Organization: UNDP – United Nations Development Programme
Location: Istanbul
Grade: Mid level – P-3, International Professional – Internationally recruited position
Occupational Groups:
Project and Programme Management
Managerial positions
Closing Date: 2024-12-17

An overview

The Slovak Transformation Fund is a project within the Innovation Team in the Regional Bureau for Europe and Central Asia. We seek to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals by harnessing the potential of the data revolution (Ministry of Data), new technologies, urban transformation (City Experiment Fund and the Mayors for Economic Growth), innovative finance (AltFinLab), and new, systemic ways of working and thinking (Portfolio Design & Management). We take a systems thinking-based approach to addressing the complex development challenges of the region, collaborating closely with public, private and nonprofit sectors.

The main objective of the Slovak Transformation Fund (STF) is to drive meaningful system transformation in the Eurasia region. This will be achieved by deploying systems approaches that demonstrably enhance the effectiveness and sustainability of local ecosystems, engaging stakeholders in co-creation processes to address complex challenges, fostering innovation and resilience, and leveraging innovative sources of financing to increase investment in pilots and initiatives that can drive change. The STF aims to achieve tangible effects for the green, just and smart transitions, thereby contributing to a more dynamic and sustainable future for the region.

The project achieves this in two main ways:
•    Through City Experiment Fund (CEF), by working directly with cities to address their complex   challenges and develop portfolios of innovative solutions. STF supports them in testing and implementing these ideas, using a flexible, learning-based approach.
•    Through BOOST Acceleration program, STF accelerates the growth of promising innovators (e.g. CSOs, entrepreneurs and academic institutions) in the region, helping them develop and scale solutions to urban development problems.

The STF also explores new ways of financing these urban innovations, looking beyond traditional funding sources to find creative ways to support good ideas.

In the new phase of the Slovak Transformation Fund (2025-2028), STF is set to scale its impact through six key changes: deepening our gender and inclusion work, strengthening its catalytic role of urban innovations, expanding city engagement, aligning BOOST and CEF more closely, and elevating innovative finance work.

With these in mind, the Innovation Team at IRH is looking for a Regional Project Manager for the Slovak Transformation Fund.

More information about the work of the innovation team can be found at innovation.eurasia.undp.org

Job Purpose

The Project Manager will work closely with the Slovak Transformation Fund regional and country teams, as well as collaborate and engage with other teams and projects at the regional and country level. The role of the project manager will be to ensure effective and efficient Project implementation, based on continuous identification of new opportunities for system innovation, collaboration with other regional teams in exploring system innovation and innovative finance, providing support to country offices in mainstreaming strategic innovation.

UNDP adopts a portfolio approach to accommodate changing business needs and leverage linkages across interventions to achieve its strategic goals. Therefore, UNDP personnel are expected to work across units, functions, teams, and projects in multidisciplinary teams in order to enhance and enable horizontal collaboration.

Responsibilities

1.) Ensure effective management of the “Slovak Transformation Fund” Project by focusing on implementation and quality control with the purpose of achieving the following results:

•    Conduct regular horizon scanning to understand emerging trends and actors, as well as provide linkages and investigate opportunities for their application in Europe and Globally.
•    Design and formulation of project and programme strategies within the area of responsibility, translating UNDP’s priorities into local interventions. Coordination of programme implementation with the executing agencies. Introduction of performance indicators/ success criteria, cost recovery, targets and milestones.
•    Initiation of a project, presentation of the project in project Boards; determination of required revisions; coordination of the mandatory and budget re-phasing exercises.
•    Ensuring implementation of the Slovak Transformation Fund project in line with the Annual Workplans.
•    Financial and substantive monitoring and evaluation of the project, identification of operational and financial problems, development of solutions.
•    Prepare regular reports on activities, outputs and outcomes.
•    Prepare donor reports.

2.) Ensure efficient implementation of the regional programme with respect to the Innovation efforts in the region:  

•    Thorough analysis and research of the political, social and economic situation of the region and preparation of substantive inputs to the regional programmes, CCA, UNSDCF, CPD, CPAP and other documents in UNDP HQ, the regional hubs and as requested by COs.
•    Identification of areas for support and interventions related to innovative and alternative finance and system innovation, urban and digital transformation, and other innovative activities related to the implementation of the SDGs.
•    Leading organizational learning by continuously bridging frameworks and practice – ensuring the application of existing and development of new meta-models developed by the regional team evolve based on practice from the country offices.
•    Ad-hoc and planned support to COs in design, implementation and evaluation of programmes related strategic innovation, especially as it pertains to achieving of SDGs, transparency, poverty reduction, citizen engagement and strengthening of civil society.
•    Sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice.

3.) Actively explores and identifies opportunities for new partnerships and strategic engagements, especially with donors, innovative organizations and relevant stakeholders:

•    Identification of emerging sources of funding; assessment of their current usage and potential for the future.
•    Development of specific donor and other investors fund-raising strategies and approaches.
•    Identification different actors, working on innovative finance and system innovation, urban transformation or digital transformation, for collaboration towards project goals.
•    Development of partnerships with other UN agencies, IFIs, government institutions, private sector companies, academia, civil society and other types of organizations in areas such as complexity, urban transformation, innovative finance, system innovation and other relevant areas.

4.) Contribute to Team Building and Knowledge Management
•    Facilitates day-to-day functioning of the regional team of the project and the country level coordinators;
•    Manages human and financial resources for achieving results;
•    Guides and ensures effective recruitment, performance management and staff learning to motivate and promote organizational excellence in his/her teams;
•    Leads on the development of a reflective practice in the project and beyond, ensuring that learnings and insights are captured regularly.

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organisation.
Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities: Supervise Project personnel.
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    Strategic Thinking    Develop effective strategies and prioritised plans in line with UNDP’s mission and objectives, based on the systemic analysis of challenges, opportunities and potential risks; link the general vision to reality on the ground to create tangible targeted solutions; learn from a variety of sources to anticipate and effectively respond to both current and future trends; demonstrate foresight.
• Business Direction and 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 Direction and Strategy    Effective Decision-making Take decisions in a timely and efficient manner in line with one’s authority, area of expertise and resources and take into consideration potential wider implications.
• 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    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 key principles of project, programme, and portfolio management.
• Partnership Management    Emerging partnerships    Ability to engage with emerging partners, develop and manage a strategy and develop approaches to developing and managing these new strategic partnerships
• Digital    Portfolio design & management    Ability to identify leverage points in systems and design interventions that address them. The value of the interventions is determined not in isolation, but as part of the overall portfolio and their coherence. Ability to design processes that extract learning on an ongoing basis from existing portfolios, so that learning accrues over time and new options for action are continuously generated. Build a learning ecosystem around a complex development challenge: being able to mobilise a variety of stakeholders and help them learn and work together. Understand key principles of systems and complexity theory.

Requirements