Information Management Analyst - IPSA 9

Contract

This is a IPSA-9 contract. This kind of contract is known as International Personnel Services Agreement. It is normally internationally recruited only. It usually requires 2 years of experience, depending on education. More about IPSA-9 contracts.

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 2022-2025 Strategic Plan puts nature and the environment at the heart of national economies and planning; helping governments protect, manage and value their natural assets. As part of the Global Policy Network in the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, UNDP’s Nature, Climate Change, 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 largest portfolio of in-country programming on environment, climate change, and energy. This multi-billion-dollar portfolio encompasses: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services including forests; Sustainable Land Management and Desertification including food and commodity systems; Water and Ocean Governance including SIDS; Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation; Renewable and Modern Energy; Extractive Industries; Chemicals and Waste Management; Environmental Governance and Green/Circular Economy and SCP approaches. This work advances crosscutting themes on innovative finance, digital transformation, capacity development, human rights, gender equality, health, technology, and South-South learning. UNDP's Nature, Climate and Energy practice spans 137 countries, with a portfolio directly benefiting 86 million people. Our support to Governments focusses on enabling an inclusive, resilient, green recovery by: building competency to accelerate access to sustainable energy and climate and nature-positive policies and finance; scaling capacity to ensure No One is Left Behind; catalyzing SDG and Paris-aligned investments (public and private); delivering client-focused solutions that respond to countries' immediate, mid- and long-term recovery and socio-economic development priorities; and leveraging our on-the-ground presence and networks to unlock bottom-up solutions that deliver lasting impacts at country level.

In addition to UNDP’s bilateral partnerships on nature climate and energy, UNDP is an accredited multilateral implementing agency of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Multilateral Fund (MLF), and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) which includes the Global Environment Facility Trust Fund (GEF Trust Fund); the Nagoya Protocol Implementation Fund (NPIF); the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF); and the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF). As part of UNDP’s partnership with these vertical funds, UNDP provides countries specialized integrated technical services for eligibility assessment, programme formulation, capacity development, policy advice, technical assistance, training and technology transfer, mobilization of co-financing, implementation oversight, results management and evaluation, performance-based payments and knowledge management services. The Nature, Climate and Energy Team focuses on managing the oversight of climate and environmental financial resources from global trust funds to catalyze and unlock other types of public and private financing for sustainable development. This includes oversight of the design as well as implementation phase of projects (together with Country Offices and Regional Bureaus), as well as portfolio level oversight and management.

Climate Change Mitigation Programme

To avoid an irreversible climate crisis, we need to halve global emissions by 2030, and have carbon-neutral economies by 2050. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions – or climate change mitigation - is essential to fulfilling commitments to the Paris Agreement and limiting global mean temperature increase to 1.5° C above pre-industrial levels. All sectors, including energy, transportation, industry, forests, and land-use/agriculture must make a meaningful contribution towards achieving carbon neutrality. UNDP, as the largest implementer of climate change support within the UN system, plays a critical role by supporting countries in their emission reduction plans. With a commitment to providing long-term development support, our mitigation portfolio currently comprises of over 280 projects and programmes in over 110 countries. Together with our partners, UNDP supports countries to take ambitious climate action, advance Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), and use a wide range of strategies and approaches across energy, forestry, and land-use/agriculture sectors.

a) Climate and Forests Programme

Forests support the livelihoods of over 1 billion people and host the largest share of the world’s biodiversity. UNDP provides expertise in stakeholder engagement, social and environmental safeguards, governance, institutional coordination, strategic planning, implementation of policies and measures to address drivers of deforestation, access to innovative finance and accessing results-based payments. UNDP also facilitates the necessary partnerships to address the complex elements of the REDD+ process.

UNDP Climate and Forests Programme’s “Paris Agreement LULUCF Assessment & NDC Tool” – PLANT, was created in 2020, in the context of the Climate Promise. The objective was to develop a database with country data to enable the assessment of various key elements for the implementation of the Paris Agreement from the perspective of the land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector: Article 4 – NDCs, Article 5 – REDD+, Article 6 – Cooperative approaches / carbon markets, Article 9 – Finance, Article 13 – Transparency.

PLANT is an UNDP tool used to: (i) assist governments understand and assess their climate change mitigation potential for the forest sector as part of their NDC and gaps for accessing REDD+ performance-based finance; (ii) produce technical reports, policy briefs and/or feasibility assessments on specific thematic areas, such as carbon market readiness.

In the context of the above, UNDP is looking to engage an Information Management Specialist to provide technical and managerial support to UNDP’s Climate & Forests Programme’s PLANT Tool.

Institutional Arrangement

The selected candidate will be supervised by, and report directly to the Senior Global Technical Advisor. S/he will be expected to liaise and collaborate with relevant team members of the UNDP Climate & Forests Programme. If travel is required, and subject to (local) Covid-19 health permission, such travel shall be at UNDP’s expense in accordance with UNDP’s travel guidance and policy, and the personnel shall receive a per diem not to exceed United Nations daily subsistence allowance rate.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

The selected candidate will be responsible for the following:

• Coordinate and implement activities of maintenance, updates, and development of PLANT with a special focus on the validation and improvement of the existing countries in the database, a total of 54 countries:

  • Prepare, lead and register meetings for the validation of PLANT with external users, country representatives and international LULUCF experts and incorporate their inputs for improving the tool.
  • Develop and implement capacity building events, material and meetings with internal and external stakeholders to promote the use of PLANT and its strategic positioning as a key tool for the implementation of the Paris Agreement for the forest sector
  • Implement technical solutions for the sharing and expansion of PLANT to other countries beyond the REDD+ countries database.
  • Maintain the standards and other requirements in PLANT updated, including JNR and ART, and potentially expanding for new standards and requirements as needed.
  • Manage users access to the tool and assist countries with specific demands regarding their access to the information, potential simulation and building their capacities to use the tool independently.

• Manage vendor's contract and ensure the quality control of deliverables/ data in PLANT:

  • Cross check and verify all deliverables and ensure that it follows UNDP norms and the objectives set for PLANT.
  • Lead the expansion of PLANT to countries beyond the REDD+ database and inclusion of new modules
  • Coordinate the solution development of new PLANT modules for NDC tracking
  • Coordinate and lead the development of a module to run simulations for carbon markets and NDC using the information that is available in PLANT as well as external sources, including UNFCCC databases and other organizations platforms.

• Propose ways to connect PLANT to other UNDP tools and information management initiatives as well as other external tools that can potentially provide relevant information for the assessments.

  • Lead the development of solutions for the Climate Promise v2 databases integration with PLANT tool.
  • Coordinate the inclusion of PLANT in the Climate and Forests website and prepare communication materials to support it.
  • Propose new technical solutions to enhance the information management content of the Climate and Forests team, including through the NYDF platform/ forest declaration platform and other existing initiatives and NCE tools, including the national registries.

Competencies

Minimum Qualifications of the Successful IPSA

Required skills

• Advanced knowledge and experience working on programming, macro and online tools is required.
• Solid overall computer literacy, including proficiency in various MS Office applications (Excel, Word, etc.), familiarity with database management, and office technology equipment is required.
• Excellent oral and written skills, including excellent drafting, formulation, reporting skills, document production and editing is required.

Desired skills in addition to the competencies covered in the Competencies section

• Experience working for an international organization is an advantage.
• Understanding of carbon accounting methodologies, carbon markets standards and data analysis is an advantage.
• Experience managing complex contracts and diverse teams is a plus.

Required Language(s)

• Excellent oral and written communication and presentation skills in English required.
• Fluency and excellent writing skills in Spanish is an advantage.

Professional Certificates

• -NA-

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies

Thematic Area

Name

Definition

Business Management

Results-based Management

Ability to manage programmes and projects with a focus at improved performance and demonstrable results

Business Management

Project Management

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

Business Management

Communication

Ability to communicate in a clear, concise and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience

Digital & Innovation

Innovation capacity building

Ability to define and create the conditions for trying out new ways of working or introducing new problem-solving approaches to an organisation. Ability to develop, manage and evaluate a learning curriculum that raises awareness, builds confidence, strengthens innovation capabilities around a certain method, tool or technique; or helps develop an innovation mindset. Ability to create the authorising environment (mandate, incentives) to embed and spread new ways of working. In-depth knowledge of one or more innovation methods, broad knowledge of innovation processes and innovation management. Ability to align a learning and development strategy with broader innovation strategy.

Information Management & Technology

Data Management & Analytics

Knowledge in data management, data sciences, ability to structure data, develop dashboard and visualization. Design data warehouses, data lakes or data platforms concepts. Familiarity with Machine leaning natural language processing or generation and the use of artificial intelligence to support predictive analytics. CDMP or TOGAF9 or equivalent certification desirable.

Nature, Climate and Energy

Climate and Forests: REDD+/UNFCCC and access to emission reduction results-based payments (GCF or carbon markets).

Required Skills and Experience

Minimum Qualifications of the Successful IPSA

Min. Education requirements

Advanced degree in statistics, economics, data management, software development, IT, engineering, geography, environmental management and/or other related fields. First degree acceptable with additional two years of experience in relevant fields mentioned above.

Min. years of relevant work experience

A minimum of two (2) years with master’s degree and a minimum of four (4) years with first degree of relevant professional experience in GHG

emissions and removals estimate for the forest sector, carbon markets, safeguards, REDD+ or the development of similar tools.