Role of the Senior Climate Action Specialist
The Senior Climate Action Specialist will work under the direct supervision and in daily coordination with the RCC MENA and SA Regional Lead, following the guidance of substantive focal points from the relevant divisions of the UNFCCC Secretariat where necessary. The Senior Climate Action Specialist and Coordinator will support RCC MENA and SA team’s operations and procedures to ensure organizational effectiveness and efficiency, support in the building of partnerships, while providing technical support and conduct information gathering activities across the entire portfolio of the RCC MENA and SA’s annual workplan.

The overall objective of the position is to support the RCC MENA and SA Regional Lead in the implementation of the 2024-2025 RCC MENA and SA Annual Workplan, working in collaboration with substantive teams and partners.

The UN Climate Change Regional Collaboration Centres
The UN Climate Change Regional Collaboration Centers (RCCs) support national climate action through capacity-building, technical assistance, and strategic networking – sourcing know-how and resources to help developing countries cope with climate change. The Regional Collaboration Centres provide facilitative support to Parties and Non-Party stakeholders in the regions towards the fulfillment of the mandates under the Kyoto Protocol, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement.

The UN Climate Change Secretariat partners with organizations to operate six RCCs globally:

• RCC Asia and the Pacific Bangkok (Institute for Global Environmental Strategies [IGES])
• RCC Middle East, North Africa and South Asia MENA and South Asia (World Green Economy Organization [WGEO])
• RCC Eastern and Southern Africa (East African Development Bank [EADB])
• RCC Western and Central Africa (Banque Ouest Africaine de Developpement [BOAD])
• RCC Caribbean (Windward Islands Research & Education Foundation [WINDREF])
• RCC Latin America (UN Environment Programme [UNEP])

Outputs
The responsibilities include operational, management and technical support tasks. In particular, the Senior Climate Action Specialist and Coordinator will be asked to provide operational support to the RCC MENA and SA projects as approved by the Steering Committee by:

• Gathering data, information and intelligence on opportunities for and barriers to engagement in UNFCCC processes and climate action;
• Overseeing the administrative services including financial and logistical arrangements, office supplies, IT equipment and communication devices including following-up on administrative and financial procedures related to the operations of the RCC, with WGEO;
• Reporting to the Team Lead on a regular basis on overall progress achieved on projects and escalation of any issues including continuously maintaining data in RCC Information Management System;
• Providing technical backstopping on assigned projects to ensure that activities are undertaken in timely and effective manner including support to regional experts to facilitate the implementation of the Paris Agreement;
• Leading on generating monitoring and evaluation reports and communication to relevant bodies;
• Supervising/Supporting organization of workshops, webinars and other at the local and regional level in alignment with workplan of RCC MENA and SA;
• Support in identifying and reaching out to regional key stakeholders to establish partnerships and terms of collaboration and information sharing best practices;
• Supporting the work of WGEO related to climate action including producing technical papers, concept notes, project documents and organization of events;
• Supporting the team with specific workstream deliverables, including conceptualizing, and drafting knowledge products, reports, agendas, concept notes to cover various thematic areas such as climate finance, adaptation, methodologies for climate action and youth engagement on climate action;
• Participating in stakeholder engagements and supporting on keeping records and activities on track;
• Supporting with the circulation of information across the team, relevant focal points in the UNFCCC secretariat and RCC MENA SA stakeholders including UN agencies, governments and organizations;
• Providing inputs on the RCC MENA SA achievements in relevant sections of the RCC Annual Report and other reporting documents as necessary;
• Taking stock of the outreach and engagement needs in the region, including opportunities to collaborate and build partnerships with UN Agencies and other stakeholders;
• Supporting publishing of outreach materials (e.g. campaigns, newsletters, SIA or newsroom articles, story for blogs) in alignment with C&E Team of the UNFCCC secretariat, with key inputs from Regional Experts/ colleagues in drafting of articles;
• Supporting webpage updates with inputs from RCC MENA SA colleagues and in coordination with relevant colleagues in the UNFCCC secretariat. 
• Any other assigned tasks required to achieve the goals and objectives of the RCC MENA SA

Location and Duration
The assignment is for a period of one year with possibility of extension thereafter, starting as soon as possible. The Specialist is expected to be in Dubai, UAE, at the start of the contract. Travel in the region and beyond will be required as deemed necessary to deliver the outputs.

Compensation
Up to 7,000 USD a month, commensurate with experience.

Supervision
The expert will work under the direct supervision of the RCC MENA and South Asia Regional Lead including for performance and administrative issues.

The expert will be contracted by the World Green Economy Organization (WGEO), the RCC MENA and South Asia host organization. The expert will therefore be under WGEO’s employment terms and hence is not an employee of the UN Climate Change secretariat. The expert will receive the required ICT, office, and administrative support from the respective RCC.

Requirements

Education: Advanced university degree (Masters) in development studies, economics, business administration, international relations, environmental studies, or in a related discipline. A combination of a university degree (Bachelors) plus substantial professional experience in the field may be accepted in lieu of an advanced degree in the relevant discipline.

Experience: At least five (5) years relevant professional working experience on climate change /environment, development cooperation, relationship management at an institutional level, stakeholder engagement and/or capacity building. Knowledge and experience of climate change are essential. Excellent oral and written communication skills, especially in communicating with technical experts and policy makers.

Language: Fluency in English and Arabic (both oral and written) is required. Fluency or a good knowledge in other languages, especially French, is an asset.

Competencies

• Applying professional expertise: Demonstrates a working knowledge and interest in the substantive functions of the work unit, including those not within own area of expertise; Manages effectively and fairly across different substantive functions to establish integrated, multidisciplinary teams to address complex issues; Coordinates the input of different functional specialists to achieve sound, integrated solutions; Drives others to develop their functional and substantive skillsets, and to build their understanding of related disciplines; Maintains and disseminates an understanding of best practice standards in all substantive areas represented within the work unit.
• Communicating with impact: Communicates with confidence to external audiences and credibly represents the organization; Negotiates effectively with individuals and groups; Encourages effective and open communications within the unit, holds regular meetings and actively fosters communication among staff members; Delivers engaging and persuasive presentations that hold the attention of the audience, and presents complex information in a manner that is understandable to non-experts; Supports and coaches team members in the preparation of effective communication.
• Delivering results: Creates policies, programmes, or processes which are mindful of minimizing potential negative social, economic and/or environmental impacts; Identifies the resources needed to deliver results, and manages their use to ensure the utmost efficiency, effectiveness and impact; Creates an environment where staff, regardless of their gender, family situation or other circumstances, are able to perform at their best; Promotes a mindset of results orientation, aligns systems and processes to support the achievement of results, and holds staff members to account for their commitment; Holds regular reviews to assess the results achieved against targets; Manages, reduces or mitigates risks without compromising results, where possible.

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