Background

Instructions to Applicants: Click on the "Apply now" button. Input your information in the appropriate Sections: personal information, language proficiency, education, resume and motivation. Upon completion of the first page, please hit "submit application" tab at the end of the page. Please ensure that CV or P11 and the Cover letter are combined in one file.

The following documents shall be required from the applicants:

Personal CV or P11, indicating all past positions held and their main underlying functions, their durations (month/year), the qualifications, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate, and at least three (3) the most recent professional references of previous supervisors. References may also include peers.

A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page) indicating why the candidate considers him-/herself to be suitable for the position.

Managers may ask (ad hoc) for any other materials relevant to pre-assessing the relevance of their experience, such as reports, presentations, publications, campaigns or other materials.

Office/Unit/Project Description

UNDP’s Social and Environmental Standards (SES) (www.undp.org/ses) underpin the sustainable development results that UNDP supports. While UNDP’s SES provides a robust safeguards framework for the organization, sustained investment in Country Office capacities for integrating SES into the project and programme design and implementation is critical. UNDP has put a global SES Implementation Plan supported by regional and country office plans managed by the Regional Bureau.

The Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific delivers a full range of policy, programme, and operations support to 24 Country Offices (COs) in the Asia-Pacific region and provides support and oversight to a large regional portfolio  of  projects  financed  by  a  variety  of  donors,  including  the  Global  Environment  Facility,  Green Climate Fund, and other vertical funds to which UNDP is accredited.

As part of the Global Policy Network in the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, UNDP’s Nature, Climate and Energy (NCE) Team promotes and scales 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. The NCE Team works with governments, civil society, and private sector partners to integrate natural capital, environment, and climate concerns into national and sector planning and inclusive growth policies; support country obligations under Multilateral Environmental Agreements; and implement the UN’s most extensive portfolio of in-country programming on the environment, climate change, and energy. The NCE team has established a NCE Safeguards Team covering the portfolio of NCE programming in UNDP to ensure compliance with the UNDP SES and by extension similar policies of key partners.

The Regional Social and Environmental Standards Specialist (Regional SES Specialist) will support UNDP Country Offices in the Asia and Pacific region in providing oversight of the SES requirements for NCE programmes/projects and other UNDP programming in this region, working closely with COSQA. This support will focus on quality assurance of the required SES documentation necessary for project execution to comply with the UNDP SES fully. The Regional SES Specialist will be required to coordinate closely with Country Support and Quality Assurance Team, SES focal points in Country Offices, other UNDP SES and risk experts in the region and other regions, including Headquarters, to support broader SES capacity building in UNDP. Priorities and specific assignments will be determined jointly by RBAP and the global NCE SES team. The Regional SES Specialist will be part of the RBAP regional Programme Management Unit in BRH and technically linked to the global NCE SES team.

     Institutional Arrangement

The Regional SES Specialist will report to the Head of Regional Programme Management Unit in BRH (primary Supervisor) and the Head of Safeguards and Risk Management in the NCE team.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

1. SES Oversight and Quality Assurance (70%)

• Provide quality assurance support to Country Offices and Project teams on social and environmental screenings and project-specific SES assessment/management plans prepared by the Country Office or external SES experts to ensure compliance with the SES. Provide comprehensive feedback to the Country Office on these documents to improve quality and build internal capacity.
• Track progress of high/substantial risk and other priority projects’ implementation of required SES management plans and advise Country Office colleagues and project teams on new social and environmental risks, changes to project risk categorization, and other SES-related challenges.
• Contribute to the Regional Bureau reviews and analysis of SESPs and provide recommendations on quality enhancement.
• Ensure the required project-level grievance mechanisms are established and functioning for select/priority UNDP projects.
• During project design and start-up, support the realization of SES opportunities and avoidance of SES risks (i.e., participate in Pre-investment steering committee meetings – PISCs)
• During project implementation, provide enhanced quality assurance technical SES support to Country Offices to oversee the implementation of SES management plans. Identify potential actions that may be needed to ensure the project complies with the SES.
• Quality assure safeguards-related sections of NCE project progress reports and evaluations (e.g., donor reports, annual progress reports, GEF Project Implementation Reviews /GCF Annual Progress Reviews, mid-term reviews, and final evaluations).

2.  Country Office Capacity Enhancement on SES (15%)

• Identify common SES risks, capacity needs, and challenges in preparing required SES documentation and applying the SES across the programmes in the region and advise on the development of strategies to internalize this learning to build the capacity of Country Offices on the SES.
• Lead/coordinate with UNDP SES experts in the region and UNDP (including SES experts in other regions and the GPN SES network) to ensure a consistent interpretation and approach of the SES policy across all UNDP programming.
• Support SES capacity development, awareness-raising, training, development of guidance materials and other learning opportunities for Country Offices and UNDP colleagues in the region.
• Guide Country Offices in preparation of safeguards related content for project Inception Workshops.
• Support recruitment, onboarding, and oversight of safeguards consultants for NCE programming as relevant.
• Undertake safeguards oversight troubleshooting missions when requested by the Country Office and/or NCE.

3. SES Knowledge Management (15%)

• Support Country Office senior management in their engagement with partners and stakeholders (including affected people, implementing partners, and donors) on issues related to UNDP programming and the SES and its accountability mechanisms (i.e., SRM and SECU).
• Engage in regional safeguards networks and partnerships to ensure learning and exchange on safeguards with partners and UNDP’s leadership role in this area.
• Document and share lessons learned, including cases where things went wrong and promising models of SES implementation.
• Track and consolidate learning of critical gaps between the SES and national safeguards legislation and prepare guidance for Country Offices on how these gaps should be addressed.
• Contribute to a library of project safeguards documents and examples that can be used as reference points for the region and globally.
• Coordinate the exchange between project-level and Country Office safeguards experts to facilitate shared learning, consistency across the portfolio, and identification of opportunities to cost-share or combine efforts on risks faced by multiple projects.
   

Competencies

Required Skills and Experience

Minimum Qualifications of the Successful IPSA-11