Regional Strategic Innovation Specialist

at  United Nations Development Programme UNDP

Job Identification
17658
Locations
Panama City, Panama
Posting Date
04/17/2024, 04:44 PM
Apply Before
05/01/2024, 10:59 PM
Job Schedule
Full time
Agency

OFFICE/UNIT/PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Countries worldwide are facing increasingly complex and multifaceted development challenges, ranging from the climate emergency, the lack of trust in institutions and growing levels of inequality. UNDP’s new Strategic Plan calls for adopting system & portfolio approaches to nurture capabilities of the development sector to support tackling these complex issues & transform the very systems that underpin development.
In that context, the Strategic Innovation Unit (SIU) within the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) has worked with various UNDP teams, governments, and other partners on exploring portfolio approaches that can help facilitate system transformation. This work progresses along the two parallel tracks – one that focuses on building capabilities for developing a different value proposition to tackle complex development challenges and another that addresses the institutional redesign necessary to enable a shift from projects to portfolios. This critically implies a rewiring of core systems - from M&E and finance to new capabilities & ways of working.
The SIU team does this through the work of its distributed regional and global team and a network of colleagues embedded within country offices and other corporate units. The global SIU team is responsible, among others, for several initiatives including a seminal Innovation Facility and a more recent investment of the Gates Foundation in the M&E Sandbox that it set up in 2022.

2) CAPACITY BUILDING AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

• Contribute to regional efforts, as needed, for the mainstreaming of the portfolio approach in the Panama Regional Hub and at the country level in LAC.
• Identify opportunities to scale innovation practices across geographies, in coordination with RBLAC’s Chief Economist team, and in collaboration with the Strategic Innovation Unit (SIU) and Chief Digital Office (CDO).
• Supports the provision of training and capacity building to COs in areas related to strategic innovation, system and digital transformation portfolios in coordination with RBLAC’s Digital Advisor and Innovation Analyst.
• Ensure that the region’s innovation community, including the Accelerator Labs, is kept abreast of the latest trends on strategic innovation, and portfolio approach, proactively sharing insights and experiences and developing compelling knowledge products on said themes.

MIN. EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS

• Advanced university degree (Master’s Degree or equivalent) in Business Administration, Public Administration, International Development, Social Sciences, or related fields; or
• A first-level university degree (Bachelor’s degree) in the above-related fields with an additional 2 years of relevant experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree, with a deep understanding of innovation and international development.

MIN. YEARS OF RELEVANT WORK EXPERIENCE

• Minimum 5 years (with a Master’s degree) or 7 years (with a Bachelor’s degree) of relevant experience in an innovation role in international organizations, civil society, public sector administration, or private sector partnerships for social goods.

REQUIRED SKILLS

• In-depth understanding/experience of system innovation approaches (foresight, system thinking, portfolio, etc.) and demonstrable experience in applying them in the context of large-scale organizations;
• At least 2 years of experience in delivering innovation policy advisory services;
• Strong experience in the design and facilitation of multi-stakeholder workshops and training methodologies.

DESIRED SKILLS IN ADDITION TO THE COMPETENCIES COVERED IN THE COMPETENCIES SECTION

• Good knowledge of the regional political, social, and economic context of Latin America and the Caribbean, desirable;
• Excellent knowledge of UNDP’s work in the region, and its Strategic Plan, desirable;
• Experience working on joint projects with multi-stakeholders and other development agencies, desirable;
• Experience working with the UN system or international organizations, desirable.
• Experience in developing or facilitating training, would be an asset.

REQUIRED LANGUAGE(S)

• Fluency in Spanish and English.
• Knowledge of Portuguese and/or French is an advantage.
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Please refer the Job description for details