Consultant (CTC5)

About UN University (UNU)

The United Nations University (UNU) is a global think tank and postgraduate teaching organization within the United Nations System. UNU engages in policy-relevant research, capacity development, and knowledge dissemination in furtherance of the purposes and principles of the United Nations. The work of UNU contributes to solving pressing global problems that are the concern of the United Nations and its Member States.

For the past five decades, UNU has been a source of impartial research on sustainability, human security, and economic development. With hundreds of researchers working at institutes in 12 countries, UNU's expertise spans the full breadth of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, generating policy-relevant knowledge to effect positive global change. UNU collaborates closely with other UN entities and leading research institutions across the globe. For more information, please visit http://unu.edu

About Office/Institute

United Nations University, Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) is one of 13 research and training Institutes that comprise the think tanks in the UNU system. UNU-IAS is a UNU institute based at UNU Headquarters in Tokyo. The mission of UNU-IAS is to serve the international community through policy-relevant research and capacity development focused on sustainability, including its social, economic and environmental dimensions. Through its postgraduate education programmes UNU-IAS developes future international leaders with interdisciplinary understanding and skills needed to advance creative solutions to problems of sustainability. UNU-IAS builds on a strong tradition of UNU research and capacity development in Japan, undertaken in collaboration with a global network of professionals and scholars, particularly in Africa and Asia. For more information, please visit http://ias.unu.edu

The Global Environment Outreach Centre (GEOC) promotes outreach of the institutes and supports partnership development among diverse stakeholders to address local sustainability challenges by acting as the hub and intermediary. As the project will mark the 30th anniversary in 2026 since its establishment, the project will conduct a comparative study of intermediary organizations that facilities community-led initiatives through multi-stakeholder collaborations. The research will be conducted through online interviews and the key findings will be used to enhance the function and operation of the GEOC.

Responsibilities

Under the general supervision of the Programme Manager and the direct supervision of Programme Coordinator of the GEOC, the consultant shall:

1. Implement interviews and summerise key findings

• Arrange and conduct online interviews with approximately 5 selected organizations;
• Develop interview reports in Japanese and English;
• Summarize each organization’s operating model, including its governance, financial scheme, organization scale, target sectors, and its key activities in Japanese;
• Analyze key elements contributing to the effectiveness of the organizations;

2. Contribute to the reporting process

• Develop progress reports and a final report in Japanese;
• Develop presentation slides for the Project Advisory Board meetings;
• Attend in-person Project Advisory Board meetings in Tokyo which will be held approximately 3 times during the contract period and present the updates;
• Participate in online coordination meetings with the project team and donors;
• Revise deliverables based on feedback;

3. Contribute to the coordination with project stakeholders project progress

• Ensure detailed interview arrangements and project progress through day-to-day email communication with relevant stakeholders;
• Arrange meetings and interviews, and coordinate schedules with relevant parties;

4. Perform other duties requested by the supervisor.

Key performance indicators

• Completion of interviews with 5 organizations
• Production of interview reports
• Delivery of the presentation at the Project Advisory Board Meetings
• Creation of the presentation materials, meeting memos, progress reports
• Attendance of the all in-person Project Advisory Board Meetings and online coordination meetings with the project team and donors
• Timely response to project-related communications, including scheduling

Competencies

Values:

• Inclusion - Take action to create an environment of dignity and respect for all, regardless of age, culture, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, gender expression, geography, grade, language, nationality, racial identity, religion, sex, sex characteristics, sexual orientation, social origin or any other aspect of identity.

• Integrity - Act ethically, demonstrating the standards of conduct of the United Nations and taking prompt action in case of witnessing unprofessional or unethical behaviour, or any other breach of UN standards.

• Humility - Demonstrate self-awareness and willingness to learn from others.

• Humanity - Act according to the purposes of the United Nations: peace, dignity and equality on a healthy planet.

Behaviours:

• Connect and Collaborate - Build positive relationships with others to advance the work of the United Nations and work coherently as One UN

• Analyse and Plan - Seek out and use data from a wide range of sources to understand problems, inform decision-making, propose evidence-based solutions and plan action

• Deliver Results with Positive Impact - Hold oneself and others accountable for delivering results and making a positive difference to the people and causes that the United Nations serves

• Learn and Develop - Pursue own learning and development and contribute to the learning and development of others

• Adapt and Innovate - Demonstrate flexibility, agility and the ability to think and act in novel ways