As the United Nations lead agency on international development, UNDP works in 170 countries and territories to eradicate poverty and reduce inequality. We help countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities, and to build resilience to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We advocate for transformative change, and we connect countries to the resources they need to help people build a better life.

In Asia and the Pacific, the UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub (BRH) supports 24 UNDP country offices (COs) in this region to deliver the Agenda 2030 and the SDGs. As outlined in the UNDP Strategic Plan 2022-2025, Governance is one of the six signature solutions, alongside poverty and inequality, resilience, environment, energy and gender equality, for UNDP to support countries towards three directions of change: structural transformation, leaving no one behind and resilience.

Local governance plays a critical role in improving people’s livelihoods, driving transformative impact, and accelerating the achievement of the SDGs at the local level (SDG localization). Development challenges in the 21st century, nevertheless, are complex and interconnected. To navigate the fast-evolving development challenges and accelerate the SDG localization, it requires systems thinking, people-centric approach, and innovative governance practices such as co-creation and portfolio design. Since 2019, UNDP BRH has been supporting countries in Asia-Pacific in developing and implementing innovative governance models to strengthen core governance principles such as participation, inclusion, effectiveness, accountability, and transparency. Key initiatives include Social Innovation Platform, Urban Governance for the Future, and Anticipatory, Agile and Adaptive G governance (AAAG).

In this context, the UNDP BRH is recruiting a Local Governance Programme Analyst to support the development and implementation of innovative governance initiatives at regional and country levels enhancing UNDP’s thought leadership and leverage to accelerate SDG Localization.

The Local Governance Programme Analyst will report to the Regional Governance Advisor (UNDP BRH). The Programme Analyst will work in close collaboration with BRH teams, UNDP COs and other key stakeholders.

Under the supervision of the Regional Governance Advisor at UNDP BRH, the Local Governance Programme Analyst will support the development and implementation of the regional local governance programming, bringing systems thinking, human-centric approaches, and portfolio design in development solutions. He/She will collaborate with cross-functional teams, including researchers, project managers, advisors, and policy makers to enhance UNDP’s programming on local governance in Asia-Pacific. This will encompass areas such as urban governance, innovative governance models, and environmental governance. The primary goal is to support the countries in Asia-Pacific in building and implementing governance models that are inclusive, participatory, effective, forward-looking, adaptative, and ready for the future, thereby enabling progress toward achieving the SDGs at the local level.

As part of the BRH regional Local Governance team, the Local Governance Programme Analyst performs the following functions:

Technical Support

• Provide technical support to UNDP COs in developing and implementing local governance programmes using systems thinking, human-centric approaches, and innovative governance tools.
• Provide technical support to building capacities and developing resources to strengthen inclusive, participatory, effective, and future-ready governance capabilities at the local level.

Research and Planning

• Conduct research, gather data, and draft discussion notes, concept notes, case study analysis, and initiative mappings to inform programme design.
• Provide support to strategic planning of regional local governance initiatives, including action plans, timelines, and resource allocations based on research insights.

Collaboration and Communication

• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams, including COs, BRH teams, donors, administrative teams to ensure successful and impactful project implementation.
• Lead knowledge management of the programming on local governance in Asia-Pacific to enhance UNDP’s advocacy and knowledge sharing on local governance.

Support Strategic Partnership and Resource Mobilization

• Provide support to building and managing strategic partnerships with diverse stakeholders such as donors, local governments, civil society organizations, the private sector, and academia.
• Provide support to developing proposals and strategies to attract funding, including grant writing, proposal development, and leveraging donor networks to mobilize financial resources for regional initiatives.

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

Core competencies:

• Achieve Results: LEVEL 1: Plans and monitors own work, pays attention to details, delivers quality work by deadline
• Think Innovatively: LEVEL 1: Open to creative ideas/known risks, is pragmatic problem solver, makes improvements
• Learn Continuously:  LEVEL 1: Open minded and curious, shares knowledge, learns from mistakes, asks for feedback
• Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 1: Adapts to change, constructively handles ambiguity/uncertainty, is flexible
• Act with Determination: LEVEL 1: Shows drive and motivation, able to deliver calmly in face of adversity, confident
• Engage and Partner: LEVEL 1: Demonstrates compassion/understanding towards others, forms positive relationships
• Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 1: Appreciate/respect differences, aware of unconscious bias, confront discrimination

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies:

Business Direction & Strategy:

• Strategic Thinking: 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.
• Systems 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 Development

• Knowledge Management: Ability to research information and to turn it into useful knowledge, relevant for context, or responsive to a stated need; Ability to animate individuals and groups, internally and externally, and to design and facilitate activities, to share and exchange knowledge, information and ideas.
• Human-cantered Design: Ability to develop solutions to problems by involving the human perspective in all steps of the problem-solving process Knowledge and understanding of human centred design principles and practices.

Business Management

• Project Management : Ability to plan, organize, prioritize and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals.
• Results-based Management: Ability to manage the implementation of strategies, programmes, and projects with a focus at improved performance and demonstrable results. Knowledge and understanding of relevant theories, concepts, methodologies, instruments, and tools.

Partnership Management

• Strategic Engagement: Ability to capture and sustain attention, interest and agreement of high-level, influential policy and decision makers and secure their buy-in of high-level vision and objectives

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: No requirements