Chief Technical Advisor – Climate Change

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme, UN-Habitat, is the UN agency for human settlements. It is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all.

The project “Enhancing the resilience inclusive and sustainable eco-human settlement development through small scale infrastructure interventions in the coastal regions of the Mekong Delta in Viet Nam” is financed by the Adaptation Fund – AF in the period of 2020-2023. To align with a government request to promote sustainable eco-human settlement in Viet Nam, this project aims to improve the poor and vulnerable communes that climate change impacts have affected the most. At the national level, the overall coordination of the project’s execution will be led by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. UN-Habitat is the multilateral implementing entity of the project and will then provide project management support, oversight, management of fund flow and executing partners’ delivery, and secretariat of the Project Steering Committee.

In Pakistan, a project will be implementing on Enhancing the capacity of the government institutions and communities to promote CDM process supporting participating countries to implement on emission-reduction or emission-limitation commitment under the Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement.

UN-Habitat Vietnam is looking for a Chief Technical Advisor (CTA) – Climate Change in Vietnam will (1) lead the project development and implementation in Asia and the Pacific region related to climate change mitigation and adaptation, especially in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Viet Nam; and (2) be responsible for providing technical guidance and advice for the effective implementation of the project and achievement of the planned results with coordination and collaboration with other actors in the sector both at national and international levels.

Contact email: hr@unhabitatvietnam.org

Responsibilities

1. The development of enabling environment for low emission development and supporting NDC plan under the Paris Agreement:

• Focuses on environment and living condition upgrading in urban slum areas- Karachi, Islamabad, and Peshawar (20%) (K-EWP)
• Lead Project Team for implementation, and coordinate with co-implementing partners and donors
• Ensure project implementation quality and further develop the regional/country program in line with UN-Habitat’s strategic direction and long-term planning
• Support to HSO, HPMs and UN-Habitat teams to mobilize the internal and external resources (e.g expertise, knowledge, funds) to help to achieve the expected project outputs and outcomes.
• Work closely with UN-Habitat project team, internal and external project partnership to develop the project implementation strategy, TORs, detailed plan of each activities, set up the institutional implementation framework based on project design and assumption;
• Work closely with project teams of co-implementing partners and project consultation team to conduct the project component activities as project design and agreed schedule;
• Cooperate with programme support staff to manage the project budget, procurements and financial authorization, actual disbursement report, and result-based monitoring to ROAP, HQ and UNCT;

2. Adaptation Fund project implementation and development in Asia and the Pacific (60%)

• Ensures proper oversight of project activities and results;
• Provides technical guidance for the overall management and administration of the project;
• Provides policy advice and technical support to government and other partners on urban climate resilience;
• Supports sector-wide coordination and strategic planning efforts and partnership;
• Promote the identification and synthesis of best practices and lessons learned from the project for organizational sharing and learning as well as external information;
• Actively participate in UN Vietnam knowledge and learning events and take advantage of best practices and lessons learned that are available in the region and globally;
• Support a regional Adaptation Fund project development in Asia and the Pacific (KEITI)

3. Contribution to UN-Habitat regional/country programme (20%)

• Provide technical assistance for climate change mitigation and adaptation projects in the region
• Coordinate with donors for resource mobilization, and government agencies related to climate change and environment (K-EWP, LH, and KEITI)

Expected Output

The final product will take the form of the services (described in section 3- Responsibilities) satisfactorily delivered by the selected contractor.

Qualifications

Education:

Minimum advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in Climate change, Social Science, Economics or related field that is relevant for urban planning and climate change mitigation/adaptation in developing countries.

Work Experience:

• Minimum 5 year of experience for research project, project development and management, and global climate strategy and financing in developing countries, especially Asia and the Pacific; in urban planning and climate change adaptation and mitigation;
• A combination of academic and public sector experience would be considered an asset
• Proven experience as Team Leader/ Project Manager from one or more projects of similar nature. Management or participation in Climate change project development and management would be an advantage
• Previous experience with the United Nations System, including UN-Habitat is desirable
• Experience in working, liaising and collaborating with government representatives, officials, local authorities, civil society organizations, and public international organizations.

Technical Knowledge:

• Paris Agreement and global climate strategy for low emission (carbon) development
• Project development on global climate financing in developing countries
• Knowledge about climate change mitigation/adaptation and community-based project development and implementation
• Research and analytical skills combined with good communication skills, including drafting skills and writing skills, in English and possibly another UN language;
• Able to work independently and as part of team and deliver on time under pressure.

Language Skills

For this consultancy, fluency in oral and written English is required. Although not a requirement, knowledge of French, Spanish, or Arabic will be an advantage..