Green Shift Project Associate

Consultant Programme & Policy

Overview

Support national and regional trainings for green SME development activities.

You have:

• Master’s Degree in Business, International Affairs, Management, Finance, Accountancy, Law, Public Policy or related field.
• At least two years of experience in completing research, project management and planning events and meetings, with at least one year experience in the promotion of green or inclusive business.
• Fluency in English is required.
• Desirable work experience in South and Southeast Asia.
• Desirable experience in working with the United Nations.
• Desirable experience in green business, inclusive business, and/or impact investment.
• Desirable experience in promoting private sector development.

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

Result of Service

The objective of this contractor is to support the organisation of national and regional trainings for activities, including activities related to coaching SME Development agencies in Malaysia and the Philippines (1.3), coaching SMEs in Malaysia and the Philippines (2), developing business collaborations between green SMEs and larger enterprises (3) and facilitating exchanges among SME development agencies at the ASEAN level (4).

Work Location

Bangkok

Expected duration

1 January to 31 March 2026; 1 May to 31 July 2026 with possibility to extend when fund available.

Duties and Responsibilities

Background: The private sector plays a critical role in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As a source of innovation and economic dynamism, they have the potential to address the most critical challenges of our time. The private sector provides the vast majority of employment opportunities and is critical for providing livelihoods opportunities as well as access to valuable goods and services. However, too often economic growth and private sector expansion comes at a detriment of people and planet. This is of particular importance for the Asia-Pacific region, which is disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis and where wide income disparities persist. A just green transition of the region’s economy is an urgent requirement for safeguarding livelihoods and wellbeing of the people of South-East Asia. A green economy requires ‘traditional’ businesses to shift to greener processes, as well as the scaling up of those businesses that are green from the outset. To create systemic change towards a green economy and promote hundreds of businesses to become green, it is critical to create an enabling environment, where businesses can access the relevant skills and funding to ‘go green’ and scale up their positive environmental impact. This requires building the capacities of SME development agencies to support business become greener, exploring incentives for businesses to become green, facilitating linkages among different players, supporting coalitions for change (at the national and regional level), as well as facilitating access to finance. Green Shift Project objectives: The programme will create an enabling environment for green businesses to drive a new green economy in ASEAN, by strengthening the capacity of businesses and of SME development agencies to promote, recognise and scale up green business models (objective 1) and by developing business collaborations/market linkages for green SMEs (objective 2). Objective 1 will be achieved by assessing training gaps to recognizing and supporting green businesses, developing training and coaching curricula for SME development agencies and businesses, implementing these to strengthen the capacities of SME development agencies and to directly support green businesses, and by sharing such resources at the regional level. Objective 2 will be achieved by connecting SMEs with large enterprises developing targeted engagements between SMEs and large enterprises and facilitating business collaborations among them. Project outputs: To achieve these objectives, the project will: 1. Develop two toolkits and coach SME agencies in Malaysia (1) and in the Philippines (1) to support green transition of SMEs 1.1. Conduct a training needs analysis 1.2. Develop 2 training toolkits (for Malaysia (1) and the Philippines (1)) for greening SMEs, incorporating gender perspectives 1.3. Coach the SME Development agencies in Malaysia and the Philippines on the two training toolkits 2. Provide coaching to 60 SMEs in Malaysia and the Philippines 2.1. Provide coaching services for 30 SMEs in 2026 2.2. Provide coaching services for 30 SMEs in 2027 3. Develop business collaborations between green SMEs and larger enterprises 3.1. Connect participating SMEs with large enterprises through two matchmaking exercises in 2026 and 2027. 3.2. Facilitate successful business collaborations (e.g. letter of intent, purchase order, business agreements) between green SMEs and large enterprises, including through the coaching services 4. Facilitate exchanges among SME development Agencies at the ASEAN level on promoting the green transition of SMEs 4.1. Organise 3 exchanges for SME development agencies in South-East Asia to discuss and exchange best practices and training resources for supporting green SMEs. 4.2. Develop a compendium of training resources that support the green transition of SMEs, incorporating gender perspectives. 4.3. Prepare a note on policy suggestions on promoting green SMEs in ASEAN. The objective of this contractor is to support the organisation of national and regional trainings for activities, including activities related to coaching SME Development agencies in Malaysia and the Philippines (1.3), coaching SMEs in Malaysia and the Philippines (2), developing business collaborations between green SMEs and larger enterprises (3) and facilitating exchanges among SME development agencies at the ASEAN level (4).

Qualifications/special skills

Master’s Degree in Business, International Affairs, Management, Finance, Accountancy, Law, Public Policy or related field. At least two years of experience in completing research, project management and planning events and meetings, with at least one year experience in the promotion of green or inclusive business. Desirable Criteria: • The candidate has work experience in South and Southeast Asia. • Experience in working with the United Nations. • Experience in green business, inclusive business, and/or impact investment. • Experience in promoting private sector development.

Languages

Fluency in English is required.

Additional Information

Not available.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.

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Potential interview questions

Added 3 months ago - Updated 2 months ago - Source: careers.un.org