Responsible Business Officer

Background Over the last several decades, pro-growth policies have translated into higher incomes and reduced poverty levels in many countries in Asia and the Pacific. However, economic development has not come without costs and risks, particularly to the most vulnerable. There is now wider recognition that business operations through supply chains in Asia can negatively impact upon society and the environment, with many commentators reporting that such practices are no longer sustainable, and that government and business must bring such practice to an end as a moral, legal, and economic imperative. In this context, the UNDP Asia-Pacific, Governance and Peacebuilding Team, Business and Human Rights Unit, is currently engaged in promoting the implementation of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), together with other relevant international standards. The UNGPs clarify the duty of states and the responsibility of businesses to uphold international norms and treaties on human rights. The UNGPs rest on three pillars: 1) the State’s duty to protect human rights; 2) the corporate responsibility to respect human rights and; 3) the joint responsibility of both the State and businesses sector to provide access to remedy for victims of business-related abuses. Momentum supporting the implementation of the UNGPs through National Action Plans (NAPs) is developing quickly in the region. Nurturing this, an already well-developed community of industry advocates, human rights activists, and development practitioners are deepening their work on a wide variety of thematic areas, while leading national and multi-national enterprises are embedding human rights due diligence approaches into their operational policies and corporate communication profiles. In this context, UNDP is implementing from January 2020, the project, Business and Human Rights in Asia: Enabling Sustainable Economic Growth through the Protect, Respect and Remedy Framework The goal of this project is to promote the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles in Asia through multi-country efforts focused on advocacy, policy development, technical advisory support, capacity building, awareness raising, innovation platforms, regional peer learning events, and South-South cooperation. The proposed project will be implemented by the UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub in collaboration with UNDP Country Offices and in partnership with regional initiatives, NHRIs, CSOs, other UN agencies, and the UN Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises. The National Specialist directly manages funds allocated for project implementation at the country level. In addition to planning, administration and reporting, the National Specialist inputs into policy research and develops knowledge products as well as supports communication, partnership-building and resource mobilization. The National Specialist reports to the Country Office but acts under the guidance of the Business and Human Rights Specialist, Crisis Prevention and Rule of Law, at the Bangkok Regional Hub. The National Specialist is responsible for performing and contributing to the following: • Programme implementation and communication • Awareness raising, capacity building, partnership-building and advocacy Duties and Responsibilities

1. Ensure effective programme implementation at the national level, including:

Coordinate annual work plan development and implementation according to project document;
Ensure project meets expectations as specified in project document, and update CO management and B+HR Unit at Bangkok Regional Hub as required;
Gather inputs and coordinate the preparation of work-plans, periodic narrative progress reports and expenditures status reports;
Establish systems for project planning, implementation and monitoring;
Record and maintain documents on relevant Country Office-led activities, issues, and risks;
Gather and compile all information necessary for monitoring and reporting on activities from the planning to the evaluation stages;
Monitor the implementation of activities and the expenditure of funds; conduct regular monitoring visits, as required;
Draft and provide inputs to annual and quarterly reports;
Coordinate development and preparation of financial resources including annual workplan budgeting and budget revisions, and expenditure tracking and revisions;
Monitor the allocation and disbursement of funds to partners per UNDP corporate guidance;
Advocate and facilitate knowledge building and management and communication in line with EU and UNDP guidelines.

2. Conduct awareness-raising, capacity building and advocacy activities, including:

Drafting reports or conducting quality control over reports, highlighting key issues, trends, emerging opportunities, risks, potential project partners, and entry-points for the country
Conducting consultations at National level with local partners including NGOs, business and government
Design and implement training, campaigning, and advocacy efforts as necessary
Develop partnerships with the UN Agencies, IFI’s, government institutions, bi-lateral and multi-lateral donors, private sector firms and civil society organizations in the specific thematic areas based on the strategic goals of UNDP Country Offices, country needs and donors’ priorities;
Deliver Presentations/workshops to Resident Coordinators and the UN Country Team to raise awareness and build partnerships at the national level.

3. Provide technical support, expert advice, and policy representation to support governments, businesses, business representative bodies and others in developing policy documents, regulatory guidance and corporate strategy, including:

Organizing national events on Responsible Business Practice to exchange best practices
Training government representatives on Responsible Business Practice and seize opportunities to use the implementation of the UNGPs as an instrument to strengthen gender equality and promote Environmental Sustainability
Facilitating discussions on key country-specific issues that can be incorporated into National Action Plans
Provide Comments on Base Line Assessments, and National Action Plans on Responsible Business Practice, or other policy instruments
Engage directly with business and business representative bodies on implementing standards in Responsible Business Practice and sharing good practice across industries or sectors;
Support research to showcase best practices in the field of responsible business practice, and any other research required to support promotion and understanding of the UNGPs and its varied applications;
Provide guidance to stakeholders of human rights and corporate due diligence best practices
Engage with stakeholders on access to remedy initiatives

Competencies

Innovation Ability to make new and useful ideas work	Adept with complex concepts and challenges convention purposefully Critically assesses established methods Contributes to prototyping, piloting, and evaluating lessons / feedback
Leadership Ability to persuade others to follow	Generates commitment, excitement and excellence in others Creates new opportunities for team, not just self to learn and take on new responsibilities Actively shares knowledge
People Management Ability to improve performance and satisfaction	Models independent thinking and action Demonstrates behaviors of teamwork, collaboration, knowledge sharing, building and maintaining relationships and partnerships
Communication Ability to listen, adapt, persuade and transform	Synthesizes information to communicate independent analysis Communicates ideas and positions with command and confidence Finds common ground to solve problems
Delivery Ability to get things done while exercising good judgement	Meets goals and quality criteria for delivery of products or services Embraces complex challenges and opportunities for getting work done Ability to embrace challenges with minimal supervision Works to develop organizational awareness of UNDP’s approach to client service delivery and integrity and accountability

Required Skills and Experience

University degree in Law, Economics, Political Science, Public Policy, International Development, Business Management, other Social Sciences, or closely related fields.
Minimum 3 years of relevant experience on programme and policy work preferably in CSR, Responsible Business Practice, International Development, Compliance, Corporate Governance or Human Rights. Familiarity and with the UNGPs and any experience working on CSR, Responsible Business and Human Rights matters is an asset.
Experience working with governments, business, business representative bodies and NGOs, preferably in Asia on Responsible Business Practice issues is also an asset.
Fluency in English and Vietnamese is essential, both written and oral.

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