Project Analyst/Coordinator

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 recognised as a relevant tool to help countries to identify and fill the biodiversity finance gap, including through the work of the Biodiversity Finance Initiative www.biofin.org. In December 2022, parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted the Montreal-Kunming Global Biodiversity Framework. This included numerous targets with relevance for financing. Target 19 on resource mobilisation includes reference for countries to design and implement national biodiversity finance plans. 

The GEF created a global programme to support countries to design a national Biodiversity Finance Plan. 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 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.

The implementation of the project in North Macedonia falls under the GEF8 Umbrella programme for the development of the first National Biodiversity Finance Plan. The overall implementation of the project will be led by the Project Analyst/Coordinator with the support of a global technical team and in coordination with the focal points from the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning and the Ministry of Finance and the National Project Board.

For the implementation of the GEF8-BFP Umbrella program at the national level, UNDP is recruiting a national team composed of a Project Analyst/Coordinator who under direct supervision of the UNDP Head of Environment, Energy and Disaster Risk Reduction Unit will be responsible to guide the project staff and offer them continuous support towards achieving the expected project results.

The Project Analyst/Coordinator will be responsible for the overall supervision and management of in-country activities, ensuring a proper workplan and budget is in place and implemented within set timelines, with an effective national team and strong partnerships. The Project Analyst/Coordinator will work closely work 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 organised in a timely manner, and that they meet expected quality standards. 

He/she is expected to have extensive experience in the respective areas and to provide substantial technical expertise in assuring horizontal integration and consistency of workstreams/studies, as well as advisory services and quality assurance of national products and processes throughout the duration of the national project. He/she will be responsible for relevant sections the production of the Policy and Institutional Review, the Biodiversity Expenditure Review and the Financial Needs Assessment. He/she will also lead the preparation of the Biodiversity Finance Plan and will oversee the identification and implementation of finance solutions as requested. He/she 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

Ensuring effective project management of the assigned project by maintaining the delivery of appropriate technical, operational, financial and administrative outputs, while tracking the project progress by monitoring, evaluation and reporting

• 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.
• Organise 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. 
• Discuss with the Ministries of Finance, Environment and other key stakeholders the establishment of a national Steering Committee and follow up on the formal establishment and 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.
• Liase the project processes and products with relevant national planning biodiversity and finance relevant processes, such as NBSAP updates and Global Biodiversity Framework implementation. 
• Ensure a timely identification of risks in implementation at the national level and communication to the GPMTSU.
• Organise 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 overall technical leadership, coordination, and quality assurance for the national implementation of the BIOFIN project, ensuring alignment with global guidance, integration across all workstreams, and the timely delivery of high-quality outputs

• Act as principal technical contact for the project implementation with Global Project Management and Technical Support Unit (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. Technical 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 write develop the sections on subsidies and financing incentives in the PIR (Project Implementation Report) 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 Biodiversity Finance Plan (BER).
• Support the data collection, modelling, quality checking, and validation of the FNA.
• Develop a Biodiversity Finance Plan according to the guidance provided by the GPMTSU global BIOFIN team and written guidance documents (especially the BIOFIN Workbook)

Ensure effective coordination, monitoring, and reporting of the BIOFIN project at the national level, aligning implementation with global methodologies, facilitating stakeholder engagement, overseeing quality assurance of technical outputs, and supporting strategic communication and visibility efforts

• Signal 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 programme, the GEF 7 Early Action Support Programme, 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, of at least one brief overview publication per year, press releases, and web and media products.

Ensuring Gender mainstreaming within the project 

• Ensuring gender is effectively mainstreamed throughout the project activities, work plans, budgets, reports, research, analyses and, where specifically relevant, analyzed in detail.
• Ensuring gender equality is mainstreamed throughout team, consultant and staff management activities.
• Ensuring knowledge on gender equality is incorporated in Project knowledge management activities and products.
• Ensuring collection of gender disaggregated data, as appropriate. 

Facilitate knowledge and capacity building, knowledge sharing and advocacy relevant to the assigned thematic area(s). 

• Organize training, workshops, and capacity building activities in a consultative manner, involving technical experts and stakeholders that may include the government, private sector, NGOs, donors, and/or academia. 
• Identify, synthesize and document best practices and lessons learned that are generated from the project and implementing partners. 
• Participate in and ensure sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice on project related issues. Support establishment of knowledge platforms for the project, facilitate innovative mechanisms for dissemination of knowledge from the project, and develop knowledge resources and products to share with project partners and to support UNDP’s engagement in this area. 
• Promote advocacy on development trends and opportunities to collaborate in coordination with the project partners, stakeholders, and UNDP communications staff. 

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

Institutional Arrangement

At the global level, this global umbrella programme will be supported by a Global Project Management and Technical Support Unit (GPMTSU). The Project Analyst/Coordinator will be engaged on a regular NPSA contract and will report to the Head of the Environment, Energy and Disaster Risk Reduction Unit (for more details see the organigram below). 

The Project Analyst/Coordinator will be located in the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning in Skopje, in principle working side by side with government staff.

A dedicated technical advisor by GPMTSU will be available to support each country’s work. 

Competencies

Core Competencies

• Achieve Results:             
  • LEVEL 2: Scale up solutions and simplifies processes, balances speed and accuracy in doing work
• Think Innovatively:        
  • LEVEL 2: Offer new ideas/open to new approaches, demonstrate systemic/integrated thinking
• Learn Continuously:      
  • LEVEL 2: Go outside comfort zone, learn from others and support their learning
• Adapt with Agility:          
  • LEVEL 2: Adapt processes/approaches to new situations, involve others in change process
• Act with Determination:              
  • LEVEL 2: Able to persevere and deal with multiple sources of pressure simultaneously
• Engage and Partner:      
  • LEVEL 2: Is facilitator/integrator, bring people together, build/maintain coalitions/partnerships
• Enable Diversity and Inclusion: 
  • LEVEL 2: Facilitate conversations to bridge differences, considers in decision making 

Cross-Functional & Technical Competencies

• Nature:
  • Ecosystems and biodiversity
• Private sector resource mobilization:
  • Ability to identify, develop and manage partnerships that leverage private sector technical expertise and resources.
• Project Management:
  • Ability to plan, organize, and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals
• 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.
• Procurement management:
  • The ability to acquire goods, services or works from an outside external source

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master´s degree in Environment/Natural Resource Management, Biodiversity, Economics/Finance, Law or a closely related field is required, OR;
• Bachelor´s Degree in the areas stated above, in combination with additional 2 years of qualifying experience will be given due experience in lieu of Master´s degree.

Experience:

• Applicants with a master’s degree in a relevant field of study are not required to have professional work experience.
• Applicants with a bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) are required to have a minimum of two (2) years of relevant professional experience in the implementation of environment/biodiversity/ finance projects.

Required Skills:

• Experience in the use of computers, office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and web-based management systems, and advanced knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages.

Desired Skills:

• Experience in managing and/or coordinating cross-cutting, complex development issues.
• Experience in gathering and processing data and information.
• Experience in managing work teams and supervising technical assessments, reports and technical documents. 
• Prior experience with UNDP or international organizations projects. 
• Experience and knowledge in environmental or biodiversity related policies.
• Knowledge of the country financial legal framework.

Required Languages:

• Fluency in Macedonian and English is required.
• Knowledge of other local languages shall be an asset.

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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