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 (CO) levels, forms a contiguous spectrum of deep local knowledge to cutting-edge global perspectives and advocacy. In this context, UNDP invests in the 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 the Strategic Plan. Within the GPN, the Crisis Bureau (CB) guides UNDP’s corporate crisis-related strategies and vision for crisis prevention, response and recovery and lead corporate support in response to crisis. To fulfil its mandate, the CB is committed to investing in developing reliable capacities that can be rapidly deployed to COs.

Within the CB, support to country operations is coordinated by the Country Support Management Team (CSMT), working closely with other teams within the GPN. The overall goal of the CSMT is to ensure strong, coherent, and coordinated support to country offices (COs), as it relates to crisis and fragility, within the full spectrum of the GPN’s service offer. The CSMT steers the effective interaction of GPN Teams, Regional Bureau/Regional Hub and CO counterparts for integrated country support. It ensures that UNDP corporate support is provided before, during and after crises. It also supports and coordinates the GPN crisis response capacity and takes the lead in a UNDP-wide approach to strengthen UNDP capacity in preventing, preparing for, responding to, and recovering from crisis.

In the face of new and complex challenges posed by pandemics, and in response to the increasing frequency of crisis worldwide, the CSMT has developed transformational solutions by which countries can harness flexible support solutions and technology to enhance their analytical capacities as well as the impact of programmes in complex context.  One concrete step towards that is the development of the SURGE Academy and the Crisis Academy.

Since 2006, the SURGE mechanism has been the CB’s signature solution to supporting COs through crisis situations, by providing the right expertise at the right time. It is recognized as not only an important resource for COs, but an experiential learning mechanism for crisis personnel in UNDP. Building on the success of the SURGE Academy model, the Crisis Academy was launched in 2022 as a robust people-centred knowledge and learning system to equip and enhance readiness of country-level leadership and practitioners to deal with the complexity of crisis contexts. The Crisis Academy brings together 6 thematic academies each supporting the 3 tracks of learning, campus community and action through deployments and within current roles of crisis personnel. The 6 thematic academies include SURGE, Nexus, Prevention, Stabilization, Infrastructure and Surge Data Hub (SDH). The academies are built on focused adult learning offerings, continuous peer networking and support within UNDP and beyond and action opportunities within practitioners existing roles and through deployments. The academies consciously build knowledge, skills and attitudes of UNDP personnel and partners to embrace complexity, actively manage risk, continually anticipate and adapt to complex political context.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the Programme Specialist – Crisis Operations and Tools, the Crisis Academy manager will:

1. Manage work plans for operationalizing the Crisis Academy.
2. Coordinate the team of internal and external professionals supporting the Crisis Academy.
3. Represent the Crisis Academy’s interests across different forums (internal and external);
4. Support the day-to-day operations and other tasks related to the running and the growth of the Crisis Academy;
5. Ensure the smooth functioning of the existing 6 campuses of the Crisis Academy and launch of additional ones in 2023 and beyond.
6. Coordinate monitoring and reporting relevant to the Crisis Academy’s milestones and results.

Manage work plans for setting up and operationalizing the Crisis Academy:

• Develop and share work plans for setting up and operationalizing the Academy and its components;
• Adapt the work plans to factor changes based on challenges and opportunities;
• Manage the Crisis Academy’s budget and expenses;
• Manage the Crisis Academy core personnel
• Monitor the Academy’s deliverables and outcomes for timeliness, suitability and impact;

Coordinate the team of internal and external professionals supporting the Crisis Academy

• Support hiring of personnel as needed;
• Coordinate the team of staff and experts hired to support the implementation of various activities and ensure timely submission of deliverables;
• Facilitate engagement of personnel from within the CB, UNDP and other partner agencies;
• Share regular updates with the team on progress and plans;
• Organize remote and in-person team meetings and retreats.

Represent the Crisis Academy’s interests across different forums.

• Share the Academy’s focus, progress and asks with internal UNDP units and offices;
• Identify and reach out to potential partners or allies (within and beyond UNDP) who could be supporting to the Academy
• Maintain updates on the Academy’s journey and progress for different stakeholders.

Support the day-to-day operations of the Crisis Academy.

• Manage the Crisis Academy core team as per the organigramme, such as the Learning Advisor, Communication Advisor, Learning analyst, Comms analyst, project assistant, but not limited to these
• Moderate and guide the continuous exchange of lessons learned and best practices within the team of academy coordinators and analysts and run the back-office operations related to the running of the Academy (for example of Team space for those involved in the academies);
• Organize remote and in-person events related to the Academy;
• Support activities to mobilize additional resources (human and financial) as needed.

Ensure the smooth functioning of the existing 6 campuses of the Crisis Academy and launch of additional ones in 2023 and beyond; 

• Support discussions amongst team members on key decisions, roles and responsibilities related to the platform;
• Set up the Governance Board structure and organize bi annually Governance Board meetings
• Design work plans related to the exploration workshops, design, launch and maintenance of new Academies as per the decisions of the Governance Board
• Coordinate personnel involved in designing, launching and running the Academy.
• Identify emerging needs and lead the team in meeting those needs.

Coordinate monitoring and reporting relevant to the Academy’s milestones and results.

• Monitor progress of the Academy and its sub-components with suitable internal and external support;
• Ensure documentation and sharing of key lessons related to challenges and opportunities;
• Facilitate consensus around key action steps to ensure timely resolution of issues;
• Support adaptation and growth of the Academy in real-time and during regular planned intervals.

Competencies

Required Skills and Experience