BACKGROUND
UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.
UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.
The Bureau of External Relations and Advocacy (BERA) is responsible for positioning UNDP as the worldโs 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 UNDPโs 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.ย 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.ย
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 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 Germanyโs role as key member state on humanitarian issues and in UNDP-EU negotiations on matters related to peace and security.
UNDPโs Crisis Bureau (CB), created as part of the Global Policy Network (GPN) in 2018, spearheads UNDPโs efforts to support countries on a key challenge: how to anticipate, prevent, respond to, and recover from fragility and crisis. CB addresses the risks that precipitate crises, prevent early exit from them, and perpetuate long-term dependency on humanitarian assistance.ย Guided by UNDPโs Crisis Offer (2022), CB works within the GPN and with Regional Bureaux (RBx) and Country Offices (COs) to implement solutions across prevention, response and recovery that help break the cycle of protracted fragility and crisis.ย
CB is organized into five core teams. Each team integrates gender considerations across all areas of work to ensure inclusive and sustainable outcomes, leaving no one behind.ย
The Strategic Partnerships and Communications (SPC) Team builds, maintains, and strengthens a network of strategic partnerships across key constituencies - UN, IFI, bilaterals, private sector, foundations, civil society, NGOs โ to raise visibility, deepen engagement and generate increased political support and funding for UNDPโs work on fragility and crisis.ย The SPCโs objectives include resource mobilisation through custodianship of a multi-year strategy to secure higher quality funding from traditional and non-traditional sources.ย The team identifies, builds, and helps sustain broad-based partnerships across key constituencies with particular emphasis on operations from Brussels, Geneva, New York and Washington, DC.ย SPC provides advice on relevant UN system policies and programmes and supports UNDPโs engagement strategy for and contributions to relevant UN inter-agency coordination mechanisms, such as the IASC and JSC, among others.ย In addition, the SPC team serves as the custodian of a CB-wide communications strategy and coordinates, monitors, and reports regularly on its implementation.ย To this end, it also leads within CB and the GPN on crisis communications, working closely with BERA, RBx and COs.ย ย
Under the guidance of BERA/GRO and CB/SPC, the Partnership Specialist will focus on strengthening the crisis and fragility aspects of the partnership with German institutions, deepening the ongoing policy dialogue with Germany on relevant thematic, countries and regions, and identifying new opportunities for collaboration.ย Following the key account principle, s/he will hold the primary liaison responsibility for relationships with the German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO), UNDP's main partner for humanitarian assistance, crisis prevention, and peacebuilding. The Partnership Specialist will collaborate with the Policy Specialist in working with BMZ and KfW which also play an important role in crisis recovery and stabilization funding.ย
Crisis prevention, disaster risk reduction, crisis response, stabilization, 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 GFFO and other key actors.ย In this context, the Partnership Specialist will act as the GRO focal point for collaboration with the Crisis Bureau teams and RBx to strengthen existing German Government and Institution 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.ย
It is important to note, however, that the distribution of institutional liaison responsibilities within the GRO team will be regularly reviewed and adjusted as needed in response to the evolving context in Germany.
DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIESย
The Partnership Specialist will have the following responsibilities:ย
Support the strategic partnership development and related resource mobilisation opportunities between UNDP and Germany on issues related to crisis and fragility; Support UNDPโs engagement with Germany at policy level through advocacy and outreach on matters related to crisis and fragility;ย Develop knowledge materials to strengthen the partnership between Germany and UNDP on matters related to crisis and fragility.ยAdvance Strategic Partnership and Resource Mobilization:
Advise and support the GRO Director and Deputy Director in the development and maintenance of effective cooperation with senior officials, outreach to Ministries, and key crisis and fragility actors in Germany, in close collaboration with other colleagues in the office; Facilitate the ROโs engagement with the Crisis Bureau Teams and RBx, helping to identify new entry points for strategic engagement with the German Government and other relevant German institutions, to strengthen existing partnerships and leverage new cooperation/programming opportunities on priority crisis topics including: HDP Nexus, Human Mobility, WPS and Gender Justice, Stabilization, Rule of Law, PVE, Risk Anticipation and peace positive investments, etc.;ย Identify concrete new opportunities for policy and programme collaboration with Germany in the area of crisis and fragility; stimulate and support the development of the crisis and fragility programmatic portfolio, including through leveraging relevant Crisis Bureau technical teams and Regional Bureau focal points;ย Support resource mobilization for L1-L3 Crisis response and for global initiatives managed by the Crisis Bureau in conjunction with technical teams through identification of funding opportunities within German institutions (mainly GFFO);ย 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; Promote UNDPโs participation and positioning in German fora related to crisis and fragility and other topics, as needed; Provide in-depth analyses of key debates and formulation of strategic recommendations for UNDP positioning;ย Develop and maintain a relevant network of contacts with German policy makers, think tanks and NGOs ensuring UNDPโs visibility in key discussion forums, with a primary focus on fragile contexts as well as early warning, crisis prevention and response; and Ensure tracking of crisis related RM opportunities in Unity.Ensure Advocacy and Outreach with German Institutions:
Support the roll-out of UNDPโs crisis-related offers with Germany partners;ย Support assessments of changing German development priorities for input into communication and advocacy policymaking and strategy setting; In collaboration with the Communications Specialist, contribute to the design of strategic communication approaches and types of information products needed to respond to the German aid climate. Support GRO communication and visibility efforts as required, especially vis-ร -vis Berlin-based constituents, in close collaboration with the Communications Specialist. Support UNDPโs participation and positioning in German fora related to crisis and fragility such as the Munich Security Conference. Manage UNDPโs contribution to the crisis and fragilityโs segment in the Germany-UNDP Annual Consultation and secure appropriate participation from German Institutions and UNDP;ย Organize meetings, workshops, and round tables on key policy issues on crisis prevention and post-crisis issues of joint Germany-UNDP interest such as the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus and Stabilization; andFacilitate Knowledge Building and Sharing:ย
Contribute to creation of crisis related communications materials, campaigns and events, in close collaboration with GRO and CB communications specialists. Gather information concerning events, policy development and programme directions of relevance to the crisis portfolio;ย Provide regular updates to the management of the Germany Representation Office and the SPC Team, Crisis Bureau on the evolution of the UNDP crisis prevention, response and recovery portfolio with Germany and on concerns on any relevant partnership programmes in this area to ensure appropriate follow-up;ย Prepare and systematically disseminate information to relevant partners in Germany, on UNDPโs policy and programmatic work related to crisis and fragility; Establish and maintain a database on Germany financed projects related to crisis and fragility and ensure that an updated brief is available for UNDP Senior Managementโs visits to Germany; Actively contribute to relevant Communities of Practice and share lessons learnt/best practices capitalizing the successful partnership between Germany and UNDP; Support the organization of conferences, workshops and meeting on matters related to crisis and fragility, peace and security, as appropriate;ย Facilitate knowledge building and knowledge sharing in the Office and as required by the organization, to support effective and coordinated outreach/advocacy of UNDP activities; and Contribute to BERA cross-functional teams.Other Duties:ย
The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the OrganizationINSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENT
The Partnership Specialist will perform duties under the overall supervision of the Deputy Director of UNDP Germany Representation Office, with a secondary reporting line to the Senior Partnership Advisor of the PKP Team in New York.ย
The Partnership Specialist will be based within the UNDP Germany Representation Office in Berlin and will work in close coordination with CB units, Regional Bureaus, and BERA as well as other relevant units in HQs and the Germany Representation Office.
COMPETENCIES
Core Competencies:
Achieve Results:ย LEVEL 3: Set and align challenging, achievable objectives for multiple projects, have lasting impactย Think Innovatively:ย LEVEL 3: Proactively mitigate potential risks, develop new ideas to solve complex problemsย Learn Continuously:ย LEVEL 3: Create and act on opportunities to expand horizons, diversify experiences Adapt with Agility:ย LEVEL 3: Proactively initiate and champion change, manage multiple competing demandsย Act with Determination:ย LEVEL 3: Think beyond immediate task/barriers and take action to achieve greater results Act with Determination:ย LEVEL 3: Think beyond immediate task/barriers and take action to achieve greater results Engage and Partner:ย LEVEL 3: Political savvy, navigate complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaboration Enable Diversity and Inclusion:ย LEVEL 3: Appreciate benefits of diverse workforce and champion inclusivityCross-Functional & Technical Competencies:
Business Development: Integration within the UN
Ability toย 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 interrelatedย 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 understandย and deal with a business situation in a manner that is likely to lead to a good outcome Ability to make good judgments and quick decisions within such frameworks Knowledge and understanding of the operational frameworks in the organization.Partnership Management: Emerging partnerships
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
UN Transitions Project โ Sustaining Peace and Development through UN reconfiguration.2030 Engagement and Effectiveness: Crisis management / Country Management Support
Crisis Policy and ToolsQUALIFICATIONS
Education:ย
Advanced university degree (masterโs degree or equivalent) in Public/Business Administration, International Development, Knowledge Management, Development Finance and/or related fields is required. ORย A first-level university degree (bachelorโs 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 degreeExperience:ย
Minimum seven (7) years (with masterโs degree) or 9 years (with bachelorโs degree) of relevant partnership experience in an international development context with a focus on crisis and fragility is required.Required skills and competencies:ย
Demonstrated track-record of excellence in partnership development and resource mobilization in areas related to crisis and fragility.ย Experience working with European partners, and OECD-DAC donors.ย Demonstrated experience and knowledge and understanding of crisis and fragility policy debates, partnerships and financing mechanisms.Desired additional skills and competencies:
Experience of managing complex inter-agency processes is desirable.ย Proven experience working in different geographical areas, and development settings, including crisis and fragile environments is desirable. Experience with UN/UNDP an asset. Experience in advocacy and outreach with German institutions is an asset.Languages:
Fluency in oral and written English is required. Working knowledge of German desired.ย