Background

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the leading organization for sustainable development within the UN system and acts as the key integrator for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UNDP operates across headquarters, regional, and country levels, leveraging local expertise alongside global insights to deliver effective advocacy and solutions. For six decades, UNDP has worked with partners to lift millions out of poverty and expand opportunities for all.

UNDP’s Strategic Plan 2026–2029 is grounded in the determination to eradicate poverty—the greatest global challenge and a prerequisite for achieving the 2030 Agenda. Through the Strategic Plan, UNDP will continue supporting countries in advancing high human development while protecting the planet. Four strategic objectives—prosperity for all, effective governance, crisis resilience, and a healthy planet—guide its direction, powered by three accelerators: digital and artificial intelligence (AI) transformation, gender equality, and sustainable finance. All efforts are underpinned by a strong commitment to human rights and to leaving no one behind.

Within UNDP, the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) brings together world-class policy expertise, flagship global programmes, and collaborative innovation and learning networks. BPPS ensures that UNDP is not only ready for the future but actively helps shape it with governments and partners. Working closely with the Crisis Bureau (CB), BPPS supports countries in navigating complex development and crisis contexts, integrating risk considerations into programming, and strengthening results-based management, innovation, and data-driven approaches.

The Global Policy Network (GPN) is central to this effort, mobilizing technical expertise to advance UNDP’s strategic objectives and signature solutions. Within the GPN, BPPS is responsible for developing policy and guidance, providing technical advice to Country Offices, representing UNDP in multi-stakeholder fora, and supporting UN inter-agency coordination across thematic areas.

The Italy Africa Digital Flagship programme is implemented in close collaboration with national governments, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Italian public and private sector partners. It focuses on advancing digital public infrastructure, digital identity systems, agritech solutions, and data-driven governance, contributing to sustainable development and inclusive economic growth.

Within this framework, the Project Specialist will be embedded within the UNDP Rome Centre and will play a central role in ensuring effective coordination, management, and delivery of programme activities across multiple countries and stakeholders. The position will work in close collaboration with UNDP Country Offices, technical teams, and external partners.

The required services will directly contribute to the achievement of programme objectives by ensuring high-quality project implementation, alignment with donor requirements, timely delivery of outputs, and effective stakeholder coordination. The role will also support the consolidation of programme coherence across countries and thematic areas.

The assignment is situated within a complex and evolving multi-stakeholder environment, characterized by tight timelines, advanced stages of project design, and the need to align diverse partner expectations and requirements. Additional challenges include the coordination of multi-country interventions, adaptation to specific donor formats and procedures (including AICS requirements), and ensuring consistency across projects developed in different national contexts

Scope of Work:

Under the supervision of Head of Political Affairs and strategic Initiatives, the Project Specialist – Digital Development will support the effective coordination, management, monitoring, and delivery of the Italy–Africa Digital Development Flagship Programme across participating countries. The Project Specialist will work in close coordination with the Digital Transformation Specialist, UNDP Country Offices, national counterparts, Italian institutional partners, and other relevant stakeholders.

Duties and Responsibilities

Strategic Programme Leadership and Coordination:

Provide high-level strategic guidance and coordination across all programme components and participating countries, ensuring coherence, alignment with UNDP corporate priorities, and consistency with the overall vision of the Italy–Africa Digital Flagship Programme. Maintain effective coordination, communication, and strategic engagement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI), ensuring alignment of programme objectives, expectations, and reporting requirements.
Lead the review and quality assurance of project documents and deliverables, coherence, and alignment with national priorities, as well as consistency across programme components. Ensure effective coordination with relevant stakeholders.
Oversee and support the adaptation and refinement of project proposals in response to evolving donor requirements, ensuring overall coherence, alignment, and consistency. Provide guidance on the revision of project content and facilitate coordination with relevant stakeholders to support compliance with applicable templates, guidelines, and expectations.

Promote Stakeholder Engagement:

Serve as interface with UNDP Country Offices, including Italian private sector entities, associations, and relevant organizations, as well as national counterparts, facilitating effective communication, coordination, and collaboration. Ensure alignment with donor requirements and support coherent engagement across stakeholders
Provide technical and operational guidance with UNDP Country Offices to ensure effective and timely implementation of programme activities, addressing bottlenecks and ensuring delivery against agreed results.

Ensure Risk Management and Project Monitoring:

Identify emerging risks (programmatic, operational, political, and reputational) and provide strategic advice to senior management to mitigate risks and ensure continuity and quality of programme delivery.
Oversee the preparation of high-quality programme reports, briefs, and updates for internal and external stakeholders, ensuring accurate representation of progress, challenges, and strategic direction.

Facilitate Knowledge Management and Lessons Learned:

Capture and systematize lessons learned and best practices across countries, contributing to knowledge products and informing future programming and scaling of digital development initiatives.
Participate in meetings, technical discussions, and missions as required, ensuring effective positioning of the programme and strengthening partnerships

Other Duties:

Perform other duties within the functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the project.

Institutional Arrangement:

The incumbent will be embedded within the UNDP Rome Centre and will work in close coordination with relevant teams, as well as with UNDP Country Offices in participating countries.
Under the direction of the UNDP Rome Centre Senior Advisor, the Project Specialist will liaise regularly with national counterparts, Italian private sector partners, associations, and other stakeholders, ensuring effective coordination and communication in line with programme objectives and donor requirements.

Competencies

Core:

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 & Technical:

Business Direction & 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 Development - Knowledge Facilitation:

Ability to animate individuals and groups, internally and externally, and to design and facilitate activities, to share and exchange knowledge, information and ideas. Knowledge of tools and approaches to stimulate active participation, contribution, and exchange.

Business Management - Resource Management:

Allocate and use resources in a strategic or tactical way in line with business needs and priorities and principles of accountability and integrity

Business Management - Project Management:

Ability to plan, organize, prioritize and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals

Digital - Co-creation:

Ability to design and facilitate a process that enables a diverse group of stakeholders to solve a common problem, develop a practice, or create knowledge together.
Ability to embrace diversity, work with a diverse group of stakeholders understand their interests, perspectives and views and tap into to them as a source for creativity. Ability to facilitate processes and create conditions that are open for diverse inputs, stimulate collaboration and sharing.

Digital - Innovation management:

Being able to create the, strategies, conditions, structures and systems to enable innovation at an organisational level. Ability to navigate uncertainty and ambiguity, is able manage projects based principles of adaptation and emergence.
Ability to shape demand for innovation services, navigate political constraints and make the case for allocation of resources to innovation, connect the appropriate innovation approaches based on business needs and make the case for innovation to be integrated at the planning level within their context.
Having in depth theoretical and experiential knowledge of innovation processes, methods, capabilities.

Business Management - Monitoring & Evaluation:

Ability to systematically monitor results of strategies, programmes, and activities with a view to make sure that they are being implemented effectively;
Ability to provide managers and key stakeholders with regular feedback and reporting on the consistency or discrepancy between planned activities and programme management and results. Ability to make independent judgment of the management and results of strategies, programmes and activities based on set criteria and benchmark, keeping in mind the needs and concerns of client, current and upcoming. Knowledge and understanding of monitoring and evaluation frameworks, concepts, methodologies, systems, processes, and tools. Ability to make an independent judgement based on set criteria and benchmarks. Ability to anticipate client's upcoming needs and concerns.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in International Development, Economics, Public Policy, Political Science, Environmental Studies, or a related field is required. Or
A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in the above-mentioned fields, in combination with an additional two (2) years of qualifying experience, may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

Minimum of 7 years (with master’s degree) or 9 years (with bachelor’s degree) of progressively responsible experience in programme and project management, preferably in international development, climate, energy, or digital development contexts.

Required skills:

Experience in managing multi-country programmes and working with international organizations and/or development partners
Proven experience in programme and project management, including planning, implementation, monitoring, and reporting
Experience in coordination and stakeholder engagement including with government counterparts and international partners
Experience working with donor-funded programmes and ensuring compliance with donor requirements
Experience in managing multiple priorities and deliver results under tight timelines

Desired skills:

Experience working with UNDP or within the UN system
Experience with Italian cooperation actors, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI), public institutions, and private sector stakeholders
Experience engaging with Italian development finance and financial institutions, including Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP)
Experience working in Africa, particularly in the countries of the Italy–Africa Digital Development Flagship Programme, including Côte d’Ivoire, Mozambique, Ghana, and Senegal, or in similar multi-country programme contexts
Experience in climate, energy, and/or digital development sectors
Experience in supporting partnerships with development finance institutions and managing multi-stakeholder collaboration

Required Language(s):

Fluency in English is required.
Working knowledge of Italian is desirable.
Working knowledge of French is an asset.

Equal opportunity

As an equal opportunity employer, UNDP values diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate and, as such, we encourage qualified applicants from all backgrounds to apply for roles in the organization. Our employment decisions are based on merit and suitability for the role, without discrimination.

UNDP is also committed to creating an inclusive workplace where all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, are valued, can thrive, and benefit from career opportunities that are open to all.

Sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse of authority

UNDP does not tolerate harassment, sexual harassment, exploitation, discrimination and abuse of authority. All selected candidates, therefore, undergo relevant checks and are expected to adhere to the respective standards and principles.

Right to select multiple candidates

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.

Use of AI by candidates

Applicants are invited to read UNDP’s guidance for candidates on using AI responsibly in UNDP recruitment and selection

Scam alert

UNDP does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment process. For further information, please see www.undp.org/scam-alert.

Project Specialist [Open to internal and external applicants]