Tiered Approach

In line with the commitment to safeguard capacity and support personnel already in the Organization, a majority of UNDP UNCDF/UNV vacancies are advertised using a tiered application process whereby:

Tier 0: UNDP/UNCDF/UNV IP staff holding permanent (PA) and fixed-term (FTA) appointments, whose posts will be abolished, or contracts will be terminated or not renewed during 2026.
Tier 1: Other UNDP/UNCDF/UNV staff holding permanent (PA) and fixed-term (FTA) appointments
Tier 2: UNDP/UNCDF/UNV staff holding temporary appointments (TA), personnel on regular PSA contracts, and Expert and Specialist UN Volunteers
Tier 3 or no tier indicated: All other contract types from UNDP/UNCDF/UNV and other agencies, and other external candidates

Please make note of the Tier(s) indicated in the vacancy title, if any, and ensure that you satisfy the eligibility to apply.

Background

In Malaysia, UNDP’s programme priorities and partnerships are defined and operationalized through the Country Programme between Government of Malaysia and UNDP to assist and contribute to the development priorities and results envisioned in the 5-year Malaysia Plan.

At the core of this strategy is the Nature, Climate and Energy (NCE) portfolio, the largest programme portfolio for UNDP Malaysia Country Office (CO), with wide range of initiatives and projects from biodiversity and ecosystems, climate change, environmental management, ozone protection, green commodities, natural resource management. The portfolio remains one of the important programme areas in the Country Programme Document period of 2026 – 2030 with a shift towards diversifying funding sources and operationalizing new, innovative financial instruments and partnerships..

Within this dynamic context, UNDP is scaling up its work on biodiversity financing, with a primary focus on mobilizing public and private sector finance for conservation. The portfolio includes flagship projects such as the Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN), Tiger Landscapes Investment Fund (TLIF), and Global Environment Fund Programmes (GEF). These initiatives aims to i) enhance of policy and regulatory frameworks to finance biodiversity in a sustainable manner, ii) leverage innovative financing mechanisms such as blended finance to catalyse private investment into nature-conservation and positive businesses, iii) building capacity for biodiversity conservation, including development of downstream sustainable business models alongside local communities.

To drive this ambitious agenda forward, the National Programme Specialist will lead the implementation of the nature financing in Malaysia. The Specialist will bridge project-level implementation with high-level policy by leveraging lessons from the broader nature portfolio to inform national economic and climate-related policies. The Specialist will spearhead the development of new financing instruments, oversee the delivery of biodiversity initiatives, and foster critical synergies and alignment across related projects within the NCE portfolio and the wider country office. This role demands exceptional technical acumen, coordination skills, and stakeholder engagement capabilities to successfully mobilize finance, scale nature-based solutions, and elevate biodiversity outcomes at the national level.

Operationally, the Specialist will proactively identify and engage with strategic partners for pipeline development, coordinating closely with Financial Service Providers (FSPs) to secure backing for nature-positive projects. Furthermore, the Specialist will drive robust impact monitoring and evaluation, oversee randomized verifications, and develop compelling case studies. Through sustained, high-level engagement with both government counterparts and private sector actors, the Specialist will serve as a key catalyst in enhancing the scale, sustainability, and ultimate impact of UNDP Malaysia's nature initiatives.

Under the overall guidance of the UNDP Deputy Resident Representative and direct supervision of the UNDP Head of Nature, Climate & Energy in the Country Office in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam, the National Programme Specialist is responsible for effective delivery of programme/project implementation ensuring effective operational management of programme/project and transparent utilization of financial resources with the aim to scale up financing for biodiversity in Malaysia.

The National Programme Specialist will work in close coordination with the Global Project Manager of the TLIF for programme implementation, BIOFIN and GEF team, Country Office (CO) Programme and Operations teams, Government counterparts, national and international experts, and project partners ensuring successful CO performance and compliance in programme management and finance

The National Programme Specialist will manage and supervise the programme team(s) to ensure that the project staff, technical experts and service providers operate effectively and efficiently for successful implementation and delivery of project activities/outputs.

Duties and Responsibilities

Technical Assistance and Biodiversity Finance Innovation

Provide overarching strategic direction for UNDP Malaysia’s entire biodiversity finance portfolio, ensuring seamless synergies between the Tiger Landscapes Investment Fund (TLIF), the Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN), Global Environment Facility (GEF) programmes, and other emerging nature-based financing initiatives.
Oversee and implement Technical Assistance (TA) facilities across the portfolio, including the TLIF TA Facility to identify and assist business incubators, NGOs, and conservation enterprises with high potential for scalable biodiversity impact.
Build the capacity of incubators, local enterprise partners, and community stakeholders to maximize both the biodiversity outcomes and the long-term financial sustainability of supported nature-positive businesses.
Spearhead pipeline development by bridging the gap between conservation NGOs, business incubators, and Financial Service Providers (FSPs) to structure viable, bankable nature-positive projects.
Coordinate with relevant colleagues to equip FSPs with the capacity to apply the Environmental and Social Framework (ESF) and monitor biodiversity impact. Concurrently, ensure that financed enterprises and incubators receive the necessary financial literacy and capacity-building support.
Synthesize key lessons and data from TLIF, BIOFIN, and broader biodiversity financing efforts to influence national policies and regulations on scaling nature-based finance. This includes establishing nature-based KPIs for upcoming financial instruments and replicating blended finance models across various nature, climate, and SDG-aligned priorities in Malaysia.
Establish and manage multi-stakeholder governance and decision-making committees in respective programmes and across the portfolio, ensuring the inclusion of relevant multidisciplinary expertise, indigenous groups, and local communities.
Conduct targeted field missions to potential and financed enterprises across varied project landscapes to verify impacts, troubleshoot challenges, and provide strategic advisory support for strengthening biodiversity-positive outcomes.

Coordination and Portfolio Management

Manage the day-to-day operational execution of key biodiversity finance workstreams, including TLIF and aligned NCE initiatives, ensuring cohesive coordination among national stakeholders, consultants, and UNDP’s national, regional, and global teams.
Develop annual work plans and budgets for relevant initiatives, monitor implementation progress, and deploy adaptive management strategies to ensure timely delivery of outputs and adherence to donor requirements.
Lead comprehensive donor reporting, manage randomized third-party verifications, facilitate knowledge sharing and drive impact tracking across the biodiversity financing portfolio.
Actively map, identify, and operationalize opportunities for alignment between portfolio initiatives (like TLIF) and other UNDP or external national programmes to scale impact and streamline resource mobilization.
Monitor programmatic and operational risks, provide timely updates on evolving or materialized threats, and propose effective mitigation and management actions.
Ensure compliance with project frameworks and funding requirements, donor agreements, and UNDP’s Programme and Operations Policies and Procedures (POPP).
Ensure all portfolio interventions integrate a gender equality perspective/gender equality mainstreaming tailored to the local operational context.

Stakeholder Engagement and Policy Influence

Maintain regular engagement with national and subnational government counterparts, conservation partners, financial institutions, private sector actors and indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLC).
Cultivate strong relationships with members of the Tiger Conservation Coalition and key partners across biodiversity finance efforts.
Participate at relevant national, regional, and global forums to elevate the profile of Malaysia's innovations in biodiversity finance.
Assist in resource mobilization and contribute to the development of future projects and instruments in the biodiversity finance space.
Facilitate South-South exchanges and promote Malaysia’s role as a regional knowledge hub and leader in innovative conservation finance.

Knowledge Management

Provides leadership and coordination in knowledge building and management in across the NCE portfolio, ensuring alignment with programme objectives and UNDP corporate policies and procedures.
Contribute to the development of knowledge products based on lessons learned, experiences and data generated through programme and project implementation and provide sound contributions to UNDP knowledge networks and communities of practice.
Substantively contribute to project communications and visibility efforts and make recommendations to the management team on activities with potential for scale-up, replicability and synergies.
Identify, write and communicate success stories, best practices and lessons learnt from relevant technical advisory services, initiatives and projects, and ensure proper documentation and dissemination.
Support organising of knowledge generating events relating to the programme areas together with CO and/or partners.
Work with UNDP Country Office’s Communications Unit on the implementation of Communications and Advocacy Strategies and Plan.

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

Competencies

Core Competencies

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 competencies

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 Generation. Ability to research information and to turn it into useful knowledge, relevant for context, or responsive to a stated need. Ability to apply existing concepts to new situations, and to develop new concepts to generate workable solutions and new approaches. Knowledge of relevant concepts, conceptual models, and theories that can be useful in addressing new situations.

Business Management

Results-based Management. Ability to manage the implementation of strategies, programmes, and projects with a focus at improved performance and demonstrable results. Knowledge and understanding of relevant theories, concepts, methodologies, instruments, and tools.
Communication. Communicate in a clear, concise and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience. Ability to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media and other appropriate channels.
Project management. Ability to plan, organize, and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals

Partnership Management

Strategic Engagement. Ability to capture and sustain attention, interest and agreement of high-level, influential policy and decision makers and secure their buy-in of high-level vision and objectives

Ethics

UN policy knowledge – ethics. Knowledge and understanding of the UN Staff Regulations and Rules and other policies relating to ethics and integrity

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced University degree (master´s degree) in Finance, Environmental Science, Environmental Management, Business Administration, Public Administration or a related field is required; OR
A first-level university degree (Bachelor's degree) in the said fields above in combination with additional 2 years of relevant experience will be given due consideration in lieu of a Master's degree.

Experience:

Minimum 5 years (with master´s degree) or 7 years) with bachelor´s degree) of relevant experience in the field of resource mobilisation, pipeline development for nature positive initiatives, impact investing, sustainable financing and/or sustainable business incubation for climate and nature.

Required skills

Experience in project, programme and/or portfolio management,

Desired skills in addition to the competencies covered in the Competencies section

Experience in sustainable finance, impact investing, resource mobilization, pipeline development, business incubation, and/or nature finance initiatives.
Experience in project and/or programme management, including coordination and delivery of development initiatives involving multiple stakeholders.
Experience establishing and maintaining strategic partnerships with private sector entities, financial institutions, government agencies, development partners, communities and other relevant stakeholders.
Experience in writing good quality reports, policy briefs/papers, and/or communication & advocacy articles/blog/stories Experience working with the UN and/or UNDP's and familiar with rules, policies and procedures are an asset

Required Language(s)

Fluency in English and Malay is required

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.

National Programme Specialist- Nature Finance (Open to internal and external applicants)