Opportunity Alert: UNDP Internship for Global Project Specialist in the USA

The Global Project Specialist Internship is mandated to strictly follow UNDP guidelines pertaining to programming, finances, human resources, procurement, and administration. This involves establishing strong internal control mechanisms and supervising a team tasked with effectively executing diverse global programs and projects.

Under the direct supervision of the Director, Nature Hub, and working closely with the relevant Principal Technical Advisors and thematic leads and other team members, the Global Project Specialist – Management Support Unit (MSU) will be responsible for:

• leadership, management and coordination for ensuring effective implementation of a portfolio of global projects under the Nature Hub;
• strategic leadership, operational policy development and innovation under Nature Hub;
• partnership, advocacy and resource mobilization;
• knowledge management, tools and learning.

UNDP adopts a portfolio approach to accommodate changing business needs and leverage linkages across interventions to achieve its strategic goals. Therefore, UNDP personnel are expected to work across units, functions, teams, and projects in multidisciplinary teams in order to enhance and enable horizontal collaboration.

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Duties and Responsibilities

1. Leadership, management and coordination to ensure effective implementation of a portfolio of global projects:
   • Oversee the work of the members of the Global Projects Execution Support Unit and guiding the project coordination focal points on various project management and operational issues; facilitate organization of Nature Hub Operations meetings.
   • Develop and implement internal Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) in Finance, HR, Procurement, Travel, Administration and Project Management for the Nature Hub projects;
2. Coordinate strategy development, operational policy development and innovation:
   • Contribute to a strategic understanding of, and engagement with, the substantive technical issues, institutions and processes related to the Nature Hub’s global projects, including establishing contact and developing partnerships with other agencies, donors, NGOs, the private sector, financial institutions, scientific institutions, etc;
   • Provide substantive guidance to regional bureaus, country offices and governments on the effective implementation of global projects and other technical matters;
   • Support the development of strategic UNDP policy position papers and internal briefing notes and talking points;
3. Contribute to partnership, advocacy and resource mobilization
   • Contribute proactively to strengthening donor relationships and raising resources for implementation of the UNDP Nature Pledge;
   • Provide support to the Nature Hub Senior Management Group on resource mobilization in relation to corporate guidelines, rules and regulations for engaging with and entering into agreements with donors and other partners at the global and/or regional levels;
   • Support the development of and implementation of appropriate resource mobilization and partnership strategy for the Nature Hub;
4. Ensure sound knowledge management and learning and development of tools
   • Evaluate, capture, codify and synthesize lessons and stimulating the uptake of best practices and knowledge from global projects;
   • Coordinate the application of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and results-based management (RBM) approaches to the portfolio under the Nature Hub;
   • Ensure effective risk management and assurance practices across the unit; build a culture of risk management amongst staff and other partners.

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organisation.

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1. Education:
   • Advanced University degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in Business Administration, Management, Finance, Project Management, Environmental Studies, Social Science, or other closely related fields is required, or
   • A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in the above disciplines or related fields, in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of master’s degree.
2. Experience:
   • Minimum 7 years (with master’s degree) or 9 years (with bachelor’s degree) of relevant progressively responsible experience in project/programme management and/or coordination is required.
   • Demonstrated experience in internationally financed project/programme management and operations support is an asset.
   • Demonstrated experience in Monitoring & Evaluation and Results Based Monitoring approaches is an asset.
   • Demonstrated experience in developing tools and methodologies to follow-up on project management and implementation and/or increase operational efficiency is an asset.
   • Professional experience in UN system or with a multilateral organization of similar size and complexity is an asset.
   • Experience in supporting biodiversity conservation or other environmental programmes is advantage.
   • Demonstrated experience in developing and supporting the implementation of various donor contribution and partnership agreements is desirable.
   • Experience in supervising programme and operations staff is highly desirable.
   • Experience of working in global virtual teams is a strong asset.
   • Additional certifications in Project Management (PRINCE2), Programme Management (MSP), People/HR Management, Public Procurement (CIPS) or Finance Management is an asset.
3. Language:
   • Fluency in English is required.
   • Fluency in another UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, or Spanish) is an asset.