JOBS

UNDP is Looking for a Home Based Environmental Finance Specialist for Arab States

Ednah Carrick September 20, 2024

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Closing Date: 3 October 2024

UNDP is Looking for a Home Based Environmental Finance Specialist for Arab States

Job Description

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.

Within the GPN, the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) has the responsibility for developing all relevant policy and guidance to support the results of UNDP’s Strategic Plan. BPPS staff provides technical advice to Country Offices; advocates for UNDP corporate messages; represents UNDP at multi-stakeholder fora, including public-private, government and civil society dialogues; and engages in UN inter-agency coordination in specific thematic areas. UNDP is seeking a Home Based Environmental Finance Specialist to provide technical services and support to countries in the Arab States region that are designing or implementing their national biodiversity finance plans.

Duties and Responsibilities

Design of national Biodiversity Finance Plans

Support the development of Terms of Reference, workplans, and reports by national teams;
Provide technical support and undertake reviews and impact monitoring of BIOFIN methodological outputs and processes, such as: workplans, bi-annual reports, and inception reports;

Policy and Institutional Reviews – including an assessment of the existing landscape of financing mechanisms, drivers of biodiversity loss, and gain;
Biodiversity Expenditure Reviews – in-depth assessment of major government programmes to define their biodiversity relevance;
Financial Needs Assessments – a costing of the main national biodiversity targets from the National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans/Global Biodiversity Framework (NBSAP/GBF);

Guide countries on the use of the Catalogue of Financing Solutions and the E-learning module on biodiversity finance;
Biodiversity Finance Plans – an action agenda with priority financing solutions to bridge the financing gap of the country. Support national teams and government counterparts in identifying, developing and implementing the right mix of finance solutions, tailored to the country context;
Travel to countries as needed to support the design of national Biodiversity Finance Plans, ensuring a strong coalition of actors and jointly working on this endeavour with a lead role for the Ministry of Finance;

Advise on linkages with related initiatives such as Integrated National Financing Frameworks (INFF), The Insurance & Risk Finance Facility (IRFF), Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), the Nature Facility, Global Fund for Coral Reefs, the UNDP Sustainable Finance Hub, United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP-FI), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and development banks;
Develop tailored guidance materials or other knowledge products on selected finance solutions and provide inputs into project proposals for resource mobilisation as required.

Implementing finance solutions

Help identify opportunities for the early implementation of finance solutions emerging from the Policy and Institutional Review (PIR), the Budget and Expenditure Review (BER), and the Financial Needs Assessment (FNA), or emerging needs and opportunities (e.g. natural disasters, new major government programmes, new fiscal policies);
Support the design and review of finance solution proposals developed by national teams following the Finance Solution Proposal template;
Provide feedback for the development of terms of reference, country workplans, bi-annual reports, inception reports, final reports, and other relevant documents;

Provide feedback on technical documents related to finance solutions, such as feasibility studies, concept notes, policies, laws, regulations, by-laws, organisational charts/HR Plans, resource mobilisation plans, enforcement strategies, economic valuations, advocacy plans, or any other technical reports that are required;
Travel to countries as needed to support the design and implementation of finance solutions and engage with key stakeholders to develop opportunities of collaborations for finance solution implementation;
Guide national Teams to relevant experts, knowledge platforms, tools and other guidance material related to the prioritised finance solutions/mechanisms;

Support national teams to identify opportunities to promote gender equality and sustainable livelihoods when designing biodiversity finance solutions.

Capacity development

Engage in capacity assessments and capacity development of national stakeholders as required, helping to build up a large pool of experts in each country that possess the basic skills to implement UNDP Nature Hub biodiversity finance tools;

Strengthen the capacity of a wider group of national stakeholders on prioritised finance solutions to beginner/intermediate level (as relevant), and support the process of institutionalisation with national training institutes and universities;
Support and provide inputs to global, regional, and national technical workshops, regional conference calls, technical webinars, and website discussions as requested by the global Nature Hub biodiversity finance team.

Knowledge management

Enable countries to share experiences through virtual and on site discussions;
Lead the development of knowledge materials of thematic priorities;
Write up articles, case studies, and other materials emerging from the national process, summarizing key experiences and lessons from core countries, including delivering at least one case study or scientific article per year on finance solution implementation in a core country;

Support the continuous improvement of the BFP methodology. Develop guidance documents and training materials to enhance the BIOFIN methodological toolkit and implementation packages;
Deliver high quality inputs for bi-annual donor reports on progress and impact in country projects within given deadlines, and provide other inputs as required for briefing notes, case studies, knowledge management products, press releases, and other media products develop by the global BIOFIN Team.

Institutional Arrangement

The Environmental Finance Specialist for the Arab States will work from his/her home base within the Middle East region.
The Environmental Finance Specialist for the Arab States will work under the supervision of the BIOFIN Regional Advisor for Africa. The specialist for the Arab States will work with the global BIOFIN Team, national Teams, UNDP Country Offices, core and donor country governments, other international/multi-lateral organizations, and contractors.
Given the global consultations to be undertaken during this assignment, the incumbent is expected to be reasonably flexible with their availability for such consultations taking into consideration different time zones where applicable.

The incumbent will be given access to relevant information necessary for execution of the tasks under these assignments.

The incumbent will be responsible for providing his/her own working station (i.e. laptop, internet, phone, scanner/printer, relevant software, etc.) and shall have access to a stable, secure, and reliable internet connection.

Competencies

Core
Achieve Results:	LEVEL 3: Set and align challenging, achievable objectives for multiple projects, have lasting impact
Think Innovatively:	LEVEL 3: Proactively mitigate potential risks, develop new ideas to solve complex problems
Learn Continuously:	LEVEL 3: Create and act on opportunities to expand horizons, diversify experiences
Adapt with Agility:	LEVEL 3: Proactively initiate and champion change, manage multiple competing demands
Act with Determination:	LEVEL 3: Think beyond immediate task/barriers and take action to achieve greater results
Engage and Partner:	LEVEL 3: Political savvy, navigate complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaboration
Enable Diversity and Inclusion:	LEVEL 3: Appreciate benefits of diverse workforce and champion inclusivity
Cross-Functional & Technical competencies Thematic Area Name Definition Planet Nature Climate and Energy Ecosystems and biodiversity: Biodiversity Finance Environmental Governance: Global Environmental Governance Business Direction and Strategy System Thinking Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgement to understand how interrelated elements coexist within an overall process or system, and to consider how altering one element can impact on other parts of the system Planet Nature Climate and Energy Environmental Governance: Multilateral Environmental Agreements (e.g. CBD and UNCCD) Ecosystems and Biodiversity: Conservation and Sustainable use of biodiversity, land, forests and oceans Partnerships management Relationship management Ability to engage with a wide range of public and private partners, build, sustain and/or strengthen working relations, trust and mutual understanding. Business Management Project Management Ability to plan, organize, prioritize and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals Business Development Knowledge Generation Ability to research and turn information into useful knowledge, relevant for context, or responsive to a stated need

Required Skills and Experience

Min. Education requirements	Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or higher) in public finance, private finance, economics, environmental economics, public administration, financial management, natural/environmental sciences, social sciences with a specialization in environmental finance and development, or other closely related field, or A first-level university degree (Bachelor’s degree) in the said fields, with two additional years of relevant experience will be taken into consideration in lieu of advanced university degree.
Min. years of relevant work experience	Minimum 5 years (with Master’s degree) or 7 years (with Bachelor’s degree) of demonstrated experience in environmental related public or private sector finance , sustainable development/environmental finance, resource mobilisation, biodiversity conservation, natural resource management, or a related field
Required skills	Prior experience in designing, reviewing and implementing conservation finance, environmental finance, sustainable finance; Experience in developing countries and with international organisations; Expertise in planning and conducting workshops and technical trainings on environmental finance; Candidates must be located within the Arab States region.
Desired skills	Prior work experience with governments, public policies, or financial regulations; Experience with UN and/or UNDP policies, procedures, and practices particularly in relation to project development and implementation and/or working in an international organization is an advantage; Previous country experience in the Arab States region is an advantage; Good command of French is an asset.
Required Language(s)	Excellent oral and written communication skills in English and Arabic.