Development Coordination Officer, Partnerships and Development Finance, P4 at the United Nations

The United Nations is the one international organization with the reach and vision capable of solving global problems. The United Nations Foundation links the UN’s work with others around the world, mobilizing the energy and expertise of business and non-governmental organizations to help the UN tackle issues including climate change, global health, peace and security, women’s empowerment, poverty eradication, energy access, and U.S.-UN relations.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Development Coordination Officer, Partnerships And Development Finance, P4

Job Opening Number: 20-Sustainable Development-RCS-136482-R-Abuja (X)
Location: Abuja
Job Code Title: Development Coordination Officer, Partnerships And Development Finance
United Nations Core Values: Integrity, Professionalism, Respect for Diversity

Org. Setting and Reporting

• The United Nations Development Operations Coordination Office (UNDCO) is the UN Office at the forefront of coordinating a collaborative contribution to the UN development system, towards its achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.The position is located in the United Nations Resident Coordination Office (RCO) in Abuja, Nigeria and reports to the Senior Development Coordination Officer, Strategic Planning and RCO Team Leader.

Within delegated authority, the Development Coordination Officer, Partnerships and Development Finance will be responsible of the following duties:

Responsibilities
Assists with the provision of substantive support for strategic planning for and coordination of UN Country Team (UNCT) partnerships by:

• Providing guidance on the development and implementation of the UN Partnership Strategy in alignment with and support of the UN Sustainable Development Partnership Framework (UNSDPF) in Nigeria;
• Coordinating the monitoring and assessment of the strategy at regular intervals to harness new emerging opportunities, to anticipate changes to the internal direction and external environment, and to make mid-term adjustments;
• Advising the Resident Coordinator (RC) and the UNCT in identifying risks and opportunities related to specific partnerships, and suggesting mitigation measures as relevant;
• Providing analysis and recommendations on due diligence processes of potential investment and partnership opportunities, in accordance with UN regulations and procedures;
• Advising the RC/UNCT on developing and implementing locally-tailored partnerships and resource mobilization strategies and initiatives;
• Planning and facilitating dialogues with partners to improve development assistance policies and practice;
• Conducting liaison and coordination with UN entities at country, regional and HQ levels, to help package and define UN business strategies, including differentiated value propositions, to attract partners, both traditional and non-traditional.

Guides joint resource mobilization for the UNSDPF through:

• Advising the RC/UNCT on developing and implementing locally-tailored resource mobilization strategies and initiatives, and identifies appropriate data and benchmarks to measure progress and success;
• Monitoring, analyzing and enhancing existing resource mobilization partnerships and relationships, including those with high net worth;
• Planning and facilitating the design, formulation, implementation, monitoring and reporting of joint programmes and programming processes for use in joint resource mobilization;
• Providing advice and guidance for the production and distribution of marketing materials to raise awareness about opportunities for working with the UN on Sustainable Goal Development (SDG) investment;
• Strengthening the UN brand via events, media and public relations opportunities targeted to the diverse partners, in close collaboration with the UN Communications Group.

Plans and facilitates substantive support on financing for accelerating the achievement of the SDGs by:

• Providing advice on financing for development options, instruments, modalities to the RC/UNCT, in alignment with the Common Country Analysis (CCA), UNSDPAF, MAPS (Mainstreaming, Acceleration and Policy Support) and similar processes;
• Analyzing trends and providing advice on new and innovative financing mechanisms for development and SDG acceleration;
• Preparing briefing papers and discussion points on issues related to financing for development for consideration by RC/UNCT;
• Planning and facilitating engagements with external stakeholders – including the national government, international financial institutions and others – on financing for SDG acceleration;
• Guiding the design and execution of innovative proposals to strengthen the UNCT engagement and reputation, and to generate greater financial resources in support of the SDGs;
• Advising on the establishment and management of a Nigeria-based SDG Fund, in close collaboration with UN Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office.

Conducts knowledge management, innovation and capacity development activities through:

• Planning and facilitating the development, maintenance and sharing of knowledge and intelligence, to ensure RC/UNCT are informed and positioned to effectively generate and harness opportunities to meet its resource mobilization targets;
• Contributing to knowledge networks and communities of practice at national, regional and global levels;
• Coordinating activities to strengthen the capacity of UNCTs to mainstream and promote SDG investment partnerships;
• Advising on the discovery, evaluation and selection of partnership opportunities at the sourcing and origination stages.

Requirements
Education:

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent degree) in Business or Public Administration, Sustainable Development, Social Sciences, Education or related area.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Work Experience:

• A minimum of seven years of progressively responsible work experience in providing strategic support to partnerships, programme/project management, resource mobilization or development finance in the context of sustainable development cooperation or related area is required.
• Three years of experience working in the context of development finance is required.
• Regional experience is desirable.
• Field experience in development cooperation is desirable.
• Experience in the United Nations system or a comparable international organisation is desirable.
• Experience with inter-agency or inter-organizational collaboration in the development sector is desirable.

Competencies
Professionalism:

• Ability to apply sustainable development theories, concepts and approaches.
• Ability to conduct independent research and analysis on sustainable development topics, determine suitability, validity and accuracy of data provided by different sources.
• Shows skill in developing sources for data collection.
• Shows pride in work and in achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations.
• Takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work.

Creativity:

• Actively seeks to improve programmes or services; offers new and different options to solve problems or meet client needs; promotes and persuades others to consider new ideas; takes calculated risks on new and unusual ideas; thinks “outside the box”; takes an interest in new ideas and new ways of doing things; is not bound by current thinking or traditional approaches.

Client Orientation:

• Considers all those to whom services are provided to be “clients” and seeks to see things from clients’ point of view; establishes and maintains productive partnerships with clients by gaining their trust and respect; identifies clients’ needs and matches them to appropriate solutions; monitors ongoing developments inside and outside the clients’ environment to keep informed and anticipate problems; keeps clients informed of progress or setbacks in projects; meets timeline for delivery of products or services to client.

Languages:

• English and French are the working languages of the United Nations. For the post advertised, fluency in oral and written English is required.

Assessment:

• Evaluation of qualified candidates may include an assessment exercise which may be followed by competency-based interview.

United Nations Considerations

• According to article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.
• Candidates will not be considered for employment with the United Nations if they have committed violations of international human rights law, violations of international humanitarian law, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment, or if there are reasonable grounds to believe that they have been involved in the commission of any of these acts.
• The term “sexual exploitation” means any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust, for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially or politically from the sexual exploitation of another. The term “sexual abuse” means the actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions. The term “sexual harassment” means any unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that might reasonably be expected or be perceived to cause offence or humiliation, when such conduct interferes with work, is made a condition of employment or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment, and when the gravity of the conduct warrants the termination of the perpetrator’s working relationship. Candidates who have committed crimes other than minor traffic offences may not be considered for employment.
• Due regard will be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible. The United Nations places no restrictions on the eligibility of men and women to participate in any capacity and under conditions of equality in its principal and subsidiary organs. The United Nations Secretariat is a non-smoking environment.
• Applicants are urged to follow carefully all instructions available in the online recruitment platform, inspira. For more detailed guidance, applicants may refer to the Manual for the Applicant, which can be accessed by clicking on “Manuals” hyper-link on the upper right side of the inspira account-holder homepage.
• The evaluation of applicants will be conducted on the basis of the information submitted in the application according to the evaluation criteria of the job opening and the applicable internal legislations of the United Nations including the Charter of the United Nations, resolutions of the General Assembly, the Staff Regulations and Rules, administrative issuances and guidelines.
• Applicants must provide complete and accurate information pertaining to their personal profile and qualifications according to the instructions provided in inspira to be considered for the current job opening. No amendment, addition, deletion, revision or modification shall be made to applications that have been submitted.
• Candidates under serious consideration for selection will be subject to reference checks to verify the information provided in the application.

Application Closing Date
10th June, 2020; 11:59 p.m. (New York time).