PANORAMA Project Coordinator - IPSA 10 (Home Based)

Office/Unit/Project Description

UNDP is the knowledge frontier organization for sustainable development in the UN Development System and serves as the integrator for collective action to realize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UNDP’s policy work carried out at HQ, Regional and Country Office levels offers a spectrum of deep local knowledge to cutting-edge global perspectives and advocacy. In this context, UNDP invests in its Global Policy Network (GPN), a network of field-based and global technical expertise across a wide range of knowledge domains and in support of the signature solutions and organizational capabilities envisioned in UNDP’s Strategic Plan.

Within the GPN, the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) has the responsibility for developing all relevant policy and guidance to support the results of UNDP’s Strategic Plan. BPPS’s staff provides technical advice to Country Offices; advocates for UNDP corporate messages, represents UNDP at multi-stakeholder fora including public-private dialogues, government and civil society dialogues, and engages in UN inter-agency coordination in specific thematic areas. UNDP's 2022-2025 Strategic Plan highlights our continued commitment to eradicating poverty, accompanying countries in their pathways towards the SDGs and working towards the Paris Agreement. As part of the Global Policy Network in the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, UNDP's Nature, Climate Change, Energy, and Waste (NCE&W) Hubs promote and scale up integrated whole-of-governance approaches and nature-based solutions that reduce poverty and inequalities, strengthen livelihoods and inclusive growth, mitigate conflict, forced migration and displacement, and promote more resilient governance systems that advance linked peace and security agendas.

BPPS’ Hubs on Nature, Climate, Energy and Waste works with governments, civil society, and private sector partners to integrate natural capital, environment and climate concerns into national and sector planning and inclusive growth policies; support country obligations under Multilateral Environmental Agreements; and implement the UN’s largest portfolio of in-country programming on environment, climate change, and energy. In addition to the country portfolio, Nature Hub team is supporting a growing body of global work funded by bilateral donors and partners, including the Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN), Green Growth Programme, Nature for Development Programme, Global Fund for Coral Reefs Program etc.

In 2018, UNDP joined the multi-partner initiative PANORAMA – Solutions for a Healthy Planet, as a co-coordinator for its Protected Areas (currently 30x30 Solutions) thematic community. PANORAMA is an initiative to document and promote examples of inspiring, replicable solutions across a range of conservation and sustainable development topics, enabling cross-sectoral learning and inspiration. PANORAMA allows practitioners to share and reflect on their experiences, increase recognition for successful work, and to learn with their peers how similar challenges have been addressed around the globe. The initiative is governed by a Steering Group (SG) comprised of all partner organizations (IUCN, GIZ, UNDP, UNEP, Rare, GRID-Arendal, ICCROM, ICOMOS, EcoHealth Alliance and IFOAM) and supported by a PANORAMA Secretariat jointly hosted by IUCN and GIZ. 

With financial support from the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer protection (BMUV), a PANORAMA programme has been created to strengthen the PANORAMA initiative, which improves the global learning from successful practices among practitioners and decision-makers in the context of nature conservation and towards the goals of the CBD Global Biodiversity Framework. The project will enter its second phase in April 2024, as a project extension with additional funding from BMUV.

The programme’s key outputs include:

1. A strengthened PANORAMA Secretariat ensures a strategic coordination and sustainable growth of the evolving initiative.
   • The PANORAMA Secretariat provides strong and efficient internal coordination and advances business planning for the partnership.     
2. PANORAMA provides improved accountability of its contribution to global biodiversity conservation and climate change adaptation to a sustainably growing community of users at practical and policy level.
   • Improve tracking and demonstration of PANORAMA ́s impact on the ground as well as in the policy arena.
   • Strengthen strategic communication, promotion and outreach of PANORAMA to become increasingly known and used in the global development and nature conservation community.

Through investment in core functions, including partnership coordination and business development, the programme will better enable PANORAMA to expand its global support of practitioners and decision-makers. Investment in strategic development will result in better demonstration of PANORAMA ́s impact on the ground, as well as, in the policy arena, and will make the initiative increasingly known thanks to strengthened strategic communication, promotion and outreach. The target group of this programme is the growing community of PANORAMA users that are engaged and connected practitioners, across sectors and geographies.

The PANORAMA Project Coordinator will lead management of the BMUV/IKI financed PANORAMA project and provide support to the UNDP’s Principal Technical Adviser (PTA), Nature Hub.  The Coordinator will work closely with the UNDP regional teams and country offices to generate solutions from the UNDP portfolio and promote uptake of solutions by project partners in countries.  The Coordinator will cooperate with the PANORAMA Secretariat on management and implementation of the current and the add-on BMUV/IKI-financed PANORAMA projects, including financial and progress reporting, monitoring and evaluation, communications, knowledge management, safeguard and due diligence, and maintaining partner relationships related to the PANORAMA: Solutions for a Healthy Planet Platform. 

Project Management and Coordination (60%)

• Management of the overall conduct of the project and monitoring progress against the approved workplan, providing regular updates to the Partners Council / Steering group; 
• Ensure operational and financial completion of the current PANORAMA support project with processing a Terminal evaluation, audit, final progress and financial reports. 
• Coordinate drafting and signing of Cost-sharing Agreement between BMUV and UNDP Funding Windows for PANORAMA 2.0;
• Management of the responsible party agreements, including drafting the agreements, preparation and execution of financial transfers and project related documentation filing and management in close collaboration with UNDP programme support unit staff and PTA;
• Review annual budgets and project expenditure reports, and note any discrepancies or issues. Prepare revisions to the multi-year project workplan.
• Liaise and follow up with the responsible parties for implementation of project activities in matters related to project funds and financial and progress reports; 
• Consolidate financial progress reports submitted by the responsible parties on a quarterly basis and coordinate with the Operations unit of UNDP on cash advance issuance;
• Collate annual financial and progress reports based on reporting by the responsible parties for UNDP clearance and submission to the BMUV and UNDP Funding Windows;
• Coordinate evaluation and audit of the project and ensure timely and quality report submissions to BMUV;
• Monitor project progress and participate in the production of progress reports (including annual reviews) ensuring that they meet the necessary reporting requirements and standards;
• Exercise intellectual leadership when policies, strategies and plans are being developed in alignment with programme policies, particularly in relation to BMU IKI; 
• Provide technical and operational support required in the Nature Hub in related fields.

Solution Generation and Facilitation of Country service support work (40%)

• Coordinate generation of new solution cases from the UNDP portfolio, liaising closely with UNDP staff including regional staff, country offices, project staff and counterparts.
• Promote uptake of PANORAMA solutions by UNDP project stakeholders in countries, and beyond UNDP projects.
• Provide support to coordination of 30x30 Solutions Thematic Community of PANORAMA in cooperation with IUCN. 
• Co-organization of the PANORAMA Award including development of call documents, management of selection process, and organization of award ceremony working closely with the PANORAMA Secretariat;
• Provide support for partnership development to ensure the linkage between PANORAMA and relevant institutions and frameworks (CBD, Global Biodiversity Framework, NBSAP’s Accelerator etc); 
• Collaboration with the CBD secretariat on biodiversity knowledge management and solution-based knowledge exchange and capacity building, in support of the GBF implementation.
• Support PANORAMA’s participation in key nature related conferences and meetings including participation in high level events and in hosting, and participating in, side events; 

Key deliverables:

• High quality annual project review and financial reports;
• High quality quarterly update reports submitted to the Steering Group;
• Project safeguard system analysis reports, partner due diligence reports;
• Successful organisation of various events related to PANORAMA during global events;
• Successful launch and execution of the PANORAMA Award, including a formal presentation event; 
• Increased flow of solutions to the PANORAMA platform;
• Technically cleared policy documents including guidance notes and discussion/position papers, linking PANORAMA and relevant UN Frameworks.

  Institutional Arrangement

• The incumbent will work home based; 
• The incumbent will report to, and be directly supervised by, the Principal Technical Adviser (Nature Hub) 
• The incumbent will be given access to relevant information necessary for the execution of the tasks under this assignment;
• Given the global consultations to be undertaken during this assignment, the incumbent is expected to be reasonably flexible with his/her availability for such consultations taking into consideration different time zones.