic Partnerships Unit and under the supervision of Partnerships Specialist, the Partnerships research analyst Intern – will be responsible for undertaking the following activities:

Duties and Responsibilities:

Mapping and Landscape Assessment

Carry out mapping of private sector companies in accordance with UNDPs private sector

engagement strategy – map Top companies in each programmatic pillars. Support with contacts and engagement plan
Carry out mapping of Institutional, multilateral, bilateral and foundation donors in accordance with UNDPs Country office plan
Use public information and gather market intel to map, synthesise and interpret current and future potential for private and institutional engagement

MIS and Analytics

Work on and maintain MIS, dashboards, meeting calendars for the Strategic Partnerships Unit
Conduct analysis for internal and external meetings

Proposals and documentation

Support in preparing presentations, decks, pitches, toolkits and process documents
Support in proposals and budgets

Coordination and organisation of events

Support the team with curation and coordination of events, conferences, workshops highlighting the work of the platform and building relationships within the ecosystem
Build communication materials for the events and help spread awareness through the relevant channels

Expected Deliverables/ Outcomes:

Mapping list of potential and prospective private and institutional donors for UNDP
Background research and analysis on proposals
Maintain dashboards and MIS
Pitches, proposals, toolkits and budgets
Event support

Competencies

Core Competencies:

Demonstrating/safeguarding ethics and integrity;
Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment;
Self-development, initiative-taking;
Acting as a team player and facilitating team work;
Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively;
Creating synergies through self-control;
Managing conflict;
Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of others
Promoting learning and knowledge management/sharing is the responsibility of each staff member;

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Functional Competencies:

Technical skills

Ability to analyse large sets of data and reports and synthesize complex issues.
Create excel spreadsheets and dashboards
Familiarity with private sector, CSR and institutions
Experience of creating content across a variety of mediums
Demonstrated ability to plan and curate events and workshops
Identifies and communicates relevant information for a variety of audiences for advocating UNDP and partner(s) mandate
Excellent oral and written communication skills
Strong Powerpoint, Word and Excel skills
Ability to synthesise concepts and create informative reports

Promoting Organizational Learning and Knowledge Sharing:

Basic research and analysis

Generates new ideas and approaches, researches best practices and proposes new, more effective ways of doing things;
Documents and analyses innovative strategies and new approaches.

Client Orientation:

Establishing effective client relationships

Researches potential solutions to internal and external needs and reports back in a timely, succinct and appropriate fashion;
Organizes and prioritizes work schedule to meet needs and deadlines;
Establishes, builds and sustains effective relationships within the work unit and with internal and external parties

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Applicants to the UNDP internship programme must at the time of application meet one of the following requirements:

(a) Be enrolled in a postgraduate degree programme (such as a master’s programme, or higher);

(b) Be enrolled in the final academic year of a first university degree programme (such as bachelor’s degree or equivalent);

(c) Have recently graduated with a university degree (as defined in (a) and (b) above) and, if selected, must start the internship within one-year of graduation;

(d) Be enrolled in a postgraduate professional traineeship program and undertake the internship as part of this program.

Knowledge of sustainable finance

Experience:

Knowledge and understanding of partnerships, CSR and the SDGs
Strong experience in research, analytics, content creation and editing
Extremely task/ detail oriented
Able to communicate clear ideas across a variety of mediums (in-person, phone, email, web, etc.)
Proven ability to work independently as well as in teams

Language Requirements:

Fluency in Written and Oral English.