Public Sector Innovation and Partnerships Specialist - Home Based [Open to Tier 0, 1 & 2 applicants]

Tiered Approach

In line with the commitment to safeguard capacity and support personnel already in the Organization, a majority of UNDP UNCDF/UNV vacancies are advertised using a tiered application process whereby:

• Tier 0: UNDP/UNCDF/UNV IP staff holding permanent (PA) and fixed-term (FTA) appointments, whose posts will be abolished, or contracts will be terminated or not renewed during 2026.
• Tier 1: Other UNDP/UNCDF/UNV staff holding permanent (PA) and fixed-term (FTA) appointments
• Tier 2: UNDP/UNCDF/UNV staff holding temporary appointments (TA), personnel on regular PSA contracts, and Expert and Specialist UN Volunteers
• Tier 3 or no tier indicated: All other contract types from UNDP/UNCDF/UNV and other agencies, and other external candidates

Please make note of the Tier(s) indicated in the vacancy title, if any, and ensure that you satisfy the eligibility to apply.

Background

Governments across Asia-Pacific are increasingly embracing digital transformation to enhance service delivery, improve governance, and respond to citizens’ evolving needs. However, the journey is complex and uneven marked by significant capacity gaps, fragmented institutional coordination, and the challenge of translating digital ambition into sustained, inclusive implementation. Many public sector institutions face limited digital and data literacy, weak ICT infrastructure, and policy environments lagging rapid technological change. Cross-government coordination is difficult where digital responsibilities are distributed across agencies without clear mandates or accountability, and efforts can become technology-centered rather than focused on making policies and services fit for purpose. 

The UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub (BRH) is UNDP’s regional platform for policy advisory services, technical assistance and programme support to Country Offices across Asia and the Pacific. Within BRH, the Regional Innovation and Digital (RID) Team support governments and Country Offices to design and deliver digital transformation that is inclusive, sustainability and implementable. Guided by UNDP’s Digital Strategy, RID Team prioritizes long-term capability and institutional strengthening over short-term fixes, providing hands-on support through: (i) Digital by Design and Portfolio Approaches, (ii) Public Sector Innovation Support, (iii) Digital Stewardship Community of Policymakers.

Building on these foundations, and in partnership with ADB, IsDB and other development partners, RID Team is advancing regional initiatives and service offers, including AI /DPI Stewards, Transformation Teams, DPI Safeguards (in collaboration with the Digital and AI Hub), and South-South Digital for Development Model for countries to learn, share, customize and experiment digital transformation models, while supporting cross-thematic application such as air pollution, climate and health, and system finance. 

RID Team is hiring a Public Sector Innovation and Digital Partnerships Specialist to help support UNDP Country Offices and partners to codify the abovementioned workstreams into project pipelines, programmes and forging new partnerships that scale impact across region.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Public Sector Innovation and Partnerships Specialist will report to the Team Lead- Regional Innovation and Digital Team and will work closely with UNDP colleagues regionally and globally, as relevant to the work being undertaken. The Specialist will undertake the following scope of work:

Lead the Digital Stewardship Community of Policymakers (Asia Pacific).

• Maintain the community’s workplan and reporting of engagement.
• Facilitate webinars, learning sessions, masterclasses, and virtual or in-person peer-learning missions for policymakers. 
• Curate and coordinate story-telling, light research and development (R&D) and “spotlighting” of policymakers’ initiatives, to foster a practical ‘learning by doing’ culture (including coordination of short written outputs such as blogs/ op-eds where relevant)

Support the co-design and delivery of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and AI Stewards programme.

• Work with governments and Country Offices to translate national priorities into practical stewardship journeys, use cases, and pilots. 
• Help anchor interdisciplinary teams across ministries to strengthen institutional capacity on digital public infrastructure, responsible AI, and whole-of-government transformation.
• Work with Digital and AI Hub (DAI Hub) Team in anchoring DPI Safeguards initiative across countries, through DPI/AI Stewards country workstreams.

Design and Develop “South-South Digital for Development” Offer

• Together with other specialists in the team, develop coherent offers on Financing Models, AI-DPI Economics Proposition, and South-South Digital for Development offer by identifying, packaging, and operationalizing DPIs, DPGs, stewardship models, and policy innovations from Asia-Pacific.
• Facilitate cross-country peer learning, learning missions, and expert exchanges to enable contextualized adoption of proven digital and governance solutions.

Facilitate and Co-Create Public Sector Innovation Offers on Air Pollution, Climate, Health and Cross-Thematic Systems Engagement with other GPN Teams/ Country Offices.

• Anchoring and socializing the ‘Transformation Teams’ concept.
• Design and deliver experimenting and capacity building offers for civil service reforms/ innovation.
• Design and deliver initiatives under Policy Labs/ Innovation Labs within the region.
• Support Country Offices/Cross-Team programming on systems and digital innovation for air pollution
• Coordinate and convene multistakeholder engagements emerging from new workstreams with Digital and AI intersection including Climate and Health, Disaster Risk Resilience, Gender,  Systems Finance, and related thematic areas

Lead on Partnerships and Resource Mobilization, Manage Strategic Communications, Outreach Engagements.

• On all of the above, support strategic communications and outreach by translating technical work into compelling narratives, thought leadership pieces, and policy briefs for diverse stakeholders. 
• Actively contribute to partnership development and resource mobilization by engaging donors, private sector partners, and academia, and supporting proposal development and joint fundraising efforts for digital and public sector innovation initiatives.

  Institutional Arrangement

The Public Sector Innovation and Partnerships Specialist will report to the Team Lead-Regional Innovation and Digital Team, and work closely with the Regional Digital Transformation Specialist, the Digital and AI Hub (DAI Hub), and other relevant colleagues across UNDP at regional and global levels supporting public sector innovation and digital partnerships, including in areas such as digital public infrastructure, AI governance, and cross-thematic initiatives such as air pollution and climate and health.  

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 & Strategy: Entrepreneurial Thinking  

Identify and seize opportunities to service and add value to clients, create clarity around UNDP value proposition to beneficiaries and partners, develop clear service offers responding to client needs in line with UNDP’s organizational priorities and mandate.

Business Development: Knowledge Facilitation     

Ability to animate individuals and groups, internally and externally, and to design and facilitate activities, to share and exchange knowledge, information and ideas. Knowledge of tools and approaches to stimulate active participation, contribution, and exchange.

Business Management: Project Management  - Ability to plan, organize, prioritize and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals.

Partnerships Management: Build and maintain partnerships with wide networks of stakeholders, Governments, civil society and private sector partners, experts and others in line with UNDP strategy and policies.

Digital Awareness and Literacy: Ability to monitor new and emerging technologies, as well as understand their usage, potential, limitations, impact, and added value. Ability to rapidly and readily adopt and use new technologies in professional activities, and to empower others to use them as needed. Knowledge of the usage of digital technologies and emerging trends.

Digital Innovation: capacity building              

Ability to define and create the conditions for trying out new ways of working or introducing new problem-solving approaches to an organization. Ability to develop, manage and evaluate a learning curriculum that raises awareness, builds confidence, strengthens innovation capabilities around a certain method, tool or technique; or helps develop an innovation mindset. Ability to create the authorizing environment (mandate, incentives) to embed and spread new ways of working. In-depth knowledge of one or more innovation methods, broad knowledge of innovation processes, and innovation management. Ability to align a learning and development strategy with broader innovation strategy.

Governance: Governance

Public Sector Strengthening and Innovation

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in Global Affairs, International Relations, Development Studies, International Relations/ Public Administration/ Public Policy/ related fields is required.  OR

A first-level university degree (Bachelor’s degree) in the areas mentioned above, in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

A minimum of 5 years (with Master’s degree) or 7 years (with Bachelor’s degree) of professional experience in development programming and social innovation in Asia Pacific context.

Required Skills:

• Proven experience supporting Governments and engaging diverse stakeholders on policy advocacy and public sector innovation initiatives.
• Experience in facilitating co-design processes and capacity building including exposure to experimental design, iterative approaches, or impact assessment.
• Experience in managing donor relationships, delivering against donor expectations, and supporting resource mobilization for programmes.

Desired Skils:

• Experience applying digital, data or emerging technologies (including AI) to support public sector innovation or policy making.
• Experience building partnerships and supporting resource mobilization with government, academia, private tech, donors and civil society. 
• Strong ability to identify new opportunities and translate them into actionable initiatives or programmes.
• Ability to work effectively in fast-paced environments with competing priorities and deadlines with strong coordination and organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple workstreams.  
• Experience working within the national or local government is an asset.

Required language(s): Fluency in English is required.

Equal opportunity

As an equal opportunity employer, UNDP values diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate and, as such, we encourage qualified applicants from all backgrounds to apply for roles in the organization. Our employment decisions are based on merit and suitability for the role, without discrimination. 

UNDP is also committed to creating an inclusive workplace where all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, are valued, can thrive, and benefit from career opportunities that are open to all.

Sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse of authority

UNDP does not tolerate harassment, sexual harassment, exploitation, discrimination and abuse of authority. All selected candidates, therefore, undergo relevant checks and are expected to adhere to the respective standards and principles. 

Right to select multiple candidates

UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement.  We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.

Use of AI by candidates

Applicants are invited to read UNDP’s guidance for candidates on using AI responsibly in UNDP recruitment and selection

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