The Bureau of External Relations and Advocacy (BERA) is responsible for positioning UNDP as the world’s leading global development network, promoting its global authority and thought leadership on sustainable development and the interconnected issues of poverty, inequality, and climate change. BERA leads and supports UNDP in building and nurturing strategic relationships and alliances essential to achieving its mission. Creating strong political and financial backing for UNDP by providing partners and supporters with a clear understanding of what UNDP does and how our mission, capabilities and flagship services relate to them. The Bureau leads UNDP’s work on innovative and diversified partnerships and ways of financing the Decade of Action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. It is also responsible for global campaigns on critical development issues, which aim to inform government policies and build partnerships around high-impact solutions. BERA coordinates and sets corporate standards across the functions of partnerships, marketing and communications within UNDP and leads on internal communications.  The Bureau of External Relations and Advocacy is positioned around three service lines; Public Partnership; Advocacy, Marketing and Communications; and Private and Finance Partners, all working in close collaboration and coordination under the guidance of the Directorate and with the support of the Management Support Unit and Strategic Analysis and Engagement team.

BERA has a robust network of Representation Offices (Bonn, Brussels, Copenhagen, Geneva, Tokyo and Washington D.C.) and Regional Teams in five hubs (Africa, Arab States, Asia Pacific, Europe and CIS, and Latin American and the Caribbean) co-led with Regional Bureaus, all of which play a critical role in audience centric communications and management and strengthening of relationships with Public and Private Partners to help build a strong brand for UNDP within the local ecosystem.

Germany is one of UNDP top-partners on matters related the crisis with ongoing programmatic partnerships on risk anticipation, prevention, stabilization, rule of law, climate-security, and the HDP-nexus. Since the opening of the Germany Representation Office (GRO) in April 2021, UNDP and Germany have strengthened their relationship, from a donor-recipient dynamic to a deeper, strategic partnership. Against this backdrop, UNDP seeks to strengthen the collaboration on fragility and crisis issues, including peace and security, at partnership and policy levels with relevant German institutions and to leverage more strategically Germany’s role as key member state on humanitarian issues and in UNDP-EU negotiations on matters related to peace and security.

UNDP’s Crisis Bureau (CB), created as part of the Global Policy Network (GPN) in 2018, is responsible for the organization’s crisis-related policy and programme support in line with UNDP’s Strategic Plan (SP) 2022-2025. UNDP’s corporate Crisis Offer seeks to consolidate and upgrade UNDP’s crisis mechanisms to break the cycle of protracted crisis and fragility; to get ahead of the crisis curve through anticipating and preventing crises; and to sustain development throughout crisis by investing in development – from jobs to justice. These efforts seek to mitigate potential shocks and disruptions, protect hard-won development gains, and to provide sustained accompaniment throughout crises, and to pursue pathways out of crisis and build longer-term resilience. The CB supports Regional Bureaus (RBx) and Country Offices (COs) to ensure risk-informed and preventive approaches are integrated into development plans, priorities, and programmes.  Under its new structure, the CB’s new Policy, Knowledge and Partnerships (PKP) Team is responsible for leading UNDP’s multidimensional policy, thought leadership, and partnerships agenda on crisis and fragility. The PKP Team consists of three Units: Policy Coherence and Integration Unit; Thought Leadership, Knowledge Management and Learning Unit; and Partnerships and Financing for Fragility Unit.

Under the overall guidance of BERA/GRO and in close collaboration with CB/PKP, the Partnership Specialist will strengthen the crisis and fragility aspects of the partnership with German institutions (including BMZ, GFFO, KfW, GIZ and ZIF), support the ongoing policy dialogue with Germany on relevant thematic areas, countries and regions, and identify future opportunities for collaboration.  Prevention, disaster risk reduction, crisis response, stabilisation, peacebuilding, recovery, and agendas such as Risk Anticipation, Forced Migration, WPS, Sustaining Peace and the New Way of Working will all be elements of the policy and partnership dialogues with the BMZ, GFFO, KfW, GIZ, ZIF, German Think Tanks and Members of Parliament.

• Contribute to overall partnership work of the Germany GRO, in close collaboration with other colleagues in the office.
• Contribute to the strategic partnership development and related resource mobilization opportunities between UNDP and Germany on issues related to crisis and fragility.
• Contribute to visibility and communication efforts, along with contribution to the development of knowledge materials, to strengthen the partnership between Germany and UNDP, including on matters related to crisis and fragility.

Contribute to overall strategic partnership and resource mobilization efforts of the GRO 

• Advise and support RO Director in the development and maintenance of effective cooperation with senior officials, outreach to Ministries, and other key actors such as GIZ, KfW, think tanks etc. in close collaboration with other colleagues in the office.
• Engage in the development and ensure implementation of tailored outreach, resource mobilization and other strategies to deepen and broaden UNDP’s existing partnerships with key German counterparts.
• Facilitate the RO in engagements with UNDP Regional and Central Bureaus, in close collaboration with other team members, helping to identify new entry points and programming opportunities between Germany and UNDP in German priority areas.
• Facilitate organization of visits of UNDP senior staff to Germany, including in the context of annual consultations or reviews, conferences, bilateral meetings, fund-raising initiatives, visibility events, etc.
• Ensure capturing and tracking of opportunities and follow up actions as may be required, including in Unity.

Contribute to the partnership development and resource mobilization between UNDP and Germany on issues related to crisis and fragility.

• Lead the roll-out of UNDP’s crisis offer with Germany partners and contribute to the implementation of UNDP’s RM Strategy with Germany with focus on support to the crisis portfolio, including the development and implementation of a related GPN Funding Windows donor relations strategy.
• Guide GRO, in collaboration with the Crisis Bureau Technical Teams and RBx, in its strategic engagement with the German Government and other relevant German institutions, to strengthen existing partnerships and leverage new cooperation opportunities on topics including: HDP Nexus, Human Mobility, WPS and Gender Justice, Stabilization, Rule of Law, PVE, Risk Anticipation and peace positive investments, etc.
• Facilitate expansion of partnership with KfW in crisis and fragile contexts beyond the MENA region.
• Promote UNDP’s participation and positioning in German fora related to crisis and fragility.
• Develop and maintain a relevant network of contacts with German policy makers, think tanks and NGOs in crisis and fragility to ensure UNDP’s visibility in key discussion forums.
• Ensure tracking of partnership opportunities in the area of crisis and fragility.

Contribute to visibility and communications efforts, including contribution to knowledge development and management.

• Contribute to creation of crisis related communications materials, campaigns and events, including those related to crisis and fragility, in close collaboration with GRO and CB communications specialists, as relevant.
• Gather information concerning events, policy development and programme directions of relevance to the crisis portfolio, including placing such information on the Crisis Portal.
• Contribute to BERA cross-functional teams.

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

Institutional Arrangement

The Partnership Specialist will perform duties under the overall supervision of the Director of UNDP Germany Representation Office, with a secondary reporting line to the Senior Partnership Advisor of the PKP Team in New York.

The Partnership Specialist will be based within the UNDP Germany Representation Office in Berlin and will collaborate with CB units, Regional Bureaus, and BERA as well as other relevant units in HQs as needed.

• 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

Cross-Functional & Competencies

• Business Development – Integration within the UN:
  • Ability to identify, and integrate capacity and assets of the UN system, and engage in joint work; knowledge of the UN System and ability to apply this knowledge to strategic and/or practical situations
• Business Direction and Strategy – System Thinking:
  • Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgement to understand how interrelated elements coexist within an overall process or system, and to consider how altering one element can impact on other parts of the system
• Business Direction and Strategy – Business Acumen:
  • Ability to understand and deal with a business situation in a manner that is likely to lead to a good outcome.
    Knowledge and understanding of the operational frameworks in the organization and ability to make good judgments and quick decisions within such frameworks
• Partnership Management – Emerging partnership:
  • Ability to engage with emerging partners, develop and manage a strategy and develop approaches to developing and managing these new strategic partnerships
• Partnership Management  – Multi-stakeholder engagement and funding:
  • Knowledge and ability to forge multi-stakeholder partnerships, and remove any obstacles to resource mobilization and multi-stakeholder funding platforms
• 2030 Agenda Peace – Conflict Prevention, Peacebuilding and Responsive Institutions:
  • Sustaining Peace (including financing) peace building and transitions
• 2030 Engagement and Effectiveness – Crisis management / Country Management Support :
  • Crisis fundraising