UNDP is the knowledge frontier organization for sustainable development in the UN development system and serves as the integrator for collective action to realize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UNDP’s policy work is carried out at HQ, Regional and Country Office levels, and forms a contiguous spectrum of deep local knowledge to cutting-edge global perspectives and advocacy. In this context, UNDP invests in the Global Policy Network (GPN), a network of field-based and global technical expertise across a wide range of knowledge domains and in support of the signature solutions and organizational capabilities envisioned in the Strategic Plan. The GPN also aims to provide rapid and integrated support to UNDP country offices, combining policy advice, technical expertise, financial resources, agile tools and procedures, and partnerships. The Global Policy Network (GPN) has the responsibility for developing all relevant policy and guidance to support the results of UNDP’s Strategic Plan (2018-2021).

Within the GPN, the Crisis Bureau guides UNDP’s corporate crisis-related strategies and vision for crisis prevention, response, and recovery. The UNDP’s Crisis Bureau supports resilience building through risk reduction and prevention, crisis response, and recovery and ensures that issues of risk are fully integrated into UNDP’s development programmes. The Crisis Bureau assists UNDP and partners to achieve higher quality development results through an integrated approach that links results-based management and performance monitoring with more effective and new ways of working.  The CB supports UNDP and partners to be more innovative, knowledge and data driven including in its programme support efforts. The CB’s staff provides technical advice to Country Offices; advocates for UNDP corporate messages, represents UNDP at multi-stakeholder fora including public-private dialogues, government and civil society dialogues, South-South and Triangular cooperation initiatives, and engages in UN inter-agency coordination in specific thematic areas.

The Disaster Risk Reduction and Recovery for Building Resilience Team (DRT) within the Crisis Bureau provides integrated policy and programme support on disaster risk reduction and recovery in the context of UNDP’s broader approach to resilience building. The Team specifically fosters the integration of risk reduction as a key element in sustainable development and recovery at national, sub-national and sectoral level to strengthen resilience. It is also the responsibility of the team to support the regional hubs in their efforts to strengthen national capacities on disaster resilience and disaster risk reduction. The team provides high quality advice and programmatic support in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of programmes. The team leads the development and coordination of policy in disaster risk reduction (DRR), and disaster recovery with a focus on resilience building and integrated approaches with climate adaptation.

Position Purpose

The Programme Specialist is based in the Panama Regional Hub and provides day to day country office support and supports the implementation of regional or multi-country programs and projects. The Programme Specialist will work to ensure quality and coherent policy and programme advisory services within the LAC Region and across other regions, as well as alignment with the Strategic Plan and contribute to advance the credibility and recognition of UNDP’s capabilities in this knowledge domain and associated community of practice.

The Programme Specialist will work under the direct supervision of the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Team Leader, and the overall guidance of the Regional Hub Manager and DRT Team Leader in Geneva. S/he also works under the guidance of the global nodes on Disaster Risk Reduction (Geneva) and Recovery (Nairobi) and maintains close coordination and collaboration with the Regional Climate Change, and other Advisors and Specialists in the Regional Hub, HQ, Country Offices and Global Policy Centers.

The Programme Specialist will support the Regional DRR Team Leader to successfully provide technical expertise and policy and programme advisory services to requests coming from the Country Offices and, where appropriate, to government as well as key UN and external partners.

The Programme Specialist is responsible for supporting the following:

• Substantive delivery of DRR and recovery related technical assistance, and policy and programme support.
• Substantive development of DRR and recovery related tools and resources.
• Knowledge management and community of practice on DRR.
• Advocacy and partner engagement for effective policy positioning on DRR and recovery.

UNDP adopts a portfolio approach to accommodate changing business needs and leverage linkages across interventions to achieve its strategic goals. Therefore, UNDP personnel are expected to work across units, functions, teams, and projects in multidisciplinary teams to enhance and enable horizontal collaboration.

Duties and Responsibilities

Ensure substantive delivery of programme support and advice. 

• Provide advice to Country Offices (COs) on disaster risk reduction, recovery and resilience related to programmatic services, and provision of support for their contribution to the implementation of UNDP’s strategic plan.
• Provide technical inputs for the design, development, and implementation of UNDP disaster risk reduction, recovery and resilience building programmes at national and sub-regional levels.
• Participate in field missions to countries in support of programme formulation, implementation and monitoring.
• Support monitoring and advice on UNDP’s programme resources, including TRAC 1.1.3 and relevant trust fund and programme resources.
• Appraise country office requests for TRAC 3 Category II support in case of disasters and contribute to the preparation of appeals in post-disaster situations, in coordination with OCHA’s regional advisors, ensuring that UNDP programme needs are adequately reflected.
• Collaborate with UNDP global and regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Recovery Advisors, as well as other thematic teams on programmes related to crisis and recovery preparedness, recovery planning including linkages to climate change, livelihoods, displacement, urban risk, fragility, and gender issues.
• Contribute to the development of strategy and approaches to increase national capacities for disaster risk reduction and recovery, including integrating disaster risk in national and regional disaster risk reduction strategies, policies, and legislative system,
• Guide and support the implementation of global and regional disaster risk reduction and recovery programmes and projects.
• Support the establishment of partnerships and activities with UN agencies, regional NGOs, regional institutions, and academic bodies as necessary.
• Contribute to corporate processes such as ROAR, IWPs, Regional Program (evaluation, strategy, audit) and gender integration.

Ensure substantive development of tools and resources, from across UNDP’s network of expertise

• Contribute to the identification, development and delivery of tools, methodologies and training support for programme countries and UNDP Country Offices to strengthen the disaster risk reduction and recovery practice at country and regional level.
• Support reporting, lessons learning and knowledge management products on disaster risk reduction and recovery, with linkages to resilience, climate change and other relevant themes.
• Provide technical expertise on the content development for regional/CO knowledge products through the analysis of data, case evidence, and research findings on disaster risk reduction and recovery.
• Review and assess policies in relevant thematic area with the objective to identify gaps and opportunities for development of new policies and to guide the overall team priorities and workplans.
• Facilitate the capacity development of UNDP staff in application of tools and practices.

Facilitate knowledge management and community of practice networking

• Compile, analyze, report, and codify disaster risk reduction and recovery experiences and lessons learned from various country offices, foster cross-country learning and collaboration, and also seek for cross-regional exchanges under the new GPN structure.
• Contribute to the development and effective application of Crisis Bureau’s knowledge management products and policy documents.
• Provide relevant substantive inputs to the UNDP Community of Practice on Crisis Prevention and Resilience and strengthen linkages with DRR, recovery and climate change communities of practice, both inside and outside of the UN system.
• Advocate and enable South-South facilitation of exchanges and experiences sharing where valuable.
• Provide inputs to country offices with requests for information on best practices and experiences on disaster risk reduction and recovery together with partners and expert institutions.
• Encourage and support COs to capture good practices through blogs, videos, photo essays etc. and promote on social media and other regional channels as well as the COPs.
• Conduct capacity mapping and stock-taking of country and regional level status related to disaster risk reduction, recovery, and resilience.

Advocacy and partner engagement for effective policy positioning in the region

• Contribute to the development and nurturing of partnerships with the EU, World Bank, UN agencies and regional intergovernmental organizations, bilateral partners, think tanks, academic institutions, and non-governmental organizations to foster and strengthen the practice of recovery.
• Support consultations on and drafting of joint agreement and MOUs and statements of intent on disaster risk reduction and recovery, including monitoring of implementation.
• Foster partnership through attendance in regular meetings, contributions to joint knowledge products and joint conferences and workshops.
• Proactively coordinate with other regional teams on integrated missions and support to the COs.
• Support the DRT’s engagement in partnership through reporting and developing briefing notes and background information when required.
• Contribute to the resource mobilization efforts through development of project concept notes and proposals and contribute to the DRT’s resource mobilization plan under corporate guidelines, including adherence to corporate and donor reporting, advocacy, and information-sharing requirements.
• Carry out any other relevant tasks assigned by the supervisor.

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

Competencies

Core:

Achieve Results

• Set and align challenging, achievable objectives for multiple projects, have lasting impact.

Think Innovatively

• Proactively mitigate potential risks, develop new ideas to solve complex problems.

Learn Continuously

• Create and act on opportunities to expand horizons, diversify experiences.

Adapt with Agility 

• Proactively initiate and champion change, manage multiple competing demands.

Act with Determination

• Think beyond immediate task/barriers and take action to achieve greater results.

Engage and Partner

• Political savvy, navigate complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaboration.

Enable Diversity and Inclusion

• Appreciate benefits of diverse workforce and champion inclusivity.

Cross-Functional & Technical:

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: Strategic Thinking

• Develop effective strategies and prioritised plans in line with UNDP’s mission and objectives, based on the systemic analysis of challenges, opportunities, and potential risks; link the general vision to reality on the ground to create tangible targeted solutions; learn from a variety of sources to anticipate and effectively respond to both current and future trends; demonstrate foresight.

Business Direction and Strategy: Effective Decision Making

• Take decisions in a timely and efficient manner in line with one’s authority, area of expertise and resources and take into consideration potential wider implication.

Business Direction and Strategy: Negotiation and Influence         

• Reach a common understanding/agreement, persuade others, resolve points of difference through a dialogue, negotiate mutually acceptable solutions and create ‘win-win’ situations.

Business management: Portfolio Management

• Ability to select, priorities and control the organization’s programmes and projects in line with its strategic objectives and capacity.
• Ability to balance the implementation of change initiatives with regular activities for optimal return on investment.
• Knowledge and understanding of key principles of project, programme, and portfolio management.

Business development: Knowledge generation 

• Ability to research information and to turn it into useful knowledge, relevant for context, or responsive to a stated need.
• Ability to apply existing concepts to new situations, and to develop new concepts to generate workable solutions and new approaches.
• Knowledge of relevant concepts, conceptual models, and theories that can be useful in addressing new situations.

2030 Agenda: Planet –   Disaster Risk Reduction and Recovery    

• Disaster Risk Reduction and Disaster Risk Management.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in International Development, Law, International Affairs, Development Economics, Development Planning, Engineering, or other relevant field is required. OR
• A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in the areas stated above, in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree.

 Experience:

• Minimum of 5 years (with master’s degree) or 7 years (with bachelor’s degree) of professional work experience in providing policy and programme advice, including approaches, and mobilizing resources in the general area of disaster risk reduction and recovery, or related areas of environmental economics or natural resource management in different development contexts is required.
• Experience in either, public sectors (national or multilateral, including UN), or private sectors (academia, non-governmental sector, corporate) is required.
• Proven track record, knowledge, and experience in the field of disaster risk reduction and recovery is required.
• Experience and understanding of the international and regional disaster risk reduction systems, networks and key stakeholders is required.
• Proven track record of excellent writing, negotiating and communication skills and ability to mobilize support from a wide range of partners (public, private, academic, civil society, business community leaders) is highly desired.
• Experience in resource mobilization is desired.
• Working experience in developing countries is required.
• Working experience in Latin America and the Caribbean would be an asset.

Language:

• Fluency in English and Spanish, oral and written is required.
• Working knowledge of French and/or Portuguese language will be an asset.