Social and Environmental Standards Specialist, NCE, Latin America and the Caribbean

Senior Environment

Contract

This is a IPSA-11 contract. This kind of contract is known as International Personnel Services Agreement. It is normally internationally recruited only. It usually requires 7 years of experience, depending on education. More about IPSA-11 contracts.

Background

Office/Unit/Project Description

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.

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). The NCE 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.

UNDP’s Social and Environmental Standards (SES) (www.undp.org/ses) underpin the sustainable development results that UNDP supports. While UNDP’s SES provide a robust safeguards framework for the organization, sustained investment in capacities for implementation is critical and UNDP has put in place a global SES Implementation Plan supported by regional plans. To ensure compliance with this important policy, the NCE Team has established a NCE Safeguards Team covering the portfolio of NCE programming in UNDP.

The Social and Environmental Standards Specialist, NCE (Regional SES NCE Specialist) will support UNDP Country Offices in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region in their provision of first level oversight of the SES requirements for NCE programmes/projects in this region. This support will include tracking, quality assurance, spot-checking and trouble shooting, and advising on management measures to be taken to avoid, mitigate and manage SES risks and ensure the effective implementation of and compliance with the SES. The Regional NCE SES Specialist will be part of the global NCE Safeguards Team and will work closely with the Regional NCE Team Leader and Regional Technical Advisers in the LAC region.

The Regional NCE SES Specialist will also coordinate closely with other UNDP SES and risk experts in the LAC region, and similar positions in other regions, to support broader SES capacity building across the Country Offices in the LAC region.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. SES Oversight and Quality Assurance of NCE programming (70%)

• Quality assure existing and new SES documentation for NCE programmes/projects to ensure they meet SES technical standards and requirements, and identify potential actions that may be needed to ensure the project remains in compliance with the SES.
• Provide guidance to Country Offices on social and environmental assessments/management plans (with a particular focus on Indigenous Peoples Plans) and safeguards expertise (including review of related Terms of Reference) needed for select/priority NCE programme/project implementation.
• Provide support to project teams in responding to Headquarters/Regional Bureaux/Vertical Funds SES oversight reviews and relevant audit/investigation/evaluation findings.
• Regularly scan available data on SES implementation across the regional NCE portfolio to identify emerging risks or High/Substantial Risk projects that may require additional oversight and support.
• Quality assure safeguards 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).
• Advise regional and Country Office colleagues, and project teams on new social and environmental risks (in particular risks related to Standard 6 Indigenous Peoples and FPIC (Free, Prior, Informed, Consent)), changes to project risk categorization, and other SES-related challenges that might arise.
• Ensure the required project-level grievance mechanisms are established and functioning for select/priority NCE projects.
• Track progress of high/substantial risk and other priority projects’ implementation of required SES elements.
• Escalate issues where relevant according to standard NCE procedures.

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

• Identify common risks, capacity needs, challenges across the NCE portfolio in the region and advise on the development of strategies to address these, in close coordination with the Regional Bureau and alignment with the regional SES implementation plan.
• Provide guidance to Country Offices on Standard 6 on Indigenous Poples and FPIC for NCE programming.
• Support regular NCE SES capacity development, awareness raising, trainings and other learning opportunities for Country Offices and the NCE regional team.
• Provide guidance to Country Offices in preparation of safeguards related content for NCE project Inception Workshops.
• Track and consolidate learning of key gaps between the SES and national safeguards legislation related to the NCE portfolio and prepare guidance for Country Offices on how these gaps should be addressed.
• Lead/coordinate with other UNDP SES experts in the region to ensure a consistent approach to the application of the SES in the LAC region and more broadly in UNDP.
• 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 in NCE portfolio (15%)

• Support Country Office senior management in their engagement with partners and stakeholders (including affected people, implementing partners, donors) on issues related to NCE programming, and the SES and it’s accountability mechanisms.
• Work closely with RBx SES focal points and experts to identify opportunities to leverage learning and capacities in the NCE team for wider safeguards capacity building in the region.
• Engage and coordinate with NCE and other SES experts in Headquarters and other regions to ensure consistency in SES policy interpretation/advice,share lessons learned, and avoid duplication of efforts.
• Document and share lessons learned, including from NCE programming cases where things went wrong as well as good models of SES implementation.
• Contribute to a library of project safeguards documents and examples that can be used as reference points for the region and globally.
• Coordinate 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 NCE projects.
• Engage in regional safeguards networks and partnerships to ensure learning and exchange on safeguards with partners and UNDP’s leadership role in this area.

Competencies

Core

Achieve Results:

LEVEL 3: Set and align challenging, achievable objectives for multiple projects, have lasting impact

Think Innovatively:

LEVEL 3: Proactively mitigate potential risks, develop new ideas to solve complex problems

Learn Continuously:

LEVEL 3: Create and act on opportunities to expand horizons, diversify experiences

Adapt with Agility:

LEVEL 3: Proactively initiate and champion change, manage multiple competing demands

Act with Determination:

LEVEL 3: Think beyond immediate task/barriers and take action to achieve greater results

Engage and Partner:

LEVEL 3: Political savvy, navigate complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaboration

Enable Diversity and Inclusion:

LEVEL 3: Appreciate benefits of diverse workforce and champion inclusivity

People Management N/A

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies

Thematic Area

Name

Definition

2030 Agenda: Planet

Nature, Climate and Energy

Environment: Environmental and social impact assessments and safeguards

2030 Agenda: Planet

Nature, Climate and Energy

Environment: Environmental and social impact assessments, including data collection and analysis

2030 Agenda: Peace

Governance

Indigenous Peoples

Business Development

Knowledge Generation

Ability to research and turn information into useful knowledge, relevant for context, or responsive to a stated need

Business Management

Risk management

Ability to identify and organize action around mitigating and proactively managing risks

Business Management

Evaluation

Ability to make an independent judgement based on set criteria and benchmark. Ability to anticipate client's upcoming needs and concerns.

Required Skills and Experience

Min. Education requirements

Master’s degree in Environmental Sciences, Environmental Management, Environmental Policy, Anthropology, Sociology, or a closely-related field.

Min. years of relevant work experience

At least 7 years of relevant experience (i.e. in the area of environmental and social safeguards)

Required skills

• Direct experience in risk management; due diligence; and/or quality assurance
• Direct experience in design and/or implementation of sustainable development projects
• Exceptional analytical, writing, and communication skills
• Expert Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint skills; familiarity with e-presentation techniques and ability to operate with web-based applications

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

• Relevant work experience in an international organization
• Knowledge of the UNDP SES
• Experience with climate and environment vertical funds (e.g. GCF and GEF)

Required Language(s)

Fluency in English is a requirement , Proficiency in Spanish and/or French highly desirable.

Professional Certificates

Institutional Arrangement

The Regional NCE SES Specialist will report to the Head of Safeguards and Risk Management in the NCE team and the Regional Team Leader based in the Panama regional center.

The following documents shall be required from the applicants:

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

Annexes to the TOR

UNDP’s Social and Environmental Standards (SES) underpin our commitment to mainstream social and environmental sustainability in our Programmes and Projects. For further information following link can be visited:www.undp.org/ses

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Added 2 years ago - Updated 2 years ago - Source: jobs.undp.org