Head, Jobs, Growth and Structural Transformation [Open to Tier 0, 1 & 2 applicants], Madrid, Spain

## Head, Jobs, Growth and Structural Transformation [Open to Tier 0, 1 & 2 applicants], Madrid, Spain - Organization:UNDP - United Nations Development Programme - Office:UNDP - United Nations Development Programme in Madrid In line with the commitment to safeguard capacity and support personnel already in the Organization, a majority of UNDP UNCDF/UNV vacancies are advertised using a tiered application process whereby: - Tier 0: UNDP/UNCDF/UNV IP staff holding permanent (PA) and fixed-term (FTA) appointments, whose posts will be abolished, or contracts will be terminated or not renewed during 2026. - Tier 1: Other UNDP/UNCDF/UNV staff holding permanent (PA) and fixed-term (FTA) appointments - Tier 2: UNDP/UNCDF/UNV staff holding temporary appointments (TA), personnel on regular PSA contracts, and Expert and Specialist UN Volunteers - Tier 3 or no tier indicated: All other contract types from UNDP/UNCDF/UNV and other agencies, and other external candidates Please make note of the Tier(s) indicated in the vacancy title, if any, and ensure that you satisfy the eligibility to apply. UNDP is the knowledge frontier organization for sustainable development in the UN Development System and serves as the integrator for collective action to realize the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UNDP's policy work carried out at HQ, Regional and Country Office levels, forms a contiguous spectrum of deep local knowledge to cutting-edge global perspectives and advocacy. The Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) has the responsibility for developing all relevant policy and guidance to support the results of UNDP's Strategic Plan. BPPS's staff provides technical advice to Country Offices; advocates for UNDP corporate messages, represents UNDP at multi-stakeholder fora including public-private dialogues, government and civil society dialogues, and engages in UN inter-agency coordination in specific thematic areas. BPPS works closely with UNDP's Crisis Bureau (CB) to support emergency and crisis response. BPPS ensures that issues of risk are fully integrated into UNDP's development programmes. BPPS assists UNDP and partners to achieve higher quality development results through an integrated approach that links results-based management and performance monitoring with more effective and new ways of working. BPPS supports UNDP and partners to be more innovative, knowledge and data driven including in its programme support efforts. UNDP's Strategic Plan 2026-2029 positions prosperity for all as one of four strategic objectives, alongside effective governance, crisis resilience and a healthy planet. The Strategic Plan frames UNDP's contribution around integrated development solutions that support countries to advance human development in a fast-changing world, powered by three accelerators: digital and AI transformation, gender equality and sustainable finance. Within this framework, prosperity is understood as more than income growth. It is linked to expanded opportunities, decent jobs and livelihoods, access to productive assets, human capital, social protection, essential services, protection from shocks, and the removal of structural barriers that prevent people from participating fully in economic and social life. Within BPPS, the Prosperity and Wellbeing Hub advances UNDP's integrated prosperity agenda by supporting countries to move from poverty to prosperity through expanded opportunities, enhanced capabilities, stronger systems, and more resilient development pathways. The Hub is organized around three mutually reinforcing pillars / service lines: 1) Multi-dimensional Poverty, Inequalities and Capabilities; (2) Jobs, Growth, and Structural Transformation; and (3) HIV, Health and Inclusion. Duties and Responsibilities Based in Madrid, the Head, Jobs, Growth and Transformation will lead the Hub's second service line, providing senior-level policy leadership, technical guidance and strategic positioning for UNDP's work on jobs, livelihoods, inclusive growth and structural transformation. The Head will support the development and delivery of an integrated offer that helps countries translate economic transformation, private sector development and investment into concrete employment and livelihood outcomes. This service line responds to increasing country demand for support on the systemic enablers of job-rich development, including productivity growth, trade, industrial and sectoral policy, MSME competitiveness, value-chain development, skills systems, local economic development, and transitions from informal to formal work. It will help countries identify and address barriers within labour markets and enterprise ecosystems, while supporting emerging opportunities associated with green, blue, digital and AI-driven transitions, including jobs of the future. Across this work, particular attention will be given to women, young people, informal workers, MSMEs and groups facing structural barriers to economic participation. The incumbent provides leadership, policy direction and strategic positioning for UNDP's work on Jobs, Growth and Structural Transformation, and represents UNDP in the wider jobs, livelihoods and inclusive growth community of practice, including with the UN system, international financial institutions, bilateral partners, external experts, private sector actors, employers' and workers' organizations, and other relevant stakeholders. The incumbent facilitates and coordinates implementation support to the Prosperity and Wellbeing Hub's second service line. The incumbent ensures that UNDP's offer on jobs, livelihoods and structural transformation is informed by country demand, experience from the ground, and broader policy debates and analytical advances on job-rich growth, productive transformation, MSME development, skills, informality, trade, investment, green and digital transitions, and inclusive economic opportunity. To this end, the Head provides substantive leadership in the relevant technical areas and leverages capacities across the Hub, Regional Bureaux, Regional Hubs, Country Offices and the broader Global Policy Network. UNDP adopts a portfolio approach to respond to evolving business needs and to harness synergies across interventions in pursuit of its strategic goals. This approach reflects the interconnected nature of development challenges, which require multidisciplinary teams and integrated, systemic responses. Therefore, the incumbent is expected to work across issues, units, functions, teams and projects — collaborating horizontally across the Prosperity and Wellbeing Hub and with other parts of UNDP, including governance, crisis, planet, gender, digital transformation and sustainable finance — to enhance coherence, quality and impact. Under the guidance and direct supervision of the Director, Prosperity and Wellbeing, the Head is responsible for the following duties and responsibilities: 1) Substantive leadership and quality assurance of policy advice on jobs, growth and structural transformation: - Provide substantive leadership in the analysis of drivers, opportunities and constraints for job-rich, inclusive and sustainable economic transformation, with a focus on employment, livelihoods, productivity, MSME development, skills, informality, trade, investment and structural transformation. - Lead the development of relevant, timely and innovation-focused knowledge products, policy analysis, tools and guidance on jobs, growth and structural transformation, in close collaboration with relevant teams across BPPS and the organization. - Ensure that UNDP's policy advice on jobs and livelihoods is informed by country experience, high-quality quantitative and qualitative data, economic and labour market analysis, and the latest global policy debates and evidence. - Develop and present cutting-edge policy options to governments and other development actors on employment-intensive growth, productive transformation