Partnerships Development Specialist

Background Information – WEC

UNOPS Water and Energy Cluster (WEC) supports the design and management of multi-stakeholder initiatives by providing services in financial and grant management, procurement, human resources, and project management.The cluster has supported projects in the areas of water resource management, climate change adaptation, mitigation and transparency, energy access and distribution and environmental conservation under the Paris Agreement. The WEC has also supported operations and financial management services, in Vienna, the rest of the ECR region and beyond.The main partners include UN agencies, bilateral agreements (with the Nordics, Germany, and Italy), the Green Climate Fund and several NGOs (such as CIFF and CWF).

Background Information - CCAC

The Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short Lived Climate Pollutants, the Coalition, is the first global effort to treat short-lived climate pollutants as an urgent and collective challenge. Launched in February 2012, the Coalition is encouraging rapid reductions in black carbon (or soot), methane and many hydro-fluorocarbons to protect human health and the environment now, and to slow the rate of climate change within the first half of this century.

The Coalition is a partnership of governments, intergovernmental organizations, and representatives of the private sector, the environmental community, and other members of civil society, that are committed to accelerating and incentivizing action to address key short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs). The Coalition has a membership of 96 Partners as of 29 September 2014 and 11 approved initiatives for rapid implementation.

UNEP is a Partner in the Coalition. UNEP also hosts the Secretariat and the Trust Fund of the Coalition in its Division of Technology, Industry and Economics (DTIE) in Paris.

The “Partnerships Development Specialist” for the Coalition Secretariat will be responsible for ensuring the good functioning of the broader Coalition Partnership, including its governance, especially for the initiatives and partnership agreements. The incumbent will be responsible for developing the content for background documents, partnership agreements coordinating inputs with Coalition partners and the Programme Manager  (P-4) and the Head of the Secretariat (D-1). The Head of the Secretariat (D-1) has the ultimate responsibility for approving all final documents.

The incumbent will also be responsible for overseeing and following up on outreach for  the Coalition, and ensuring partners remain active and engaged in Coalition activities. This requires close coordination with the Programme Manager and Head of the Secretariat, as well as direct contact with Coalition Partner focal points and initiative leads whom are mostly senior officials from governments and other non-state entities.

As closely related to the Coalition partnership, the incumbent will liaise closely with donors to the Coalition’s Trust Fund and be responsible for reviewing  narrative reporting from initiatives, as well as UNEP reporting for projects. The role will require other internal work relationships, including with UNEP’s Climate Change Sub-Programme Coordinator (P-5) and Programme Officers (P-2 to P-5) located in other UNEP divisions as well as UNEP regional offices and other partners, mainly related to initiative implementation.

Leadership role

The incumbent will have a role as an advisor and project manager, working closely on a range of matters falling under the responsibility of the Head of the Secretariat (D-1) and the Programme Manager (P4). Given the role, he/she will be the first port of call for Coalition team members when it comes to matters to be raised within the Coalition’s governance of initiatives and partner relations.

Enabling environment

The role requires close engagement with the Head of the Secretariat (D-1) and the Programme Manager (P-4). He/She will also work collaboratively with other members of the Coalition’s team, including a Scientific Affairs Officer (P-5), Communication Officer (P-3), Fund Management Officer (P-3), Associate Programme Officer (P-2), as well as a range of consultants, individual contractors and interns.

Internal/External focus of the job

The incumbent will be required to work in close coordination with the Head of the Secretariat (D‑1) and Programme Manager (P-4), as well as direct contact with Coalition Partner focal points whom are mostly senior officials from governments and other non-state entities. Liaising with new and potential partners on a range of matters, the role will be approximately 40% internally focused and 60% external.

Ensures good functioning of the broader Coalition Partnership Initiatives: Manages the good functioning of the Coalition Partnership in line with the decisions of the Initiative Parners, as agreed by Working Group and Steering Committee by:

• Preparing research and advice on Coalition matters and partnership agreements, drafting and reviewing background documents for meetings, work-streams or other discussions among the Coalition partners, proposing strategies for partner engagement and other matters in initiatives, as well as ensuring the overall good functioning, logistics and timing of the Coalition’s governance meetings including drafting of agendas;
• Seeking out opportunities for outreach to major players (e.g. Asia Pacific region) with a view to engaging them in the Coalition’s work;
• Managing the Coalition’s Initiative coordination  reporting, encouraging submissions from Partners and providing guidance where necessary;
• Serving as the Coalition’s Asia-Pacific focal point, including as main point of contact for current and prospective partners, and responsible for following up on the implementation of the Coalition’s regional engagement strategy;
• Coordinating initiative reporting and responding to inquiries in close coordination with the Programme Manager (P-4), including on fund raising.

Keeps Partners informed and up-to-date and acts as focal point for new & prospective Partners in Initiatives:

• Takes responsibility, and when required works closely with the Communication Officer, to ensure that all initiative Partners are kept informed and up-to-date on all Coalition matters by (with special focus on the heavy duty vehicle, HFC alternatives and mineral methane initiatives);
• Producing and keeping up-to-date Coalition guidance materials on procedures for Partners in initiatives, in order to enable full Partner engagement in all Coalition work streams, initiatives and other activities, including internally for the secretariat;
• Advising on the needs for communication materials and updates to the CCAC website, with focus on initiatives.

Ensures Partners are active and engaged in the Coalition: Takes responsibility as well as advises the Programme Manager and Head of the Secretariat to ensure engagement of Coalition Partners by:

• Tracking Ministerial engagement to ensure the Coalition’s high-level political backing is maintained, with focus on Asia-Pacific region.; Preparing and proposing draft correspondence for ministerial engagement in that region;
• Seeking out opportunities for Ministerial engagement, including in close coordination with the CCAC Communication Officer, UNEP’s Climate Change Sub-Programme Coordinator, and UNEP colleagues in Regional Offices in Asia Pacific;
• Participating in events to promote new Partner engagement in the Coalition, especially for target countries, development banks and private sector networks.

Advises on the sound functioning of the Secretariat coordination of initiatives: Advises the Head of the Secretariat and Programme Manager by:

• Reviewing and giving advice on legal agreements;
• Preparing narrative reporting as required for UNEP programme management ;
• Drafting UNEP Executive Office briefings, and responding to other related requests for information from UNEP senior management;
• Advising on long-term planning, following bilateral consultations with Partners and research into complementary international events;
• Advising and overseeing the need for consultants and other contractors for the Coalition related to the initiatives.

• Contract type: Fixed-term staff contracts
• Contract level: P-3/ICS-10
• Contract duration: One year initially, renewable subject to satisfactory performance and funding availability

• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.
• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• UNOPS seeks to reasonably accommodate candidates with special needs, upon request.
• Work life harmonization - UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands. We have a progressive policy on work-life harmonization and offer several flexible working options. This policy applies to UNOPS personnel on all contract types
• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post
• The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.  
• It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential recruits or interns. Recruitment/internship in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.