UNDP Jobs - 53019- Policy Specialist, Poverty and Inequality

Policy Specialist, Poverty and Inequality

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

FTA International

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

26-Jan-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-4

Duration of Initial Contract :

One year renewable

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

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’s staff provides technical advice to Country Offices; advocates for UNDP corporate messages, represents UNDP at multi-stakeholder fora including public-private dialogues, government and civil society dialogues, South-South and Triangular cooperation initiatives, and engages in UN inter-agency coordination in specific thematic areas. BPPS works closely with UNDP’s Crisis Response Unit (CRU) to support emergency and crisis response. BPPS ensures that issues of risk are fully integrated into UNDP’s development programmes. BPPS assists UNDP and partners to achieve higher quality development results through an integrated approach that links results based management and performance monitoring with more effective and new ways of working. BPPS supports UNDP and partners to be more innovative, knowledge and data driven including in its programme support efforts.

Reporting to the Team Leader, Development Planning and Inclusive Sustainable Growth in New York, the Policy Specialist based in HQ contributes to the collaborative process of policy development, research and programmes on poverty and inequality measurement, including issues of social and economic vulnerabilities. S/he works with teams across UNDP’s Regional Hubs, Country Offices and Global Policy Centers, develops substantive approaches, products and tools on poverty and inequality issues to support policy and programming services to UNDP Country Offices. This guidance is informed by the empirical perspectives of programmatic and partnership dimensions at the country level. S/he will work closely with the Teams in the Sustainable Development Cluster to support MDG Acceleration Framework (MAF) implementation and subsequently the transition to an SDG support framework, focusing on the poverty and inequality aspects of the SDGs. The Policy Specialist collaborates with teams across UNDP to provide quality policy services and advance UNDP’s credibility in this thematic area in both crisis and non-crisis countries, ensuring that poverty and inequality dimensions are key in UNDP programming in crisis and post crisis situations as well.. S/he is responsible for performing and contributing to the following:

Policy Research and Development;
Policy Advice and Programme Support Delivery;
Policy Positioning and Representation;
Partnerships and Resource Mobilization;
Knowledge Management.

Duties and Responsibilities

Policy Research and Development

Working in close collaboration with the Team Leader, Development Planning and Inclusive Sustainable Growth, contribute to the integration of UNDP’s work on poverty and inequality into a coherent policy and programming framework in support of the implementation of the UNDP Strategic Plan, including in non-crisis and crisis countries, as well as in support to interventions in recovery contexts;
Produce relevant analysis and guidance, in close collaboration with different teams in BPPS, on poverty and inequality issues, including on issues such as multidimensional poverty, poverty and distributional impacts of policies, labor conditions and intersection of main poverty indicators in different contexts including post disaster and conflict settings;
Coordinate and contribute to the design of policy initiatives for different contexts on key emerging policy agendas, in collaboration with policy teams in the Regional Hubs bringing in perspectives and knowledge from Country Offices and the regions;
Coordinate and commission new research on poverty and inequality, including through working with the Global Policy Centers, including on analysis of at-risk-of-poverty and inequality indicators to inform policies and approaches to improve targeting of resources and interventions; and
Guide the quality assurance of policy services and foster policy innovation on poverty and inequality to enhance programme delivery, including in post crisis countries.

Policy Advice andProgramme Support Delivery

Working in close collaboration with the Team Leader, Development Planning and Inclusive Sustainable Growth, provide guidance and input to teams in Regional Hubs in their provision of policy advisory services to country offices on all poverty and inequality programming efforts, including on MAF implementation and SDGs baseline and goal setting, helping them to ensure relevance of the services provided to country and regional context including crisis situations;
In collaboration with the BPPS teams the Regional Hubs, deliver technical policy advice and programme support that responds to country office needs related to poverty reduction and ways to address inequality in crisis and non-crisis contexts, including through the provision of capacity building and backstopping;
Support the use of integrated multi-disciplinary approaches, including through Development Solutions Teams (DSTs), to meet policy and programming needs in line with corporate guidance and standards; and
Liaise with the CRU and the Team Leader, Livelihoods and Economic Recovery, to ensure a rapid and well-coordinated response to and recovery from crisis and provide related contributions to UNDP SURGE for country offices, as required.

Policy Positioning and Representation

Provide substantive and content input to contribute to mobilizing, fostering and strengthening strategic partnerships with UN entities and other relevant bodies and provide inputs to those partnerships in support of UNDP initiatives;
Prepare briefing notes and speeches;
Provide substantive input in the process of advocating the importance of the thematic area of poverty and inequality reduction in various fora, including academia and civil society, with a view to deepen related political commitment and related reforms; and
Support Team Leaders in engagement in UN interagency coordination in relevant policy areas by drafting briefing, preparing for and participating in meetings; and
Advocate policy and positioning of UNDP on multidimensional poverty and policies to tackle inequality and socio-economic vulnerabilities in various fora, as appropriate, and under the guidance of the Team Leader, Development Planning and Inclusive Sustainable Growth.

Partnerships and Resource Mobilizatio

Working in close collaboration with the Team Leader, Development Planning and Inclusive Sustainable Growth, mobilize, foster and strengthen strategic partnerships with UN entities and other relevant bodies, including with the Human Development Report Office (HDRO), UN DESA, UNICEF, ILO and the World Bank, and provide substantive inputs to those partnerships in support of UNDP initiatives focusing on sustainable development outcomes;
In collaboration with BERA, support the Team Leader to engage with global partners and develop/implement resource mobilization plan under corporate guidelines, including to fulfill corporate and donor reporting, advocacy and information-sharing requirements; and
In collaboration with BERA, support resource mobilization for the delivery of UNDP results related to poverty and inequality reduction.

Knowledge Management

Contribute to and coordinate cross-regional exchange of knowledge by collaborating with policy teams in Regional Hubs to research, develop and share knowledge-based tools and guidance to help influence/advance policy dialogue in the thematic area and present such material at various fora; and
Contribute to the knowledge extraction, analysis, documentation, codification of results/lessons learned regarding pro poor approaches in the roll out of SDG implementation/ acceleration initiatives, ensuring that knowledge sharing and content management is in line with guidelines and performed using corporate tools.

Competencies

Core:

Innovation

Ability to make new and useful ideas work.

Leadership

Ability to persuade others to follow.

People Management

Ability to improve performance and satisfaction.

Communication

Ability to listen, adapt, persuade and transform.

Delivery

Ability to get things done.

Technical/Functional:

Primary:

Poverty and human development

Knowledge of poverty, human development and inclusive and sustainable growth issues and the ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations.

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Knowledge of the Millennium Development Goals and Sustainable Development Goals and the ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations.

Social Inclusion

Knowledge of inclusive growth, decent employment and social protection concepts, principles and issues and the ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations.

Representation

Ability to productively share UNDP knowledge and activities (at UN and other venues).

Project and Programme Management

Ability to plan, organize, and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals.

Resource Mobilization

Ability to identify and organize programmes and projects to implement solutions and generate resources.

Partnerships

Ability to engage with other agencies and forge productive working relationships.

Secondary:

Sustainable development

Knowledge of sustainable development concepts, principles and issues and the ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations, covering the economic, social and environmental dimensions.

Advocacy

Ability to advocate a point of view and influence others.

Knowledge Management

Ability to efficiently handle and share information and knowledge.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced university degree (Master’s or equivalent) in economics, sustainable development, social sciences or related disciplines.

Experience:

7 years of professional work experience providing policy advice and rolling-out approaches on multidimensional poverty and inequality measurement and targeting, in different development contexts;
Strong analytical skills in economic and social dimensions of sustainable development;
Experience working in developing country settings is required and experience in crisis contexts is an asset.

Language Requirements:

Fluency in English, both written and oral.