Job Description

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:

“Please note the appropriate Tier indicated in the vacancy title and ensure that you hold the applicable contract as defined below.
· Tier 1: UNDP/ UNCDF/ UNV staff holding permanent (PA) and fixed term (FTA) appointments (defined as “internal” candidates)
· Tier 2: UNDP/ UNCDF/ UNV staff holding temporary appointments (TA), personnel on regular PSA contracts, and Expert and Specialist UN Volunteers
· Tier 3: All other contract types from UNDP/UNCDF/UNV and other agencies, and other external candidates”

Background

UNDP is the leading United Nations organization fighting to tackle the injustices of poverty, inequality, and climate change on a global scale. Working with our broad network of experts, host governments and partners in 170 countries, we help nations to build integrated, lasting solutions for people and planet. UNDP has been working in Afghanistan for more than 50 years on climate change and resilience, gender, governance, health, livelihoods, and rule of law. Following the power shift in August 2021, the situation for the country remains largely uncertain and fragile, with approximately seventy percent of the population facing multifaceted vulnerabilities affecting their well-being, human security and long-term development while nearly a third of the population are estimated to be acutely food insecure. Over the recent years, international assistance has played a vital role in averting a socioeconomic collapse by providing lifesaving, resilience-building and livelihoods-sustaining assistance to millions of people, hundreds of critical healthcare and educational centres, and tens of thousands of small and medium enterprises, often owned and managed by women. Nevertheless, the humanitarian challenge in Afghanistan is one of the biggest in the world, and basic human needs and priorities remain extremely high. In 2024, 95 percent of households experienced at least one shock of an economic or natural disaster nature such as floods, droughts and others. To help tackle the pressing challenges for enduring livelihoods and climate resilience, UNDP is designing fit-for-purpose portfolios of programs to create new livelihoods, income opportunities, basic services and to build resilience against climate-induced natural calamities and displacement as well as returns that continue to haunt millions of households in the country. Afghanistan remains one of the most gender-unequal countries in the world, with women facing systemic challenges hindering their access to education and employment opportunities in the public sector and restricting their participation in public life. UNDP remains committed to women's empowerment through capacity-building initiatives, livelihoods and self-employment/employment support, enhancing gender-responsive decision-making at community level, and supporting local communities to include women, in line with UNSCR 1325 (Women, Peace, and Security).

UNDP estimates that 69 percent of Afghans are multi-dimensionally poor, lacking access to basic items and income. The economy contracted significantly since 2020, and the humanitarian and political crisis have worsened the situation. There were an estimated 5.4 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) at the end of 2024 and another 5.5 million Afghan returnees from Pakistan and Iran by end of 2025, compounding sustainable solutions. In 2025, almost half the population – some 22.9 million people – were estimated to require humanitarian assistance given the fragile economy and insufficient access to basic services. Aligned to the UN Strategic Framework for Afghanistan 2023 -2025, UNDP Afghanistan’s Transitional Country Programme Strategy (TCPS) adopts a community-centred recovery approach that focuses on stimulating the local economy, enhancing disaster and climate resilience, sustaining essential services and fostering inclusive community engagement.

As a core UN Country Team (UNCT) member, UNDP supports crisis response (including return crisis), and recovery in Afghanistan. Against the backdrop of the ongoing Aid Architecture Review and Humanitarian Reset and its subsequent impact, UNDP can capitalize on its long-standing engagement in crisis and fragile contexts and spearhead HDP Nexus and Early Recovery needs to facilitate humanitarian transitions as these unfold, building on the HDP nexus work started under the Durable Solutions framework in country. At the same time, as a Solutions Champion and first-line responder to Resident/Humanitarian Coordinators (RC/HCs), UNDP advances nationally led solutions to displacement through joint UNCT-HCT planning, playing an active role as member of Afghanistan Durable Solutions Steering Group together with others not least IOM and UNHCR, and by co-chairing Durable Solutions Working Groups with NGO co-chairs at sub-national levels. This approach aligns IOM and UNHCR’s mobility mandates with UNDP’s development expertise and partnerships, ensuring that from Day 1, medium- and long-term investments reduce humanitarian caseloads, enable early crisis exit, and lay the groundwork for sustainable solutions.

The Recovery and Solutions Specialist shall work under the overall guidance of the Deputy Resident Representative (Programmes) with matrix reporting lines to the Resident Representative and direct supervision of the Portfolio Manager for Climate Change, Energy and Environment Management. The Specialist will also support the Durable Solutions Secretariat at RC Office. While exercising a system-wide recovery and solutions function with functional engagement across recovery, solutions, economic recovery and other relevant portfolios.While the supervisory line to the Climate Change, Energy and Environment Management Portfolio Manager is confirmed, this clarification is proposed to avoid the role being interpreted as portfolio-specific. The intent is to reflect the system-wide recovery and solutions function of the post and its functional engagement across multiple portfolios, in line with the revised coordination architecture.

Position Purpose

The Recovery and Solutions Specialist will provide direct guidance and support to the Senior Management on the development of Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus (HDP) approaches in Afghanistan with the aim to increase coherence among humanitarian, development and peace actors and to effectively reduce people’s unmet needs, risks and vulnerabilities and to increase their resilience. The focus will be on strengthening UNDP’s overall offer in terms of (early) recovery and resilience programmes and external coordination, and support to system wide efforts around the Humanitarian Reset and its focus on transitions to development-led recovery that reduces future needs. In the Afghanistan context this includes efforts in relation to sustainable solutions to forced displacement (returnees and IDPs) and entry points through the existing Reginal Durable Solutions Working Groups which UNDP co-chairs, as well as other relevant aid coordination mechanisms.

UNDP adopts a portfolio approach to accommodate changing business needs and leverage linkages across interventions to achieve its strategic goals. This is a recognition of the interconnected nature of development risks & crises that the world is facing and that calls for assembling multidisciplinary teams for an integrated & systemic response. Therefore, UNDP personnel are expected to work across issues, units, functions, teams and projects in multidisciplinary teams to enhance and enable horizontal collaboration

Duties and Responsibilities

1- Provision of Advisory Support in aligning Humanitarian, Development, and Peace Efforts

Advance the integration of humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding efforts across programme cycles by aligning UNDP’s TCPS and portfolio planning with Humanitarian Reset priorities, transition planning and execution, national strategies, and Inter Agency Standing Committee (IASC)guidance. Where agreed, provide targeted support to the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office (RCO) to foster coherence and synergies among humanitarian, development, and peace actors.
Ensure UNDP’s active role in joint analysis, planning and financing processes by providing technical and analytical inputs and support to inter-agency coordination mechanisms, including the Basic Human Needs (BHN) Joint Platforms (formerly STWGs), particularly those relevant to recovery, economic recovery and resilience, transition strategies and other relevant frameworks (including HNRPs and future UN Strategic Frameworks as appropriate). Lead analytical and advisory work on recovery and solutions gaps emerging from reduced humanitarian coverage, identifying and promoting mechanisms—within or alongside the humanitarian architecture—that enable coordinated, well-resourced early recovery and solutions programming.
Strengthen national and local capacities for sustainable recovery and solutions coordination through area-based approaches, localization initiatives, and partnerships, ensuring impact is sustained beyond humanitarian coordination structures.
Provide technical and analytical inputs to, and support UNDP engagement in existing coordination forums, including the Regional Durable Solutions Working Groups, as entry points to advance joined up planning that considers both short-term and longer-term needs.

2- Technical Policy and Data Analytics

Support UNDP Country Office Senior Management and enhance UNDP's thought leadership in convening national and international partners to co-develop sustainable development responses and solutions to new refugee returnees responses/IDP situations and/or protracted displacement situations.
Promote/initiate/participate in joined-up humanitarian and development assessments, analysis and evidence building on challenges, with national and international partners, including through relevant analytical coordination mechanisms.
Promote and contribute to achieving inter-operability of humanitarian and development data and information among stakeholders^[1] to allow for consolidation of response activities.
Support CO in development solutions data analytics and policy by linking with developmental profiling and assessments, data and policy to better understand barriers to sustainable solutions and measure progress (in conjunction with relevant coordination mechanisms as appropriate).

3- Recovery and Solutions Programming Development and Implementation Support

Support Area Managers, Regional Project Offices (RPOs) and Regional Teams (RTs) to carry out solutions mapping, joint analysis and prioritisation with communities, local actors and partners, identifying social, political and economic barriers to solutions and informing area-based transition planning and programming.
Regular data analysis undertaken and provided to the Area Managers, portfolios, concerned projects, and relevant coordination mechanisms (e.g., Joint Platforms, RTs, Data Working Group, etc.)
Contributions towards programme design provided in consultation with the Portfolios and projects.
Through portfolio approaches, provide support to the UNDP country team at national and sub-national levels to further develop integrated recovery, solutions, and displacement risk management programming across portfolios.
support country office leadership – and UN senior leadership more broadly where relevant - in strengthening development approach in national solutions strategies, in the short, medium and long term to address protracted forced displacement as a national development priority, plan and budget.
Document key lessons learned and best practices through adaptive management approaches to further update programming.

4- Build strategic Multi-stakeholder Partnerships and Resource Mobilization

Develop UNDP engagement strategy on recovery and development solutions, including early engagement as a development actor in response and recovery processes, in complement and alongside life-saving humanitarian assistance.
Identify strategic development partners including CSO-NGO's and design joint-programmatic collaboration to build capacities and infrastructure for solutions.
Create/facilitate/strengthen platforms and capacity on solutions to forced displacement, in close coordination with human rights, humanitarian, development, and peace-building actors
Develop relevant documentation on solutions programming for donors and potential opportunities for resource mobilization, including possible partnerships with private sector.

5- Knowledge Management and Cross-Cutting Gender Integration
- Oversee analysis, documentation and knowledge sharing (including with relevant UN and non-UN partners) on recovery and solutions, ensuring systematic capture of lessons learned and best practices using corporate tools and in coordination with HQ policy teams.
- Facilitate cross-regional and multi-partner knowledge exchange and contribute to policy dialogue at national, regional and global levels
- Ensure gender is systematically integrated across all recovery and solutions programming by supporting gender analysis, promoting inclusive participation, and, in collaboration with the Gender Specialist, ensuring that recovery initiatives include SMART Gender Action Plans and gender-responsive outcomes.
[1] E.g. Humanitarian Needs Overviews (HNOs), Post-Disaster Needs Assessments (PDNAs), Recovery and Peacebuilding Assessments (RPBAs), Conflict and Development Analyses, the IASC’s Index for Risk Management (INFORM), Multi-Sectoral Needs Assessments (MSNAs), including on refugees and migrants, Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) reports, Strategic Assessments, conflict analyses, corruption and transparency indexes, national disaster risk profiles, climate forecasts, the World Bank Systematic Country Diagnostics (SCDs), as well as other analyses by International Financial Institutions (IFIs), UN regional strategies, regional development banks and UN regional economic commissions.

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

Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities: None

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 and strategy - Systems 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 development.

Business Management - Portfolio Management : Ability to select, prioritise and control the organization's programmes and projects in line with
its strategic objectives and capacity Ability to balance the implementation of change initiatives with regular activities for optimal return on
investment. Knowledge and understanding of keyprinciples of project, programme, and portfolio management
Business Development - Collective Intelligence Design: Ability to bring together diverse groups of people, data, information, ideas, and technology to solve
problems and design solutions or services.Knowledge and understanding of CollectiveIntelligence Design principles, methodology and
practices.
Business Management - Partnerships management: Build and maintain partnerships with wide networks of stakeholders, Governments, civil
society and private sector partners, experts and others in line with UNDP strategy and policies.
2030 Agenda: Engagement and Effectiveness - Crisis management /country Management: Support Innovation for crisis response and recovery
2030 Agenda: Engagement and Effectiveness - Crisis management /Country Management: Support Data-Driven Risk Analysis
2030 Agenda: Engagement and Effectiveness - Crisis management /: Humanitarian-Development Peace (HDP) Nexus

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in International Development, International Affairs, Migration and Displacement Studies, or related disciplines is required. OR
A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in the areas stated above, in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree

Experience:

Minimum of 7 years (with master’s degree) or 9 years (with bachelor’s degree) of relevant professional work experience in Recovery and Solutions, either public sector (national or multilateral, including UN), private (academia, non-governmental sector, corporate), with increasing level of responsibility is required.
At least 4 years of experience in in-country crisis and fragile settings with strong relevant experience in the HDP Nexus, with relevant background in working on aid coordination architectures in fragile settings is an asset.
Demonstrated experience in inter-agency coordination is required.
Demonstrated managerial and leadership experience is required.
Demonstrated experience in programming, partnership development and resource mobilization is required.
Excellent coordination, negotiation and communication skills/experience, as well as proven ability to mobilize support from a wide range of partners (public, private, civil society and academia) is required.
Demonstrated experience and understanding of UN/UNDP programming modalities, is an asset.
Experience in transition and humanitarian coordination is an asset;
Substantial experience in aid effectiveness, coordination and management in relief, recovery and development· Recent country and/or regional experience in capacity development is an asset;
Demonstrated experience in the design and successful implementation of new business processes is an asset.
Previous experience in joint programme development would be an asset;
In-depth knowledge of UN system policies, priorities, and programming especially in crisis and post-conflict situations is an asset;

Language Requirements:

Fluency in English is required
Working knowledge of regional languages (Dari, Pashto) would be an advantage

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.

Probation

For all new UNDP fixed term appointments (FTA), including for staff members being transferred or seconded to UNDP under the Inter-Organization Agreement concerning Transfer, Secondment or Loan of Staff, on an appointment of more than one year, continuation of the appointment beyond the initial 12 months is contingent upon the successful completion of a probationary period.

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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