Senior Carbon Market Advisor

The UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre (UNEP-CCC) was established in early 2022. UNEP-CCC is programmatically guided by UN Environment (UNEP) and operationally supported by UNOPS. UNEP-CCC was established to ensure preservation and continuation of the experience and capacity established through a 30-year working relationship between UNEP, the Danish Technical University (DTU), and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), known as the UNEP DTU Partnership (UDP). 

UNEP-CCC is a leading international advisory institution on energy, climate and sustainable development. Its work focuses on assisting developing countries and emerging economies transition towards more low-carbon development paths and supports integration of climate-resilience in national development. UNEP-CCC is actively engaged in implementing UN Environment’s Climate Change Strategy and Energy Programme by delivering technical assistance and analytical work to emerging markets and developing countries in context of the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals.

The Institutional Development Section (ID) is one of five sections at UNEP-CCC. The ID section provides the institutional development expertise required to engage on policy, planning, transparency, and market development and for climate policy integration into regular development processes.

The ID section is involved in several projects that support the center strategy in the areas of policy, transparency, and implementation. The ID seeks to recruit carbon market professionals in climate governance and carbon markets to work on project management, technical analysis, and administrative support.  The successful candidate will be part of the team supporting capacity building projects to implement Article 6 of the Paris Agreement including Supporting Preparedness for Article 6 Cooperation (SPAR6C), Integrated Assessment for Article Six (IAAS), Transformational Change Tools for transparency and carbon markets, Sustainable Development Initiative (SDI) for Article 6, the Article 6 and Voluntary Carbon Market Database and Pipeline Analysis, and Implementation of NDC Action. The candidate will strengthen the visibility of UNEP-CCC’s work on implementation of Article 6 carbon market approaches in international fora and contribute to analytical work and publications.

The ID section also supports countries to translate their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) into concrete sector strategies and actions ready for financing and implementation, and to increase the ambition of their NDCs. The section engages key decision-makers and stakeholders: national and sub-national government entities, the private sector, financial institutions, civil society, etc. 

The main responsibility of the Senior Advisor will be to lead science-based, analytic advice and project management in the areas of: GHG, SDG, and transformational impact assessment, institutional development for carbon market accounting and reporting of Internationally Traded Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs), and transparency for tracking progress of NDCs enabling ambition raising. The advisor is expected to work independently and under the overall guidance on the head of Unit on a varied portfolio of activities, including project management and program development, collaboration with partners, quantitative and qualitative analysis, presentation of analytical results using digital tools and web-based platforms as well as collaboration with relevant colleagues across the UNEP-CCC sections.

Specific areas of work for the Senior Carbon Market Advisor will include:

• Provide advice on the analysis and capacity building for implementation of Article 6 cooperative approaches in emerging markets and developing countries.
• Supervise the work of the ID section, including the development and management of institutional frameworks and databases for carbon market implementation, integrated assessment of mitigation policies and actions with long-term mitigation strategies for net zero emissions to achieve the global goals of the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 
• Leading the enhancement and development of GHG and SDG impact assessment of mitigation activities for trading in ITMOs using digital tools and approaches for monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV).
• Responsible for the overall project management and coordination, allocation of budget resources within the assigned projects and for regularly monitoring and assessing performance against KPIs and project milestones. 
• Advise on the visibility and communication of UNEP-CCC’s activities and outcomes publicly. 
• Coordinate the analytical work, resulting in both peer-reviewed publications and reports, perspectives, and policy briefings.

The process will be based on performance evaluation including the following:

• Successful completion of project management tasks that will be assigned to the staff, including timely submission of corresponding deliverables.
• Successful and timely maintenance of the project website and online knowledge-sharing platform.
• Level of contribution to the strategic discussions and common tasks as part of the ID section.

a. Education 

The candidate should possess a master’s degree, preferably a PhD degree, or equivalent work experience in Natural or Computer Science / Engineering / Business Administration / Political Science / Economics / Social Science with a thesis and/or work experience related to carbon markets. A first level university degree (bachelor or equivalent) with two (2) additional years of professional experience will be accepted in lieu of a Master’s degree.

b. Experience

• The candidate should have a minimum of 7 years of experience with carbon markets or related areas
• Experience in emerging markets and developing countries is required 
• Proven data analysis skills (e.g. Excel, Tableau, digital tools) is a strong asset
• Project management and coordination skills is a strong asset
• Experience in impact assessment for sustainable development and/or transformational change is a strong asset
• Experience and knowledge of the CDM methodologies is a strong asset
• Experience working in an international agency or organization is desirable
• Programming skills (e.g., excel, python, R, etc.) is desirable
• Experience in climate change negotiation and international climate governance, related to the Paris Agreement Articles 6 and 13 is desirable

c. Languages

Fluency in English both speaking and writing skills is required. Fluency in one or more other UN languages, in particular French and Spanish is an asset.

Contract type: International Individual Contractor Agreement 
Contract level: IICA 3 / ICS 11
Contract duration: One year (12 months) initially, renewable subject to satisfactory performance and availability of funds

• 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.

Based in Geneva, the Europe and Central Asia Regional Office (ECR) supports UNOPS offices throughout the region through: management, financial and programmatic oversight of global and country-specific portfolios, clusters and operations centres, including hosting services; fund and management advisory services; project implementation; procuring goods and services; and managing human resources.

ECR ensures that projects are executed to the highest standards, providing a shared knowledge base and ensuring that best practices and lessons learned are disseminated between business units and projects across the entire region.

 ECR strategy is to:

• Strengthen UNOPS role in operationalizing the Sustainable Development Goals with particular emphasis on health, environment and economic development.
• Position UNOPS in the Balkan sub-region, the Caucasus and Central Asia.
• Strengthen the implementation of ECR global and regional programmes, with revitalized partnerships in infrastructure, procurement and project management.

ECR operates global portfolios from offices in Geneva, Brussels and New York, and country-specific programmes from its operations and project centres located in Eastern Europe and Central Asian countries.