Technical Senior Analyst - Environmental

The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners' peacebuilding, humanitarian and sustainable development projects around the world.  UNOPS supports partners to build a better future by providing services that increase the efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of their projects.  Mandated as a central resource of the United Nations, UNOPS provides sustainable project management, procurement and infrastructure services to a wide range of governments, donors and United Nations organizations. 

The Water and Energy Cluster (WEC)

Based in Copenhagen, the Water and Energy Cluster (WEC), which is a part of the Vienna Multi-Country Office (VIEMCO)  supports global and regional environmental/sustainable development initiatives through financial and grant management, procurement, human resources and project management services. 

The thematic focus of the cluster is marine and freshwater resources management, climate change adaptation, mitigation and transparency, energy and environmental conservation. 

The CLME+ SAP (2015-2024) and the UNDP/GEF “CLME+ Project”

The Caribbean and North Brazil Shelf Large Marine Ecosystems (jointly further referred to as “the CLME+ region”) are shared by 26 Independent States and 18 Overseas Territories. These “LME’s” are key to many globally important ecological processes. The goods and services provided by these marine ecosystems, if duly protected/restored and used wisely and sustainably, hold great potential to contribute to region-wide climate-resilient “blue” socio-economic development and the achievement of many of the Sustainable Development Goals including but not limited to: SDG14 Life Below Water and SDG5 Gender Equality. 

Fisheries and tourism (two key economic drivers), and “blue” (oceans-based) socio-economic development overall, are highly dependent on marine ecosystem health.

Countries from the region are united in their aims to achieve the former through several political integration mechanisms: e.g. the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and the Central American Integration System (SICA), a.o. The region’s geopolitical complexity however makes socially just and effective governance & management of shared living marine resources, and the achievement of good ecosystem health, particularly challenging.

Pollution, habitat degradation and unsustainable fisheries & fishing practices have increasingly impacted marine ecosystem health in the region, with climate change holding the potential to further exacerbate negative impacts. With the need for collective action being evident, through the support of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) an ambitious region-wide 10-year Strategic Action Programme (“the CLME+ SAP”, 2015-2024) was developed in 2013. To date, this action programme has been politically endorsed by 36 Ministers, representing 26 countries and 8 overseas territories.

The “CLME+ Project” (2015-2021) has helped catalyze the implementation of this 10-year CLME+ SAP. Major emphasis has been put on facilitating enhanced, integrated “interactive governance”, with “interactive governance” being: “the whole of interactions between governments, civil society, academia and private sector, to solve societal problems and exploit societal opportunities”. With the CLME+ Project approaching its end and in order to ensure the continuation of key actions under the CLME+ SAP, the need now exists to mainstream gender equality/women & youth empowerment and social and environmental safeguard considerations into the post-project sustainability strategy. This strategy is expected to have both regional, sub-regional as well as national and local components.

In accordance with UNDP and GEF policies and procedures, the Technical Senior Analyst is expected to contribute to the development of the post-project sustainability strategy, more specifically by ensuring that gender considerations and environmental and social safeguards.  As per global approach, the Social and Environmental Standards from UNDP will be used as reference standards to be duly mainstreamed in further CLME+ SAP implementation efforts.

Within the settings of the UNOPS-managed CLME+ Regional Project Coordination Unit (PCU, with offices in Cartagena, Colombia), and while giving due attention and consideration to the tasks and responsibilities of other CLME+ Coordination Unit staff and the responsibilities delegated to CLME+ co-operating partners, the Technical Senior Analyst will work together with the CLME+ Regional Project Coordinator (RPC),  and other CLME+ Project Unit staff and Project Partners and Stakeholders. He/She will be responsible for the following:

1. Provide up-to-date gender analysis and make recommendation to an action plan (with both a regional, and several more local components); 

2. Conduct an up-to-date stakeholders analysis and make recommendation to an action plan (with both a regional, and several more local components)

3. Conduct a regional, as well as several more local assessments of environmental and social risks of selected CLME+ SAP interventions, and, derived from these assessments, contribute to the development of a social and environmental management framework, when required, 

4. Draft an updated UNDP Social and Environmental Screening Procedure 

5. Perform any other assessments or recommend plans needed to comply with the UNDP Social and Environmental Standards (specially in locations in which indigenous peoples are present).

He/She will then subsequently assist with the mainstreaming of corresponding gender, social and environmental management activities into the selected SAP implementation efforts (details on the latter are to be provided by the CLME+ PCU at the onset of the consultancy, and to be further fine-tuned, based on initial findings and stakeholder inputs, throughout the consultancy). 

Under the overall supervision and direction/guidance of the RPC, the Technical Senior Analyst will:

• Liaise on matters of relevance to this consultancy with designated officials in the CLME+ countries, the CLME+ Interim Coordination Mechanism, the Executing Agency, UNDP and prospective partners, donors and other stakeholders, taking into consideration UNDP guidelines on Social and Environmental Standards (SES).

• Review and analyse available documentation on the CLME+ initiative, including the CLME+ Project and other SAP implementing efforts, and other information sources of relevance provided by the PCU, to develop analyses and management plans for SAP implementation activities that follow the UNDP Social and Environmental Standards.

• Prepare, and/or contribute to the preparation of reports, documents, technical content and analyses on the mainstreaming of gender and promotion of social and environmental standards in SAP implementation efforts, following UNDP guidelines and procedures as reference.

• Ensure that the approach that will be deployed to give continuity and sustainability to CLME+ Project outputs and outcomes will be compliant with mandatory GEF, UNDP and UNOPS requirements relative to gender, social and environmental safeguards and standards.

• Present the prepared materials to the client, partners and stakeholders, as requested.

• Other related duties, as requested

* FEMALE CANDIDATES ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY*
* CANDIDATES WITH NO UNITED NATIONS OR UNOPS EXPERIENCE ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY*

Education 

• Master’s degree or higher is required, preferably in environment, sociology, economics, development, or a closely related field or a related field(s) relevant to the assignment.

• A combination of a Bachelor's degree with an additional 2 years of relevant work experience to those mentioned above may be accepted in lieu of a Master’s degree.     

Work Experience 

• A minimum of 2 years relevant and progressive professional experience, related to social and environmental standards and impact assessment and/or gender studies in an international development context will be required; 

• Demonstrated prior (successful) experience conducting gender analyses and developing gender action plans for complex, multi-country, multi-stakeholder (marine) environmental and sustainable development projects/initiatives is required;

• Technical background and experience in developing safeguards for marine-related* environmental and socio-economic development projects (*including consideration of issues relating to the land-sea interface) is required;

• Experience with Human rights (including human rights-based approach and human rights impact assessment),and/or gender equality and women’s empowerment (including gender mainstreaming and gender analysis) is an asset;

• Experience with the gender dimension and gender considerations relative to the marine environment and the sustainable management and use of its resources for resilient, sustainable development is an asset;

• Publications or field reports on gender issues in an environmental/socio-economic development context is an asset;

• Practical work experience relative to matters pertaining to the fields of cultural heritage and the engagement of indigenous and local communities is an asset;

• Practical work experience within the CLME+ region, in a function(s) relevant to the announced position and/or working in/for/with one or more of the CLME+ participating countries and/or organizations will be considered an asset

Language

Fluency in either English or Spanish is required. Fluency in both English and Spanish is considered an important asset

Contract type: Short-term ICA, retainer modality (A retainer contract is issued for a period of time during which the services of the individual contractor are required intermittently. The individual contractor agreement on retainer basis will specify a “unit price” per day worked. For budgetary purposes, a monetary cap will be determined when the contract is awarded and issued. Please note that the retainer contract will not provide for a minimum, and payment will be made only after completion of work)
Contract level: IICA-1/LICA-9/ICSC-9
Contract duration: up to 60 working days, ASAP - 31 October 2021 (with the possibility of extension)

• 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
• For retainer contracts, you must complete a few Mandatory Courses (around 4 hours) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS.
• 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/interns.
Recruitment/internship in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.