The Cities Alliance is a global partnership promoting the role of cities in poverty reduction and sustainable development. Hosted by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and managed by a Secretariat based in Brussels, the Cities Alliance is a unique partnership with a diverse membership, which is committed to strengthen both developmental impacts through improved coherence in urban development.

Cities Alliance is a global leader with a strong track record in grant making, that supports strategic city planning, slum upgrading strategies and national policies designed to make cities more inclusive and sustainable.

Through UNOPS, the Cities Alliance operates a Multi-Donor Fund supported by an efficient, and flexible grant-making mechanism with a global reach.

Cities Alliance activities are guided by its 2018-2021 Strategic Plan, with a recalibrated business model combining a Global window for normative work and a Country/City window for operations across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the MENA region.

Through the Strategic Plan, Cities Alliance members have made clear commitments to ensuring that the Cities Alliance is a global leader in promoting gender policies that are institutionalized, and which improve the daily lives of ordinary citizens.

Cities Alliance is seeking a highly motivated and dynamic Urban Specialist as the partnership’s Gender Focal Point.

S/he will have responsibility for keeping the Cities Alliance at the forefront of international best practice, influence both members and partners, and act as an advocate for Cities Alliance policies.

Under the guidance and supervision of the Head of Global Programmes, the incumbent will perform a broad range of analytical and operational functions to continually increase the gender mainstreaming capacity of the Cities Alliance in general, and particularly through its operational windows and at corporate level.

This will require the continued revision and updating of the Gender Mainstreaming Strategy and its Action plan for the Secretariat, ensuring that grant procedures are gender-responsive. S/he will oversee the application of tools such as the Gender Marker System, the development of a Gender portfolio for both normative and operational activities, and provide cross-support to projects as needed to inform gender-responsive programming and monitoring.

S/he will be required to represent the Cities Alliance internationally, contribute to effective and efficient team work, delivering results on time, within budget and to the highest quality

The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world.

Mandated as a central resource of the United Nations, UNOPS provides sustainable project management, procurement and infrastructure services to a wide range of governments, donors and United Nations organizations.

Cities Alliance, which is hosted by UNOPS, is the global partnership promoting the role of cities in poverty reduction and sustainable development.

Headquartered in Brussels and supported by a Secretariat, it is a unique partnership with a diverse membership which has come together to strengthen both impacts and coherence in urban development.

Cities Alliance is a global leader, with a strong track record in grant-making to support strategic citywide planning, slum upgrading strategies and national policies designed to make cities more inclusive and sustainable. Through UNOPS, the Cities Alliance operates a Multi-Donor Fund supported by an efficient, flexible grant-making mechanism with global reach.

The incumbent will be responsible for the below functional responsibilities:

1.

Programme identification and development

• Seek and identify additional funding opportunities, and, when requested, lead the negotiations and preparation of funding proposals, donor briefings and presentations in support of Cities Alliance’s mission and vision.
• Lead in the development of new programmes and projects on inclusive urban development in line with the priorities of the Cities Alliance mission, vision and Strategic Plan.
• Analyse international programmatic and sectoral trends to identify strategic areas and comparative advantage for the Cities Alliance by providing substantive orientation, positioning for normative and country level operations, and areas of business growth.

2.

Programme governance, implementation and monitoring

• Assume overall responsibility for the management and planning of an assigned portfolio of programmatic activities within the Cities Alliance, focusing on the MENA and ECA regions while also providing support for other countries and regions as needed.
• Perform day-to-day programme oversight to ensure successful implementation and delivery of the assigned portfolio.
• Ensure that project management policies, processes and methods are followed for the assigned portfolio and that there is operational, fiduciary and quality compliance with Cities Alliance and UNOPS rules and procedures.
• Recruit, manage, and motivate a team of international consultants and local personnel to successfully implement projects and achieve the goals within the assigned portfolio.

3.

Technical expertise and cross-support

• Provide thematic expertise, advice, and cross-support to the Secretariat on inclusive urban development and urban poverty, as well as across the thematic priorities of the Strategic Plan, with specific attention to gender, climate change, and migration.
• Ensure that assigned normative and operational activities of the Cities Alliance advance the role of cities in the international development agenda, and highlights the importance of pro-poor and inclusive urban development;
• Foster synergies and alignment on key urban issues between normative work and country operations, as well as with projects, programmes, and portfolios under the purview of other urban specialists.
• Support regional, national, and local policy initiatives and dialogues, enhancing the institutional capacities of policymakers and local authorities in urban planning.
• Provide analytical and sector-specific technical inputs in project outputs, knowledge and communications materials, keynotes and other relevant substantive documents to be delivered by the Cities Alliance Secretariat, members, and partners.
• Share and insitutionalise best practices and lessons learned for corporate development planning and knowledge building.

4.

Networking, Partnerships and Advocacy

• Establish effective relationships with Cities Alliance partners for the assigned portfolio, building a resource network that includes political leadership at national, sub-national, and community levels, as well as key stakeholders in academia and the private sector.
• Serve as a focal point for select Cities Alliance members, supporting outreach to new partners, facilitating inter-institutional cooperation, and identifying new membership opportunities.

  Encourage the development of member-driven activities at global, regional, and sub-regional levels.

• Represent the Secretariat and Cities Alliance at conferences, panels, and meetings, as needed.

Education:

• PhD (Doctorate) in any of these fields would be an asset.

• Master’s degree preferably in Urban Studies, Business Administration, Development Studies, Economics, Finance, Social Sciences, Political Science or related fields required;

• Bachelor’s degree preferably in Urban Studies, Business Administration, Development Studies, Economics, Finance, Social Sciences, Political Science or related fields with additional 2 years of relevant experience may be accepted in lieu of a Master’s degree.

Experience:

• At least seven (7) years of work experience in the international development sector on urbanisation issues is required.