Senior Climate Resilient Urban Development Advisor (Home based Retainer)

Job Description

Role: Senior Climate Resilient Urban Development Advisor (Home based Retainer)

Location: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Job Highlight

This is an excellent opportunity to make a meaningful impact in international development while advancing your career in a prestigious UN organization. The position offers exposure to high-profile projects, cross-cultural collaboration, and professional development opportunities in project management, stakeholder engagement, and operational excellence within the UN system.

Role Purpose

The Senior Climate Resilient Urban Development Advisor will independently provide strategic and technical support to the Ministry of Urban and Infrastructure Development. This role focuses on mobilizing climate finance, developing high-quality investment pipelines, strengthening institutional capacity, and supporting the implementation of climate-smart urban infrastructure and waste management priorities, adapting existing policies to meet emerging needs within Ethiopia’s Nationally Determined Contribution.

Functions / Key Results Expected

Project Development and Climate Finance

• Identify, assess, and prioritize climate-resilient, low-carbon, smart, and green urban investment opportunities, including integrated urban watershed management, nature-based flood and stormwater systems, green corridors and public spaces, waste management services, green infrastructure, non-motorized transport, climate-resilient public facilities, and smart-city enablers.
• Prepare, coordinate, and refine high-quality concept notes, project proposals, and investment packages for submission to climate and development financing institutions, including multilateral climate funds, development banks, bilateral partners, philanthropic organizations, and other relevant financing sources.

Capacity Building and Institutional Strengthening

• Assess institutional capacity gaps in fundraising, investment planning, project-pipeline development, proposal writing, and climate-responsive infrastructure preparation within the Ministry and relevant implementing institutions.
• Design and deliver practical in-house training, coaching, and mentoring for Ministry staff, regional bureaus, municipalities, and relevant sector actors on climate finance, concept-note development, proposal preparation, donor engagement, municipal investment planning, and climate-smart urban project design.
• Support municipalities to strengthen their technical capacity to adapt and replicate successful urban initiatives, including green-corridor development, public-space greening, climate-resilient urban drainage, low-carbon service delivery, and the use of digital tools for planning and urban management.

Policy, Planning, and Strategy Advisory

• Provide strategic advice on implementation of urban- and infrastructure-related climate priorities, including Nationally Determined Contribution commitments and broader climate-smart urban development goals.
• Support review and refinement of sector policies, standards, planning frameworks, and investment priorities to better integrate resilience, low-emission development, smart-city features, and green urban design.

Stakeholder Coordination, Monitoring, and Knowledge Management

• Facilitate collaboration among Ministry departments, municipalities, regional bureaus, the Ministry of Planning and Development, the Ministry of Finance, Development partners, academia, civil society organizations, private-sector actors, and financial institutions.
• Work closely with the NDC Partnership In-Country Facilitator and climate finance and climate policy advisors to ensure alignment, coordination, and follow-up on support provided to the Ministry.

Other Related Tasks

• Undertake field missions, consultations, reviews, and technical backstopping tasks needed to accelerate implementation of priority urban climate interventions.
• Support preparation of briefs, presentations, and decision notes for Ministry leadership and key stakeholders.

Skills

Capacity Building, Climate, Concept Development, Finance, Planning, Project Delivery, Stakeholder Engagement, Urban, Resiliency

Education Requirements

Required

• Master’s degree or equivalent, preferably in Urban Planning, Civil Engineering, Infrastructure Planning, Climate Change, Environmental Engineering, Architecture, Development Finance, Project Planning, Public Policy, or another closely related field.
• Bachelor’s degree in related discipline with an additional 2 years of relevant work experience (total 7 years) may be accepted instead of an advanced university degree.

Desired

• PhD in urban planning, green or climate smart infrastructure development, Integrated waste management or storm water management

Experience Requirements

Required

• At least 5 years of progressively responsible professional experience in urban climate resilience, climate finance, infrastructure investment planning, smart or green urban development, project preparation, fundraising, or closely related areas.
• Strong understanding of climate finance architecture and donor requirements, with practical experience engaging multilateral climate funds, development banks, bilateral partners, philanthropic organizations, or private investors.
• Proven experience in institutional capacity building, including delivery of training, mentoring, development of tools and guidance materials, and support to public institutions or municipalities in fundraising and project development.
• Good knowledge of climate-resilient urban development, low-carbon infrastructure, flood and heat resilience, waste management, urban service systems, green infrastructure, municipal implementation challenges, and practical smart-city applications in developing-country contexts.

Desired

• Demonstrated experience in preparing high-quality concept notes, project proposals, investment cases, and financing packages for climate, urban development, infrastructure, municipal services, or resilience-finance institutions, supported by strong analytical, writing, coordination, negotiation, facilitation, and stakeholder-engagement skills.
• Experience working with development partners, climate funds, bilateral programs, or multi-stakeholder urban resilience and infrastructure initiatives.
• Previous experience supporting government ministries, municipalities, or urban development institutions in Ethiopia or similar contexts.
• Knowledge of Netherlands-supported urban and infrastructure initiatives and their relevance to Ethiopia’s climate-smart urban agenda

Language Requirements

Language Proficiency

• English Fluent Required
• Amharic Fluent Required

Additional Information

• UNOPS does not accept unsolicited resumes.
• UNOPS will at no stage of the recruitment process request candidates to make payments of any kind.
• Applications to vacancies must be received before midnight Copenhagen time (CET) on the closing date of the announcement. Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and invited to proceed to the next stage of the selection process, which may include various assessments.
• UNOPS embraces diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity. Our workforce consists of a wide range of nationalities, cultures, languages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. We strive to sustain and strengthen this diversity, fostering an inclusive working environment where all personnel are treated with respect and have equal access to opportunities.
• UNOPS evaluates all applications based on the skills, qualifications and experience outlined in the vacancy announcement. We are committed to a fair and transparent selection process and welcome diverse perspectives, including those of women, indigenous and racialized communities, individuals of diverse gender identities and sexual orientations, and persons with disabilities.
• We are committed to enabling all candidates to perform at their best during the assessment process. If you are shortlisted and require support or reasonable accommodation to complete any assessment, please inform our human resources team upon receiving your invitation.
• UNOPS has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment, and other forms of abusive conduct, including discrimination, abuse of authority, and harassment. To uphold these standards, background checks are conducted for all final candidates to help ensure that individuals with a history of such conduct are not hired. By applying for a position with UNOPS, candidates acknowledge and consent to these verification processes.

Terms and Conditions

• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post.
• For retainer contracts, you must complete a few mandatory courses (they take around 4 hours to complete) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS. Refreshers or new mandatory courses may be required during your contract. Please note that you will not receive any compensation for taking courses and refreshers. For more information on a retainer contract here.
• For more details about the contract types, please click here.
• All UNOPS personnel are responsible for performing their duties in accordance with the UN Charter and UNOPS Policies and Instructions, as well as other relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, all personnel must demonstrate an understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a manner consistent with UN core values and the UN Common Agenda.
• It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential personnel. Recruitment in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.