Chief Technical Specialist [open To Internal And External Applicants]

Organizational Context

UNDP is the UN's global development network, supporting countries in climate change and disaster resilience, aligned with the Paris Agreement, Sendai Framework, and 2030 Agenda. The Central Asia region faces significant disaster impacts and climate change risks, with urbanization outpacing adaptation efforts. This role sits within the UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub's Climate and Disaster Resilience Team, focusing on strengthening the urban resilience portfolio through regional projects.

Job Purpose

The Chief Technical Specialist provides high-level technical guidance, strategic direction, and oversight for UNDP’s urban resilience portfolio in Central Asia. This office-based role is crucial for ensuring the achievement of relevant objectives and outputs through expert advice, capacity building, and the development and application of innovative approaches in urban planning and resilience building. The specialist will lead efforts to strengthen regional disaster resilience, enhance urban planning, and improve earthquake awareness and readiness across five Central Asian countries. This involves supporting the design, implementation, and scaling of initiatives, ensuring alignment with international best practices and global frameworks like the Paris Agreement and Sendai Framework. The role contributes significantly to fostering sustainable development that is risk-informed, net-zero, and resilient, by maximizing synergies between urban resilience and disaster risk reduction initiatives and promoting integrated approaches. Regular field missions will ensure effective implementation and coordination across programme countries.

Responsibilities

The Chief Technical Specialist provides strategic and technical leadership for the urban resilience portfolio, guiding the design, implementation, and scaling of initiatives at regional, national, and city levels. This includes offering expert technical and policy advice on establishing and strengthening regional collaborative mechanisms for urban resilience and disaster coordination, advancing transformative risk governance frameworks, and designing innovative climate adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and earthquake awareness and preparedness measures. The role ensures all portfolio initiatives align with international best practices, regional priorities, and global frameworks such as the Paris Agreement, Sendai Framework, and 2030 Agenda. Close coordination with Project Managers and partners, including UNDP Country Offices and national governments, is essential to ensure strategic coherence and technical quality. Key duties involve leading the development and refinement of integrated approaches to climate and disaster risk assessment, urban planning, and regional resilience-building, ensuring these are risk-informed, net-zero, inclusive, and resilient. The specialist introduces, adapts, and mainstreams innovative methodologies, continuously identifying and integrating emerging tools and technologies to strengthen urban resilience. Furthermore, the role supports capacity building and knowledge sharing for key stakeholders on urban resilience and earthquake preparedness, facilitating the exchange of best practices. Regional collaboration is strengthened through supporting coordination mechanisms for disaster preparedness, response, and recovery, enhancing strategic engagement with development partners, and undertaking regular field missions for on-site technical support and oversight.

Work Experience

A minimum of 5 years (with a Master’s degree) or 7 years (with a Bachelor’s degree) of proven experience in project/programme management is required. This experience should specifically be in urban resilience, disaster risk reduction, disaster coordination, earthquake preparedness, climate change, urban/environmental planning, or land use and physical planning. Desirable experience includes technical oversight in these areas and managing projects for UN, development partners, or international organizations.

Skills

Required skills include deep subject-matter expertise in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), climate adaptation, and seismic risk, with experience in policy, operations, and designing innovative preparedness measures. Strong regional coordination and mechanism-building experience for urban resilience and disaster coordination is essential. Excellent communication, written, and presentation skills are needed, alongside the ability to work in multidisciplinary teams and manage complex tasks. Core competencies: Achieving results, innovative thinking, continuous learning, adaptability, determination, engaging and partnering, and fostering diversity and inclusion. Technical competencies: Systems thinking, strategic thinking, portfolio management, collective intelligence design, and expertise in climate change adaptation (urban resilience, livelihoods), disaster risk reduction and recovery, and urban/local level disaster risk management.

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