Technical Specialist

Viet Nam faces significant impacts from the effects of global climate change, and its coastal zone and low-lying river deltas are at heightened risk. From 2000-2019, Viet Nam was the country that was thirteenth most impacted globally by climate-related loss events, according to the Global Climate Risk Index of 2021.  Indeed, the areas along Viet Nam’s 3,260-kilometre-long coastline experience saline intrusion, droughts, coastal degradation and erosion, storm surges, typhoons and floods.  Contingent upon Viet Nam’s emissions pathway, it is estimated that between six and twelve million people will be affected by coastal flooding by 2070-2100 without effective adaptation action. 

Despite these risks, Viet Nam’s coastal zone holds immense potential for the nation’s socioeconomic advancement, environmental protection and international cooperation. Home to half of Viet Nam’s inhabitants, most of whom are working in marine economic sectors, the coastal areas are experiencing rapid development, presenting prospects in the tourism, industry and agriculture sectors, among others. These thriving sectors have offered employment opportunities, supported flourishing livelihoods, reduced poverty levels and attracted a significant influx of residents to these regions. At present, Viet Nam’s coastal provinces and cities contribute over 60 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).  By 2030, it is projected that the ocean economy in Viet Nam will contribute up to ten percent of GDP, according to Resolution No. 36-NQ/TW, dated 22 October 2018 of the Party Central Committee on the “Strategy for Sustainable Development of Viet Nam’s Marine Economy to 2030, with a vision to 2045.”
With the effective management of the increasing environmental risks and anthropogenic pressures, resilience-building initiatives, and a transition to a blue economy, Viet Nam’s marine and coastal areas could persist as potent drivers of the nation’s ongoing socioeconomic advancement. 

Climate Change, Energy and Environment Unit of UNDP in Viet Nam

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been providing support to the Government of Viet Nam to achieve the nation’s development objectives for more than 45 years. UNDP’s work is guided by the Country Programme Document (CPD) (2022-2026), which is derived from and contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF). It is directly aligned with Viet Nam’s national plans, as well as UNDP’s Strategic Plan (2022-2025). 

UNDP Viet Nam is supporting the Government to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs, guided by the three Outcomes of the CPD, namely: (i) shared prosperity through sustainable economic transformation; (ii) climate change, disaster resilience and environmental sustainability; and (iii) governance and access to justice. 

The Climate Change, Energy and Environment Unit of UNDP Viet Nam’s work is spread across six overall portfolios that support the second Outcome. The portfolios are centred around climate and disaster resilience; green and low-carbon development; circular economy, waste and plastics; natural resources and biodiversity; climate-health nexus; and Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme.

Under its portfolio on climate and disaster resilience, the Climate Change, Energy and Environment Unit of UNDP Viet Nam is working with national and sub-national governments, development partners and local communities to design and implement several programmes, projects and initiatives that promote Viet Nam’s climate resilience and blue economic development, and by extension, the realization of the SDGs. 

The Climate Change, Energy and Environment Unit of UNDP Viet Nam is in pursuit of a Technical Specialist on Climate Resilience who will provide technical guidance, quality assurance, and assistance to projects, programmes and initiatives under the Climate and Disaster Resilience Portfolio. These include:

• The Global Affairs Canada (GAC)-financed Viet Nam Climate-Smart Coastal Communities (VNCSCC) Project, which aims to contribute to improved resilience to climate change of vulnerable coastal communities, particularly women, and enriched marine and coastal biodiversity in Viet Nam. It will be jointly implemented with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the three provinces of Binh Dinh, Soc Trang and Thua Thien Hue between 2024 and 2030. 
• The GEF-funded Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and Blue Carbon Project, which aims to strengthen NbS to restore ecosystems and conserve and enhance blue carbon stocks with biodiversity, land protection and livelihood co-benefits in coastal landscape mosaics of the Mekong Delta region of Viet Nam, with a focus on Kien Giang province. This project is presently under detailed design and is expected to begin implementation in late 2025 with a duration of five years. It will be jointly implemented with the Department of Climate Change of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE). 
• Others, including the Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) and Marine Spatial Planning (MSP).
  The Technical Specialist on Climate Resilience will work closely with the concerned Programme Management Specialists, Programme Officers and Programme Analysts, as well as in conjunction with UNDP’s other technical Specialists and specialists. The day-to-day work of the Technical Specialist on Climate Resilience will be day-to-day supervised by the Assistant Resident Representative (ARR) – Climate Change, Energy and Environment Unit Head to ensure effective implementation of the projects, programmes and initiatives in consultation with the relevant national and provincial partners. This work will be done in close collaboration with the donors.

The Technical Specialist on Climate Resilience is expected to carry out the key tasks outlined below:

Provide technical support and advisory services for the effective implementation of the aforementioned projects, programmes and initiatives.

• Comment on work plans including activities, deliverables and outputs with deadlines and responsible persons/organizations, in close consultation with UNDP colleagues and concerned partners;
• Prepare and provide technical inputs to relevant project documents including, inter alia, concept notes, procurement plans, bidding packages, and Terms of References (TORs) for hiring consultants and firms for related activities, technical work packages, trainings and workshops;
• Proactively contribute technical advisory services and regular inputs, particularly in strategizing integrated approaches and viable solutions for climate resilience, blue economy and marine development, followed by systematic policy changes and capacity-building measures to accelerate the implementation of project activities;
• Lead the provision of technical advice on all projects’ intervention areas including climate resilience, blue economy, nature-based solutions (NbS) and ecosystem-based adaptation.
• Provide technical inputs to lessons learned, policy briefs, project communications materials and UNDP publications, including but not limited to briefing materials, standees, speeches, reports, social media campaigns, etc.;
• Attend required meetings with UNDP, donors, relevant national and provincial partners, and others, as appropriate, to develop and update the yearly work plan and discuss project implementation; and
• Support UNDP, Project Management Units (PMUs) and Provincial Project Management Units (PPMUs) to deal with project implementation issues as needed.

Provide extensive technical quality assurance and advice throughout the projects’ implementation.

• Establish quality assurance mechanisms for the projects.
• Regularly monitor work with consultants, contractors and firms, and provide technical oversight, guidance and quality assurance of all deliverables and outputs;
• Provide technical inputs to, and participate in, the mid-term and final evaluations of the projects; and
• Work with UNDP colleagues, PMUs and PPMUs to provide technical inputs to quarterly, annual and final project reports, including project results, an evaluation of the effectiveness and impact(s) of the projects, a synthesis of lessons learned to be disseminated, etc.

Contribute and advise to knowledge generation and management, as well as research, advocacy, resource mobilization and partnership building in key thematic areas, consistent with the development priorities of the Government of Viet Nam and UNDP.

• Contribute technical inputs to UNDP’s Climate Resilience and Blue Economy Portfolio, including taking the lead in and/or contributing technically to research, publications, policy papers, briefings, advocacy messages, and keynote speeches for policy dialogues and high-level events;
• Facilitate, participate in and contribute to knowledge management, including communities of practice and knowledge management networks; 
• Keep abreast of global and national development contexts to identify new resource mobilization opportunities for the expansion of UNDP’s Climate Resilience and Blue Economy portfolio, and support partnership building; and 
• Contribute to the development of the policies and regulations of relevant ministries, particularly MONRE and MARD, that are related to climate resilience, blue economy, NbS and ecosystem-based adaptation.

The incumbent will be expected to perform other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization. 

• Systems Thinking. Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgement 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
• Strategic Thinking. Develop effective strategies and prioritised plans in line with UNDP’s mission and objectives, based on the systemic analysis of challenges, opportunities and potential risks; link the general vision to reality on the ground to create tangible targeted solutions; learn from a variety of sources to anticipate and effectively respond to both current and future trends; demonstrate foresight.

Business Development    

• Knowledge Generation. Ability to research information and to turn it into useful knowledge, relevant for context, or responsive to a stated need. Ability to apply existing concepts to new situations, and to develop new concepts to generate workable solutions and new approaches. Knowledge of relevant concepts, conceptual models, and theories that can be useful in addressing new situations.

Business Management    

• Portfolio Management. Ability to select, prioritise and control the organization's programmes and projects in line with its strategic objectives and capacity Ability to balance the implementation of change initiatives with regular activities for optimal return on investment. Knowledge and understanding of key principles of project, programme, and portfolio management

Digital & Innovation    

• Portfolio design & management. Ability to identify leverage points in systems and design interventions that address them. The value of the interventions is determined not in isolation, but as part of the overall portfolio and their coherence. Ability to design processes that extract learning on an ongoing basis from existing portfolios, so that learning accrues over time and new options for action are continuously generated. Build a learning ecosystem around a complex development challenge: being able to mobilise a variety of stakeholders and help them learn and work together. Understand key principles of systems and complexity theory.

Digital    

• Systems thinking & transformation. Understand that complex problems need a holistic approach. Ability to explore challenges from multiple 
  perspectives by zooming in and out, with a focus on relationships and flows rather than individual elements; understand how certain dynamics and conditions are driving and influencing an issue. Ability to develop a collective understanding by a mapping systems and their dynamics (e.g. flows or resources, information; power relations); is able to handle ambiguity and can help others navigate it. Being able to identify intervention points to leverage change and system transformation by setting out a coherent collection of multiple interventions to probe the system for desirable effects. Understand that change is non-linear and unpredictable; being comfortable and able to work with emergence.

Partnership Management    

• Relationship Management. Ability to engage with a wide range of public and private partners, build, sustain and/or strengthen working relations, trust and mutual understanding