Office/Unit/Project Description

The United Nations Development Programme works in about 170 countries and territories, helping Governments achieve their own development solutions to achieve the eradication of poverty, and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion. On October 21, 1974, the United Nations Development Programme and the Government of Barbados entered into an agreement to “support and supplement the national efforts of developing countries at solving the most important problems of their economic development and to promote social progress and better standards of life.” Subsequently, similar agreements were entered with Governments of the ten countries and territories that the UNDP Multi-Country Office (MCO) for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean serves: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, the British Virgin Islands (BVI), the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

On October 21, 1974, the United Nations Development Programme and the Government of Barbados entered into an agreement to “support and supplement the national efforts of developing countries at solving the most important problems of their economic development and to promote social progress and better standards of life.” Subsequently, similar agreements were entered with Governments of the ten countries and territories that the UNDP Multi-Country Office (MCO) for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean serves: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, the British Virgin Islands (BVI), the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

The UNDP is providing implementation support globally to three (3) of closely related Global Environmental Facility (GEF) enabling activities related to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF):

• GEF 7 Early Action Support project

The Global Biodiversity Framework Early Action Support (GBF-EAS) project is designed to mobilise funding and support so that countries can meet the new biodiversity targets. Funded by the GEF, the GBF-EAS project is working to fast-track readiness and early actions. The project is jointly implemented by UNDP and UNEP, in partnership with the CBD Secretariat and the GEF, and provides financial and technical support package that focuses on four components: alignment with national biodiversity strategies and action plans, national monitoring systems, policy and institutional coherence, and biodiversity finance.

• GEF 8 Umbrella Programme to Support NBSAP Update and 7th National Reports

Building on the GBF-EAS Project, this programme is a Party-led effort funded by the GEF to continue the process of updating NBSAPs and undertake reporting on implementation of the GBF. This programme provides financial and technical support to 139 developing countries, small island developing states, and economies in transition in their work to update NBSAPs in alignment with the GBF and prepare and submit Seventh National Reports to the CBD. Joint implementation support is provided by the UNDP and the UNEP, in partnership with the CBD Secretariat and the GEF Secretariat.

•GEF 8 Umbrella Programme on support development of Biodiversity Finance Plans

Funded by the GEF, this programme seeks to address the global biodiversity financing gap, estimated at $700 billion annually, by supporting 91 countries in developing National Biodiversity Finance Plans (NBFPs). These plans will identify biodiversity finance gaps, assess expenditure reviews and financial needs, and implement strategic finance solutions aligned with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and NBSAPs targets. Using the Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) methodology developed by UNDP, the programme aims to promote sustainable financing and systemic change through comprehensive baseline diagnostics, capacity-building, and institutional reforms. At its core, the program is committed to inclusivity, innovation, and fostering global collaboration through a knowledge-sharing platform, ensuring a scalable and impactful approach to biodiversity conservation.

In the framework of the global programmes/projects, the MCO for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean is leading implementation support in seven (7) Eastern Caribbean small island developing states: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. These projects are managed under the Nature, Climate, and Energy Cluster/Portfolio within the MCO.

Overall implementation globally began in Quarter 4 of 2022 and extends through Quarter 4 of 2027/ Quarter 1 of 2028, with different countries at varying stages of implementation, and schedule acceleration/compression is required in some instances.

The UNDP MCO for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean is recruiting a Project Associate to provide general, administrative and financial support to coordination and of the projects described above – “the Projects.”

Scope of Work

The Project Associate (PA) will be primarily responsible for providing high-quality project and administrative, coordination and monitoring support for the implementation of the projects. S/he will work with the Project Coordinator to maintain key strategic and monitoring functions with the UNDP (Barbados), government, and communities in line with the objective and outcomes of the projects.

The Project Coordination Unit (PCU) will work to ensure a human-rights based, gender-responsive and interdisciplinary approach to the projects that maximizes sustainable development gains and minimizes negative environmental and social impacts, delivering results in a manner that is cost-effective, efficient, transparent and demonstrates the added value of the work to the country.

Support the project team to ensure effective project planning and implementation.

• Compile and summarize information and data for the formulation of project work plans, draft annual/quarterly budgets, proposals on implementation arrangements, and on other specific project related topics or issues.
• Provide comprehensive support in all aspects of project implementation in accordance with the project documents, annual work plans and other agreements between UNDP and responsible partners.
• Ensure compliance of project business processes with UNDP Project Operational Policies and Procedures (POPP) and UNDP Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). When necessary, provide guidance to project staff on business processes, administrative and other requirements and procedures.
• Engage with UNDP’s Enterprise Resource Planning software/systems to enter budgets, budget revisions, and other project data/information, enter/process transactions, and extract system reports on project expenditure

• Review, track and reconcile project expenditure and provide system reports and information to facilitate budget management
• Support the systematic maintenance of project documents, information in good order for access and retention
• Provide administrative and logistical support to ensure successful project delivery that includes organizing/coordinating project meetings events and selecting appropriate venues, coordinating project procurement procedures, maintaining project records and files, recruiting project team members, and supporting contracting activities.

Provide support to the effective monitoring, evaluation, and reporting on progress of project implementation.

• Support implementation of the project monitoring system in alignment with its Monitoring and Evaluation framework to ensure effective information sharing, provision of feedback, and elaboration of high-quality progress reports.
• Collect, analyze and present information for monitoring and evaluation of project implementation against project targets as well as for audit purposes. Identify gaps in implementation and provide support in bridging those gaps in consultation with supervisor and partners.
• Assist in the organization of field and study visits, missions, workshops, roundtables, and conferences within the project.
• Assist in implementation of effective risk management for the project with a well-documented risk mitigation plan in place. Support monitoring of previously identified and emerging risks.
• Regularly monitor expenditures and commitments against the project budget and relevant plans and provide finance-related information to support project implementation. When necessary, recommend corrective actions and draft various correspondence concerning finance, operations, and budgetary issues.
• Prepare and consolidate required project reports on a timely basis and in line with monitoring and reporting guidelines and donor requirements.

Support knowledge building, knowledge sharing and capacity building relevant to the assigned project.

• Participate in training and organize briefings on internal procedures for the project staff. Provide support to other capacity building activities, including the design and delivery of tools, materials for workshops, or platforms that tap into the collective intelligence of communities and mobilize action.
• Provide support in the dissemination and sharing of relevant data and lessons learned within the CO and regionally. Keep pulse on emerging best practices nationally, regionally, and internationally that relate to the work of the assigned project.
• Make sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice. Support compiling and systematizing project knowledge, products and tools as well as their wide distribution to partners.

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

Institutional Arrangement

Directly reports to the Multi-Country Project Coordinator and functions under the overall guidance of the Head of Cluster, Nature, Climate and Energy.

Competencies

Core
Achieve Results:	LEVEL 1: Plans and monitors own work, pays attention to details, delivers quality work by deadline
Think Innovatively:	LEVEL 1: Open to creative ideas/known risks, is pragmatic problem solver, makes improvements
Learn Continuously:	LEVEL 1: Open minded and curious, shares knowledge, learns from mistakes, asks for feedback
Adapt with Agility:	LEVEL 1: Adapts to change, constructively handles ambiguity/uncertainty, is flexible
Act with Determination:	LEVEL 1: Shows drive and motivation, able to deliver calmly in face of adversity, confident
Engage and Partner:	LEVEL 1: Demonstrates compassion/understanding towards others, forms positive relationships
Enable Diversity and Inclusion:	LEVEL 1: Appreciate/respect differences, aware of unconscious bias, confront discrimination
Cross-Functional & Technical competencies
Thematic Area	Name	Definition
Business Management	Operations Management	Ability to effectively plan, organise and oversee different parts of corporate operations, simultaneously and in an integrated way, in order to convert the organisation’s assets into the best results in the most efficient way. Knowledge of relevant concepts and mechanisms.
Business Management	Customer Satisfaction/ Client Management	Ability to respond timely and appropriately with a sense of urgency, provide consistent solutions, and deliver timely and quality results and/or solutions to fulfil and understand the real customers' needs. Provide inputs to the development of customer service strategy Look for ways to add value beyond clients' immediate requests. Ability to anticipate client's upcoming needs and concerns.
Finance	Budget Management	Ability to support budgetary aspects of work planning process, drawing and management of team budgets
Finance	Financial Planning and Budgeting	Ability to create and manage processes to achieve UNDP's long and short-term financial goals, including through planning, budgeting forecasting, analysing and reporting
Finance	Financial Reporting and Analysis	Understands changes in regulatory, legal and ethical frameworks and standards for financial reporting in the public sector. Ability to extract, evaluate financial data, derive relevant findings and present them in a meaningful and coherent manner to facilitate effective decision making and performance monitoring. Understands the benefits of integrated reporting, including non- financial resources such as human, social and intellectual capital, and environmental and governance performance
Administration and Operations	Documents and records management	Overall document (hard or electronic) management; registry and retention policy including storing and archiving
Administration and Management	Inventory management	Each office to ensure sufficient inventory items are available for use as well as reporting for items which are beyond the corporate threshold of $5K and above

Minimum Qualifications of the Successful NPSA

Min. Education requirements	Secondary education is required. Or A university degree (bachelor´s degree) in Business Administration, Management, Accounting or related field will be given due consideration but not a requirement but it is not a requirement.
Min. years of relevant work experience	Minimum 6 years (with secondary education) or 3 years (with Bachelor’s degree) of relevant experience in administrative, operational or financial support to office/team.
Required skills	Intermediate to advanced proficiency with industry standard word processing, presentation, and spreadsheet software programme
Desired skills in addition to the competencies covered in the Competencies section	Experience in providing programme support, operational, administrative and/or financial support to projects of similar size and complexity Experience in filing, recordkeeping and/or data/record management. Experience in budget management Experience providing financial and administrative support to the implementation of GEF projects (or projects funded by other environmental vertical funds such as GCF Experience with planning workshops, conferences, or events Experience in the UN Common System or similar international or multi-lateral organization Previous experience with corporate Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, especially those used in the UN common system
Required Language(s)	Fluency in written and spoken English is required.
Professional Certificates	Not required

Important applicant information

All posts in the GS / NPSA categories are subject to local recruitment. Applicants are required to be in possession of legal authorization to work (e.g., CARICOM Skills National Certificate or work permit) in the duty station at the time of application. Please also note that such authorization must cover the period of the contract being advertised.

Candidates selected pursuant to this vacancy may be subject to UNDP’s policy on Probation upon assignment

Applicants are solely responsible for any required travel and/or relocation costs.

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.

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