Background

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

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.
UNDP is the UN’s global development network, an organization advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience, and resources to help people build a better life. UNDP is on the ground in about 170 countries and territories, working with national counterparts on solutions to global and national development challenges.

In the programme countries, UNDP supports stabilization, state-building, governance and development priorities in in partnership with the host governments, the United Nations system, the development partners and other partners to help the country to achieve sustainable development by eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, accelerating structural transformations for sustainable development and building resilience to crises and shock.

UNDP has worked in India since 1951 in almost all areas of human development, from systems and institutional strengthening to inclusive growth and sustainable livelihoods, as well as sustainable energy, environment and resilience. UNDP’s programmes continue to fully integrate a global vision for catalytic change with India’s national priorities. With over 30 projects on the ground in almost every state, today UNDP India works to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by transforming traditional models to do development differently. In a rapidly changing global environment, the work of UNDP and the broader UN family aligns with the Government of India’s new national development vision, India 2030, and builds upon the Sustainable Development Goals. UNDP India’s country programme for 2018-2022 has three major focus areas:

Inclusive growth
Environment and energy
Strengthening systems and institutions

These are supported by a framework of renewed partnerships and blended finance solutions, a pool of financial and technical resources for greater impact and scale, and South-South expertise.

You are invited to join a team of dedicated development professionals whose primary role is to support the India to achieve the 2030 Agenda.  As part of the UNDP team your focus will be to work with multiple stakeholders to find the country specific solutions that lead to sustainable development and to ensure no one is left behind – and we reach those furthest behind first.

UNDP is looking for individuals who have the communication, analytical, planning and implementation capacities that can address links, choices and connections across many issues and sectors.  We seek individuals who can apply global best practice to national contexts. We are looking for people who are enthusiastic, motivated, and committed to making a positive contribution to Development in India.

Background and scope of portfolio

UNDP’s Strategic Plan 2018-22 is founded on six signature solutions: keeping people out of poverty, strengthening effective governance; enhancing national resilience; promoting nature-based solutions; closing the energy gap; and strengthening gender equality, where development finance is a critical enabler.

The challenge to finance the SDGs is not the of lack of funds, the issue is systemic and much deeper than closing any financial gap. It demands the re-orientation of how government, businesses and investors interact with each other to create a system to achieve results in the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic, social and environmental. Whilst there is growing mainstreaming of SDG and climate-responsive budgeting and positive disruptions to the financial system with the increasing importance of innovative financing instruments underpinned by new inclusive and sustainable business models, the growing blending of public and private resources, crowdfunding, ESG investments, these are not yet at scale.

UNDP India country office, is looking to strengthen this momentum though its offer of integrated support on SDG and climate financing to governments and private sector partners. As domestically mobilized resources form the bedrock of SDG and climate action, UNDP’s services include support for strengthening government’s institutional and administrative frameworks to be able to better deliver integrated climate policy and programming, tap into innovative sources of finance, promote mainstreaming of climate risk and SDG alignment in the financial system and investments of the private sector, and account transparently for climate related services, while also strengthening parliament and civil society’s advocacy and accountability roles. There is an increasing urgency to ensure that policies, frameworks, and strategies are responsive to the needs, priorities, and interests of all people, including women, the poor, youth, and minorities and others who are particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts and that they participate in the governance of a climate change response, i.e., in all stages of policy formulation, programme implementation and processes.

The Analyst will under the supervision of the Advisor/ Team Leader, be expected to drive the work of UNDP India country office on SDG financing by working closely with state offices and the inclusive growth team in addition to supporting the rollout of the Climate Finance Network (CFN) in coordination with the environment unit. The CFN will serve as a peer-to-peer network and as a knowledge management and technical support facility to support Ministries of Finance with the engagement of sector ministries and sub-national governments to identify and scale up climate finance innovations in the region.

The Programme Analyst will be expected to ideate on a variety of financing instruments and bring together relevant stakeholders. These instruments include SDG/ green aligned thematic bonds, pay for success instruments, municipal financing and innovative climate financing mechanisms

A flagship engagement of the UNDP India country office has been the Sustainable Finance Collaborative. Launched in August 2020 it was an effort to bring together leading stakeholders in the financial eco-system with a view to ideate, collaborate and contribute to the Government’s sustainable finance agenda. Drawing from the Collaborative, the Ministry of Finance, has formulated a government-led Sustainable Finance Taskforce. UNDP has been appointed as the secretariat to the Taskforce and has helped the Taskforce deliver on its agenda of drawing a roadmap and taxonomy of sustainable activities and a list of recommendations to strengthen sustainability linked corporate disclosures, enhance capital flows towards sustainable activities and build resilience to climate change in the financial sector. The Programme Analyst will be expected to drive forward this work.

Duties and Responsibilities

Candidate will be expected to drive the work of the UNDP India country office around SDG and Climate Financing, this will span public and private financing, as well as innovative financing instruments/ mechanisms. The role also includes coordination and close working relationships with other UNDP teams (state teams/ environment unit and the inclusive growth unit); strategizing on UNDP offers on SDG and climate finance; preparing well researched proposals and pitches; implementation support in coordination with partners.

The role will be housed within the SDG Finance unit at the UNDP India Country Office. The Programme Analyst will report to the Advisor/ Lead on SDG Financing.

Conceptualisation and development of financing instruments and mechanisms

Provide technical advisory support on innovative finance to state offices, UNDP teams and government partners as needed.
Develop clear country offer for services that can be delivered through state offices
Strengthen partnerships with country experts and regional stakeholders working on climate change finance and SDG Finance with a focus on thematic debt instruments and other sources of innovative finance
Identify and disseminate lessons and good practices
Develop partnerships with country and regional networks to leverage private sector investment into the SDGs
Carrying out basic due diligence, evaluating regulatory constraints (if any), market opportunities and determining overall financial and social attractiveness for innovative financing mechanisms
Identifying key risks and mitigation factors
Using current available information to map, analyze and interpret current and future potential for innovative finance instruments – including identifying trends and areas of growth. Develop and lead implement strategy for outreach accordingly

Contribute to the development and rollout of SDG Finance offerings and frameworks

Support the country office in its engagement on SDG Financing, with Governments, the UN country team, IFIs and development partners broadly, including in support of the roll out of national integrated financing frameworks (INFFs);
Support the offer development and rollout of services on SDG/ Climate Budgeting, Costing and
Tagging for state offices and government counterparts.
Support the incorporation of gender equality and human rights-based approaches in financing strategies and programming work;
In partnership with stakeholders, build on the work of the Sustainable Finance Collaborative and the Ministry of Finance led Task Force on Sustainable Finance to further progress on disclosures, resilience, taxonomy development and the broader sustainable finance roadmap.

Support the rollout of the workstreams of Climate Finance Network for the India country office

Provide technical advisory support for the rollout of the FCDO supported Climate Finance Network (CFN) in India.
Work closely with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate
Change to advance the work of the CFN and its 6 workstreams (including (i) climate informed planning and budgeting (ii) access to international climate finance (iii) innovative financing instruments etc.).
Support with development of work plans and managing workflow of agencies engaged including quality assurance and guidance.
Implements project work plan and ensures that the project remains within the tolerance level of the approved work plan
Provide technical guidance to project consultants and project executing partners who should provide similar outputs
Support in providing technical input to working documents, studies and technical reports as required in project activities on the topics of climate finance

Strengthen strategic partnerships and mobilize resources for country office programming on climate and SDG financing

Support UNDP CO to maintain and strengthen liaisons with relevant partners, including the Government of India, state governments, development partners, private sector and other actors supporting climate change and SDG finance initiatives, including stakeholders involved in the Sustainable Finance Collaborative
Identify further opportunities for the country office to collaborate with UNDP’s Bangkok Regional
Hub on SDG Financing related areas
Develop proposals and project documents, for the SDG Finance unit and in partnership with other
UNDP teams including state offices, inclusive growth and the environment unit in an effort to mobilise resources for further programming.
Identify avenues to mobilise resources to support UNDP offerings on SDG and Climate Finance by engaging with potential partners including private sector partners, philanthropic institutions, family-held funds, and Government departments.
Lead development of proposals to pitch to potential partners/ donors and crystalize value proposition.

Operations related responsibilities

Lead preparation of periodic (quarterly/ semi-annual) progress reports for donors/ partners
Develop annual work plans as needed
Curate and coordinate various meetings, convenings and workshops as needed
Any other responsibilities as assigned by supervisor/ manager

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

Project Management competencies:

UNDP People Management Competencies can be found in the dedicated site.
Cross-Functional & Technical competencies

2030 Agenda:

Partnerships: SDG Finance -Innovative Finance; ESG Standards
Engagement and Effectiveness: Strategic Policy Engagement-Financing for Development inclusive: integrated national financing frameworks
Planet: Nature, Climate and Energy-Climate Change Policies: Climate Finance

Business Management

Partnerships 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
Project Management: Ability to plan, organize, prioritize and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Bachelors Degree in development finance/ finance/ engineering/ economics/ or related fields; applicants with advanced/ Master’s degrees in above fields preferred.

Experience:

Minimum of 4 years of relevant experience working in (or with) strategy or development consulting firms/ impact investing/ financial services/ public finance /corporate finance / or debt markets/climate and sustainable finance oriented roles.
For those with Master’s degrees/ advanced degrees a minimum of 2 years of relevant work experience.
Experience in working with development partners, government or private sector on programing in relation to sustainable development, climate change finance, SDGs finance, financing instruments, debt financing, public finance or development finance
Good inter-personal and team-building skills
Has excellent oral communication skills and conflict resolution competency to mediate inter-group dynamics and mediate conflicts
Ability to work with a multidisciplinary and multicultural team
Strong analytical skills
Solid networking capacity
Solid skill in providing project advisory services, monitoring and evaluation
Demonstrated ability to work effectively with a wide range of stakeholders
Demonstrated ability to work effectively under minimal supervision;
Good skills in organization and management;
Excellent skill in using computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc), advance knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages
Ability to make briefs and concept notes in short turnaround times
Desired areas of specialization: public finance/ public financial management/ climate change finance/ sustainable finance / impact investing
Experience of working with the government, IFIs/ MDBs, financial institutions, development partners, private sector, universities on climate and sustainable finance will be an advantage.
Experience in project management in the area of climate change, natural resources, energy, climate/sustainable finance, green economy would be highly desirable

Required Language:

Fluency in written and spoken English is an absolute necessity.
Working Knowledge in written and spoken Hindi is required.

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