Background   UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.   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.     Duties and Responsibilities

The UNDP Strategic Plan 2018-2021 embraces the complexity of development and commits the organization to helping countries to find faster, more durable solutions to achieve Agenda 2030. In line with this, the organization has begun incubating a number of strategic initiatives aimed at ensuring UNDP is ‘fit for purpose’ to deliver a new generation of solutions in line with the challenges the world faces.

One such key strategic initiative is the Accelerator Lab Network. The initiative is a recognition that increasingly interrelated development challenges require going beyond business as usual and single point, linear and silver bullet responses in development. Instead, they call for interdisciplinary approaches and non-linear solutions that crowd in the collective efforts of a wide variety of partners and tap into local insights and contextual, sticky knowledge of citizens. The initiative is also a recognition and an investment in the emerging momentum among a growing number of UNDP Country Offices for marrying disruptive, cutting edge methodologies with contextual, country-based insights and expertise to accelerate learning, progress, and impact toward the SDGs.

With this in mind, the UNDP intends to build the largest and fastest learning global network of Accelerator Labs (initially set up 60 labs in 82 countries) embedded within UNDP’s global architecture and country platforms that embody the new organizational offering to transform the collective approach to development.

The network will surface and reinforce locally-sourced solutions at scale while mobilizing a wide and dynamic partnership of actors contributing knowledge, resources, and experience. The initiative is meant to transform our collective approach by introducing new protocols, backed by evidence and practice, which accelerate the testing and dissemination of solutions within and across countries. This will enable the global community to collectively learn from local knowledge and ingenuity at a speed and at a scale that our societies and planet require. This will be achieved by:

• Building on locally sourced solutions, finding things that work and expanding on them;

• Rapid testing and iteration to implement what works and go beyond the obvious solutions;

• Combining the best understanding, ideas and expertise to generate collective knowledge;

• Accelerating progress by bringing expertise, creativity and collective intelligence to bear.

SUDAN

UNDP in Sudan has consistently promoted innovative initiatives since 2014 as an enabler to doing development efficiently and tackling barriers to development pathways. In partnership with the government, private sector, incubators, and civil society organizations, the Country Office (CO) has undertaken initiatives that applied design thinking, a human-centered approach, to create solutions for better citizen engagement towards building peace and social cohesion; behavioral insights to understand pathways of radicalization and determine programme response to prevent violent extremism, telecom big data to measure proxy multi-dimensional poverty, crowdsourcing through radios to obtain perceptions on public service delivery, as well as promotion and capacity building of youth on social innovation. These initiatives were conducted within ongoing projects or as test pilots facilitated by the CO Innovation Task Force. 

Sudan is one of the selected country offices amongst 60 countries for the launch of UNDP’s global network of Accelerator Lab in 2019, embedded within UNDP’s global architecture and country platforms. The establishment of the lab will support CO’s objectives and ongoing efforts in applying up to date social and policy innovation concepts, tools and approaches to address most complex and emerging development challenges in the country. Social and policy innovation for UNDP Sudan means

pursuing new approaches, ideas and solutions combining multiple disciplines, types of actors and sectors, to put effective capacity and processes at the core of public service delivery and social progress right from initial nudge through scale and systemic change.

In particular, Sudan CO envisions the Accelerator Lab to build on the latest thinking from the fields of complexity science, lead user innovation, collective intelligence and data innovation to co-create solutions and accelerate development impact through improved, efficient and inclusive responses in support of UNDP’s current and upcoming priorities on local governance, economic stabilization and sustainable livelihoods amongst others     Competencies  

Core

Achieve Results:

LEVEL 2: Scale up solutions and simplifies processes, balances speed and accuracy in doing work

Think Innovatively:

LEVEL 2: Offer new ideas/open to new approaches, demonstrate systemic/integrated thinking

Learn Continuously:

LEVEL 2: Go outside comfort zone, learn from others and support their learning

Adapt with Agility:

LEVEL 2: Adapt processes/approaches to new situations, involve others in change process

Act with Determination:

LEVEL 2: Able to persevere and deal with multiple sources of pressure simultaneously

Engage and Partner:

LEVEL 2: Is facilitator/integrator, bring people together, build/maintain coalitions/partnerships

Enable Diversity and Inclusion:

LEVEL 2: Facilitate conversations to bridge differences, considers in decision making

People Management (Insert below standard sentence if the position has direct reports.)

UNDP People Management Competencies can be found in the dedicated site.

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies (insert up to 7 competencies)

Thematic Area

Name

Definition

Effectiveness

RBM standards and practices for programming

Ability to promote effective application of RBM tools in programme and project cycle management; establishment of management targets and monitoring achievement of results

Effectiveness

Organisational Development

Knowledge of organizational development concepts, issues and principles and the ability to apply them to strategic and/or practical situations

Business Direction & Strategy

System thinking

Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgment 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.

People Management

Build capacity

Identify and develop talent in individuals, providing positive support to enable them to achieve their potential. Foster learning or development of others by giving feedback, guidance, and support; support career development of others. Have willingness and ability to delegate to help people learn, including from failure.   Required Skills and Experience   Education: Master’s degree or B.Sc degree in Economics, Statistics, Development studies, political sciences or any other related field   Experience:

2 years of relevant work experience with a Master’s degree in a relevant field OR 4 years of relevant work experience for B.Sc holders Disclaimer   Important information for US Permanent Residents ('Green Card' holders)   Under US immigration law, acceptance of a staff position with UNDP, an international organization, may have significant implications for US Permanent Residents. UNDP advises applicants for all professional level posts that they must relinquish their US Permanent Resident status and accept a G-4 visa, or have submitted a valid application for US citizenship prior to commencement of employment.    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.