Crisis Academy Outreach Specialist (Office-Based)

Office/Unit/Project Description 

The UNDP Crisis Bureau’s Research, Analysis, Learning, and Innovation (RALI) Team is at the forefront of positioning UNDP as an agile, future-focused leader in risk management across the Humanitarian-Development-Peace (HDP) nexus. The RALI Team harnesses the combined strengths of thought leadership, policy research, decision intelligence, learning, and innovation to support resilient, responsive approaches to crisis and risk. Its primary objectives include:

• Thought Leadership and Policy Research: Producing world-class research and insights in the crisis and fragility space 
• Development Risk Practice: Develop analytics to understand and address multidimensional risks to development.
• Crisis Financing: Unlocking resources for fragile and crisis-prone contexts through financial innovation and enhanced access to capital markets.
• Learning and Innovation: Delivering training and networking opportunities to humanitarian and development communities globally and fostering innovation for the next generation of crisis prevention, response, and recovery strategies.

A core learning initiative within the RALI Team, the UNDP Crisis Academy is dedicated to building a comprehensive, people-centered knowledge and learning ecosystem that enhances the preparedness and capacity of UNDP personnel and partners at the country, regional, and global levels. Aligned with UNDP’s Crisis Offer, the Crisis Academy focuses on equipping stakeholders with the skills and tools necessary to respond effectively to complex, high-risk crisis environments. The Academy is organised around three thematic campuses: 1) HDP Nexus Campus; 2) Prevention Campus; and 3) Recovery Campus.

Through its activities, the Crisis Academy cultivates essential competencies—including knowledge, skills, and a collective culture that embraces the complexities of crises, actively manages risks, and adapts continuously, particularly in politically challenging contexts. Central to the Academy’s mission is a commitment to inclusivity, fostering a learning environment that values and integrates diverse identities, perspectives, and experiences. The Crisis Academy ensures that each participant’s unique background is acknowledged and respected, creating a collaborative and supportive atmosphere that enhances learning outcomes. The Outreach Specialist will report directly to the Crisis Academy Manager, ensuring that outreach efforts align with the Academy’s strategic goals.

Scope of Work: 

1)           Ensure Stakeholder Engagement and Relationship Management: 

• Curate engagement with Steering Committees and Technical Working Groups: Coordinate and prepare for regular meetings of Steering Committees and Technical Working Groups pertaining to the various governance bodies under each Campus. This includes drafting agendas, coordinating logistics, preparing presentation materials, consolidating minutes and ensuring effective follow-up on decisions.
• Stakeholder feedback mechanisms: Design and implement formal mechanisms (e.g., surveys, interviews, feedback sessions) to gather input from key stakeholders on the effectiveness of Crisis Academy programs, and report insights to leadership for continuous improvement.
• Partners engagement and reporting: Advise and support the Crisis Academy Manager and the Campus coordinators with the drafting of activity and annual reports summarizing accomplishments and challenges across the learning offer under each Campus.

2)           Facilitate Community and Knowledge Sharing:

• Knowledge Base Development: Contribute to the development and maintenance of a centralized knowledge base that captures the insights and lessons learned from Crisis Academy engagements.
• Content Creation: Develop and curate high-quality content for the Academy's online platforms, including articles, blogs, and webinars, in coordination with Comms colleagues.
• Community Building: Foster a vibrant online community of the Crisis Academy’s alumni and related practitioners and experts through social media engagement and virtual events.
• Platform Management: Overseeing the technical aspects of the community platform, including updates and maintenance.
• Capacity Building: Supporting capacity building initiatives for humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding actors.

3)           Lead Advocacy and Outreach 

• Planning and Design: Contribute to the planning and design of internal and external strategies for communications and outreach. 
• Capacity Development Outreach: Lead Crisis Academy outreach efforts to stakeholders for activities related to capacity development. 
• Advocacy and Promotion: Facilitate advocacy and promotion of Crisis Academy through the development of an annual course catalogue.

4)           Promote Learning Innovation: 

• Technology Selection: Advise the Crisis Academy Learning Manager in Identifying and selecting appropriate educational technologies to enhance learning experiences.
• Training Support: Providing training and support to learners and educators on the use of educational technologies.
• Integration: Integrating technology into the learning environment to support effective instruction and assessment.
• Evaluating Programs: Advise and support the Crisis Academy Learning Manager in evaluating the effectiveness of learning programs and initiatives to ensure they meet their goals.

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

Institutional Arrangement

The Outreach Specialist will report directly to the Crisis Academy Manager, ensuring that outreach efforts align with the Academy’s strategic goals. The role is embedded within the Research, Analysis, Learning and Innovation (RALI) Team of UNDP Crisis Bureau.

Competencies

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies

Minimum Qualification of the Successful IPSA 

Min. Education requirements    

• An Advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in Political Science, Sociology, Anthropology, International law, International Development, Learning and Knowledge Management, Organizational Development, Development Finance and/or related field is required. OR
• A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in the areas stated 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 five (5) years (with master’s degree) or seven (7) years (with bachelor’s degree) of relevant experience in an international development context is required. 

Required skills  

• Proven experience in designing and delivering adult learning programs.
• Proven track record of strong understanding of humanitarian, development, peace nexus.

Desired skills in addition to the competencies covered in the Competencies section     

• Experience and familiarity with UNDP Crisis Academy is an asset.
• Experience working in different capacities across UNDP (i.e. Country Office, SURGE mission, etc.) is an asset 
• Experience designing and delivering learning programmes in crisis contexts is an advantage. 
• Proven experience working in different geographical areas, and development settings, including crisis and fragile environments is highly desirable.

Required Language(s)   

• Fluency in English is required. 
• Working knowledge of another UN language is desired.