The Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Network (BES-Net) is one of the Nature Hub’s flagship initiatives, managed jointly by UNDP, UNEP-WCMC, and UNESCO with the financial support of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection and SwedBio. As the capacity sharing “network of networks” initiative, BES-Net promotes dialogue between science, policy, and practice sectors for more effective management of biodiversity and ecosystems, contributing to long-term human well-being and sustainable development. BES-Net complements and contributes to the capacity building work of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) by aligning its activities with the IPBES global assessment themes and applying the related IPBES guidance documents.

Duties and Responsibilities

The overall objective of the position is to spearhead the implementation of BES-Net’s Stakeholder Engagement and Gender Strategy, mainstreaming the principles and methodology of Trialogue across the project components. More specifically, under the supervision of the BES-Net Project Coordinator and in close coordination with other project team members within UNDP and the BES-Net Consortium agencies, this role demands a strategic and innovative approach to develop and strengthen partnerships and facilitate the engagement and interactions of diverse stakeholders for sustainable and inclusive development outcomes. The incumbent is expected to perform the following tasks:

• Lead the strategic planning, execution, and facilitation of the Regional Trialogues, focusing on geographic and thematic priorities, while ensuring a balanced representation across policy, science, and practice across countries and sub-regions, gender mainstreaming, and meaningful participation of Indigenous Peoples and local communities and simultaneously taking charge of designing, coordinating, and guiding the development and review of agendas, background, and action documents to foster dynamic, inclusive dialogues that bridge diverse knowledge systems;
• Offer specialized support and coordination in facilitating National Trialogues, delivering technical expertise and guidance to ensure effective facilitation and engagement and working closely with the concerned national and local teams to adapt and implement the Trialogue methodology, ensuring that dialogues are inclusive, responsive to national contexts, and effectively bridge diverse knowledge systems;
• Offer expert services in designing and refining the Trialogue methodology based on previous experiences and emerging best practices, ensuring the engagement of diverse stakeholders in a respectful and inclusive manner with a dedicated focus on the meaningful participation of Indigenous Peoples and local communities;
• Drive the expansion and strengthening of the BES-Net’s Community/ies of Practice (CoPs) and global network of registered users and experts, employing cutting-edge approaches to partnership building and stakeholder engagement that foster an environment of collaboration within and among registered users, experts, institutional partners, and the supported country team;
• Enhance stakeholder engagement across BES-Net digital platforms, increase partner involvement and promote the network’s activities, providing support and guidance on the development of visibility and outreach materials, ensuring the dissemination of knowledge and lessons learned through various media in multiple languages, including previous and ongoing BES Solution Fund/National Ecosystem Assessment (NEA)/Regional Trialogue-supported countries;
• Support the project visibility/outreach by assisting the development of online and offline visibility/publicity resources and leveraging the physical/virtual opportunities to showcase the BES-Net achievements and impacts, through the collection, analysis and codification of evidence and lessons from country experiences on different BES-related thematic areas in coordination with relevant partners and contractors;
• Provide technical inputs to the periodic project activity review and target monitoring process from the partnership and stakeholder engagement perspective; and
• Monitor and update as needed the implementation of the BES-Net Communication and Stakeholder Engagement Strategy and Gender Strategy periodically and recommend the areas of improvement in strategies;
• The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

Institutional Arrangement

• The incumbent will work from home;
• The incumbent will work under the supervision of the Nature Hub Programme Specialist/BES-Net Project Coordinator;
• The incumbent will be in close consultation and collaboration with the other BES-Net team members and relevant existing BES-Net partners as required;
• The incumbent is expected to ensure regular communication with the BES-Net team and timely delivery of the expected outputs, informing the team of the status/progress as well as any obstacles that might occur;
• The incumbent will be given access to relevant information, systems GitHub necessary for the execution of the tasks under this assignment;
• The incumbent will be responsible for providing her/his own workstation (i.e. laptop, internet, phone, scanner/printer, etc.) and must have access to a reliable internet connection;
• Given the global support to be provided during this assignment, the incumbent is expected to be reasonably flexible with his/her availability for such support taking into consideration different time zones.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• An advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in the area of International Development, Environmental Management, Environmental Policy, Business, Economics or similar field is required; or
• A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in the said fields in combination with 2 additional years of qualifying experience may be considered in lieu of an advanced university degree.

Experience:

• Minimum five years (with a Master’s degree) or seven years (with a Bachelor’s degree) of relevant ‘on-the-job’ experience in multi-stakeholder process, including stakeholder/institutional analysis, identification, engagement, and communication, at global and regional levels;
• Demonstrated experience in mobilizing and facilitating network/community of practice/collaboration platforms, including advocacy and preparing communication materials;
• Working experience in the field of biodiversity and ecosystem services;
• Experience in gender mainstreaming, women’s empowerment, and engagement of indigenous people and local communities;
• Experience of the UN and/or UNDP’s rules, policies, and procedures.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of another UN language is an asset.