Tiered Approach

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.

Background

UNDP is the UN’s global development network, an organization advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience, and resources to help people build a better life. UNDP works in about 170 countries and territories, working with national counterparts on solutions to global and national development challenges. In Bhutan, over the last 50 years, UNDP has been supporting the Royal Government to attain its national priorities. In 2024, UNDP started implementation of the Country Programme Document 2024-2028, aligning to the country’s 13th Five Year Plan (13th FYP).

In 2023, Bhutan graduated from the UN list of Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Over the past decades, the country has made remarkable progress in reducing income and multidimensional poverty, aligned with its commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Despite the impressive progress, the country is grappling with critical socio-economic challenges such as large-scale emigration of the productive and skilled labor force, youth unemployment, declining fertility rate, increasing trade deficit, and shrinking fiscal space. These challenges take place amidst a slow post-pandemic economic recovery and against the broader backdrop of structural challenges, such as limited economic diversification, a still-nascent private sector, absence of robust regulatory and institutional framework.

Bhutan’s 13th FYP (2024-2029) sets out the ambitious target of doubling the size of the country’s economy within the next five years and then doubling it again over the subsequent five year, reaching USD 10 billion by 2034, a target year that Bhutan plans to reach the high-income status.

Recognizing the challenges and potential opportunities in Bhutan’s 21st-century economy, the Royal Government of Bhutan aims to accelerate and foster a robust economic recovery and growth. It is in this context that the Royal Government of Bhutan requested UNDP’s policy advisory assistance to support the Prime Minister’s Office in a high-level consultation and the subsequent development of a development roadmap for the realization for the government’s development vision as outlined above.

In June 2025, the Royal Government endorsed the Bhutan 21st Century Economic Roadmap, which sets the ambitious target of growing Bhutan’s economy tenfold (10X) by 2050 or earlier and transforming the country into a high-income, inclusive and sustainable economy. Recognizing that achieving this 10X ambition requires a fundamentally different delivery architecture — one centred on performance, execution and accountability — the Royal Government has established a dedicated Delivery Unit (DU) under the Prime Minister’s Office, anchored within the Office of the Cabinet Affairs and Strategic Coordination (OCASC), to drive the implementation of the 21st Century Economic Roadmap and the 13th Five Year Plan.

The Delivery Unit forms part of a wider 10X Implementation Governance Structure that comprises a National Steering Committee (NSC) chaired by the Hon’ble Prime Minister. The DU will serve as the secretariat to the NSC and report directly to the Hon’ble Prime Minister. It will be composed of a multidisciplinary team with expertise in planning, economic and financial analysis, project and performance management, data analytics, investment facilitation and public–private partnerships.

The Delivery Unit’s mandate spans the full delivery cycle: (i) designing and formulating detailed sectoral roadmaps with defined interventions, milestones, KPIs and implementation pathways in close coordination with lead agencies; (ii) developing investment frameworks and financing strategies, structuring bankable projects, and engaging investors and development partners in coordination with the Economic Development Board (EDB); (iii) facilitating and negotiating public–private partnerships and coordinating implementation across ministries and agencies; (iv) rigorously monitoring progress through dashboards, field reviews and structured delivery assessments, and providing regular updates to the NSC and the Hon’ble Prime Minister; and (v) conducting annual evaluations of agencies implementing projects under the 21st Century Economic Roadmap. In doing so, the DU will institutionalise the missing link between strategic ambition and on-the-ground delivery, embedding a culture of performance, foresight and accountability across government and accelerating Bhutan’s journey towards high-income status by 2034.

To support this initiative, UNDP seeks to recruit an Investment Modelling Specialist to be embedded within the Delivery Unit at the Prime Minister’s Office. The Investment Modelling Specialist will provide dedicated financial and investment-modelling expertise to structure bankable projects, develop financing strategies, support investor engagement, and inform investment-related decisions of the National Steering Committee and Technical Steering Committees in pursuit of the 10X ambition.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the Director General, Office of the Cabinet Affairs and Strategic Coordination and Director, Office of the Prime Minister, and supervision of the Programme Analyst at UNDP CO, the Investment Modelling Specialist will lead the design, structuring and financial analysis of investment frameworks, financing strategies and project-level investment models for priority projects identified in the Bhutan 21st Century Economic Roadmap and other strategies and projects which are priority for the Delivery Unit The Investment Modelling Specialist will also support the Delivery Unit’s work in structuring bankable investment cases, mobilising private and development finance, and informing investment-related decisions of the National Steering Committee.

1.Lead investment modelling, financial analysis and bankability assessment:

• Develop and maintain investment and financial models for priority projects under the 21st Century Economic Roadmap to assess financial viability and bankability.
• Conduct risk analysis, scenario modelling and stress testing of investment proposals, including macroeconomic, market, regulatory, foreign-exchange, credit and operational risks, and propose appropriate risk-mitigation and risk-sharing arrangements.
• Contribute to macroeconomic and fiscal analysis of proposed projects and investments, in close coordination with the Macroeconomic Framework Coordinating Committee (MFCC) to ensure macroeconomic stability, debt sustainability and alignment with national fiscal policy.

2.Structure financing strategies and bankable investment cases

• Structure investment frameworks and financing strategies for priority sectors, including blended finance, public–private partnerships (PPPs), concessional finance, sovereign and sub-sovereign instruments, and equity and debt structures suitable for the Bhutanese context.
• Prepare bankable investment cases, project information memoranda, teasers and pitch materials to support engagement with domestic and international investors, development finance institutions, and development partners.
• Collaborate closely with the Bhutan Innovation Lab (BIL) to support the transition of Entry Point Project (EPP) blueprints into investment-ready projects, translating strategic recommendations, business models and implementation pathways into bankable investment cases, financing strategies, financial models and investor engagement materials.

3.Support sectoral 10X blueprints, 10X Labs and institutional capacity building

• Assist in the development of sectoral 10X project blueprints and contribute to the design and facilitation of 10X Labs and stakeholder clinics, providing investment-modelling and financial-structuring inputs to detailed sectoral roadmaps, KPIs and delivery plans.
• Develop standardized investment templates, valuation tools and modelling guidelines for use by the Delivery Unit, OCASC and line ministries, and provide hands-on capacity building and coaching to government counterparts on investment modelling and financial structuring.

4.Ensure gender-responsive analysis and programming and facilitate knowledge sharing

• Ensure the systematic integration of gender perspectives into policy analysis, recommendations, and programming, informed by sound gender analysis that incorporates sex-disaggregated data and addresses differentiated needs, priorities, and impacts across diverse groups.
• Identify capacity building needs and opportunities. Ensure appropriate training, project workshops and other relevant activities are organized and implemented in a consultative manner, involving technical experts and stakeholders that may include the government, private sector, NGOs, donors, and/or academia.
• Identify, synthesize and document best practices and lessons learned that are generated from the project and implementing partners.

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

Institutional Arrangements

The Investment Modelling Specialist will report to the Programme Analyst at UNDP and the Director General, Office of the Cabinet Affairs and Strategic Coordination, Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Competencies

Core Achieve Results:
LEVEL 3: Set and align challenging, achievable objectives for multiple projects, have lasting impact Think Innovatively:
LEVEL 3: Proactively mitigate potential risks, develop new ideas to solve complex problems Learn Continuously:
LEVEL 3: Create and act on opportunities to expand horizons, diversify experiences Adapt with Agility:
LEVEL 3: Proactively initiate and champion change, manage multiple competing demands Act with Determination:
LEVEL 3: Think beyond immediate task/barriers and take action to achieve greater results Engage and Partner:
LEVEL 3: Political savvy, navigate complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaboration Enable Diversity and Inclusion:
LEVEL 3: Appreciate benefits of diverse workforce and champion inclusivity

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies

Thematic Area Name Definition Business Direction and Strategy System Thinking

• Ability to use objective problem analysis and

judgement to understand how interrelated

elements coexist within an overall process or

system, and to consider how altering one element

can impact on other parts of the system

Digital & Innovation

Team design & management

• Ability to create a clear sense of shared purpose while leveraging curiosity, expertise and agency at an individual level.
• Set up and manage team rituals and rhythms that create a safe space for learning and reflection. Foster a positive culture around failure, encourage exploration, experimentation.
• Set the conditions and structures for 'fluid' team modelling and distributed leadership enabling the team to continuously develop and renew itself.
• Ability to create synergy between team members with diverse professional and cultural backgrounds, being able to leverage their broad knowledge and skillsets

Partnership management Resource mobilization

• Ability to identify funding sources, match funding needs (programmes/projects/initiatives) with funding opportunities, and establish a plan to meet funding requirements

2030 Agenda: Partnerships SDG Integration

• Economic forecasting

Digital Portfolio design & management

• Ability to identify leverage points in systems and design interventions that address them. The value of the interventions is determined not in isolation, but as part of the overall portfolio and their coherence.
• Ability to design processes that extract learning on an ongoing basis from existing portfolios, so that learning accrues over time and new options for action are continuously generated.
• Build a learning ecosystem around a complex development challenge: being able to mobilise a variety of stakeholders and help them learn and work together.
• Understand key principles of systems and complexity theory.

Business Management Communication

• Ability to communicate in a clear, concise and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience
• Ability to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media and other appropriate channels

Business Development Knowledge Generation

• Ability to research information and to turn it into

useful knowledge, relevant for context, or

responsive to a stated need. Ability to apply

existing concepts to new situations, and to develop

new concepts to generate workable solutions and

new approaches. Knowledge of relevant concepts,

conceptual models, and theories that can be

useful in addressing new situations

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in Finance, Economics, Investment Management, Business Administration (with finance specialization), Accounting, Financial Engineering, Econometrics, or a closely related quantitative discipline is required. Or
• A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in the areas stated above in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree

Experience:

• Minimum of 5 years (with master’s degree) or 7 years (with bachelor’s degree) of relevant professional experience in investment modelling, financial analysis, project finance, corporate finance, investment banking, or transaction advisory work is required.

Requird Skills:

• Proven experience in project management, financial and economic analysis is required.

Desired Skills:

• Relevant work experience in development of strategy and implementation plan for delivery would be an asset.
• Extensive experience in research and policy-level analysis is an asset.
• Proven expertise in advisory documents, development roadmaps, visionary roadmaps, and other strategic policies documents for Government or Private Sector is an asset.
• Proven experience and knowledge about application of innovation in solving complex issues in private or public sector (assessed through generating ideas, prototyping, and developing solutions with real impact is an asset. an asset.is desired.
• Prior experience working in an innovation lab in public or private sector would be an advantage.
• Relevant work experience in investment structuring and engagement with investors or financiers, would be an asset.
• Experience in strong quantitative and analytical skills, including proficiency in advanced Excel, financial modelling best practices, and familiarity with data and statistical tools is an asset.

Language:

• Fluency in English and Dzongkha is required.

Equal opportunity

As an equal opportunity employer, UNDP values diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate and, as such, we encourage qualified applicants from all backgrounds to apply for roles in the organization. Our employment decisions are based on merit and suitability for the role, without discrimination.

UNDP is also committed to creating an inclusive workplace where all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, are valued, can thrive, and benefit from career opportunities that are open to all.

Sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse of authority

UNDP does not tolerate harassment, sexual harassment, exploitation, discrimination and abuse of authority. All selected candidates, therefore, undergo relevant checks and are expected to adhere to the respective standards and principles.

Right to select multiple candidates

UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement. We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.

Use of AI by candidates

Applicants are invited to read UNDP’s guidance for candidates on using AI responsibly in UNDP recruitment and selection

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