Job and Career Info

Job Vacancies United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Position: Research Analyst, New York
Closing Date: Wednesday, 01 September 2010

Background
As the world makes an important and timely push towards achieving the MDGs, it also reckons with a new, more difficult economic environment. The recovery from the global economic and financial crisis remains weak and uncertain – it has translated directly into lost livelihoods, economic hardship and hunger for the poor in developing countries, and continues to reverberate in unexpected ways. Moreover, economic hardship may have resulted in more school dropouts, worse medical care, and a heightened impact on women, compounding the effects of the earlier food and fuel crises, and affecting the MDGs across the board.
The slow pace of economic recovery and its continuing uncertainties directly accentuate household level vulnerabilities and require continuing analysis leading to well -founded policy advisory support. The Poverty Group in UNDP’s Bureau for Development Policy is seeking to recruit a consultant research analyst for this purpose, who will report to the Policy Advisor (Microeconomics).

Duties and Responsibilities
The consultant will be expected to work in the following areas:
* Analysis of the continuing impact of the global economic crisis on poor households in developing countries, in particular the long term effects in especially vulnerable countries and the consequent effects on MDG trends.
* Research to support policy advisory services to countries receiving assistance from BDP/PG’s project on the economic crisis.
* Assistance in developing and testing tools to monitor the pace and nature of household level recovery and the role of policy, including its potentially unintended consequences. Analysis of policy options for cushioning the impact on households, and building long term resilience against shocks and disasters, in tandem with enabling the achievement of the MDGs.
* Analyzing how climate change exacerbates the vulnerability of households, especially in terms of its impact on the MDGs.
* Other global and regional challenges in related areas such as the emerging financial regulatory environment and debt sustainability issues.

Responsibilities:
Build on existing body of work within the Poverty Group and UNDP on human development impacts of economic shocks and natural disasters, focusing on the micro channels that cause household vulnerability.
Support the analysis of household behavior and coping strategies in response to shocks. Explore aspects such as timing and hierarchy of coping mechanisms employed, desirability and long-term fallouts from different coping strategies, policy options including the designing of safety nets for optimal levels of protection.
Strengthen impact monitoring and data analysis capacity of the group with a focus on micro level impacts of economic and climatic volatility.
Collaborate with development partners from Global Pulse and UNICEF among others in establishment of household level tracking and monitoring mechanisms across the globe.
Support the development of frameworks for linkages and feedback between climate change and MDG achievement.
Support work on identifying strategies and tools for progress towards MDGs in an environment of heightened debt and low growth.
Work on the area of inequality. In particular, explore how stubborn and persistent inequality in several parts of the world remains an impediment to progress in MDG attainment.

Tasks:
Research and Content Development:
Provide analysis on different economic and social aspects of emerging global and regional issues related to the crisis, and the policy interventions being designed to combat them, with a particular focus on the poor and vulnerable.
Assist with faming guidelines, templates and protocols for the collection of data from countries/regions to capture the variety of national/regional experiences with these issues.
Based on the analysis of such data, work with Country Offices and Regional Bureaus to identify key elements of UNDP support.
Contribute to the development of quantitative macro- and micro- models, adapted to country specific circumstances and to develop instruments that capture the impact of these events on human development.

Policy and Programme Support:
Provide support and feedback to the work of the country programmes, such as assisting in drafting ToRs for related projects, commenting on policy research carried out in the regions, etc.
Support the Policy Adviser in providing policy advisory services that respond to country office needs, and assist in exercising quality assurance.

Co-ordination:
Assist with preparations for workshops and regional consultations among various stakeholders. Assist in regional level analysis and the collation and writing of reports related to these workshops.
Prepare periodic reports for and liaise with donors and the BDP Directorate on project management issues.

Practice Advocacy:
Provide substantive support through drafting of speeches/presentations, providing comments on papers, etc.

Knowledge Management:
Assist in drafting papers/pieces aimed at a variety of audiences including academics, policy makers, activists, NGOs and others
Contribute to global and regional knowledge networks, including dissemination over existing networks
Contribute to production of knowledge products in accordance with corporate standards

Payment
* The payment shall be made in monthly installments on satisfactory completion of services as detailed in section ‘Tasks’ above.

Competencies
* Excellent ability to independently analyze economic and human development aspects of emerging issues and to critically synthesize policy research by other agencies/ organizations on these themes;
* Can strongly support, and build knowledge products such as toolkits, policy briefs papers and other pieces directed at different audiences;
* Well developed writing skills and quantitative ability;
* Knowledge of and experience in dealing with Government and non-governmental institutions that form the context within which policies relating to these issues are made;
* Good interpersonal skills and ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships across a range of disciplines and organizations;
* Work effectively in a small team, managing multiple areas of work under tight deadlines;
* Ability to reason strategically in practice area; and
* Fluency in English (written and verbal). Knowledge of another UN official language is an advantage.

Required Skills and Experience
* Master’s degree in Economics, Development Economics, or Public Policy (with focus on economic policy analysis). PhD desirable.
* Minimum 3 years of full-time, progressively responsible experience in policy research and analysis.
* Demonstrated excellence in preparing papers, briefs and other documents for a variety of technical and non-technical audiences.
* Demonstrated competence and effectiveness with computers, office software packages (MS Word, Excel, Power Point, etc), and statistical analysis packages (STATA, SPSS, etc).
* Demonstrated ability in quantitative economic analysis through master’s or PhD level course work and independent research.
* International organization experience required.

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

United Nations Development Programme
304 East 45th Street
New York
Telephone: (212) 909-7940

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