Senior Urban Advisor – Inclusive, Climate-Resilient, and Migration-Responsive Urban Development (Retainer)

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 development projects around the world. 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.

Cities Alliance, which is hosted by UNOPS, is a global partnership promoting the role of cities in poverty reduction and sustainable development. Managed by a Secretariat with hubs in Brussels, Nairobi, and Bangkok, it is a unique partnership with a diverse membership which has come together to strengthen both impacts and coherence in urban development. Cities Alliance is a global leader with a strong track record in grant-making, which supports strategic city planning, slum upgrading strategies and national policies designed to make cities more inclusive and sustainable. Through UNOPS, the Cities Alliance operates a Multi-Donor Fund supported by an efficient, flexible grant-making mechanism with global reach.

Cities Alliance is a global partnership that advances inclusive, climate-resilient, and sustainable cities as a pathway to poverty reduction and sustainable development. With a strong focus on the urban poor and secondary cities, Cities Alliance works across Asia and Africa through multi-stakeholder partnerships and strategic funding to support cities in delivering inclusive development that addresses social, economic, and climate-related vulnerabilities.

Core thematic areas of Cities Alliance include:

• Urban migration and displacement: Supporting cities to plan for and manage the inclusion of migrants and forcibly displaced populations

• Gender equality and social inclusion: Promoting gender-responsive and transformative urban governance, inclusive service delivery and livelihoods, particularly in informal settlements.

• Informal settlements: Enabling integrated upgrading approaches that improve tenure, basic services, and climate adaptation in vulnerable communities.

• Climate resilience: Embedding climate adaptation, low-carbon development, and nature-based solutions into all aspects of urban planning and governance.

Cities Alliance is looking for Senior Urban Advisor on Inclusive, Climate-Resilient, and Sustainable Urban Development to provide technical expertise to the implementation of its programme.

Under the direct supervision of the Head of Strategy and Results, the Senior Urban Advisor will provide strategic, technical, and advisory inputs to strengthen Cities Alliance’s programming, knowledge, and advocacy around inclusive, climate-resilient urban development. The advisor will support cross-regional initiatives with a focus on mainstreaming climate action and gender into urban planning and migration, informality and livelihoods, and service delivery strategies.

Key responsibilities include:

• Deliver high-level technical advisory services and rigorous peer review for complex urban development programmes, ensuring the systematic integration of climate resilience, human mobility, informality, and gender-responsive approaches across multiple geographies, particularly in Asia. 

• Provide cross-sectoral expertise to enhance programme coherence, local ownership, and long-term sustainability.

• Lead the end-to-end development of flagship knowledge products and policy guidance materials, including thematic policy briefs, urban diagnostics, regional programme strategies, and climate-sensitive city action plans. 

• Collaborate with regional teams, technical experts, and partners to ensure outputs are data-driven, contextually relevant, and strategically aligned with global urban agendas (e.g., SDGs, Paris Agreement, Global Compacts).

• Define and refine Cities Alliance’s strategic approach to climate adaptation, migration, and urban resilience, offering thought support to position the organization as a trusted convener and policy influencer.

• Design and oversee the implementation of robust impact monitoring frameworks that integrate climate adaptation and mitigation indicators, gender-responsive metrics, and resilience-building benchmarks. 

• Ensure alignment with donor reporting requirements and promote the use of evidence in adaptive management and investment prioritization, particularly in informal and underserved urban areas.

• Conceptualize, facilitate, and moderate high-level regional and international peer learning exchanges, technical dialogues, and policy workshops on inclusive urban resilience. 

• Curate content, identify strategic partners and speakers, and guide outcomes toward actionable recommendations. 

• Promote cross-country learning on issues such as climate-smart infrastructure, local governance, gender mainstreaming, and migration-sensitive urban planning.

• Formulation of strategic fundraising initiatives and partnership-building efforts, with a focus on mobilizing resources for climate-responsive urban development and migration governance. 

• Develop high-quality concept notes, funding proposals, and donor engagement strategies in collaboration with cross-functional teams and external partners.

• Ensure the integration of gender and climate considerations as cross-cutting pillars in all programmatic interventions, policy tools, and city-level initiatives. 

• Provide technical oversight and capacity-building support to internal teams and local stakeholders to institutionalize inclusive and climate-responsive planning processes.

• Steer the quality assurance and strategic alignment of programme deliverables, applying peer review protocols, providing actionable feedback, and ensuring technical soundness, policy relevance, and value addition to local and regional stakeholders.

• Timely delivery of high-quality outputs incorporating climate, urban planning, migration, and gender dimensions.

• Contributions to Cities Alliance’s programmatic and policy positioning on inclusive, climate-resilient, and sustainable urban development.

• Effective support for events, sessions and dialogues.

• Strengthened capacity across Cities Alliance teams and partners to integrate climate, migration, and gender dimensions into urban planning and implementation.

• Perform other related duties as assigned. 

• An Advanced university degree (Master`s degree or equivalent) preferably in urban planning and governance, environmental and development studies, economics, law, demography, or relevant urban, political and development studies is required.

• A first level university degree (Bachelor degree or equivalent) in the related fields with an additional two (2) years of experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced degree.

• A minimum of 10 years of work experience on migration issues, inclusive, climate-resilient or sustainable urban development in the context of low-income countries is required. 

• Experience in research and policy work on migration, sustainable and inclusive urban development in low-income countries is an asset.

• Proven experience of applied international development assignments as well as outstanding analytical and advisory work documented through publications is required. 

• Previous held experience working in countries in Asia is required.

•  Fluency en English is required. Knowledge of French, Somali, Arabic, Amharic, Lao, Khmer, Thai, Burmese is considered an asset. 

1. Contract type: Individual Contractor Agreement
2. Contract level: IICA 3/ ICS 12
3. Contract duration : 1 Year, renewable subject to satisfactory performance, availability of funds and continued business needs.  

• 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 

• 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.