Senior Regional Consultant, Central Asia – Environment, Chemicals

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Result of Service

To position the Almaty Office as a regional environmental hub by expanding its project portfolio, increasing visibility, and organizing regional capacity-building and awareness-raising events bringing together stakeholders from across Central Asia.

Work Location

Almaty, Kazakhstan

Expected duration

12 months

Duties and Responsibilities

UN Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading global environmental authority that 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. The Climate Change Division is the lead Division charged with carrying out the functions of UNEP in the field of environmental Climate Change. To fulfill its mandate, the work of the Climate Change Division focuses on: working with Members States and Partners to accelerate and support a just transition by addressing mitigation and adaptation gaps through enhancing implementation capacity, access to finance and technology, and building resilience. The Climate Change Division promotes sustainable development and effective policies for climate stability; support action so that countries progress on decarbonization, dematerialization, and resilience pathways in line with their climate commitments, aspirations, and needs; and foster transparency in reporting. UNEP's Subregional Office for Central Asia, hosted by Kazakhstan and established in Almaty in 2015 under a Host Country Agreement signed in 2022, serves as the main coordination hub for the region. The adoption of the UN Regional Centre for the Sustainable Development Goals for Central Asia and Afghanistan in Almaty, endorsed by the UN General Assembly in March 2025 and formalized through a Host Country Agreement signed on 3 August 2025, further strengthens Almaty's role as a regional UN hub. Building on this momentum, UNEP's vision is to position its Almaty Office as a regional environmental hub by expanding its project portfolio, increasing visibility, and organizing regional capacity-building and awareness-raising events bringing together stakeholders from across Central Asia. The Nature-Based Solutions Innovation Accelerator (NBS-IA) is a new UNEP project (with financial contribution from the government of Italy) to enhance infrastructure resilience in Central Asia and Africa through NBS. The NBS-IA provides grant support to the design and implementation of both existing and future infrastructure. Through competitive calls for proposals, the initiative will support consortia who can demonstrate the highest impact and innovation, as well as the financial and operational viability. Eligible countries in Central Asia include Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. While the scoping analysis of the types of eligible infrastructure is still ongoing, it could potentially include energy, water, transport and urban infrastructure. UNEP is also implementing a project funded by the Russian Federation titled 'Capacity development and technology transfer to improve the generation and use of data and information in support of monitoring the environment in Central Asia'. This project (called the 'Environmental Monitoring in Central Asia project') will result in capacity building for Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to use the latest Geographical Information System (GIS) technologies for mapping, modelling and monitoring the state and trends of environmental issues focusing on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The project will deliver an Atlas of Environmental Change for each country as well as a GEO data portal with environmental information. In this context, UNEP is seeking an experienced project management consultant for Central Asia to help on the activities and outputs of both the Italy-funded NBS-IA project and the Russian ODA project. The location of this position is in the UNEP Sub-regional office in Almaty, ROE. Under the direct supervision of both the Project Manager of NBS-IA and the Head of Central Asia Subregional Office, the senior consultant will perform a number of specialized tasks that contribute to the delivery of the NBS-IA and the Environmental Monitoring in Central Asia project. The consultant will support the implementation of 2 projects: 1) the Italy-funded NBS-IA project and 2) the Russian ODA project. For the NBS-IA project, the consultant will be responsible for the daily coordination with stakeholders in all five Central Asian countries. This includes informing government organizations about the initiative, actively expand and build new partnerships with relation to the implementation of the project and provide local support for missions, workshops, site visits etc. The consultant will also support the monitoring of project implementation in the region, once winning consortia are selected. For the Russian ODA project, the consultant will be supporting the closure of the of the project. This includes the review and consolidation of partners' input to the final reports, lead on the preparation of the final operational closure, reporting to donors, as well as coordination and liaison with government agencies for any follow-up support. Under the supervision of Project Manager of the NBS-IA project and the Head of Central Asia Subregional Office of the UNEP Regional Office of Europe, the consultant will undertake the following activities: 1) NBS-IA project

• Partnership development in the Central Asia region, including with governmental organizations, research institutes, private sector players, international and regional financiers in the resilience infrastructure fields.
• Support in pipeline identification and development. This includes establishing a database of priority areas for each country, mapping of existing and upcoming NBS and infrastructure related interventions and opportunities.
• Provide local support for in-country missions, organizations of workshops, webinars and other outreach events.
• Provide project monitoring support for selected consortia, including regular check-ins, onsite visits and knowledge management.
• Representing NBS-IA in regional forums and events, raise the visibility of NBS-IA among regional and national players.
• Any other tasks assigned by the NBS-IA Project Manager with relevant to the delivery of the project. 2) Environmental Monitoring in Central Asia project
• Review and consolidate partner reports for the Environmental Monitoring in Central Asia project
• Prepare an operational closure report (internal)
• Prepare final report for the donor
• Coordinate and liaise with government agencies and stakeholders to provide follow-up support with regard to publications and digital infrastructure
• Undertake outreach activities in Central Asia to promote the use of the products and services that have been developed through the project

Qualifications/special Skills
The consultant should have a Masters' Degree or equivalent in the area of international organisations, consulting, environmental finance or project management. At least seven (7) years of professional experience in the area of international organisations, consulting, environmental finance or project management is required. Experience with the UN system and having a network with government agencies in Central Asia as well as private sector companies in the Central Asian region are desired. Sound project management skills and experience in the field of environmental management is required. The technical and analytical expertise to carry out the tasks required for the activities and outputs of the NBS-IA and the Russian ODA project in Central Asia is required. Computer literate in standard software applications is required. Good interpersonal skills is a requirement. Good report writing and communication skills is a requirement. Able to manage a variety of tasks in parallel and be quickly adaptable is desired.

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. Fluency in Russian language is a requirement. Knowledge of Kazakh language is an added advantage.

Additional Information

Not available.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS' BANK ACCOUNTS.