Adaptation Innovation Analyst

Adaptation Innovation Analyst (NPSA9)
Dhaka, Bangladesh

Job Identification: 13157
Locations: Dhaka, Bangladesh
Posting Date: 08/21/2023, 12:37 AM
Apply Before: 09/04/2023, 11:59 AM
Job Schedule: Full time
Agency: UNDP
Grade: NB4
Vacancy Type: National Personnel Service Agreement
Practice Area: Governance
Bureau: Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific
Contract Duration: 1 Year
Education & Work Experience: Master’s Degree – 2 year(s) experience OR Bachelor’s Degree – 4 year(s) experience
Required Languages: English and Bangla
Vacancy Timeline: 2 Weeks
Mobility required/no mobility: no mobility required

Job Description
Background

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are core principles at UNDP: we value diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate, we foster inclusion as a way of ensuring all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, and we ensure equity and fairness in all our actions. Taking a ‘leave no one behind’ approach to our diversity efforts means increasing representation of underserved populations. People who identify as belonging to marginalized or excluded populations are strongly encouraged to apply. Learn more about working at UNDP including our values and inspiring stories.

UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.
The Local Government Initiative on Climate Change (LOGIC) is a joint project of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), supported by the European Union and SIDA. LOGIC will promote local action on climate change adaptation at scale. Bangladesh is ranked 5th among the 10 countries of the world most affected by climate change and disasters. It is experiencing change in weather patterns and in the occurrence of extreme events like cyclones and floods, and rising of sea levels. These events exacerbate poverty and vulnerability of people on a regular basis The Government of Bangladesh recognises the severity of climate change and is working to mainstream related concerns into the national development policy, planning and financing. However, in the absence of a specific climate change policy, this sector is served by a number of sectoral policies which also shape the expenditure pattern in the national budget. While the local government institutions (LGIs) are mandated to implement many actions related to climate effects, these actions do not figure in the local plans as climate proofing initiatives. Moreover, the local planning process does not adequately engage communities and vulnerable people to reflect their needs and demands. LOGIC project will enhance the capacity of local government institutions, vulnerable communities, and civil society organisations for effective and inclusive local level planning and financing climate change adaptation solutions in selected climate vulnerable areas. LOGIC has established two financing mechanisms at the Union level: a Performance-Based Climate Grant and a Community Resilience Fund.

By achieving its objectives and results, the project will contribute to the reduction of poverty and vulnerability in Bangladesh. Specifically, the intervention aims at achieving the following objectives:

1. To strengthen the capacity of local governments, households and other local stakeholders, to develop local plans that integrate climate change adaptation measures and disaster risk management.
2. To establish a financing mechanism to fund local governments and communities for implementing climate change adaptation measures.
3. To produce information and evidence to feed further improvements in policies and practices for UPs and national systems in relation to climate change adaptation.

Even though local government bodies are well situated to incorporate a wide scope of people’s participation, the fiduciary risks at LGIs are diverse and quite common but preventable and controllable. The issue of ensuring accountability and transparency of government finances is a core problem at the local level. Various factors are responsible for fiduciary risks at local level, two most common risks are selection of beneficiary households and selection of local infrastructural and public work schemes.

A large portion of money goes to LGIs for community level schemes and often a few irregularities are observed:

• Selection of schemes from a location which will benefit the elites and elected members.
• Select a less important schemes, which will benefit less number of people but benefit the elected members.
• Implement the schemes in a controversial land so after the project, elected UP representative can claim the customary rights of the schemes.
• Use of schemes to co-benefit an elite person (i.e. a private pond re-excavated for drinking water for the neighborhood).
• Dual count of the same scheme (i.e. a scheme developed by the project can be shown as scheme of ongoing GoB scheme).
• Over-budgeting of the cost of the scheme.
• Manipulation of the amount of work done in schemes.
• Over vouchering the goods and services, increase number of days of manual work, manipulating signatures, and others.
• Using scheme labours and equipment for personal work (i.e. a labour is used for someone’s own domestic or agricultural works)
• Select schemes with high environmental concerns just to punish an opponent persons.
• Certification of poor quality work as good quality work

LoGIC receives two types of grants contributions: PBCRG is a performance-based grant to address the broader community level initiatives. This is essentially a top up climate grants to a development initiative to make the rural infrastructure climate resilient.

Controls:

LoGIC intend to establish and put in place specific mechanisms to ensure the Internal Control Framework and its accountability once the funds reach the UP special accounts. Those mechanisms of different activities undertaken can be clustered under three broad categories:

• Preventive controls that protect against risks before they happen;
• Detective controls that identify risk incidences soon after they occur;
• Special controls that deter risks of non-compliance and misconduct

Duties and Responsibilities

The Adaptation Innovation Analyst will work under the supervision of the Project Coordinator and will be matrix managed by UNDP Climate Change Specialist. S/he will also closely work with UNDP-UNCDF programme clusters, local government, communities, non-government and civil society organizations.
The Incumbent would be responsible but not limited for the following key functions:

• Mapping of frontier challenges of gender responsive (transformative if possible) local level adaptation.
• Work closely with UNDP Accelerator Lab in exploring, experimenting and solution mapping of the frontier’s challenges identified for local led adaptation.
• Develop criteria for climate vulnerability index for all UPs in Bangladesh and based on the secondary data set, conduct a score-based climate vulnerability index of all UPs and Pourashava and City Corporation.
• Oversee CRA-RRAP update and streamlining & and align it with risk-atlas work of LoGIC.
• Inclusion of climate vulnerability in fiscal inter-governmental transfer flow of LGD.
• Facilitate mainstreaming of climate change into local level planning and financing process, policy and systems.
• Identify and build on best practices and learning from LoGIC for national level scale up.
• Provide guidance to District Climate Change Coordinator (DCCC) in adaptive livelihood.
• Technical guidance for Adaptation Tracking and Measuring (ATM) system.
• Involve and monitor the service provider for financial inclusion and market linkages of CRF beneficiaries.
• Identify technical capacity gaps within the project team and develop mechanisms to address them.
• Innovation and synergy building between CRF-PBCRG, and closely work with Climate Change Specialist of UNCDF and Climate Change Specialist of UNDP.
• Identify advocacy issues, develop policy brief, and facilitate policy dialogue with stakeholders.
• Support management to identify new projects, areas of intervention, innovative approaches as well as flag likely overlaps, duplications, gaps and risk factors. Suggest solutions, where appropriate.
• Contribute to the development of knowledge products.
• People Management.
• Perform other duties as required by the LOGIC Management.

Competencies

Core competencies:

• Achieve Results: LEVEL 2: Scale up solutions and simplifies processes, balances speed and accuracy in doing work
• Think Innovatively: LEVEL 2: Offer new ideas/open to new approaches, demonstrate systemic/integrated thinking
• Learn Continuously: LEVEL 2: Go outside comfort zone, learn from others and support their learning
• Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 2: Adapt processes/approaches to new situations, involve others in change process
• Act with Determination: LEVEL 2: Able to persevere and deal with multiple sources of pressure simultaneously
• Engage and Partner: LEVEL 2: Is facilitator/integrator, bring people together, build/maintain coalitions/partnerships
• Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 2: Facilitate conversations to bridge differences, considers in decision making

People Management competencies:

• UNDP People Management Competencies can be found in the dedicated site.

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies:

Business Direction & Strategy

• Effective Decision Making: Ability to take decisions in a timely and efficient manner in line with one’s authority, area of expertise and resources

Business Development

• Knowledge Generation: Ability to research and turn information into useful knowledge, relevant for content, or responsive to a stated need

Business Management

• Partnership Management: Ability to build and maintain partnerships with wide networks of stakeholders, Governments, civil society and private sector partners, experts and others in line with UNDP strategy and policies

Business Development

• Knowledge Facilitation: Ability to animate individuals and communities of contributors to participate and share, particularly externally

Partnership Management

• Emerging partnerships: Ability to engage with emerging partners, develop and manage a strategy and develop approaches to developing and managing these new strategic partnerships

2030 Agenda: People

• Gender: Gender and Institutional Development

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in relevant disciplines, Environmental Sciences (geography, geology, agriculture, hydrology, oceanography, atmospheric sciences, soil science, biological sciences), Climate Change, Disaster Risk Management, or Social Sciences (anthropology, sociology, development studies, political science) with emphasis on climate change/disaster risk management/reduction or associated fields is required.
• A first-level university degree (Bachelor’s degree) in the areas mentioned above in combination with 2 additional years of qualifying experience, will be given due consideration in lieu of Master´s degree.

Experience:

• Minimum 2 (two) years (with Master´s degree) or 4 (four) years (with Bachelor´s degree) of experience in the field of climate change in international organization
• Working Experience and understanding of climate change effects in Bangladesh is an asset.
• Experience in facilitating design for public services, social innovation, and translating insights into solutions, in the context of climate change is an asset.
• Ability to deliver strategic insight and analysis on communications and media strategies relevant to development sector; and a solid record of managing complex and challenging partnerships with governments and international partners.
• Strong training, facilitation & presentation skills.
• Ability to work with a multi-disciplinary team.
• Experience in the usage of computers and relevant office software packages.

Required Languages:

• Fluency in written and spoken English and Bangla

Disclaimer

Important information for US Permanent Residents (‘Green Card’ holders)

Under US immigration law, acceptance of a staff position with UNDP, an international organization, may have significant implications for US Permanent Residents. UNDP advises applicants for all professional level posts that they must relinquish their US Permanent Resident status and accept a G-4 visa, or have submitted a valid application for US citizenship prior to commencement of employment.

UNDP is not in a position to provide advice or assistance on applying for US citizenship and therefore applicants are advised to seek the advice of competent immigration lawyers regarding any applications.

Applicant information about UNDP rosters

Note: UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement. We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.

Non-discrimination
UNDP has a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual exploitation and misconduct, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.

UNDP is an equal opportunity and inclusive employer that does not discriminate based on race, sex, gender identity, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, age, language, social origin or other status.

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