Job Opportunity for Project Associate – Waste Management at UN Habitat in Bhubaneshwar

About the Organization

UN-Habitat is the coordinating agency within the United Nations System for human settlement activities and in collaboration with governments is responsible for promoting and consolidating collaboration with all partners, including local authorities, private and non-governmental organizations in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular, Goal 11 of “Making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”, as well as the task manager of the human settlements chapter of Agenda 21 and focal point for the monitoring, evaluation and implementation of the New Urban Agenda adopted during the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III), in Ecuador, Quito, 2016.

Job Description/Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of the Country Programme Manager, the Project Associate – Waste Management will work under the guidance of the Project Manager, and will be responsible to undertake the following activities:

Programme coordination and stakeholder consultations

• Conduct a thorough mapping of national/state and local level stakeholders pertinent to the waste management sector, including, government entities, businesses, investors, philanthropic organizations, NGOs, among others, and prepare a detailed stakeholder mapping across different tiers/hierarchy;
• Assist in liaising with key government institutions at local and state level, technology partners, and key non-governmental organizations;
• Support drafting a common workplan for all main implementing partners and coordinate implementation within set timelines;
• Co-lead with municipal focal point, a comprehensive due diligence for identifying and analyzing the operational, financial, legal and other viability aspects of selected targeted sites for installation and implementation of the two frontier technologies;
• Prepare terms of reference, SOPs, procurement procedures, and other institutional/legal requirements, aligned with the local, state and national government guidelines including UN, for seamless operationalizing of the project by the local government and technology partner;
• Provide technical backstopping to local government focal points and technology partners through applying the 3Rs in waste management;
• Conduct periodic consultations key stakeholders, including executing agency, implementing agency, urban residents, private sector, and civil society organizations, to identify the project design parameters, institutional bottlenecks, and major issues in effective collection and upcycling of LVPs;
• Facilitate compliance of technology partners with the current legislations in the transportation, handling and disposal of waste without contaminating air, land or water sources during operations of the facilities;

Research and technical advisory

• Review analytically the present waste management system and evaluate the lacking sustainable elements with focus on LVPs collection, transport and recycling;
• Review the local and state governments’ policy to finance capital expenditure and O&M of infrastructure and assets, implementing agency’s borrowing capacity and experience with charging tariffs, and cost recovery prospect of infrastructure investments;
• Support programme manager and government focal points on drafting policy recommendation in circular economy (3Rs) focused on the low-value plastic upcycling considering, a strategic long term approach enhancing sustainability based on the wide array of knowledge skills;
• Draft model business plan including O&M as well as handover processes to local partners beyond project period based on the learnings of the pilot projects;

Knowledge management and documentation of lessons learned:

• Document lessons learnt from a global perspective, with the ability to offer practical policy and programmatic advice on LVPs recycling and upcycling based on an understanding of legislative, planning and implementation, financial realities on ground.
• Contribute to in-depth primary and secondary research on plastic waste initiatives and case studies and circular economy
• Develop manuals and guidelines to institutionalize best practices in upcycling LVPs and Waste Management
• Assist in the development of information and promotional materials
• Co-lead regular workshops and seminars involving as many governmental agencies and NGO’s as possible and to disseminate results.

Education Qualification/Required Skills & Experience

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or equivalent) in Environmental Engineering/ Environmental Sciences, Civil Engineering, or any other related field.
• Work Experience: At minimum of two (02) years progressively responsible experience in conducting research and assessments on waste/ plastics, provision of technical support for waste management, and waste related infrastructure design. Prior experience in implementing 3Rs:
• Reuse, Reduce and Recycle or other forms of circular economy policy development is a plus.
• Proven record of edited reports, publications, or documents.