Head of Experimentation

In support of the Government of Zimbabwe, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has embarked on the implementation of a five-year Country Programme Document (CPD) 2022-2026.

UNDP focuses on areas that have a multiplier effect through a targeted build-up of capacities, policies, the creation of dialogue space, and scalable downstream interventions. Proposed downstream interventions will seek to provide platforms for citizen engagement in democratic processes and facilitate access to skills, knowledge and new technologies for increased income generation.

In so doing, UNDP Zimbabwe renders its support through the following three programmatic areas:

1. Democratic Governance
2. Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Livelihoods
3. Climate Change and Resilience Building

The Strategic Plan for UNDP 2022-2025 describes the organization intends to work together with our partners to deliver what’s required of us in these extraordinary times. This bold, ambitious Plan is structured around “3x6x3” – 3 directions of change, 6 signature solutions and 3 enablers – a clear framework for where UNDO needs to head. Over the next four years, we will work with countries to expand people’s choices for a fairer, sustainable future. Helping to get us back on track to deliver on the SDGs. The UNDP Strategic Plan embraces the complexity of development and commits the organization to helping countries find faster, more durable solutions to achieve Agenda 2030. Important development trends like urbanization, climate change, and rising inequalities pose significant challenges on our path to achieve the 2030 agenda of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

UNDP has begun incubating a number of strategic initiatives aimed at ensuring UNDP is ‘fit for purpose’ to deliver a new generation of solutions in line with the challenges the world faces. One such key strategic initiatives is the Country Accelerator Lab Network. The initiative is a recognition that increasingly interrelated development challenges require going beyond business as usual and single point, linear and silver bullet responses in development. Instead, they call for an interdisciplinary approaches and non-linear solutions that crowd in the collective efforts of variety of partners and tap into local insights and the knowledge of people closest to the problem and the solutions. The initiative is also a recognition and an investment in the emerging momentum among a growing number of UNDP Country Offices around joining together disruptive, cutting edge methodologies with contextual, country-based insights and expertise to accelerate impact and progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals.

Within the delegated authority and under the supervision of Deputy Resident Representative Programmes and the oversite of the Head of the Nature, Climate and Energy Unit, the UNV Expert – Head of Experimentation – will:

Experiment portfolio design
• Works with UNDP and partners in mapping the context and nature of development challenges, with a particular focus on understanding systemic issues beyond traditional silos and classifications and identifying drivers of change, and levers for intervention.
• Mapping systems and assets, identifying levers and logic for intervention, building hypotheses of change that are a fit to the system level challenges. identified
• Identify logic against which to asses fit and coherence of the individual portfolios with the frontier challenges on which they are meant to generate learning.

Management of prototype experiments for sustainable development challenges.
• Collaborate with UNDP colleagues and stakeholders on the design of experiments across to validate the hypotheses and test the effectiveness of identified prototypes, including (but not limit to) defining variables, formulating hypotheses, and coordinating experimental protocols.
• Develop a framework to capture the learning from the experiments in such a way that it favours critical reflection and rapid adaptation over static reporting.
• Provide technical guidance for experiment design, roll-out and validation based on the experiment conditions, resources available, and requirements.
• Proactively manage risks within experiments including those related to ethics and privacy.

Working out Loud
• Proactively use blog and social media to adhere findings from the portfolio implementation.
• Help UNDP and partners disseminate insights from Accelerator lab experiments via social media platforms as a way to regularly reflect and engage with external audiences.
• Liaise with UNDP’s global Accelerator Lab network and share learnings and insights from the country-specific experience.
• Jointly with the CO, support lab partners to develop an emerging pipeline of new initiatives, support other activities related to the design and operation of the Lab.
• Design and deliver engaging and meaningful methods for reflection on learning from experiments.
• Proactively use blog posts and social media to share insights, attract partners and help position Accelerator Lab at the forefront of the exploration of new trends.
• Lead other activities related to the design and operations of the Accelerator Lab.

Organizational learning, working out loud and grafting experimentation onto the core business of UNDP
• Help embed a portfolio logic in clients’ work including the existing UNDP Country Programme (as determined and agreed with the senior management)
• Working with clients to encourage reflection and capturing of insights from individual experiments, as they related to the overall portfolio logic
• Provide technical consultation and training for national partners and the CO through various phases including asset mapping, developing a strategic portfolio logic, experiment design, prototype testing, and evaluation
• Any other related tasks as may be required or assigned by the supervisor.

Furthermore, UN Volunteers are encouraged to integrate the UN Volunteers programme mandate within their assignment and promote voluntary action through engagement with communities in the course of their work. As such, UN Volunteers should dedicate a part of their working time to some of the following suggested activities:
• Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day);
• Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country;
• Provide annual and end of assignment self-reports on UN Volunteer actions, results and opportunities.
• Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.;
• Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly-arrived UN Volunteers;
• Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible.

To Note:
The Accelerator Labs will be comprised of a core team with niche capabilities that focus on exploration, experimentation and ethnography. Each member of the Core team will take the lead on one of the following functions:

1) Coordination
2) Training
3) Communications

The Core team of the Accelerator lab will have capabilities in:

• Experimentation (instituting rapid learning about emerging challenges through design and running of a portfolio of experiments that is coherent with the type of challenges that are part of UNDP’s strategic plan, and
• Ethnography: deep immersion in community dynamics, identification of and work with lead users, and implications of bottom up solutions for the policy design
• Exploration: The exploration function focuses on discovery and sensemaking of emerging trends, implications for systemic impacts and risks, and their potential for accelerating progress toward SDGs. Its work feeds into the portfolio of experiments ensuring its coherence with the emerging risks and opportunities (direct collaboration with the Experimentation Lead) and connects local dynamics and solutions (link with the Ethnography Lead) into the broader national and international ecosystem of potential funders, partners, and allies thereby increasing the chances for acceleration. While critical for the functioning of the Accelerator Lab, the exploration function will also service the Country Office as determined and agreed with the UNDP senior management.