Technical Specialist, TISFD (Home-based)

Remote | Home Based - May require travel

Organization: UNDP - United Nations Development Programme
Location: Remote | Home Based - May require travel
Grade: Mid level - IPSA-10, International Personnel Services Agreement
Occupational Groups:
- Project and Programme Management
Closing Date: Closed

Background

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are core principles at UNDP: we value diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate, we foster inclusion as a way of ensuring all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, and we ensure equity and fairness in all our actions. Taking a ‘leave no one behind’ approach to our diversity efforts means increasing representation of underserved populations. People who identify as belonging to marginalized or excluded populations are strongly encouraged to apply. Learn more about working at UNDP including our values and inspiring stories.

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.

Job Purpose and Organizational Context

UNDP is the knowledge frontier organization for sustainable development in the UN Development System and serves as the integrator for collective action to realize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

UNDP's policy work carried out at HQ, Regional and Country Office levels, forms a contiguous spectrum of deep local knowledge to cutting-edge global perspectives and advocacy. In this context, UNDP invests in the Global Policy Network (GPN), a network of field-based and global technical expertise across a wide range of knowledge domains and in support of the signature solutions and organizational capabilities envisioned in the Strategic Plan.

Within the GPN, the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) has the responsibility for developing all relevant policy and guidance to support the results of UNDP's Strategic Plan. BPPS's staff provides technical advice to Country Offices, advocates for UNDP corporate messages, represents UNDP at multi-stakeholder fora including public-private dialogues, government and civil society dialogues, and engages in UN inter-agency coordination in specific thematic areas. In addition, BPPS works closely with UNDP's Crisis Bureau (CB) to support emergency and crisis response.

The world needs an economic governance architecture deliberately designed to support governments, development agencies, civil society, and the private sector to make decisions that prioritize investment in the SDGs. Thus, UNDP established the Sustainable Finance Hub (SFH) in 2019, aggregating UNDP’s existing work and expertise on financing the SDGs. UNDP aims to promote the investment of over $1 trillion of public expenditure and private capital in the SDGs and maximize development impact for country partners. With this goal, UNDP will mobilize governments, institutional and commercial investors, financial institutions, and enterprises alike to take a more integrated approach to sustainable investment, enabling and promoting the impact integrity of actual and realized investments to enhance transparency, and optimize private and public sectors contributions to achieving the SDGs. Through SFH, UNDP has been increasing its engagement in global financial and economic policy making through the work carried out in different forums (i.e., G7, G20, UN’s Financing for Development process, etc.) as well as other regulatory and market-based networks.

In this context, UNDP supports the Taskforce on Inequality and Social-related Financial Disclosures (TISFD or Taskforce), a global initiative for reporting and managing inequality and social-related risks, opportunities, impacts, and dependencies. The Taskforce is a multistakeholder initiative involving investors, business, labor, civil society, policy makers and regulators, service providers, and academia working together to co-create a global framework for inequality and social-related disclosures, guidance and education and capacity building resources. For more information see: TISFD

It is anticipated the framework will be developed over two years, from September 2024 through September 2026, with the production of critical outputs throughout this period and further work on implementation to follow. The Taskforce Secretariat will coordinate and facilitate the Taskforce’s activities according to the direction defined by the Steering Committee and Working Groups. This includes coordinating inputs from a body of subject matter experts structured around the TISFD Alliance participating through Regional Hubs.

The Secretariat will operate mostly virtually with key Secretariat partners spread across the globe and be led by an Executive Director.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Technical Specialist will contribute to the development of the TISFD’s disclosure framework, including its conceptual foundations, recommendations, metrics and indicators, and associated guidance.

The Technical Specialist will conduct research and analysis underpinning the TISFD’s deliverables and contribute to the development of its outputs, in coordination with the Technical Director.

The technical deliverables of the Taskforce involve a number of resources including but not limited to: an integrated and accessible disclosure framework and recommendations, informed by a set of conceptual foundations and a body of evidence on social and inequality-related impacts, dependencies, risks and opportunities; various types of guidance to help corporates and financial institutions in identifying, assessing and reporting on inequality and social related impacts and risks, building on existing work in this space.

Ensure substantive contributions to research, drafting and delivery of technical outputs.

Conduct research and analysis related to inequality and social-related impact and risk pathways, the identification and assessment of such risks by corporates and financial institutions, and associated indicators and metrics.
Contribute to the drafting of the Taskforce’s outputs, including the disclosure framework and recommendations, conceptual foundations, and associated guidance, and intermediate outputs for consideration of working groups and the Steering Committee, under the supervision of the Technical Director.
Liaise with the TISFD Alliance and Knowledge Partners to source information and research relevant to the development of the Taskforce’s deliverables.
Keep abreast of developments in relation to voluntary and regulatory sustainability-related disclosure standards and frameworks and research and policy developments in the intersection between business and finance and inequality- and social-related issues.

Ensure effective consultation and co-creation.

Support the coordination of TISFD Working Groups, ensuring Working Groups’ guidance and feedback are properly incorporated into technical outputs and followed through.
Contribute to the documentation of feedback from Technical Working Groups, the TISFD’s Alliance, and public consultations, and ensure that inputs are adequately reflected in the technical deliverables or appropriately responded to.
Maintain good working relationships with key TISFD stakeholders, including Working Group and Alliance members.

Facilitate piloting, testing, learning and capacity development.

Facilitate piloting of the framework across priority sectors, asset classes, instruments, and stakeholders.
Advise on the formulation of learning modules and capacity development resources of the TISFD.
Work closely with the TISFD’s Regional Hub Coordinators to ensure technical outputs are enriched and reflective of contextual issues across geographies.

The incumbent performs other duties within her/his functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the TISFD Secretariat.

Institutional arrangements

The Technical Specialist will work under the supervision of the Technical Director of the TISFD’s Secretariat in UNDP’s Sustainable Finance Hub.

Competencies

Core Competencies
Achieve Results	LEVEL 3: Set and align challenging, achievable objectives for multiple projects, have lasting impact
Think Innovatively	LEVEL 3: Proactively mitigate potential risks, develop new ideas to solve complex problems
Learn Continuously	LEVEL 3: Create and act on opportunities to expand horizons, diversify experiences
Adapt with Agility	LEVEL 3: Proactively initiate and champion change, manage multiple competing demands
Act with Determination	LEVEL 3: Think beyond immediate task/barriers and take action to achieve greater results
Engage and Partner	LEVEL 3: Political savvy, navigate complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaboration
Enable Diversity and Inclusion	LEVEL 3: Appreciate benefits of diverse workforce and champion inclusivity

Cross-functional and technical competencies

Thematic Area	Name	Definition
Business Direction and Strategy	Negotiation and Influence	Ability to reach an understanding, persuade others, resolve points of difference, gain advantage in the outcome of dialogue, negotiates mutually acceptable solutions through compromise and creates ‘win-win’ situations
Business Direction and Strategy	System 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
Business management	Project management	Ability to plan, organize, prioritize and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals
Business management	Working with evidence and Data	Ability to inspect, cleanse, transform and model data with the goal of discovering useful information, informing conclusions and supporting decision-making.
2030 Agenda: Peace	Rule of Law, Security and Human Rights	Human rights institutions
2030 Agenda: Partnerships	SDG Finance	Taxation and the SDGs
2030 Agenda: Partnerships	SDG Finance	Unlocking private capital and aligning business operations for the SDGs

Required Skills and Experience

Min. Academic Education	An advanced university degree (master's degree or equivalent), in International Development, International Relations, Law, Anthropology, Business Administration, Economics, Physics, Mathematics, or other relevant field is required, OR A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in the areas mentioned above in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree.
Min. years of relevant work experience	Minimum of 5 years (with master’s degree) and 7 years (with bachelor’s degree) of experience in corporate sustainability and/or sustainable finance, sustainability standards, social impact and risk measurement and/or business and human rights in the public sector, the private sector or academia.
Required skills	Experience in the field of corporate and/or finance sector sustainability management and/or reporting. Proven experience conducting research and analysis, on social impact and risk measurement and/or business and human rights
Desired additional skills or experiences	Track record in the development of resources for managing inequality and/or social-related impacts, risks and opportunities for the corporate and/or finance sectors. Experience with co-creation or consensus-building processes in international and multi-stakeholder settings. Experience translating complex technical information to private and finance sector audiences, and to a diverse range of other stakeholders. Experience with relevant policy making processes and dynamics at international and national levels concerning corporate sustainability-related reporting and disclosure frameworks and regulations. Experience with the development or implementation of the recommendations of TNFD or TCFD and/or comparable initiatives involving sustainability reporting and disclosure by the private sector.
Required Language(s) (at working level)	Fluency in English required.

Travel

This is a home-based assignment, so no travel to/from the duty station is envisaged.

Costs of other travel, as deemed necessary by UNDP while performing the outlined functions, shall be at UNDP’s expense and in accordance with the applicable UNDP travel policy.

The initial contract is concluded for 1 year with extension based on performance results. The role is expected to last a minimum of 2 years.

Disclaimer

UNDP is not in a position to provide advice or assistance on applying for US citizenship and therefore applicants are advised to seek the advice of competent immigration lawyers regarding any applications.

Applicant information about UNDP rosters

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

Non-discrimination

UNDP has a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual exploitation and misconduct, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.

UNDP is an equal opportunity and inclusive employer that does not discriminate based on race, sex, gender identity, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, age, language, social origin or other status.

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This vacancy is now closed.