The Private Sector Coordination Specialist – Southern and Eastern Africa is expected to play a critical role in designing and implementing the new private sector strategy across sub-Saharan Africa and in particular in Southern and Eastern Africa. Under the overall supervision of the CBi Deputy Programme Coordinator, based in Istanbul, Turkey, the Private Sector Coordination Specialist – Southern and Eastern Africa will be responsible for:

Development, planning, and implementation of national and regional projects to support private sector engagement in disaster management: 

• Lead the development and delivery of national and regional solutions, programmes and workplans for local CBi Member Networks on private sector engagement in disaster risk management and humanitarian response.
• Identify learning needs and solutions, and plan and implement capacity development activities for existing and prospective CBi Member Networks in the Southern and Eastern Africa region.
• Collect and consolidate relevant information on local private sector engagement in disaster risk reduction, crisis preparedness and response, and early recovery at country and regional levels.
• Facilitate landscape assessment and scoping activities to identify and/or partner with prospective Member Networks and other private sector partners in the Southern and Eastern Africa region.

 Coordination of private sector initiatives during emergency situations: 

• As needed, deploy to countries in the Southern and Eastern Africa region experiencing ongoing disasters to support the coordination of private sector contributions before, during and after emergencies.

Development of national and regional partnerships and external advocacy:

• Coordinate and work with UNDP and OCHA regional bureaux and country offices, government counterparts, international organizations, and other partners in the Southern and Eastern Africa region on private sector engagement.
• Promote advocacy for private sector engagement in disaster risk management and humanitarian programming.
• Identify specific needs for private sector engagement in disaster risk reduction, crisis preparedness and response, and early recovery, and support partnerships at the national and regional levels to address those needs.

Strategy development and operational support: 

• Facilitate knowledge development and management efforts through the development of case studies and collection and sharing of information on good practices.
• Ensure documentation and timely monitoring, evaluation and reporting of all CBi-related activities implemented by existing and prospective CBi Member Networks in the Southern and Eastern Africa region.
• Support the CBi Secretariat and contribute to the periodic progress reporting requirements and other UNDP and OCHA reporting requirements.

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 Private Sector Coordination Specialist will work full-time from the OCHA Regional Office for Southern and Eastern Africa (ROSEA) based in Nairobi, Kenya. The Private Sector Coordination Specialist will work under the direct supervision of the CBi Deputy Programme Coordinator with “dotted-line” secondary reporting to the OCHA Regional Office for Southern and Eastern Africa (ROSEA), based in Nairobi, Kenya. An annual workplan will be developed jointly by CBi and OCHA ROSEA to ensure coherence with regional priorities. The Private Sector Coordination Officer will also participate in all relevant ROSEA unit meetings to update on relevant activities and to link these to OCHA’s ongoing preparedness and response work in the region.

Competencies
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

• Ability to develop effective strategies and prioritized plans in line with UNDP’s objectives, based on the systemic analysis of challenges, potential risks and opportunities; linking the vision to reality on the ground, and creating tangible solutions
• Ability to leverage learning from a variety of sources to anticipate and respond to future trends; to demonstrate foresight in order to model what future developments and possible ways forward look like for UNDP

Business Management – Project Management

• Ability to plan, organize, prioritize and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals

Business Management – Communication

• Ability to communicate in a clear, concise and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience

Business Management – Evaluation

• Ability to make an independent judgement based on set criteria and benchmarks – Ability to anticipate client’s upcoming needs and concerns.

Business Management – Communication

• Ability to communicate in a clear, concise and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience

Required Skills and Experience
Education:

• Advanced university degree (Masters degree or equivalent)  in business, political or social sciences, disaster risk management, development studies or other related field of studies is required. Or
• A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in the above mentioned field of study, in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree

Experience:

• Minimum of five (5) years (with Master degree) or seven (7) years (with Bachelors degree) of professional work experience in disaster risk reduction / disaster management, humanitarian affairs, or international development, preferably in Southern and Eastern Africa

Required skills and competencies 

• Experience and technical knowledge of disaster risk reduction / disaster management.
• Experience writing briefings, reports, policies, and guidance notes.