Technical Advisor - Environmental (Marine Plastics)

Contract

This is a IICA-3 contract. This kind of contract is known as International Individual Contractor Agreements. It is normally internationally recruited only. It's an external contract. It usually requires 7 years of experience, depending on education. More about IICA-3 contracts.

Background Information - Job-specific

South East Asia Multi-Country Office (EAPMCO)

The UNOPS East Asia and Pacific Multi-Country Office (EAPMCO) supports, develops, and oversees the UNOPS portfolio of projects in East Asia and the Pacific. EAPMCO was established in January 2023 following the merger of the Thailand Multi-Country Office, which covered 20 countries across Northeast Asia, South East Asia, and the Pacific, and the Cambodia Multi-Country Office, which covered four countries in South East Asia - 3 countries in the Mekong Sub-region (Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Vietnam) and the Philippines. As a result, EAPMCO currently covers 24 countries across Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific. With its head office in Bangkok, the Multi-Country Office comprises nine business units: SEMCO Thailand, EAPMCO Indonesia, EAPMCO Pacific Operations Cluster, EAPMCO Papua New Guinea, EAPMCO China, EAPMCO Vietnam, EAPMCO Lao PDR, EAPMCO Philippines, and EAPMCO Cambodia.

Southeast Asia Regional Programme for Combating Marine Plastic (SEA-MaP)

The Southeast Asia Regional Program on Combating Marine Plastics Regional Project (the SEA-MaP Regional Project) is funded by the World Bank. It supports the implementation of the ASEAN Regional Action Plan (RAP) for Combating Marine Debris. It focuses on reducing plastics consumption, increasing recycling, and minimizing leakages to prevent land and sea-based marine plastic pollution in Southeast Asia. In addition, it strengthens plastics policies and regulatory frameworks and promotes innovative solutions to help reduce plastic pollution in Southeast Asia.

ASEAN implements the SEA-MaP Regional Project through the ASEAN Secretariat (ASEC) within the ASEAN structure and mechanisms for collaboration and consultation across the ASEAN Member States (AMS) and with development partners. A Project Steering Committee (PSC) includes the ASEAN Working Group on Coastal Marine Environment (AWGCME) and senior officials at ASEAN – Chaired by the Chair of the AWGCME. In addition, a Project Management Unit (PMU) is established within the ASEC with project oversight, monitoring, and reporting responsibilities.

ASEAN entered an Outputs Agreement with UNOPS, under which the parties agreed on the functions UNOPS executes to assist ASEAN in project activities. Accordingly, UNOPS extends its operational support to ASEAN on project implementation, procurement, financial management, environmental and social framework, monitoring, evaluation, and reporting. To this end, a Regional Implementation Support Unit (RISU) has been established by UNOPS in Jakarta and acts as the back-end technical support unit to the PMU.

UNOPS assigns the development of the deliverables through procurement to separate contractors/entities. Standard procurement processes identify implementing partners (requests for Expression of Interest, Bids, Proposals documents, etc.). The list of deliverables under UNOPS’s purview is the following:

• Regional Baseline Report (including on policies)
• Guidebook for Common Methodologies for Assessment and Monitoring of Plastic Pollution
• Extended Producer Responsibility Handbook and Customized Toolkit
• Annual Technology/Innovation Expos
• Regional Platform for Innovation and Investment
• Web Platform/Marketplace for Innovation and Investment
• Regional Guidebook on Standards for Responsible Plastic Waste Trade and Standards for Sorted Plastics and Recycled Plastics
• Regional Guidebook on Phasing Out Single-Use Plastics
• Best Practice Manual on Standards for Plastic Packaging
• Regional Training Program on Plastics and Plastic Waste Management
• Regional Guidebook on Financing Mechanisms for Investments in Plastic Waste Management

Scope of the assignment Against this backdrop, UNOPS seeks to develop a roster of Technical Advisors, Individual Contractors (retainers) to assist the RISU in providing backstopping support for the SEA-MaP Regional Project to provide quality assurance and technical advice to program activities. Three (3) experts with different specialization will be recruited for the roster. Retainer experts will play a critical technical advisory role and provide punctual input and support in preparing the bids and TOR of the assignments and evaluating the proposals submitted by bidders. In addition, the experts will also ensure the high-level technical quality of the products of the activities and provide technical advice to the SEA-MaP Regional Project on marine plastics-related aspects.

The spectrum of expertise required is driven by the deliverables of the SEA-MaP Regional Project, as mentioned above, and includes areas such as Plastic Waste Management and Marine Litter; Financial Model/ Financial Analysis; Capacity Building; etc.

Cumulatively, the pool of retainers will provide a set of expertise but not limited to:

Advocacy, strategic linkage and policy actions:

• Plastic life-cycle policies (circular economy); policy analysis, policy recommendations development of policy documents.
• Experience in applying circular economy approaches to plastics and environmental policy-related projects in Southeast Asia.
• Familiar with local regulations and benchmarks in the ASEAN region with applicable best practices to identify opportunities and gaps that could be limiting broader adoption of plastics circularity.
• Policy and private interventions needed to enable plastics recycling in ASEAN and material value that can be unlocked through interventions.
• Experienced in arranging high-level discussions with government, academia, development entities, activists, bilateral agencies, private sector and development banks.
• Etc.

Circular economy technologies and innovation

• Circular economy, solid waste management, plastic-related initiatives, plastics issues, plastic pollution prevention, and related topics.
• Plastic waste recycling system, new and advanced technologies. Familiar with the current state-of-play for the local waste plastics recycling industry, including demand and supply volumes, market opportunity, growth drivers, and constraints.
• Private sector players and ecosystem in the ASEAN plastics value chain and market drivers and challenges in scaling up circular economy approaches, specifically focused on recycling.
• Factors and barriers affecting plastics reuse, recovery, or recycling across the value chains for different resins and the size of the addressable opportunities.
• Existing plastics value chain across production, collection, recycling, wastage, imports, and exports in ASEAN.
• Innovation in packaging/labelling/plastic alternatives, solutions for substituting single-use plastic, etc.
• Develop networks of promising innovators, arrange grooming and capacity enhancement to prepare them for highly effective international innovation models.
• Community engagement in reducing plastic waste, etc.

Financial instruments, investment, funding opportunities:

• Financing opportunities offered by government, private and global actors like private equity; debt financing/loans; corporate loans and strategic investments; development bank financing; venture capital; accelerator/incubator funding; public investment/initial public offerings.
• Government opportunities, including sustainability-focused and other financial instruments as made available by national institutions; private incentives, including the commitments that numerous companies have initiated voluntarily and mandatorily leveraging the emerging EPR policies to address the problems arising from the plastic supply chain or that are considering investing in plastic recycling due to the growing demand for recycled resins. Global opportunities offered include schemes of the ADB; DEG; IFC; JAICA; Blue Natural Capital Financing Facility (Blue Bond); Circulate Capital Ocean Fund; etc.
• Fiscal instruments (taxation, fees, bonds, funds, etc.) for environmental conservation

Monitoring process, research, data, and analysis:

• Experience in policy-relevant indicators and indicator systems.
• Relevant quantitative work on environmental data and statistics.
• Familiarity with various assessment methods related to plastics and plastic pollution.
• Data analysis, estimation, calculation, and monitoring tools/ methods on Plastic waste management etc.

Functional Responsibilities

Under the general guidance and supervision of the Senior Project Manager/RISU Project Coordinator, the critical functions of the Technical Advisors, Individual Contractors include the following:

Technical Support:

• Advise on conceptualizing the activities, bringing in relevant knowledge, examples, and best practices.
• Prepare the scope of work of the various activities and detailed Terms of Reference.
• Identify technical criteria and proposal evaluation guidelines.
• Provide technical support in evaluating the proposals and selecting suitable candidates to implement project activities.

Result Orientation and Quality Assurance:

• Assure the high-level technical quality of the activities developed by the SEA-MaP Regional Project and their products.
• Provide strategic inputs in the discussions among the RISU (UNOPS), the PMU, the ASEC and the World Bank.
• Validate from the technical point of view the knowledge products of the project (documents, background papers, analyses, publications, etc.).
• Provide high-quality technical advisory inputs and advice to UNOPS on any marine plastics technical issues and queries as requested from stakeholders to ensure strong buy-in on proposed methodologies related to the project implementation.
• Provide high-level technical input and presentations on assigned topics/activities and the RISU at meetings, conferences, consultations, etc.
• Provide scientific advice to implementing partners, or ASEC, to ensure strong buy-in by stakeholders on UNOPS proposed methodologies for running the RISU.

Other tasks:

• Provide backstopping technical support to the RISU as requested by the Senior Program Manager/RISU project coordinator on any marine plastics technical issue as required.
• Any other tasks related to providing high-level technical advice to RISU as required by the project team on ASEANs behalf.

The time frame for the assignment is 1 November 2023 – 30 September 2026.

Education/Experience/Language requirements

Education:- Advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent), preferably in relevant disciplines such as Environmental Science, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Management, Marine Ecology, Sustainability Studies, Fisheries, Aquaculture, Sustainable Landscape Management, Policy and Environmental law, Sustainable Financing, Development Investment, Innovation, or another relevant discipline is required.

• A Bachelor's degree in the above-mentioned areas with an additional two years of relevant experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

  Experience:

• A minimum of seven (7) years of experience in programme/project development, research, implementation, and/or management of environmental projects or related fields is required.

• Experience in marine plastics-related projects/programs is required, which include working on relevant regulations and policies related to waste management; recycling, and plastic pollution prevention; Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) frameworks for reducing plastic pollution; implementation of single-use plastic ban frameworks. Good understanding of plastic life cycle assessment (LCA) methodologies; waste characterization techniques; and waste management infrastructure.
• Professional certification in circular economy/waste management/environmental design/sustainable material management or in other relevant areas will be an added advantage.
• Practical experience in finance and investment roles, preferably in areas related to sustainability, environmental finance, or impact investing. This could involve working at financial institutions, investment firms, asset management companies, or environmental organizations focusing on sustainable finance.
• Required experience in producing high-quality documents (technical ToR. Guidance notes, editing policy documents, manuals etc.).
• Experience in working with normative bodies, government, non-government actors, private sector, academia, and community is desirable.
• Experience in managing stakeholder relations while working for an international organization or related experience is required.
• Relevant professional experience must include two (2) years of experience at the international level.
• Ability to develop innovative solutions to marine plastic pollution is desirable.
• Regional experience in the ASEAN region is a distinct advantage.
• Prior experience developing, supporting, or managing multi-donor-supported projects would be a strong asset.

• Prior related experience in the UN system is highly

  Language:

• Fluency in English is required.

• Working knowledge of another official UN language is desirable.

Competencies

Develops and implements sustainable business strategies, thinks long term and externally in order to positively shape the organization. Anticipates and perceives the impact and implications of future decisions and activities on other parts of the organization. Treats all individuals with respect; responds sensitively to differences and encourages others to do the same. Upholds organizational and ethical norms. Maintains high standards of trustworthiness. Role model for diversity and inclusion.

Acts as a positive role model contributing to the team spirit. Collaborates and supports the development of others. Acts as positive leadership role model, motivates, directs and inspires others to succeed, utilizing appropriate leadership styles. Demonstrates understanding of the impact of own role on all partners and always puts the end beneficiary first. Builds and maintains strong external relationships and is a competent partner for others (if relevant to the role). Efficiently establishes an appropriate course of action for self and/or others to accomplish a goal. Actions lead to total task accomplishment through concern for quality in all areas. Sees opportunities and takes the initiative to act on them. Understands that responsible use of resources maximizes our impact on our beneficiaries. Open to change and flexible in a fast paced environment. Effectively adapts own approach to suit changing circumstances or requirements. Reflects on experiences and modifies own behavior. Performance is consistent, even under pressure. Always pursues continuous improvements. Evaluates data and courses of action to reach logical, pragmatic decisions. Takes an unbiased, rational approach with calculated risks. Applies innovation and creativity to problem-solving. Expresses ideas or facts in a clear, concise and open manner. Communication indicates a consideration for the feelings and needs of others. Actively listens and proactively shares knowledge. Handles conflict effectively, by overcoming differences of opinion and finding common ground.

Contract type, level and duration

1. Contract type: International Individual Contractual Agreement (IICA) - Retainer
2. Contract level: ICS 11 /LICA 11 IICA 3
3. Contract duration: 1 November 2023 – 30 September 2026

For more details about the ICA contractual modality, please follow this link: https://www.unops.org/english/Opportunities/job-opportunities/what-we-offer/Pages/Individual-Contractor-Agreements.aspx

****Disclaimer: In duty stations where the NPO category has been established by the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), a Local Individual Contractor Agreement (LICA) will be issued for a home-based contract.

This is not a full-time position. Retainers may be requested to carry out tasks on an intermittent and need basis. There are no minimum hours or days guaranteed.

Additional Information

• Please note that UNOPS does not accept unsolicited resumes.
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process, which involves various assessments.
• UNOPS embraces diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity. Our workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures, languages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. UNOPS seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce.
• Qualified women and candidates from groups which are underrepresented in the UNOPS workforce are encouraged to apply. These include in particular candidates from racialized and/or indigenous groups, members of minority gender identities and sexual orientations, and people with disabilities.
• We would like to ensure all candidates perform at their best during the assessment process. If you are shortlisted and require additional assistance to complete any assessment, including reasonable accommodation, please inform our human resources team when you receive an invitation.

Terms and Conditions

• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post.
• For retainer contracts, you must complete a few Mandatory Courses (they take around 4 hours to complete) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS. For more information on a retainer contract here.
• All UNOPS personnel are responsible for performing their duties in accordance with the UN Charter and UNOPS Policies and Instructions, as well as other relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, all personnel must demonstrate an understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a manner consistent with UN core values and the UN Common Agenda.
• It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential personnel. Recruitment in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.