Overview
This role focuses on leading private sector engagement and partnership development to strengthen strategic collaboration with Italian and international stakeholders, translating programme priorities into concrete partnerships and resource mobilization opportunities.
Key Responsibilities
- Refine and implement the private sector engagement strategy.
- Design internal processes and tools for operational effectiveness.
- Identify strategic opportunities for collaboration with public and private sector stakeholders.
- Lead the end-to-end process for establishing formal private sector partnerships.
- Facilitate communication and relationship management with Italian public administration and private sector stakeholders.
- Drive private sector partnership-related engagement activities with UNDP Central and Regional Bureaux.
- Lead the planning and execution of partnership-related events.
- Assist in the creation and refinement of communication materials.
- Maintain and update a contact database and engagement tracker.
- Support the collection and analysis of data for reporting on partnership activities.
- Draft and submit periodic donor reports, project updates, and internal progress summaries.
- Coordinate inputs from multiple stakeholders for high-quality reports.
- Ensure consistent documentation and dissemination of key results, lessons learned, and best practices.
- Ensure maintenance of a monitoring framework to track progress toward key performance indicators and partnership milestones.
- Provide direct support to the Partnership Team Lead in planning, scheduling, and coordinating high-level meetings and missions.
- Contribute to preparing briefing notes, background documents, and talking points for senior leadership.
- Serve as a liaison and logistical coordinator for cross-cutting events and stakeholder meetings.
- Track and follow up on action items and commitments made during high-level meetings.
- Monitor timelines, deliverables, and milestones across partnership-related projects.
- Ensure that project activities align with UNDP’s standards for inclusiveness, sustainability, and gender equity.
- Contribute to documentation and reporting of workplan progress and outcomes.
- Identify capacity building needs and opportunities.
- Ensure appropriate training, project workshops and other relevant activities are organized and implemented.
- Ensure project reports capture results, lessons learned and good practices.
- Participate in and ensure sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice.
- Support establishment of knowledge platforms for the project.
- Develop knowledge resources and products to share with project partners.
Required Experience
- Minimum of 5 years (with master’s degree) or 7 years (with bachelor’s degree) of progressively responsible experience in policy, regulation, and international development, with familiarity with climate and green energy policy is required.
- At least 5 years of progressively responsible professional experience in international development, and private sector engagement, preferably in climate change.
- Demonstrated experience in developing and managing partnerships with the private sector, including identifying, scoping, and structuring partnership opportunities aligned with SDGs and climate priorities and conducting due diligence and risk assessments for private partners in line with UN/UNDP standards.
- Facilitating public–private dialogues, roundtables, or platforms for sustainability and innovation for structuring partnership framework and mobilize resources.
- Demonstrated experience in designing and coordinating multi-country activities, particularly in developing countries and emerging economies.
- Demonstrated experience in regulatory and policy analysis, drafting reform recommendations, and producing high-quality publications.
- Demonstrated experience in stakeholder engagement with governments, multilateral organisations, and the private sector at senior level.
- Demonstrated experience in capacity building, including developing and delivering workshops, technical training, or Master Classes.
- Strong experience in supporting co-financing, blended finance, and impact investment initiatives in partnership with private-sector entities.
- Experience working with investment banks or impact investment funds, particularly in green finance, ESG, and sustainable infrastructure.
- Proven professional experience in managing consulting firms (management, strategy, or development consulting) on assignments involving policy advisory, corporate sustainability, or institutional partnership development.
- Demonstrated experience in engagement with foundations and philanthropic organizations focused on climate action, sustainability, and social innovation.
- Proven professional experience collaborating with — or working within — development finance institutions (DFIs) and multilateral development banks (MDBs), including the World Bank, EIB, EBRD, AfDB, ADB, and IDB.
- Demonstrated ability to coordinate multi-country or regional programmes across developing and emerging economies.
- Strong track record of producing high-quality policy and analytical outputs, such as policy papers, strategic briefs, and reform recommendations.
- Extensive experience designing and delivering capacity-building initiatives (workshops, trainings, mentorship programmes, and peer-learning exchanges) for government institutions, private sector actors, and civil society organizations.
- Proven competence in project design, budgeting, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and donor reporting.
- Experience in supporting co-financing, blended finance, or impact investment initiatives with private entities.
- Previous experience in Investment banks or impact investment funds.
- Previous work experience on climate and energy policy and frameworks is desirable.
Qualifications
- Advanced University Degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in International Development, Public Policy, Business and Economics, Political Sciences, International Relations or a related field is required.
- OR A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in the areas stated above, in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree.
