Social Protection Specialist

Job Title: Social Protection Specialist (IPSA10)

Organization: UNDP

Job Identification: 12957

Location: Lusaka, Zambia

Apply Before: 08/27/2023, 06:59 AM

Job Schedule: Full time

Grade: IPSA-10

Vacancy Type: International Personnel Service Agreement

Practice Area: Inclusive Growth

Bureau: Regional Bureau for Africa

Contract Duration: 1 Year

Education & Work Experience: Master's Degree - 5 year(s) experience OR Bachelor's Degree - 7 year(s) experience

Required Languages: English

Vacancy Timeline: 2 Weeks

Job Description

Background

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are core principles at UNDP:  we value diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate, we foster inclusion as a way of ensuring all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, and we ensure equity and fairness in all our actions. Taking a ‘leave no one behind’ approach to our diversity efforts means increasing representation of underserved populations. People who identify as belonging to marginalized or excluded populations are strongly encouraged to apply. Learn more about working at UNDP including our values and inspiring stories. 

UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks. 

Social protection plays an important role in the fight against poverty and vulnerability in Zambia. The social protection sector in Zambia has grown significantly over the past 6 years, on the back of a comprehensive National Social Protection Policy Framework. Implementation of the Framework has been supported by the UN Joint Programme for Social Protection since 2016. The United Nations Joint Programme on Social Protection (UNJPSP) is currently running in its second phase. The UNJPSP Phase I (2016-2019) supported the operationalization of the NSPP pillars (Protection, Social Assistance, Social Security/Insurance and Livelihood and Empowerment) including the cross-cutting themes (Disability and Nutrition). Phase II (2019-2022) of the programme took a more focused approach with a particular interest in strengthening and integrating the systems underpinning the Social Cash Transfer (SCT) programme to enable them to carry the massively increased caseload and facilitate relevant “Cash Plus” linkages in alignment with the GRZ’s “Integrated Framework of Basic Social Protection”. UNDP recognizes the value of social protection in promoting inclusive, resilient and integrated social policies and programmes. Consequently, UNDP recently joined UNJPSP to complement past and current efforts and add more value to social protection based on its comparative advantages. UNJPSP II was recently extended to 2024 and the 2023-2024 workplan, based on the milestones and challenges of the previous experiences of the partnership, is prioritizing (i) SCT management; (ii) 1000 days social cash transfer pilot; (iii) Disability inclusion; (iv) Coordination; and (v) Social accountability. Out of those UNJPSP priorities, UNDP has been assigned Disability inclusion, Coordination and Graduation. 

Against that background, UNDP therefore seeks to recruit a Social Protection Specialist to facilitate the rolling out and implementation of the above assigned roles within the UNJPSP framework. The Social Protection Specialist will work closely with the Strategy and Policy Unit on analytical works, specifically focus on the three roles assigned to UNDP, i.e., disability inclusion, coordination and graduation. On disability, the Social Protection Specialist is expected to strengthen capacities of ZAPD in leadership and mainstreaming for disability inclusion in government planning, budgeting and monitoring and evaluation processes; communications and advocacy; and enhancing employability among PWDs. On coordination, the Social Protection Specialist will support the MCDSS to strengthen its coordination functions for the Human and Social Development Cluster of the 8NDP and for the National Social Protection Policy (NSPP). The Social Protection Specialist is also expected to collaborate with other agencies within the UNJPSP to building evidence for and programming towards graduation. Beyond the UNJPSP, the Social Protection Specialist will explore other possible areas of collaboration that UNDP can make a difference such as inclusive growth, resilience, local governance, social justice and economic empowerment.

Duties and Responsibilities

Policy Positioning and Representation:

• Provide substantive inputs in the process of deepening UNDP involvement in the social protection space within the UNJPSP; 
• Conduct research and analysis and draft materials to support mobilizing, fostering and strengthening strategic partnerships with UN entities, donors, GRZ, organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs), academia, private sector, civil society networks and other relevant stakeholders;
• Support team’s engagement in UN interagency coordination in social protection, socio-economic inclusion, resilience building and disability inclusion by providing research insights;
• Promote a better integration of social protection policy with the country’s social and economic policies; 
• Explore new avenues and opportunities for programme expansion and resource mobilization; 
• Represent UNDP in policy forum, dialogues and events on social protection and inclusive growth. 

Capacity building and technical support: 

• Strengthen coordination functions of MCDSS for the Human and Social Development Cluster and for the NSPP; 
• Support implementation of the coordination strategy (including material support to the coordination unit);
• Support the development of ZAPD Strategic Plan;
• Provide technical support to the development of disability mainstreaming guidelines;
• Provide a periodic review on the status of disability inclusion in Zambia;
• Strengthen participation of ZAPD and Organisations of Persons with disabilities in pre national budget consultations and post budget analysis, national planning and Monitoring and Evaluation processes;
• Conduct capacity assessment on OPDs and ZAPD staff;
• Support capacity building of the National Trust Fund for Persons with Disabilities (NTFPD) in business and entrepreneurial skills;
• Support mentorship training for CSOs and OPDs.
   

Policy Research and Development:

• Support research on disability inclusion and empowerment to inform advocacy, development policy and programmes;
• Support research on graduation pathways for SCT programme;
• Explore graduation models and share best practices from across the globe to inform GRZ’s policy thrust on graduating beneficiaries from various programmes;
• Conduct analysis of disaggregated data, case evidence and research findings to distill relevant lessons from projects and programmes to support policy development and innovation; 
• Review and assess policies in disability and social protection with the objective to identify gaps and opportunities for development of new policies and to guide the overall team priorities and workplans.
   

Programme Support and Policy Advice:

• Conduct relevant analysis and guidance and prepare initial drafts of technical policy advice and programme support documents for UNDP interventions within and beyond the UNJPSP framework;
• Support government line ministries in integrating policy advice in social protection and socio-economic inclusion and empowerment programmes; 
• Incorporate gender equality, disability inclusion, youth inclusion and human rights’-based approach in policy and programming work;
• Develop policy initiatives for different contexts on key emerging policy agendas related to social protection and disability; and 
• Support the quality assurance of policy services and foster policy innovation in social protection, disability inclusion and socio-economic inclusion by reviewing lessons learned and evaluations to enhance programme delivery;
• Promote livelihood enterprise support for PWDs across the relevant UNDP-Zambia programme support areas (Environment, Energy and Climate Change; Gender; and Inclusive Growth). 

Institutional Arrangement

The Social Protection Specialist works under the direct supervision of the Deputy Resident Representative and in close collaboration with the Strategic Policy Unit (SPU) and the Inclusive Growth and SDG acceleration Unit.  

Competencies
 CORE

• 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: 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 Direction & Strategy: System Thinking  

• Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgement to understand how interrelated elements coexist within an overall process or system, and to consider how altering one element can impact on other parts of the system

Business Development: Knowledge Facilitation   

• Ability to animate individuals and communities of contributors to participate and share, particularly externally

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 
• Ability to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media, and other appropriate channels

Partnership management: Relationship Management      

• Ability to engage with a wide range of public and private partners, build, sustain and/or strengthen working relations, trust and mutual understanding 

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master's degree, in development studies, development economics, sustainable development, or other related field;
• Bachelor's degree in relevant field with additional 2 years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of advanced university degree.

Experience:

• Minimum 5 years (with Master's degree) or 7 years (with Bachelor's degree) experience with increasing responsibility in the area of social protection, policy development and social protection in public (national or multilateral, including UN) or private sector (academia, non-governmental sector, corporate); 
• Demonstrated experience in providing policy advice on integrated social protection systems and developing tools and methodology to support countries in their implementation of the SDGs;
• Familiarity with debate on social protection and disability inclusion, legal and policy reform in Zambia, ability to identify coordination challenges and elaborate proposals for effective institutional reform in the sector;
• Knowledge and experience of organizational capacity development, results-based monitoring, including the generation and analysis of survey data;
• Knowledge and experience in mainstreaming cross-cutting issues, particularly disability, in sector policies, plans and programmes, including at national and sub-national levels;
• Knowledge and relevance of experience in supporting, advising, and guiding the implementation of complex, multi-stakeholder projects in social protection;
• Prior experience of working on Social Protection in other African countries is an added advantage.

Language Requirement:

• Proficiency in English.
• Knowledge of any other UN language/Local language of the duty station.

Disclaimer

Applicant information about UNDP rosters

Note: 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.

Non-discrimination

UNDP has a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual exploitation and misconduct, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.  

UNDP is an equal opportunity and inclusive employer that does not discriminate based on race, sex, gender identity, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, age, language, social origin or other status. 

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Required Skills

Partnership Management

Partnership Management

Project Management

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