NDC Partnership Facilitators Coordinator (Partnerships Specialist)

Austria Multi-Country Office (AUMCO)

The Austria Multi-Country Office (AUMCO) is part of the UNOPS Europe and Central Asia Region (ECR). Specifically, AUMCO aims to enable achievement of Agenda 2030 and the Paris Agreement through global programmes and tailored interventions in the Balkans, South Caucasus, and Central Asia, focused on:

• Infrastructure

• Procurement 

• Project Management (full service, back on track)

• HR and Transactional Services

• Grants Management 

• Technical and Advisory Services

• Project Information

Water & Energy Cluster Background: 

The Water, Environment and Climate (WEC) portfolio under the UNOPS Austria Multi-Country Office has built strong partnerships and has effectively been managing a portfolio of 490 million USD over the last 15 years to support key initiatives with fund management, project implementation and administrative support. 

WEC effectively operationalizes partners' agendas with global approaches, as well as regional and country specific activities focused on climate action, protection and conservation of the environment. Partners profit from WEC’s ability to operationalize and/or scale up their important substantive agendas, including in support of key multilateral environmental and climate agreements,  such as the Paris Agreement, the Cartagena Convention as well as the Sustainable Development Goals. 

The NDC Partnership: 

The NDC Partnership is a global coalition of countries and institutions collaborating to drive transformational climate action through sustainable development. In 2015, the world endorsed the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Nations signal their commitments to the Paris Agreement through Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) - each country’s strategy to cut its own greenhouse gas emissions and build resilience against the negative effects of a changing climate. The Partnership advances the goals of the Paris Agreement by bringing together more than 200 members, including more than 120 countries, developed and developing, and more than 80 institutions to accelerate NDC implementation and enhance ambition over time. The Partnership’s work produces many examples of impact, lessons learned and ideas for the future. The Partnership is governed by a Steering Committee, co-chaired by two country representatives. The Partnership’s work is facilitated by a Support Unit based at World Resources Institute in Washington DC and the UNFCCC Secretariat in Bonn, Germany. UNOPS supports the NDC Partnership and its Support Unit through the Water, Environment and Climate (WEC).  

The NDC Partnership's in-country facilitators play a key role in how the Partnership works in countries. Embedded in member countries’ ministries, NDC Partnership facilitators support NDC Partnership Focal Points in the implementation of their NDC, including the development and implementation of NDC Action Plans, the coordination of NDC-related actions across ministries, and the mobilization of support from partners in alignment with NDC priorities. Facilitators operate as a liaison between the Partnership’s Support Unit and stakeholders at the national level in developing member countries. 

To date, there is a network of over 40 facilitators around the globe and growing.  Facilitators require support and capacity building to best fulfil their functions. The network also provides a unique opportunity to facilitate peer exchanges and learning, capacity building, a coordinated approach to new needs and challenges, and the systematization of learning from experiences. Government institutions also need support to integrate those functions once facilitators’ support comes to an end.

The Global Facilitator Coordinator will be responsible for coordinating the NDC Partnership’s network of in-country facilitators. Working closely with the Country Engagement (CE) and the Knowledge and Learning (K&L) teams, the incumbent will be in charge of: (1) facilitator network coordination; (2) facilitator onboarding and capacity building; and (3) facilitator recruitment, contract management, reporting and performance. 

The incumbent will sit within Country Engagement (CE) and report to the Country Engagement Deputy Director. S/he will have a reporting line to Knowledge and Learning (K&L) and coordinate with the Operations team, as follows:

• Within CE, the Global Facilitator Coordinator, RMs and CES will have complementary roles. While the incumbent will have a coordination role, ensuring that processes related to their tasks (i. facilitator Network coordination, ii. onboarding and capacity building, and iii. facilitator recruitment, contract management, reporting and performance management) are advancing in a timely fashion in line with the Partnership’s procedures and the Country Engagement (CE) strategy, RMs and CES will be in charge of leading country-specific recruitment, onboarding, overseeing and providing input on the performance of facilitators in the specific countries where facilitators will operate, as well as reviewing and approving the country-specific deliverables facilitators submit from a content perspective. In addition, the incumbent will be in charge of engaging the CE Director and Deputy Director, as well as RMs, Regional Program Officers (RPOs) and CES to surface key issues from a content and/or procedural perspective that cut across facilitators and require a coordinated response, propose solutions and then be responsible for implementing them.

• The incumbent will oversee the delivery of capacity-building modules and peer exchanges under the supervision of K&L, based on input to be provided by K&L and CE workstreams.

• The incumbent will coordinate the processing of contracts and payments with the CE’s Program Coordinators (PCs) and the Operations team, following the approval of TORs and deliverables by Country Engagement (RMs and CES) from a content perspective. 

The incumbent will coordinate with implementing and development partners that hire facilitators on aspects related to the implementation of the Protocol Handbook and contract status, while RMs and CES will engage with partners on the content of the TORs, and country-specific aspects of the work performed by facilitators. 

Under the supervision of the NDC Partnership Support Unit Country Engagement Deputy Director, the Global Facilitator Coordinator will lead the following tasks:

Facilitator Network Coordination (30%)

• Oversee the NDC Partnership’s facilitator network by managing communication with the network and encouraging active knowledge exchange within the network. 

• Network Calls:

1. Organize biannual Global Facilitator calls to facilitate updates from the Support Unit and experience sharing, including development of agenda with input from CE and K&L workstreams, invitation and moderation. 
2. Support organization and coordination, together with the Regional Managers, of quarterly regional Facilitator calls. 
3. Act as liaison between the network of facilitators and the Country Engagement team, helping facilitate other meetings as needed – e.g., to promote the usage of the Online Partnership Plan tool.

• Emerging cross-cutting needs: Surface cross-cutting challenges and/or opportunities impacting the facilitator model and their ability to perform their duties; propose solutions for the Support Unit and partners. 

• Systemization of information: Systematize information related to facilitators as needed for internal management purposes as well as to support network coordination functions.

• Communications: Lead the development of communication pieces featuring facilitators (interviews, stories, etc.) 

• Dissemination of Facilitator Reports: Consolidate facilitation reports on a quarterly basis for circulation to all members of the Partnership.

• Information Management: Utilize, maintain, or develop tools to streamline information/documents related to facilitators within Support Unit’s platforms like the external SharePoint and Microsoft Teams.

Facilitator Onboarding and Capacity Building (35%) 

• Onboarding: Maintain an up-to-date and fit-for-purpose onboarding package for facilitators, oversee the onboarding process for all facilitators, as well as support and participate in the country-specific onboarding meetings led by RMs and CES, where possible.

• Capacity Building:

1. Surface ongoing facilitator capacity building needs and produce an annual facilitator training plan to build needed capacity across the facilitators, working with hired consultants to deliver the support where needed. Input to be collected from facilitators’ own reports, as well as feedback from Country Engagement Specialists (CES), Regional Managers (RMs) and the K&L team.
2. Guide development of capacity building training materials or presentations to be developed to ensure they respond to facilitator needs and are fit-for-purpose. 
3. Oversee the organization of facilitator capacity building events, including Action Learning, peer exchange, and trainings,
4. Support development of agendas and planning for in-person regional facilitator workshops, with an average of two (total) planned per year.

• Sustainability Strategy: Support facilitators in the deployment of the facilitation sustainability strategy for every country and work with facilitators to track implementation of the strategy.

• Provide coordination and content support with internal and external meetings, workshops, conferences and other dissemination activities (country exchanges, COPs, Peer-to-peer exchanges, etc.) specifically related to facilitators, where relevant.

Facilitator Recruitment, Contract Management, Reporting and Performance Management Specialist (35%) 

• Contract Management: Oversee the status of contracts of all facilitators working with the Partnership. This includes being the point person on facilitator contracts within the Support Unit (irrespective of the hiring entity), managing relevant information within a tracker designed for that purpose and coordinating the timely submission of input by Country Engagement Specialists (CES), Regional Program Officers (RPOs) and Program Coordinators (PCs) including, at a minimum: essential information about facilitator (e.g. contact information), the contract period (with start and expiration dates), contract status, funding source, status of deliverables, extension requests, and alerts / reminders to trigger potential extension processes in a timely manner if extensions are needed by the government.  If needed, the incumbent should engage with development and implementing partners hiring facilitators to track the status of the contracts. 

• Recruitment: For facilitators hired via PAF’s Window 1 mechanism, guide and support CES and RMs in the preparation and review of TORs, interview and test design, and shortlisting and participation on panels as relevant, and coordinate with Operations Team on recruitment-related tasks as needed. The incumbent will keep informed of recruitment status for facilitators hired outside PAF Window 1.

• Line Management: 

1. Serve as line manager for facilitators hired under UNOPS, based on understanding that content-related oversight and day-to-day engagement on programmatic work is the responsibility of CES and RMs and they provide inputs on facilitator performance to incumbent.
2. Guide RMs and CES in addressing facilitator questions regarding institutional host supervision, reporting and, as applicable, performance review requirements when hiring is led by the NDC Partnership Support Unit, and in liaising with hiring partners so that good understanding is achieved on facilitator’s functions and neutral role when facilitators are hired by implementing partners of the NDC Partnership.

• Objectives and Deliverables:

1. Oversee the maintenance of up-to-date records of facilitator objectives and deliverables, with input to be provided by CES and RMs/RPOs and advise on needed adjustments to the facilitators’ competency framework going forward.
2. Review the deliverables of facilitators hired by the Support Unit for payment, based on previous content-based review and approval by CES and RMs. Provide final approval of deliverables in the case of UNOPs-hired facilitators, and recommend for approval in the case of WRI-hired facilitators.

• Travel: Ensure that UNOPS quarterly travel plans reflect any travel needs by facilitators under a UNOPS contract. Likewise, track and maintain record of all other travel by facilitators hired through WRI and other institutions.

• Extensions: Ensure that support for extensions is secured on a timely basis, including through coordination with implementing and development partners. For facilitators hired by the Support Unit, ensure that recruitment quarterly plans include all new / extension of facilitation support needs relevant to the following quarter by providing direct input into the planning templates. 

• Internal Updates: 

1. Develop quarterly executive briefs on facilitators’ status and pipeline to inform the NDC Partnership’s Management Team’s planning, budgeting, and global M&E efforts, and coordinate with RMs and CES the engagement of partners to seek support for facilitators for the countries that request it.
2. Conduct quarterly updates of the facilitators roster and liaise with the Support Unit’s Outreach and Governance team to reflect the most up-to-date facilitators’ bios on the Partnership’s website.

• Protocol Handbook: Maintain the Facilitator Protocol Handbook up to date to ensure that clear explanations for all these processes are kept up to date. Further socialize the Handbook with the CE team and work with the team to disseminate and promote the handbook via adequate channels and forums.

• Advanced degree in public policy (with respect to climate/environment), economics, finance, sustainable development, or relevant fields; 

• Bachelor’s degree in related discipline in combination with an additional 7 years of relevant work experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree.

Required

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in global / international project management and coordination.

Asset 

• Experience in or working with developing countries strongly preferred;

• Experience in the climate change and sustainable development fields strongly preferred.

• Excellent writing, editing, and verbal communication skills in English are required. 

• Proficiency in Spanish and/or French is an asset.

• Strong computer skills and experience in Microsoft suite, database management, cloud- and web-based communications.

• Detail-oriented and highly organized with at least 5 years of hands-on experience, ideally within government institutions. 

• High level of organization, flexibility, ability to work in a team, to work well under pressure and successfully manage multiple deadlines and competing demands.

Contract type: ICA
Contract level: ICSC-10, IICA-2
Contract duration: Open-ended, subject to organizational requirements, availability of funds and satisfactory performance

• Please note that UNOPS does not accept unsolicited resumes.

• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.

• Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process, which involves various assessments.

• UNOPS embraces diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity. Our workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures,  languages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. UNOPS seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce. 

• Qualified women and candidates from groups which are underrepresented in the UNOPS workforce are encouraged to apply. These include in particular candidates from racialized and/or indigenous groups, members of minority gender identities and sexual orientations, and people with disabilities.

• We would like to ensure all candidates perform at their best during the assessment process.  If you are shortlisted and require additional assistance to complete any assessment, including reasonable accommodation, please inform our human resources team when you receive an invitation.

Terms and Conditions 

• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post. 

• For retainer contracts, you must complete a few Mandatory Courses (they take around 4 hours to complete) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS. For more information on a retainer contract here.

• All UNOPS personnel are responsible for performing their duties in accordance with the UN Charter and UNOPS Policies and Instructions, as well as other relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, all personnel must demonstrate an understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a manner consistent with UN core values and the UN Common Agenda.

• It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential personnel. Recruitment in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.