Ic-research Associate

**IC-Research Associate (2 positions)**:
**Location**:

- New Delhi, INDIA**Application Deadline**:

- 24-Jun-22
- **(Midnight New York, USA)**

**Time left**:

- 14d 13h 53m**Type of Contract**:

- Individual Contract**Post Level**:

- National Consultant**Languages Required**:

- English**Duration of Initial Contract**:

- 6 Months**Background**:
UNDP operates in 177 countries, where it works with local governments to meet development challenges and develop local capacity. It works internationally to help countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UNDP was one of the main UN agencies involved in the development of the Post-2015 Development Agenda. To accomplish the SDGs and encourage global development, UNDP focuses on poverty reduction, democratic governance, energy and environment, social development, and crisis prevention and recovery. UNDP has worked in India since 1951 in almost all areas of human development, from systems and institutional strengthening to inclusive growth and sustainable livelihoods, as well as sustainable energy, environment, and resilience.

In India, NITI Aayog is the nodal agency for supervision and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in India. It is responsible for identification of national targets and assigning them to the Ministries/Departments concerned and for seeking the participation of State Governments for their participation in implementation and monitoring of the 2030 agenda through the localization of SDGs. UNDP has been extending technical support to NITI Aayog for the localization and integration of SDGs, Transformation of Aspirational Districts and the Atal Innovation Mission, to name a few. UNDP’s programmes continue to focus on building strong institutions through innovative participatory mechanisms to progressively deliver universal access to basic services for the last mile impact, leaving no one behind, complementing the works of United Nations Agencies engagements with NITI Aayog including the UNRCO technical support on SDG Index and Women Economic Forum etc.

Recognizing the relevance of policy advocacy for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals, UNDP launched a Policy Unit in 2020 to honor the mandate of national development agenda. The Unit leads UNDP India’s research and advocacy on Global Goals and the national development agenda, with a special focus on environment and climate change, skill development, and strengthening systems for SDG localization. We seek to onboard a Research Associate to join our growing, dynamic Policy team. The Research Associate will work under the direct supervision of the UNDP Senior Economist.

**Objective of assignment:

- **

As an integral member of the UNDP Policy Unit, the Research Associate will be expected to bring the highest degree of quality, work ethic, and consistency to deliver tasks which will include providing research support on various projects to the Policy Unit. Details on the scope of work is given below.

**Duties and Responsibilities**:
The consultant will be responsible for the design and implement targeted policy research using both primary and secondary data. She/he will write and present high-quality evidence-led policy briefs, reports and summary documents that will be shared both internally and externally, including to key donors and government counterparts. The consultant will also be expected to participate in and drive the development of new and novel concepts related to relevant policy discourse and the national development agenda, assist in evidence-led design of projects, to maintain transparent and detailed documentation, foster active learning within and outside the team on relevant policy and advocacy topics and perform any other relevant work assigned by the supervisor.

**Expected outputs and deliverables**
- Policy Unit Research lead on the ongoing study on the landscape analysis of employment and skills in the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Gujarat.
- Concept note and detailed methodology on the expansion of the multi-dimensional poverty index (MPI) to include environment and gender..
- Finalisation of the roadmap for sustained economic growth in context of post COVID-19 in Uttar Pradesh, including public finance analysis
- At least 4 policy briefs on core UNDP CO pillars in partnership with Team Leaders and stakeholders

**Competencies**:

- An understanding of India's development challenges, the federal structure, and key development policy debates is required.
- Ability to brainstorm, design and implement primary data collection, and to draft, tailor and communicate analytical results to a variety of stakeholders is crucial.
- Ability to conduct secondary research with a rich knowledge of reliable sources and data platforms (both government and non-government) is essential.
- Excellent working knowledge to Microsoft products such as Word and PowerPoint is essential while having knowledge of other products such as Access, Outlook