Duties and Responsibilities
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading global environmental authority that sets the international environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. The NDC Act & Invest Initiative is a global programme led by UNEP and currently funded by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) and the NDC Partnership’s Partnership Action Fund (PAF) multi-donor trust fund. It is designed to help countries raise their climate ambition and translate their new Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) submitted in 2025 into actionable, investable plans. Building on lessons learned from the NDC Action project implementation and previous NDC cycles, the initiative addresses critical gaps in policy alignment, financing, and implementation. It brings together governments, development partners, and the private sector to develop coherent, science-based, and finance-ready NDC frameworks. Structured around three interconnected workstreams, fostering G20+ ambition and action, piloting policy and planning alignment, and providing deep-dive support to enhance NDC investability, the initiative aims to bridge the gap between climate commitments and tangible implementation. By aligning national strategies, strengthening enabling environments, and working collaboratively with key partners, including the NDC Partnership, GIZ, UNDP’s Climate Promise, UNFCCC, multilateral development banks (MDBs), development finance institutions (DFIs), and private sector actors, NDC Act & Invest seeks to make the next generation of NDCs both more ambitious and more achievable, accelerating progress toward the 1.5°C goal and enhancing global resilience. The NDC Act & Invest team, based within the Mitigation Branch in Paris, is responsible for the global management and overall coordination of the initiative across partner countries, in line with UNEP’s delivery model. The team also acts as the main liaison between UNEP and the NDC Partnership, coordinating UNEP’s responses to country support requests shared through the Partnership, identifying and applying for additional funding where appropriate, and consolidating implementation and progress reporting. In addition, the team maintains close coordination with related projects under the IKI Programme to ensure coherence and synergies across projects. Under the NDC Act & Invest project, UNEP seeks to engage a Regional Senior Advisor for Africa and the Middle East (the Advisor) to provide senior strategic and high-level technical advisory support across a regional portfolio of NDC-related technical assistance streams. Working under the guidance of the project’s Global Coordinator and in close engagement with government focal points, NDC Partnership teams, and national and international implementing partners, the Advisor will: o Lead the strategic and technical direction of the project’s regional portfolio in Latin American Countries. o Promote coherence, quality assurance, and results orientation across country workplans, deliverables, and advisory products. o Provide senior technical input, review, validation, and strategic recommendations to strengthen countries’ readiness and delivery of NDC investment and implementation priorities. o Serve as UNEP’s senior technical focal point for Latin American Countries within the NDC Act and Invest project, facilitating alignment among partners and counterparts, and recommending course-corrections as needed to keep interventions responsive to national priorities and emerging opportunities. Geographic and programmatic coverage: The Advisor will support a regional portfolio. The portfolio is expected to include priority engagement countries (including Mexico, Costa Rica, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay, Chile) and targeted advisory support to additional countries (including Colombia). The country portfolio may evolve over time based on: o Country demand and requests channeled through the NDC Partnership and other partners. o Donor priorities and available funding windows by 2030. o UNEP strategic positioning and regional synergies. Scope of work and responsibilities A. Technical leadership for UNEP’s regional NDC support portfolio: The Advisor will support UNEP’s regional NDC technical assistance portfolio under NDC Act & Invest and related UNEP collaboration mechanisms (including UNEP/UNEP-CCC partnership modalities where applicable), in coordination with the NDC Partnership and other national, national financial and technical implementing partners. Focus areas include: o Strengthening NDC ambition (including NDC 3.0 and subsequent iterations). Enhancing policy coherence and integration across planning instruments. Improving private investment readiness and project pipeline quality. Supporting implementation capacity at national and sub-national levels. B. NDC Act & Invest – IKI earmarked support: Under NDC Act & Invest, IKI earmarked funding has been mobilized for country requests through the NDC Partnership. Current engagement streams include: Mexico: - Embedded adaptation expert to support the development and implementation of the NDC 3.0 adaptation component and other adaptation policy instruments, within the framework of the National Climate Change System and Mexico's commitments under the Paris Agreement - Embedded technical assistant to support the development implementation of the adaptation NDC 3.0, as well as technical support in other public policy instruments of the Adaptation policy processes, that include gender and human rights. Costa Rica: - Embedded Climate Finance International Advisor to support the work of the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE). This support will consist of technical assistance to support the country in strengthening its institutional capacities by developing strategic inputs that facilitate more efficient management of climate finance in line with NDC 3.0 and other national and international policies. - Embedded Climate Finance to support the Government of Costa Rica / MINAE in developing a portfolio of investable climate projects and concrete actions for resource mobilization and investment, facilitating inter-ministerial coordination of MINAE with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning (MIDEPLAN) (at the least), and promoting coherence between climate priorities and the country's macroeconomic, fiscal, and development planning. Peru: - Improvement of the management of Peru's Carbon Footprint Program covering needs related to: i) Technical assistance for users; ii) Monitoring and continuous improvement of the services provided by the program; and iii) Development and/or improvements in the technical regulatory documentation related to the program, which will allow for the monitoring of users' GHG emissions management, thus improving transparency. C. Direct engagement under NDC Act & Invest Workstreams 2 and 3: - Workstream 2 on Policy and planning alignment: collaborate with the Government of the selected country (and other countries as relevant) to strengthen integration and coherence across planning instruments, including NDC, LT-LEDS, NAP, sectoral plans, and national development/planning frameworks. - Workstream 3 on NDC investability support: Support Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru (and other countries in Latin America) to define and operationalize investability support aligned with national priorities and investment frameworks. Facilitate coordination with the NDC Partnership and relevant financial institutions (MDBs/DFIs, national financial institutions, and private sector actors) to strengthen pipelines and financing pathways. D. Oversight and effective implementation of PAF-funded support Lead and provide senior technical advisory support and quality assurance to PAF-funded projects and processes, consistent with national timelines and workplans. Current indicative engagements include: - Chile: Technical support for the elaboration of the new Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to be submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2025 - Supporting Entity Component - Argentina: Update the Long-term Strategy (LTS) through the development and analysis of models, scenarios, and long-term trajectories & develop a roadmap for the development of a monitoring system for the Long-term Strategy - Paraguay: Support to Paraguay for developing their NDC 3.0 in: Quality review of methodological coherence of BAU scenarios and calculation of mitigation measures, Revised and updated Technology Needs Plan and National-Level dissemination of NDC 3.0 E. Cross-cutting and strategic responsibilities: The Advisor will: o Identify and support mobilization of additional funding and partnerships aligned with objectives and country needs, including leading/technical input to proposals for relevant calls (e.g., IKI, Loss and Damage-related calls, Mitigation Action Facility, and other aligned funding mechanisms as they arise). o Provide regular, structured updates to UNEP’s global coordination team on portfolio progress, emerging issues, and recommendations for course correction. o Contribute to cross-country knowledge sharing by synthesizing lessons learned, success stories, and good practices across countries and regions. o Represent UNEP in high-level and technical meetings with partner countries and relevant regional fora, ensuring visibility and alignment of NDC Act & Invest efforts with partners and other ongoing initiatives. o Maintain regular technical liaison between UNEP, national counterparts, and implementing partners supporting LT-LEDS and NDC processes, ensuring timely exchange of information and alignment on technical priorities (without assuming day-to-day operational coordination responsibilities). o Lead preparation, review, and finalization of Terms of Reference (ToRs) for experts, studies, field missions, and workshops, ensuring consistency with country priorities, timelines, and project objectives. o Facilitate cross-country learning and South–South exchange, capturing and packaging best practices and innovative approaches. o Contribute to administrative follow-up of activities (procurement coordination, reporting inputs, deliverable tracking) in collaboration with UNEP administrative/programme teams. o Contribute to internal and external reporting, donor progress summaries, and lessons-learned products. F. Other responsibilities: o Time permitting, the Advisor may be requested to contribute to other climate-change-related assignments at national, regional, or global levels in support of UNEP’s Climate Change Division, including technical missions, high-level events, analytical inputs, and briefings.
Qualifications/special skills
Education (Level and area of required and/or preferred education) • University degree (Bachelor´s Degree) in environmental engineering, political and natural sciences, environmental management or a closely related field (required). • An advanced university degree (Masters or equivalent) in Climate Change, Sustainability, environmental resource management or related studies (required) • First level Post Graduate Degree (Specialization) in project management, environmental development, or socio-economic related field is desirable. • At least 5 years of general professional experience in climate change/environmental affairs, sustainability and/or energy efficiency (required); more experience would be desirable. • At least 3 years coordinating environmental and climate change projects in LATAM countries (required) • Experience with development and implementation processes of public policies regarding compliance with the NDCs in LATAM countries (required) • Experience working with/for the UN and Civil Society Organizations (e.g. Environment, Climate Change, Territorial Development) (required) • Experience working on institutional assessment and capacity building in relation to climate change mitigation, adaptation, or climate finance, and/or management of environmental issues with private sector stakeholders would be highly desirable • Experience working with climate and development stakeholders from recipient countries and if possible, the donor government institutions, national development agencies, international organizations, and technical partners. • Experience with monitoring/reporting processes would be an asset. • Strong communication skills, ability to listen and analyse carefully, rigorous and autonomous; and • High motivation to support developing countries in planning and implementing climate actions
