Research Assistant - Capacity Development and Governance

POSITION: Research Assistant - Capacity Development & Governance

REFERENCE NO.: 2014/UNU/FLORES/PSA/RA/CDG/24

LOCATION: Dresden, Germany

CLOSING DATE: 2014-05-15

Organizational Unit: UNU Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and of Resources (UNU-FLORES)

United Nations University objectives

UNU is an international community of scholars engaged in research, postgraduate training and the dissemination of knowledge in furtherance of the purposes and principles of the United Nations, its Peoples and Member States. The University functions as a think tank for the United Nations system, contributes to capacity building, particularly in developing countries, and serves as a platform for new and innovative ideas and dialogue.

UNU Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and of Resources (UNU-FLORES)

The mission of UNU-FLORES is to contribute to the development of integrated and sustainable management strategies for the use of water, soil and waste resources, in particular in developing and emerging countries, in scientific, educational, managerial, technological and institutional terms. Potential issues of focus include urban water management, nutrient cycles and budgets, methods for reclamation and rehabilitation of degraded sites, site-specific river-basin scale water management, interaction of land-use management and water inventory under differing climate conditions, and efficient site-adapted waste management strategies, among others. The Institute will develop innovative concepts for target- and region-specific knowledge transfer as well as appropriate methodologies and approaches for postgraduate and professional education.

The Institute is located in Dresden, Federal Republic of Germany. For more information please visit http://flores.unu.edu.

Capacity Development and Governance Unit

Research activities of UNU-FLORES have a strong applied and policy-oriented focus, in line with the general mission of UNU. Translating research into practice and the question how to implement management strategies receives ample consideration. Therefore, the Capacity Development and Governance Unit at UNU-FLORES develops implementation concepts and management strategies, focusing on the governance of environmental resources and capacity development at the individual and institutional levels.

The Nexus Observatory

An important mandate of UNU-FLORES is the development of a “nexus observatory”. It is envisaged that the observatory will document approaches and methodologies for capacity development that would advance the nexus approach for the management of environmental resources. It is expected that the regional workshops will provide inputs for the capacity development observatory by emphasizing links between science and decisionmaking and highlight important aspects of policy and program implementation in developing and emerging economies. The rationale of the capacity development observatory is to engage with science-policy challenges with the objective of identifying capacity development opportunities. The potential applications of a capacity development observatory are three fold:

• Cross-fertilization of ideas across regions/countries based on workshops, pilot implementation, PhD research and networking activities.
• Development of a nexus index that can potentially inform decisions on allocation of financial and/or human resources by governments at different scales — global, national and sub-regional.
• Policy dialogue at national, regional and international levels based on analysis of trends emerging from sector-specific or pilot projects in emerging and developing countries.

Responsibilities

Under the authority of the Director of UNU-FLORES and direct supervision of the Academic Officer – Capacity Development and Governance, the successful candidate shall carry out the following tasks:

1. Policy relevant research assistance:

• Research, extract and compile basic information and technical data on environmental resources governance and policy related topics;
• Sort, consolidate, extract and process data and enter into the relevant database;
• Assist in monitoring developments/issues on subjects or areas assigned by collecting, selecting, analyzing and compiling materials from multiple sources, e.g., relevant databases, the library and the Internet;
• Prepare a variety of reports, presentations, tables, lists, graphs, charts and/or diagrams for information and review by the supervisor;
• Prepare abstracts/bibliographic descriptions for inclusion in documents, articles, books and publications;
• Take notes and draft summaries of meetings;
• Support the fundraising of projects, including project proposal development, contacting and maintaining a dialogue with potential donors, and other work related to fundraising;
• Assist with interacting with other academic units to facilitate translation of scientific research outputs into policy-oriented material.

2. Assistance in the Nexus Observatory:

• Assist in developing the structure of the Nexus Observatory;
• Assist in organizing outputs from the other academic units;
• Conduct basic inputs on the observatory;
• Assist in producing content for the Nexus Observatory webpage and promotional material.

3. Online course administration:

• Assist in managing student registration and responding to queries;
• Assist in producing and managing content for the online course webpage, moodle and promotional material;
• Maintain strong links between online courses and the observatory;
• Liaise with the ICT Associate to ensure the sound operation of the online platform.

4. Other:

• Assist in the administrative tasks concerning the unit and the institute;
• Perform other duties as assigned by the supervisor or the need of the institute.

Required qualifications and experience

• Advanced university degree (master’s or equivalent) in social sciences such as law, policy, governance, education or other related field;
• Minimum one (1) year of professional work experience preferably in a related field such as policy research or managing student affairs;
• Proficiency in oral and written English and German is required. Knowledge of another UN language would be an asset;
• Ability to work within agreed timelines;
• Ability to translate research outputs into visuals and policy relevant language;
• A good team player with strong interpersonal skills demonstrated by the ability to work in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity;
• Knowledge of the UN or other international organizations would be an asset.

Remuneration: Remuneration will commensurate with qualification and experience of the successful candidate.

Duration of contract

This is a full-time employment (40 hours per week) for an initial period of six (6) months (renewable, subject to performance and funds availability) on a Personnel Service Agreement (PSA) with UNU-FLORES, with the combined duration of appointments not exceeding six (6) years.

The successful candidate will be employed under a local contract based in Dresden, Germany and will not hold international civil servant status nor be a “staff member” as defined in the United Nations Staff Rules and Regulations.

Applications from suitably qualified woman candidates and those from developing countries are particularly encouraged.

Starting date: As soon as possible

APPLICATIONS PROCEDURE

Interested applicants should submit their applications by email (to hrflores@unu.edu), and must include the following:

• a cover letter setting out how the qualifications and experience match the requirements of the position;
• a curriculum vitae and a completed and signed UNU Personal History (P.11) form (download at http://unu.edu/about/unu-services/hr/applying-for-a-position#files). Please avoid using similar forms provided by other United Nations organizations;
• full contact information of three (3) referees; and
• the email subject must comply with the format: Last Name_First Name_RA_2014/UNU/FLORES/PSA/RA/CDG/24.
• A written test may be required to screen the writing ability of the candidate.