AddressBackground
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are core principles at UNDP: we value diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate, we foster inclusion as a way of ensuring all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, and we ensure equity and fairness in all our actions. Taking a ‘leave no one behind’ approach to our diversity efforts means increasing representation of underserved populations. People who identify as belonging to marginalized or excluded populations are strongly encouraged to apply. Learn more about working at UNDP including our values and inspiring stories.
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.
UNDP is committed to supporting governments in Latin America and the Caribbean to advance towards their development priorities and the SDGs. The 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals provide an aspirational line of sight, agreed upon by countries and thus politically legitimized, that reflects a holistic approach to sustainable development, encompassing economic, social, and environmental dimensions and covering a broad range of interconnected issues including growth, peace, governance, and inequalities.
The success of the 2030 Agenda will depend on its appropriation at the national and subnational levels and its influence on the design, planning and implementation of public policy. In Latin America and the Caribbean, contextualizing the 2030 Agenda requires interpreting the greatest challenges and obstacles to development faced by a middle-income region, which, as has achieved significant growth and poverty reduction, but has not managed to consolidate itself as a strong, cohesive, middle-class society.
To be an effective instrument to our members states in their journey towards their development goals, and to support them make progress paving the three-lane road of productivity, inclusion and resilience, RBLAC is organized around three main pillars - strategic engagement, solid content and impeccable administration.
Position Purpose
Under the guidance of the Regional Director and Deputy Regional Director, the Strategic Partnerships Advisor will be responsible for the overall bureau’s regional partnerships, resource mobilization, and advocacy for the LAC programmes in response to UNDP´s Strategic Plan. In support of the Regional Bureau´s leadership, the Advisor will lead the strategic thinking of the partnerships team and proactively coordinate with other unities to strengthen the coordination that brokers mobilization efforts in COs and plans to engage with external partners as regional donors, international financing institutions, academic institutions, think-tanks, and civil society.
Recognizing that in Latin America and the Caribbean, UNDP works closely with governments and other stakeholders, the Advisor will support the strategic external engagement to strengthen current partnerships and explore new and emerging sources of financing for the LAC programmes. In support of the UNDP's role as integrator and to address the UNDS reform, the Advisor will advocate for the promotion of strategic alliances with think tanks, academic institutions, development partners, private sector, philanthropy, and financial institution engagements to ensure a cohesive approach with the position of the Organization and its objectives.
The Advisor acts as the main interlocutor with the Bureau for External Relations and Advocacy (BERA). Through a decisive collaborative arrangement, the Advisor will work closely with the Panama Regional Hub, UN Agencies, and Country Offices.
UNDP adopts a portfolio approach to accommodate changing business needs and leverage linkages across interventions to achieve its strategic goals. This is a recognition of the interconnected nature of development risks & crises that the world is facing and that call for assembling of multidisciplinary teams for an integrated & systemic response. Therefore, UNDP personnel are expected to work across issues, units, functions, teams and projects in multidisciplinary teams in order to enhance and enable horizontal collaboration.
Duties and ResponsibilitiesLead on the Bureau’s partnerships and resource mobilization strategy formulation, implementation, and monitoring: Develop, advise on, and regularly update regional partnership and resource mobilization strategies and projections in line with regional strategies/priorities and corporate partnership strategies. In collaboration with BERA, conduct an in-depth analysis of donor-specific ODA and programme country government cost-sharing trends, political and economic developments, aid policies, practices, and budget allocations in specific donor countries. Coordinate or advise (as appropriate) RBLAC senior management or country offices on the establishment of key regional and country partnerships that contribute to RBLAC’s core mission, mandate, and achievement of development results, including securing resource commitments, where possible. Ensure that key engagements with partners and agreements entered are in line with the UNDP POPP, meet quality expectations, and support UNDP’s achievement of the Strategic Plan. Provide advice directly to COs, in close coordination with the Country Support Team, on existing partnerships if there are strategic issues of concern (e.g., the need to develop a framework agreement with an IFI) or agreements go outside the norm (e.g. when exceptions to the standard formats are sought by COs or an issue merit regional attention). Coordinate and advise on targeted communications and marketing activities relevant to partner groups (e.g., theme/issue, country, delivery mechanism), in collaboration with communications teams at the regional and HQ levels. Coordinate the formulation, implementation, and monitoring of partnerships and communication action plans at regional and country levels. Facilitate partnership/resource mobilization capacity-building and knowledge-sharing in the region. Identify targeted interventions to mobilize support for UNDP and positively influence donor and programme countries’ national budgetary and other decision-making processes. Share positive trends and opportunities for interventions and identify access to new funding sources within UNDP’s Trust funds. Ensure fluent information and liaison with Permanent Missions and Member States for the region. Liaise with the Executive Board secretariat on the regional political agenda, including coordination with the GRULAC and non-programme-related issues. Promotion of South-South & Triangular cooperation in coordination with UNDP SSTC unit.
Lead the development and implementation of an external relation strategy focusing on the achievement of the following results:
Ensure the design and implementation of an updated and comprehensive partnership strategy for RBLAC, including the identification of main partners (public and private) and strategic positioning. Examine risks and opportunities related to the funding base to inform the diversification of funding sources. Enhance coordination, track commitments and opportunities with partners, and strengthen coherence and cohesion of RBLAC's overall positioning in the region. Ensure the representation of RBLAC in different fora for partnership negotiations, advocating to donors, governments, private sector, philanthropy, IFIs, and strategic partners promoting regional agenda and positioning of the strategic plan in LAC. Advise the Regional Director on strategic opportunities for engagement with key partners and stakeholders, including strategic positioning of the LAC priorities. Contribute to technical conversations with the Communications team about the Bureau’s development narrative. Guide the Regional Director on innovative approaches to identify common areas of work amongst donors and partners, to promote the UNDP Strategic Plan and the LAC regional initiatives in efforts to mobilize resources. Identifying emerging modalities for funding. Scan business development opportunities for the Region, assessing and identifying potential donors and areas of joint engagements, considering local donors, IFIs, and regional banks, among others. Public and private resource mobilization, including but not limited to financial, ensuring close coordination between RBLAC HQ, Panama Regional Hub, and Country Offices. Strategic analysis and monitoring of targeted partners’ thematic priorities, funding drivers, modalities, and collaboration opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean (including key bilateral and multilateral, IFIs, private and newly emerging funding sources as well as other major donors). Represent the Bureau and liaise with BERA to ensure consideration of the Bureau´s strategic interest in the definition/revision of corporate partnership engagement policy or initiatives. Engage with financial institutions to support the implementation of ESG standards. Develop opportunities and follow up partnership opportunities for RBLAC.Strategic advice and support to Bureau Senior Management on the development of innovative partnerships for an increase in non-core funding for the LAC programmes:
Diversify RBLAC donor pipeline portfolio, by exploring the feasibility of private sector, individual support, and earned income strategies. Strengthen the Bureau’s network and partnerships with academic institutions, think tanks, and civil society organizations. Address resource mobilization issues through well-reasoned, innovative suggestions and approaches. Create and consolidate partnerships with new funding sources, including non-traditional donors. Develop synergies between strategic policy/positioning in inter-governmental and inter-agency fora, partnership development, and knowledge generation.Ensure effective internal coordination:
Ensure strong linkages between partnerships/business development, strategic policy positioning, communications, and knowledge management, and propose topics for content development and participation opportunities to strengthen RBLAC positioning to accelerate partnerships objectives. Provide inputs to outreach/ communications material geared towards partners and donors. Work closely with programme staff to identify funding gaps, prioritize fundraising needs, and set fundraising targets. Organize training/ briefing for the CO staff on resource mobilization, and engagement with the private sector, philanthropy, and IFIs. Supervise staff of the unit, assuring results in line with the service-oriented model for RBLAC. Liaise with BERA to ensure the regional agenda is positioned throughout the corporate strategy, and at the same time the corporate vision is embedded in the LAC workplan, sharing the same with the Regional Hub and COs for adoption and implementation. The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization. Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities: Manage and Supervise Partnerships Team.Competencies
Core
Achieve Results: - LEVEL 4: Prioritize team workflow, mobilize resources, drive scalable results/strategic impact.
Think Innovatively: - LEVEL 4: Easily navigate complexity, encourage/enable radical innovation, has foresight.
Learn Continuously - LEVEL 4: Create systems and processes that enable learning and development for all.
Adapt with Agility - LEVEL 4: Proactively initiate/lead organizational change, champion new systems/processes.
Act with Determination - LEVEL 4: Able to make difficult decisions in challenging situations, inspire confidence.
Engage and Partner - LEVEL 4: Construct strategic multi-partner alliances in high stake situations, foster co-creation.
Enable Diversity and Inclusion - LEVEL 4: Create ethical culture, identify/address barriers to inclusion.
People Management
UNDP People Management Competencies can be found in the dedicated site.
Cross-Functional & Technical competencies
Business Direction and Strategy
Strategic Thinking
Ability to develop effective strategies and prioritized plans in line with UNDP’s objectives, based on the systemic analysis of challenges, potential risks and opportunities, linking the vision to reality on the ground and creating tangible solutions.
Ability to leverage learning from a variety of sources to anticipate and respond to future trends; to demonstrate foresight in order to model what future developments and possible ways forward look like for UNDP.
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 Management
Partnerships Management
Ability to build and maintain partnerships with wide networks of stakeholders, Governments, civil society and private sector partners, experts, and others in line with UNDP strategy and policies.
Business Management
Portfolio Management
Ability to select, prioritize and control the organization’s programmes and projects, in line with its strategic objectives and capacity; ability to balance the implementation of change initiatives and the maintenance of business-as-usual, while optimising return on investment
Partnerships management
Private sector resource mobilization
Ability to identify, develop, and manage partnerships that leverage private sector technical expertise and resources.
Partnerships management
Resource mobilization
Ability to identify funding sources, match funding needs (programmes/ projects/ initiatives) with funding opportunities and establish a plan to meet funding requirements.
Partnerships 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.
Education: Advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in Law, Business Administration, Public Administration, International Development, or Sustainable Finance, Social Sciences is required, or A first-level university degree (Bachelor´s degree) in the areas mentioned above in combination with additional 2 years of qualifying experience, will be given due consideration in lieu of Master´s degree. Experience: At least 10 years of professional experience in development cooperation with sound knowledge of UN/UNDP systems, procedures, and policies. Demonstrated track record of experience in partnership development and resource mobilization. Experience building partnerships in crisis, middle-income, high-income contexts required. Experience developing partnership with the bilateral and multi-lateral partners in the region required. Experience working for a UN/UNDP Country Office or equivalent highly desirable. Experience in Latin America and the Caribbean region is highly desirable. Strong organizational and networking skills. Demonstrated knowledge of and experience with the usage of computers and MS Office packages (MS Word, Excel etc.) and web-based management systems.
Language Requirements:
Fluency in English and Spanish is required. Working knowledge of other UN languages is desirable. Please note that continuance of appointment beyond the initial 12 months is contingent upon the successful completion of a probationary period.Disclaimer
Important information for US Permanent Residents ('Green Card' holders)
Under US immigration law, acceptance of a staff position with UNDP, an international organization, may have significant implications for US Permanent Residents. UNDP advises applicants for all professional level posts that they must relinquish their US Permanent Resident status and accept a G-4 visa, or have submitted a valid application for US citizenship prior to commencement of employment.
UNDP is not in a position to provide advice or assistance on applying for US citizenship and therefore applicants are advised to seek the advice of competent immigration lawyers regarding any applications.
Applicant information about UNDP rosters
Note: UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement. We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.
Non-discrimination
UNDP has a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual exploitation and misconduct, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.
UNDP is an equal opportunity and inclusive employer that does not discriminate based on race, sex, gender identity, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, age, language, social origin or other status.
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