Job Identification : 14097

Locations : Dakar, Senegal

Posting Date : 10/11/2023, 03:05 PM

Apply Before : 10/26/2023, 03:59 AM

Job Schedule : Full time

Agency : UNDP

Grade : NOB

Vacancy Type : Fixed Term

Practice Area : Innovation

Office : Regional Bureau for Africa

Contract Duration : 1 Year with Possibility for Extension

Education & Work Experience : Master’s Degree – 2 year(s) experience OR Bachelor’s Degree – 4 year(s) experience

Other Criteria : Experience in development programming/policy; social innovation; partnership building; engagement (public/private sector) and/or resource mobilization

Required Languages : Mastery of French

Desired Languages : Knowledge of written and spoken English

Timeline Vacancy

2 Weeks

Job Description

Background

UNDP is committed to recruiting a diverse workforce in terms of gender, nationality and culture. We also encourage people from ethnic minorities, indigenous communities and people with disabilities to apply. All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.

UNDP does not tolerate exploitation and /or sexual abuse, nor any form of harassment, including sexual harassment, and /or any forms of discrimination. All/your candidates/selected candidates /yes will thus have to undergo rigorous checks relating to the references provided as well as’s to their antecedents

Job Purpose and Organizational Context

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the reference organisation for sustainable development in the United Nations development system and serves as an integrator for collective action to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs). UNDP is the UN LEAD agency that fights to end the injustice of poverty, inequality and climate change. Working with our extensive network of experts and partners in 170 countries, we help nations build integrated and sustainable solutions for people and the planet.

The UNDP Strategic Plan 2022 2025 has 3 key objectives :

•  structural transformation: including green, inclusive and digital transitions
•  Leave no one behind through a rights-based approach focused on empowerment, inclusion, equity, human action and education.
•  Building resilience: strengthening countries and institutions to prevent, mitigate and respond to crises, conflicts, natural disasters, climate and the environment.

In this context, UNDP has identified three major accelerators: digitalization, strategic innovation and development finance.

UNDP takes into account the complexity of development and commits the’organization to support countries in finding faster and more sustainable solutions to achieve the’Agenda 2030. D’ important development trends, such as’urbanisation, climate change and inequality, pose significant challenges on the path to achieving’Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

For several years, UNDP has begun to develop a number of strategic initiatives to ensure that’il has the capacity to provide a new generation of solutions to overcome the challenges facing the world today confronted. One of these key strategic initiatives is the UNDP network of national accelerator laboratories working within the UNDP sustainable development offering.

Accelerator lab : We have established the largest and fastest global learning network on development challenges. A total of 90 laboratories have been set up since October 2019 in 115 country offices. Their role is to identify, experiment and extend the potential of innovative field solutions, to accelerate development. Laboratories are applying experimentation in close collaboration with government partners to make this mode of operation a means of reducing the costs of large-scale public sector reforms.

Duties and Responsibilities

You are excited to launch, design and manage activities, engage directly with local communities, and collaborate across global networks. You are motivated by learning new things, understanding how they work and transposing them into other sectors. You tell stories of emerging solutions and you are attracted(e) to solving global development problems.

You have a natural penchant for interdisciplinarity, cross-cultural spirit and cross-sectoral experience, as well as a cosmopolitan appeal for diversity. You are driven(e) by a strong sense of purpose and a commitment to make things happen, and you have the eye to identify emerging opportunities and “trending” trends”. You are open to discovery and exploration, able to articulate ideas through visual thinking, open to serendipity and discovery, and, while being pragmatic and constructive in the context of your work with public sector authorities. You are comfortable with ambiguity, able to zoom out for context and zoom in for content and content’execution – keen in the pursuit of goals, quick to adapt and change course when necessary. You have excellent program and portfolio management skills, you are comfortable with decision-making processes and the dynamics of different governance models.

You are curious, a natural strategic thinker and a talented executor. You understand the systems, the good, the bad and the ugly, and you are able to work within bureaucracies to make changes, leverage technology to expand, expand, improve and multiply exploration.

Main tasks and responsibilities

1.) Analysis of the horizon and monitoring for the acceleration laboratory

Example of Duties:

•  Identify, visualize and communicate trends, data, technologies and emerging development issues, with a focus on events, opportunities and marginal actors and “below the radar screen” and systemically map their impacts on the economy, environment, society and livelihoods of the poorest.
•  Identify new sources of data and information, analyze and visualize models in unstructured data sources, and, to present new information in an accessible and comprehensive manner to enable awareness and analysis.
•  Proactively explore and identify new methods / approaches and advanced knowledge to meet development challenges, collaborate with the experiment manager to transform them into learning options in order to tackle specific political questions in the country.
•  Provide technical advice for horizon analysis, forecasting and data analysis for colleagues and partners.
•  Contribute to the formulation of the Accelerator Lab service lines for the UNDP country program based on the results of the horizon analysis, mapping of local systems and knowledge.

2. ) Exploiting new data sources

Example of Duties:

•  Establish partnerships with private sector companies, including mobile network operators, to access anonymous data sets that can be used for sustainable development.
•  Demonstrate, through exploratory testing, the usefulness of new data sources for UNDP development work.
•  Create partnerships for real-time data analysis and other data to better inform decisions and policies.
•  Design and propose workshops, tools or platforms that exploit the collective intelligence of communities and mobilize action.
•  Proactively manage risks related to the use of data and technology, including those related to ethics and privacy.
•  Transforming unstructured data sets into information for UNDP and its partners.

3.) Shared work

Example of Duties:

•  Share exploration results on future trends, new methodologies/approaches, potential and other partnerships within UNDP and with partners ;
•  Proactively use blog posts and social media to share ideas, attract partners and help position Accelerator Lab at the forefront of exploring new trends.
•  Liaise with the global network of UNDP accelerator laboratories and share lessons and ideas from country-specific experiences.
•  In collaboration with CO, support laboratory partners to develop an emerging pipeline of new initiatives particularly those carrying’ job creation and inclusive growth opportunities; and; support other activities related to the design and operation of the laboratory.

4.) Organizational learning and interface with UNDP core activities

Example of Duties:

•  Develop tools and partnerships to transform information into actionable and useful information for public services and communities.
•  Design and deliver training on forward-looking analysis for partners and UNDP, help integrate forward-looking analysis and focus on “marginal” activities” in the Country Office and with partners.
•  Work with your colleagues and acceleration lab experts to codify and advance acceleration lab practice and exploration in particular.
•  To organize and implement events for the sharing of knowledge and networking ;
•  Conduct other activities related to the design and operation of the accelerator laboratory.
•  To design and propose attractive and meaningful methods of reflection on learning from the explorations.

5.) Others

Example of Duties:

•  Design and lead workshops, tools or platforms that harness the collective intelligence of communities and mobilize action.
•  Transforming unstructured data sets into information for UNDP and its partners.
•  Write blogs, articles and knowledge products to disseminate the work of the laboratory and country office.
•  Conduct action research studies through innovative and efficient qualitative and quantitative methodologies (for example on current issues or occurring abruptly in the context).
•  Develop partnerships with universities and research centres for a better scaling up of development solutions.

Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities: N/A

Competencies

Expected Demonstration of Competencies

Core

Achieve Results:

LEVEL 1: Plans and monitors own work, pays attention to details, delivers quality work by deadline

Think Innovatively:

LEVEL 1: Open to creative ideas/known risks, is pragmatic problem solver, makes improvements

Learn Continuously

LEVEL 1: Open minded and curious, shares knowledge, learns from mistakes, asks for feedback

Adapt with Agility

LEVEL 1: Adapts to change, constructively handles ambiguity/uncertainty, is flexible

Act with Determination

LEVEL 1: Shows drive and motivation, able to deliver calmly in face of adversity, confidant

Engage and Partner

LEVEL 1: Demonstrates compassion/understanding towards others, forms positive relationships

Enable Diversity and Inclusion

LEVEL 1: Appreciate/respect differences, aware of unconscious bias, confront discrimination

People Management

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

Cross-Functional & Technical Competencies (insert up to 7 Competencies)

Thematic Area

Name

Definitions

Business Direction and Strategy

Thinking System

Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgment to understand how interrelated elements coexist within an overall process or system, and to consider how altering one element can impact on other parts of the system

Business Development

Knowledge Generation

Ability to research and turn information into useful knowledge, relevant for context, or responsive to a stated need

Digital & Innovation

Story Telling

Ability to empathize with people’s perceptions, motivations, feelings and mental models and craft narratives to build an emotional argument for change accordingly.

Ability to present data, insights or information in compelling ways to mobilize resources, talent or action.

Ability to choose media and channels that is fit for purpose to reach specific target audiences.

Digital & Innovation

Data Analysis

Ability to extract, analyze and visualize data (including

Real-Time Data) to form meaningful insights and aid effective decision making

Digital & Innovation

Collective Intelligence Design

Ability to design, lead or manage processes that help a collective to become smarter together by bringing together diverse groups of people, data, and technology.

Ability to define and articulate why and how collective intelligence can add value to development programming (understanding problems; finding solutions; decision making and mobilising action; monitoring progress in real time, learning and adapting)

Being able to integrate different types of data (realtime, ‘ground-truth’ and novel data) to unlock fresh insights. Understand guidelines and principles around data privacy, ethics and protection.

Increase diversity of inputs – and look beyond the ‘usual suspects’, ability to navigate and manage a variety of actors, appreciate the diversity in perspectives, opinions, expertise.

Ability to facilitate platforms or sessions where people can contribute by providing their views and ideas independently and freely.

Being people-centred: ensure people understand and can determine how their data is used. Feedback inputs and insights to empower people, don’t extract data.

Business Management

Portfolio Management

Ability to select, prioritize and control the organization’s programmes and projects, in line with its strategic objectives and capacity; and; ability to balance the implementation of change initiatives and the maintenance of business-as-usual, while optimizing return on investment

Required Skills and Experience

Education: Master’s degree in social sciences, data science, statistics, physics, computer science, computer science, in economic intelligence or a related field and at least 2 years of professional experience in programming or development policy, social innovation, partnership building, etc, in engagement (public and private sector) and/or resource mobilization.

Or

Bachelor’s degree in social sciences, data sciences, statistics, physics, computer science, economic intelligence or a related field and at least 4 years of professional experience in programming or development policy, social innovation, partnership building, engagement (public and private sectors) and/or resource mobilization.

Experience:

•  Professional experience in development programming or policy and social innovation ;
•  Demonstrated capability in horizon analysis ;
•  Demonstrated ability in data analysis and visualization.
•  Experience in the following areas is desirable but not necessary :
•  Proven professional knowledge and experience of approaches to social innovation such as systems thinking, ethnography, crowdsourcing, collective intelligence design, citizen science, positive deviance, and more, social media analytics, artificial intelligence/machine learning.
•  Professional experience in partnership building and engagement (public and private sectors)
•  Proven ability to use open data, mobile data, geospatial data, drone and satellite data, citizen data to inform policy development, strategic planning or program design.
•  Professional knowledge and experience proven in at least one of the following areas: Reflection on the future and prospective, research in design and mapping of systems ;
•  In-depth knowledge of the main global and regional trends ;
•  Proven access to networks of advanced innovators.
•  Master of French and knowledge of written and spoken English.
•  Acceleration laboratories will consist of a core team with specialized skills focused on core exploration, experimentation and innovation. During the first 6 to 8 months of operation of the laboratory, each member of the core team will take over one of the following functions :

1) Coordination

2) Training

3) Communication

The’ main team of the Accelerator Lab will have skills in the following areas :

• L’ experimentation (implementation of rapid learning of new challenges through the design and management of a portfolio of experiments consistent with the type of challenges that are part of the UNDP strategic plan
• The mapping of solutions : ethnographic methods and immersion in community dynamics, identification of and work with key users, and implications of bottom-up solutions for policy design
• Exploration : The exploration function focuses on the discovery and detection of emerging trends, implications for systemic impacts and risks, and their potential to accelerate progress towards the SDGs. His work feeds into the experimentation portfolio by ensuring its consistency with emerging risks and opportunities and by linking local dynamics and solutions to the broader national and international donor ecosystem, potential partners and allies, thus increasing the chances of acceleration. While essential to the operation of the accelerator laboratory, the exploration function will also serve the country office, as determined and agreed with UNDP senior management

Please note that continuation of appointment beyond the initial 12 months is contingent upon the successful completion of a probationary period.

Disclaim

Female applications are strongly encouraged.

Information for candidates about the « Roster » from UNDP

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

Diversity of the workforce

UNDP is committed to ensuring diversity among its staff and encourages all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, their culture, religion and ethnic origin, to be applied. All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence. We strongly encourage female applications.

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