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NDC Partnership Senior Climate Change Policy Adviser (Partnership Specialist)

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Last update: Sep 27, 2024 Last update: Sep 27, 2024

Details

Deadline: Oct 26, 2024
Location: Kazakhstan
Job type:Contract, 12 months +
Languages:
English, Kazakh, Russian English, Kazakh, Russian
Work experience:Min 5 years
Date posted: Sep 26, 2024

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Description

Dutystation: Astana, Kazakhstan

Functional responsibilities


Roles and Responsibilities

The Adviser serves as the NDC Partnership’s interface in the country and operates as a liaison between the country and other NDC Partnership members. The Adviser’s role is purely one of coordination and supportive facilitation. Working on behalf of the partner government, the Adviser plays a key role in ensuring the smooth implementation of the Country Engagement Process, by supporting ongoing coordination efforts between the Support Unit, the various partners in the NDC Partnership and MENR.

This involves working with the Cabinet of Ministries of Kazakhstan to refine its objectives for support over time coordinating the implementation of the NDC, NAP, TNA and LT-LEDS; and serving as an anchor to assist the NDC Partnership in communicating and coordinating services at the country level. The Adviser will also liaise with the NDC Partnership Support Unit for vertical information-sharing, including contributing to and accessing knowledge products.

The incumbent will serve as the NDC Partnership’s interface in the country and operate as a liaison between the country and other NDC Partnership members. The role is one of coordination and supportive facilitation. He/she plays a key role in ensuring the smooth implementation of the Country Engagement Process, by supporting ongoing coordination efforts between the Support Unit of the NDC Partnership, the various partners of the Partnership, and the government of Kazakhstan.

The incumbent will support the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources (MENR). He/she will be responsible for strengthening national coordination in terms of resource mobilization and monitoring the implementation of the NDC. He/she will support the focal point of the Partnership in his daily tasks of implementing the NDC and other forms of support for the NDC implementation. This involves working with the Cabinet of Ministries of Kazakhstan to refine its objectives for support over time coordinating the implementation of the NDC, NAP, TNA and LT-LEDS; and serving as an anchor to assist the NDC Partnership in communicating and coordinating services at the country level. The Adviser will also liaise with the NDC Partnership Support Unit for vertical information-sharing, including contributing to and accessing knowledge products.

The embedded adviser will implement all tasks under the direct supervision of the NDC Partnership Country Engagement Specialist and will work in close collaboration with the different ministerial offices. He/she will need to use his/her own laptop and software. This is a retainer national vacancy / position for twelve 12 months, maximum of 220 working days.

The following responsibilities are part of the embedded incumbent role:

Facilitation of updated NDC

  1. Support Kazakhstan and the NDC Partnership Support Unit in initiating NDC Partnership in-country engagement;
  2. Strengthen the coordination, tracking, and monitoring mechanism(s) for the support provided by development partners on the NDC Implementation Plan, and Kazakhstan’s monitoring/reporting tool for climate finance;
  3. Advise the government on potential and appropriate implementing and development partner/s for each action/priority and identifying the roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder;
  4. Support preparation of NDC draft, engage stakeholder for NDC approval and NDC streamlining.
 

Mobilization of resources for implementation

  1. Support the country in exploring, following up on and in mobilizing partner support for its needs and priorities (and update those along the way as needed following the government’s guidance) along with a preferred process for coordination of country engagement under the NDC Partnership, as proposed and agreed upon by the MENR of Kazakhstan;

  2. Engage with partners in the country to link needs to services and resources in accordance with the NDC, NAP, and LT-LEDS, including by providing the government’s inputs on alignment of partners’ country strategies with priorities and gaps identified in the above policy documents;

  3. Identifying further needs for Technical Assistance for priority based on NDC, NAP, and LT-LEDS;

  4. Support project development and preparation for potential funding by donors;

  5. Assist the government in preparing concept notes to access financing for unfunded priorities in the updated NDC, NAP, and LT-LEDS.

Coordination and communication with key stakeholders

  1. Ensure that communications relevant to NDC Partnership engagement are shared with relevant national and international level stakeholders, including building and maintaining long-term collaborative partnerships.

  2. Facilitate periodic coordination and information exchange among partners in Kazakhstan, with the aim of leveraging and mobilizing their respective advantages in support of the implementation of NDC, NAP, TNA and LT-LEDS;

  3. Assess progress outcomes of the NDC Partnership in-country engagement and make recommendations for adjustments;

  4. Collaborate with the Support Unit to document changes in the operating context and provide support to MNRE and stakeholders in decision-making processes;

  5. Oversee the coordination NDC Partnership scoping missions to Kazakhstan and take the lead on the implementation of its recommendations;

  6. Coordinate and participate in the NDC Partnership’s conferences, trainings and other activities at the global, regional and national levels.

Organize NDC-related meetings as needed

  1. Facilitate national country specific multi-stakeholder NDC dialogues, which may serve one or more of the following objectives:

    1. Intersectoral multi-stakeholder dialogues to promote a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches in implementing NDC, NAP, and LT-LEDS and their integration in development policies;

    2. Support the government in conducting meetings among development partners and other key stakeholders, in order to maximize synergies, avoid duplication and mobilize support for identified needs and gaps for successful NDC implementation;

    3. Multi-stakeholder dialogues with the private sector and/or civil society organizations;

    4. Multi-stakeholder dialogues within specific sectors or on a certain topic (i.e., Measurement, Reporting and Verification [MRV], gender equality, etc.);

  2. Any other support needed by MNRE to coordinate development partners.

Identifying lessons learned and results

    1. Lead the tracking of in-country engagement and provide periodic progress updates to the NDC Partnership;

    2. Liaise with the Support Unit to access and/or feed into global knowledge products;

    3. Assist the Support Unit in identifying and disseminating information on best practices and lessons learned from in-country engagement.

Capacity building
Conduct ongoing capacity development (i.e., technical assistance and formal/informal on-the-job training) of the government in preparation for fully taking on the facilitation role in the future.

Education/Experience/Language requirements


Education

  • A master’s degree preferably in public policy, development, climate change, natural resource management, environmental management, engineering and any other relevant field of study.

  • Bachelor's degree in related discipline with an additional 2 years of relevant work experience (7 total) may be accepted instead of an advanced university degree.


Experience

Required

  • With a Master Degree, at least 5 years of experience in public policy, climate/environment and sustainable development in Kazakhstan;

  • Demonstrable experience working in climate change tasks in Kazakhstan, including, but not limited to, mitigation and adaptation action, and modeling expertise with results-based management;

  • Demonstrated skills in managing and aligning diverse groups of stakeholders, including development agencies, non-state actors / civil society, financial institutions, the private sector, and others;

  • Experience in facilitating the preparation and implementation of NDCs and similar public policy frameworks

  • Familiarity with UNFCCC processes including Subsidiary Body and Conference of Parties (CoP), NDC and past experience on government climate change process.

Asset

  • Experience of other national contexts that indirectly contribute to climate change is desirable

  • Ability to foster formal and informal networks to strengthen cooperation between agencies, including Government, private sector participants, NGOs and other stakeholders

  • Excellent communication (Written and Oral) Skills

  • Excellent MS Office (i.e., Word, Excel, PowerPoint and others) and internet research skills.


Language

Proficiency in Kazakh, Russian and English is required.

*This is a Home-based position, meaning the incumbent will be expected to work from government offices in Kazakhstanand not work from a UNOPS office nor from home. Additionally, the incumbent will need to take their own laptop, equipped with all the relevant software, to government facilities.