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The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

About us

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. Its mandate is to coordinate the development of environmental policy consensus by keeping the global environment under review and bringing emerging issues to the attention of governments and the international community for action. UNEP’s Ecosystems Division engages with governments and other partners to develop and promote ecosystem-based solutions for sustainable development. This assignment is in the Food Systems Coordination Unit of the Biodiversity and Land Branch, Ecosystems Division.

1.  Policy Coherence and Food Systems Specialist

Job Family : Environmental Affairs

Category and Level : Consultants, CON

Duty Station : NAIROBI

Department/Office : United Nations Environment Programme

Deadline : Nov 9, 2025

Result of Service
As a result of this service, it is expected that the consultant will successfully:

• Enhance UNEP’s capacity to support Parties in integrating food systems into biodiversity-related processes will be enhanced.
• Contribute to the availability of science-based knowledge products, policy guidance, and regional engagement activities that contribute to aligning food systems with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF).
• Identify and promote integrated action and monitoring across food, biodiversity, and climate agendas

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant will report to Officer-in-Charge of Food systems unit. The consultant will support the integration of food systems approaches into the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) by:

• Compiling a compendium of global technical materials, tools, and guidance on food systems and biodiversity.
• Producing case studies, best practices, and guidance notes to support integration of food systems into NBSAPs, with a focus on inter-ministerial collaboration and data-sharing.
• Developing and disseminating guidance on nature-positive agriculture and private sector engagement.
• Designing and delivering capacity-building modules and regional workshops/webinars in collaboration with FAO, UNDP, and other partners. • Preparing synthesis reports with recommendations for KMGBF implementation and 7th national reports.
• Creating technical guidance on mapping shared targets, indicators, and data holders across biodiversity, food systems, climate, and SDG frameworks.
• Supporting the development and piloting of country-level methodologies for integrated data collection and reporting in selected countries.

Qualifications/special skills

• An advanced university degree (master’s or equivalent) in political science, environmental governance, natural sciences or related areas is required. A first-level university degree, combined with two (2) additional years of qualifying experience, may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree.
• Professional Certification data sciences and climate innovation is desirable.
• A minimum of seven (5) years of progressively responsible experience in environmental conservation, environmental project management, and/or science-to-policy interface is required.
• Experience in the development of project documents, private sector engagement, policy guidance, and science communication materials is required.
• Proven technical expertise in sustainable food systems, Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEA) implementation, and demonstrated experience managing projects across diverse environmental contexts and project partners is required.

Languages
Fluency in English language is required. Knowledge of another official United Nations language is desirable.

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2. Monitoring and Evaluation Framework Consultant

Job Family : Environmental Affairs

Category and Level : Consultants, CON

Duty Station : NAIROBI

Department/Office : United Nations Environment Programme

Deadline : Nov 9, 2025

Result of Service

The ultimate result of this consultancy is a final and technically robust UN-REDD 2026–2030 M&E Framework, focusing on outcome-level indicators that reflect global climate and forest targets. This framework will guide Programme implementation and reporting, strengthen donor engagement, and position UN-REDD as a key player within the international forest and climate landscape.

Duties and Responsibilities

The UN-REDD Programme is entering its 2026–2030 strategic phase, building on over 15 years of operational experience in providing technical assistance to countries to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, enhance forest carbon stocks, and align forest action with global climate goals. A core pillar of this new phase is the establishment of a robust, outcome-level monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework that credibly captures the collective contribution of governments, the private sector, civil society, international partners, and other actors towards global forest and climate targets. The Programme has already developed a draft 2026–2030 Results Framework through a participatory process. The next step is to finalize and operationalize the outcome-level elements of this framework, integrating feedback received at the Ninth UN-REDD Executive Board meeting (June 2025) and aligning indicators with global agreements, donor priorities, and partner monitoring systems. This consultancy will provide senior technical leadership to complete this work. It will consolidate and expand previous analytical and consultative efforts and deliver a final and technically sound set of outcome indicators and associated implementation modalities. This will ensure the UN-REDD M&E Framework is fit for purpose for the 2026–2030 period, positioning the Programme strategically in the broader landscape of forest and climate.

This position is home-based, under the supervision of the Head of the UN-REDD Programme Secretariat. He/she will deliver the following tasks:

• Review the outcome-level section of the draft M&E Framework, incorporating key feedback from donors, partners, forest countries and subsequent inputs from agencies.
• Identify refinements to ensure conceptual clarity between outcome- and output-level indicators.
• Provide expert advice to the Programme and partner agencies on positioning the M&E Framework within the global monitoring landscape.
• Identify opportunities to strengthen synergies with global initiatives, avoid duplication, and enhance UN-REDD’s value-added role.
• Design and implement a targeted series of high-level interviews and consultations to capture priorities and perspectives on outcome-level monitoring
• Undertake technical analysis and indicator development; synthesize inputs from consultations to prepare a draft set of outcome indicators.
• Facilitate consultations with UN-REDD donors, partners, forest countries and subsequent inputs from agencies to validate the proposed indicators and framework design.
• Produce the final draft of the UN-REDD 2026–2030 M&E Framework, incorporating validated outcome indicators and clear implementation modalities.

Deliverables

The consultant will deliver the following outputs:

• Deliverable 1: Concept note / work plan detailing methodology, timeline, stakeholder engagement plan, and structure for developing the final outcome indicator.
•  Deliverable 2: Final set of outcome indicators and technical note, incorporating inputs from targeted consultations and agency validation

Qualifications/special skills
Education:

• An advanced-level university degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in environmental science, forestry, natural resources management, climate change, international relations, or related fields is required.

Experience:

• A minimum of 15 years of progressively responsible working experience in developing strategies, and/or proposals, and/or action plans, and/or programme reviews for international organizations or development agencies is required.
• Extensive knowledge and experience with forest and climate issues, including but not limited to the role the UN-REDD Programme plays within the broad “ecosystem” of climate and forest-related organizations, programmes, and initiatives is required.
• Proven expertise in conducting stakeholder consultations and facilitating multi-stakeholder processes is desirable.
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to synthesize complex information into actionable recommendations is desirable.

Languages

• English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this consulting position, fluency in oral and written English is required.

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