UNDP Jobs - 65401- Senior Technical Advisor, REDD+ Finance, (Head of

Senior Technical Advisor, REDD+ Finance, (Head of Secretariat, CAFI)

Location :

Geneva, SWITZERLAND

Type of Contract :

FTA International

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

29-Apr-16 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-5

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.

The UNDP REDD+ team is based in UNDP/BPPS. It is currently part of the BPPS supporting the delivery of the Sustainable Development work area of UNDP’s Strategic Plan 2014-17. The primary purpose of the position is to lead the work of the Secretariat of the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) Trust Fund and provide advisory services to REDD+ countries on REDD+ Finance.

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, as defined by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), is referred to as “REDD+”. UNDP’s REDD+ Team is spread globally, with advisors in New York, Geneva and Oslo. Regional teams are located in UNDP’s Regional Centres in Bangkok (Asia-Pacific) and Panama (Latin America and the Caribbean), while the regional team for Africa is in Nairobi in order to be co-located with UNEP’s REDD+ Team. The regional teams support UNDP’s country offices and partners in their region. Support to UNDP country offices is coordinated closely with the Regional Bureaux.

The REDD+ team is responsible for a growing portfolio of $100m. The work is primarily concentrated in the UN-REDD Programme, a collaborative partnership with FAO and UNEP. UNDP is also a Delivery Partner for the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF). In addition, the team is responsible for other REDD+ initiatives such as CAFI and ensuring overall quality assurance. The team especially works closely with the UNDP-GEF team to provide guidance on GEF-funded projects related to REDD+ and with the Low Emissions, Climate Resilient Development (LECRD) team to ensure UNDP’s efforts on REDD+ contribute to broader transformational change. The team can support the REDD+ initiatives of the regions and country offices and provide quality assurance on a full cost-recovery basis on various REDD+ related issues including REDD+ Finance.

Central Africa is home to the second largest tropical rainforest in the world. Forest loss is accelerating despite ongoing efforts, as government action alone has not been sufficient to establish an effective balance between the interests of the forest and of economic development.

On this basis, a coalition of willing donors – the European Union, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Kingdom of Norway, the Republic of France and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland – together with Central African partner countries – Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of Cameroon, the Republic of Congo, the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, and the Republic of Gabon – have decided to enter into a collaborative partnership to establish the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI). The objective of this initiative is to recognize and preserve the value of the forests in the region to mitigate climate change, reduce poverty, and contribute to sustainable development. This objective will be attained through the implementation of country-led, national scale REDD+ and Low Emissions Development (LED) investment frameworks that include policy reforms and measures to address the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation and promote sustainable development.

The CAFI Trust Fund is the principal means to implement the Central African Forest Initiative. It is administered by the MPTF-O (http://mptf.undp.org/factsheet/fund/AFI00). As per its Terms of Reference, the UNDP REDD+ team will provide the secretariat services with ad hoc advisory support from other organizations.

The management of the CAFI Trust Fund is carried out at three levels:

• The Executive Board (EB), supported by a small Secretariat, is responsible for overall coordination with CAFI Partner Countries and decisions regarding the allocation of resources from the CAFI Fund;
• UNDP’s Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office is responsible for administering the CAFI Fund; and
• UN agencies, the World Bank and bilateral cooperation agencies will serve as Implementing Organisations to assist CAFI Partner Countries to implement NIFs that have been endorsed by the CAFI Board.

Level of responsibility/accountability: managing the process, content management, managing and approving transactions, managing operations, designing policies and strategies, defining the vision (the latter as a support function of the Executive Board).

Enabling environment: the peer community is the members and observers of the Board, in this environment the incumbent will play the role of a neutral facilitator. In addition, incumbent will also need to work with the technical teams from UNDP (UNDP REDD+ team), FAO, World Bank and bilateral cooperation agencies.

Internal/external focus: Internal focus relationship with Bureaux (BOM, BPPS, RBA) and country offices. External focus: donors (technical and political level), partner countries (technical and political level)

Reporting to Principal Policy and Technical Advisor REDD+ (but with instructions from and accountability to the Executive Board of CAFI for CAFI related matters)

Duties and Responsibilities

1) Facilitates strategic dialogue for the Central African Forest Initiative, by focusing on the following results:

Board members’ views and strategic preferences identified, shared and discussed during meetings and reflected in strategic documents of CAFI
Partner countries’ positions and strategic preferences are communicated to EB Members and observers and are taken into account to the extent possible in decision-making
Partner organizations’ interests, concerns and strategic preferences are communicated to the EB, resolved and harmonious partnerships develop with sister initiatives
The strategic dialog results in successful implementation on the ground of the innovative principles of CAFI as captured in the Joint Declaration as well in additional commitments from donors to support the implementation of National Investment Frameworks
Collaboration is developed with relevant regional and thematic initiatives

2) Oversees CAFI pipeline development by focusing on the following results:

Portfolio planned and developed according to available funding
Joint Declaration signed by relevant actors
Submissions to the EB are harmonized across implementing agencies
National Investment Frameworks submitted by eligible countries and implementing organizations
National Investment Frameworks assessed and funding allocation approved by the EB
Letters of Intent signed between CAFI and partner countries
National programs are developed, assessed and approved for funding
Decisions by EB captured based on which disbursements can be made
Results reported by implementing organizations are aggregated and presented to the EB at the outcome level
Fund performance assessed
Arrangements for parallel funding developed and implemented
Adaptive measures adopted based on assessments

3) Ensures effective management of CAFI secretariat, by focusing on the following results:

Budgeting, planning, implementing and monitoring of the Secretariat (including organization of cost-recovery system) prepared and approved by the EB
Secretariat staff supervised and performance assessed
Contracts for independent evaluations cleared, terms of reference and documents submitted to the EB, recruitments and hiring processed
Communication tools (websites, documents etc.) updated reflecting key information that partners require
CAFI is regularly and accurately presented at relevant regional and thematic meetings

4) As senior technical advisor on REDD+, provide country advisory services to partner countries of the UNDP REDD+ portfolio, by focusing on the following results

UN-REDD partner country governments are regularly informed of and understand the REDD+ fund management options (including for results-based payments), including experiences from other countries and evolution of relevant initiatives and funds
Technical documents developed to explain options and design fund management arrangements
High-level technical input into legal documents (decrees and other legal instruments required to set up fund management arrangements) provided
Consultants and ad hoc experts supervised and their work cleared at the technical level

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: Climate Change Mitigation
Knowledge of climate change mitigation concepts and the ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations
Climate Finance: Knowledge of climate finance concepts and practices and the ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations
Effective Development Cooperation, coordination provider-recipient: Ability to manage complex relationships through pathways of knowledge exchange, capacity development, funding relationships and strategic engagement
Natural Capital and Environment – Green economy and green growth: Knowledge of Green Economy concept and green growth issues, including green commodities, supply chains and poverty-environment nexus, and the ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations
Finance and Accounting, Trust Fund management: Knowledge of managing trust funds including contributions, allocations, delivery analysis, projections and senior management advisory on emerging financial mechanisms.

Secondary
Legal (general): Knowledge of legal issues facing the UNDP and ability to apply them to strategic and/or practical situations

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Masters’ degree in Law and Finance with specialization in environment and the land use sector.

Experience:

10 years of relevant expertise at the international level in the field of environment, climate change and REDD+
Expertise in REDD+ finance especially in the legal and financial implications of results-based finance
Familiarity with major REDD+ funding initiatives
Experience in providing technical advisory to REDD+ countries including Central African countries on managing REDD+ finance and REDD+ Funds
Experience in partnership building
Familiarity with UN, UNDP, WB or bilateral cooperation programming modalities

Language Requirements:

English, French and Spanish