Job Description

Background

UNDP has been working in India since 1951 in almost all areas of human development. Together with the Government of India and development partners, we have worked towards eradicating poverty, reducing inequalities, strengthening local governance, enhancing community resilience, protecting the environment, supporting policy initiatives and institutional reforms, and accelerating sustainable development for all.

With projects and programmes in every state and union territory in India, UNDP works with national and subnational government, and diverse development actors to deliver people-centric results, particularly for the most vulnerable and marginalized communities. As the integrator for collective action on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within the UN system, we are committed to supporting the Government of India’s national development vision and priorities and accelerating the achievement of the SDGs for the people and the planet.

UNDP India’s new Country Programme (2023-2027) builds on our prior work and aims to provide an integrated approach to development solutions in three strategic portfolios:

• Strong, accountable and evidence-led institutions for accelerated achievement of the SDGs.
• Enhanced economic opportunities and social protection to reduce inequality, with a focus on the marginalized.
• Climate-smart solutions, sustainable ecosystems and resilient development for reduced vulnerability.

South-South cooperation, gender equality and social inclusion are promoted across the pillars. The programme is supported by a framework of renewed partnerships and blended finance solutions, strategic innovation and accelerator labs, and data and digital architecture.

You are invited to join a team of future-smart development professionals to support India in achieving the national and globally agreed goals. As part of the UNDP team, your focus will be to work with diverse stakeholders to find country-specific solutions that lead to sustainable development and reach those furthest behind first.

Project Description

UNDP’s Country Programme Document (2023-2027) intended outcome 2 states that “By 2027, people will benefit from and contribute to sustainable and inclusive growth through higher productivity, competitiveness and diversification in economic activities that create decent work, livelihoods, and income particularly for youth and women”. The Sustainable and Inclusive Growth portfolio is aligned to outcome 2 of the UNDP country plan. The focus of the portfolio is enhanced economic opportunities and social protection to reduce inequality, with a focus on the marginalized communities across the country.

Under the portfolio, there are several projects being implemented Across different thematic areas such as Skills, Jobs and Sustainable Livelihoods, Women Entrepreneurship and Youth Innovation, Accessible and Inclusive Social and Risks protection Mechanism, Care Economy with focus on:

• Socio-economic empowerment and resilience building of marginalized and vulnerable populations through bridging the information gap, building managerial, financial, and digital capacities and improving access to opportunities.
• Support unlocking the full impact of public supports schemes– Agri Insurance & Credit, Social protection, Forest Rights and Entitlements, Skill India, NULM with improved Institutional Capacity, Service Delivery and Enhanced Coverage
• Confront the significant barriers and stigma faced by women and girls, enhance agency and promote inclusive workplace.
• Promote responsible business behaviour as well as greater industry participation specifically SMEs in the skilling ecosystem.

Over the past decade, UNDP India’s value-chain programming has prioritized women’s agency alongside income generation, recognizing that increased commercialization can alter intra-household and enterprise-level control over assets and decision-making. Accordingly, interventions have sought to address not only market access and productivity, but also women’s roles, voice, and bargaining power across the value chain, with particular attention to ownership, leadership, and decision-making at household, collective, and enterprise levels. Programmes such as DISHA built gender-transformative roles like Women Sourcing Managers (WSMs) and Women Business Managers (WBMs) that place rural women at the heart of procurement, quality, pricing, logistics and enterprise management across FPOs and producer groups.

Building on its past work, UNDP is implementing a new project i.e. “Market Led Inclusive Value Chain Development” to significantly strengthen women's economic empowerment, improving outcomes such as incomes, asset ownership, productivity, and savings. Overall goal of the planned project is “resilient, equitable and inclusive value chain, which ensures sustainable livelihood and increased income for rural households, particularly women SHG/ collective members”. The approach is to facilitate integration of gender-responsive strategies throughout all stages of the value chain, not just isolated initiatives.

The project is anchored with the Deendayal Antodaya Yojana- National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) under the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), with a Technical Support Unit (TSU) being established within MoRD to support strategic coordination, technical assistance, and implementation oversight. NRLM has already laid strong foundations by linking primary producers to markets and building producer organizations on a scale. Building on these models, UNDP, in partnership with relevant stakeholders, will work across select value chains (including pulses, spices, horticulture, and non-timber forest produce or minor forest produce) and states to further enhance women’s agency – particularly in post-harvest operations, processing, branding, and market engagement.

In this context, UNDP proposes to recruit a Value Chain Officer - Non-Timber Forest Produce (NTFP) for the Market-Led Inclusive Value Chain Development Programme. The Value Chain Officer - NTFP) will provide technical and analytical support for the value chain assessment of key NTFP, intervention design, and implementation, bringing demonstrated experience in NTFP value chain and livelihoods development, market systems analysis, and gender inclusive value chain approaches.

Duties and Responsibilities

Reporting To: National Project Manager - Value Chain Development and Private Sector Partnerships

Under the overall guidance and supervision of the National Project Manager - Value Chain Development and Private Sector Partnerships, the Value Chain Officer NTFP (Non Timber Forest Produce) will provide technical and analytical support for the design and implementation of inclusive, market-led value chain interventions in the selected value chain.

The position will support analysis of the value chains of selected NTFP like, development of intervention strategies and implementation plans, and coordination with government, private sector, and ecosystem stakeholders specific to the NTFP value chain to strengthen the participation of women SHGs, producer collectives, and women-led FPOs in market systems.

The scope of work includes:

• Supporting participatory analysis across the NTFP value chains (Lac, Tamarind, Chironjee, Mahua, Saal leaves, gums, resins, etc) to identify constraints, opportunities, and gender-responsive intervention pathways.
• Supporting development and implementation of value chain-specific intervention strategies, action plans, and operational frameworks.
• Supporting integration of producer collectives and women-led FPOs into formal markets through technical assistance and coordination with ecosystem actors.
• Supporting development of operational tools, training modules, and technical guidance to strengthen implementation capacity.
• Supporting coordination with private sector actors, government agencies, and ecosystem stakeholders to implement inclusive value chain interventions.
• Supporting programme monitoring, reporting, and knowledge management related to value chain development.

Main Purpose:

The main purpose of the position is to support UNDP and the DAY-NRLM, Ministry of Rural Development in strengthening inclusive and market-led value chain development under the programme. The Value Chain Officer NTFP (Non-Timber Forest Produce) will contribute to value chain analysis, intervention design, and implementation support to enhance productivity, value addition, market access, and economic participation of women SHGs, producer collectives, and women-led FPOs of NTFP (Lac, Tamarind, Chironjee, Mahua, Saal leaves, gums, resins, etc) value chain. The position will lead technical analysis and intervention design functions and provide analytical inputs to support partnership development, programme implementation, and scaling of inclusive value chain models.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Value Chain Analysis and Intervention Design

• Support participatory analysis across the NTFP value chain (Lac, Tamarind, Chironjee, Mahua, Saal leaves, gums , resins, etc), including mapping of value chain actors, market dynamics, and gender-disaggregated roles, constraints, and opportunities.
• Prepare value chain diagnostics, analytical reports, and intervention opportunity assessments to inform programme strategy and prioritisation.
• Support development of value chain-specific intervention strategies, action plans, and implementation frameworks.
• Support development of operational tools, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and technical guidance to facilitate implementation.

Ensure Programme Implementation and Stakeholder Engagement

• Support implementation of value chain interventions across selected geographies, ensuring alignment with programme objectives and timelines.
• Provide technical inputs to strengthen productivity, value addition, enterprise development, and market linkages for producer collectives and FPOs.
• Support development of intervention packages integrating capacity development, technology adoption, and market integration.
• Coordinate with implementing partners and technical agencies to ensure quality and timely delivery of programme outputs.
• Support coordination with MoRD, SRLMs,Forest Department, private sector actors, financial institutions, and ecosystem stakeholders to facilitate programme implementation.
• Support organisation and documentation of technical consultations, stakeholder workshops, and consortium meetings.
• Support consortium activities including preparation of technical inputs, knowledge products, and learning outputs.
• Maintain coordination trackers and support follow-up on agreed actions.

Ensure Private Sector Integration and Market Systems Development

• Support design of private sector participation strategies and partnership models to integrate women-led collectives into formal and NTFP value chains (Lac, Tamarind, Chironjee, Mahua, Saal leaves, gums, resins, etc).
• Provide technical inputs to private sector engagement efforts led by the Private Sector Partnerships Officer, including preparation of value propositions, intervention concepts, and partnership frameworks.
• Support development of technical guidance, toolkits, and operational frameworks to facilitate inclusive sourcing and value chain partnerships in NTFP with private sector agri-business, luxury, retail, or food companies.
• Support identification and development of scalable partnership ready. & models around aggregation, processing, value addition, marketing and branding with private sector in NTFP value chains

Monitoring, Reporting, and Knowledge Management

• Support monitoring and tracking of programme outputs and outcomes related to value chain interventions, including gender-disaggregated indicators.
• Prepare progress reports, analytical briefs, technical notes, and implementation summaries.
• Support documentation of best practices, case studies, and lessons learned to inform programme improvement and scale-up.
• Contribute to programme knowledge systems, dashboards, and learning platforms.

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

Competencies

Core competencies

• Achieve Results: LEVEL 1: Plans and monitors own work, pays attention to details, delivers quality work by deadline
• Think Innovatively: LEVEL 1: Open to creative ideas/known risks, is pragmatic problem solver, makes improvements
• Learn Continuously: LEVEL 1: Open minded and curious, shares knowledge, learns from mistakes, asks for feedback
• Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 1: Adapts to change, constructively handles ambiguity/uncertainty, is flexible
• Act with Determination: LEVEL 1: Shows drive and motivation, able to deliver calmly in face of adversity, confident
• Engage and Partner: LEVEL 1: Demonstrates compassion/understanding towards others, forms positive relationships
• Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 1: Appreciate/respect differences, aware of unconscious bias, confront discrimination

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies

Business Direction & Strategy

• Negotiation and Influence - Reach a common understanding/agreement, persuade others, resolve points of difference through a dialogue, negotiate mutually acceptable solutions and create ‘win-win’ situations.
• Systems 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

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.

Business Management

• Partnerships Management - Build and maintain partnerships with wide networks of stakeholders, Governments, civil society and private sector partners, experts and others in line with UNDP strategy and policies
• Digital Awareness and Literacy - Ability to monitor new and emerging technologies, as well as understand their usage, potential, limitations, impact, and added value. Ability to rapidly and readily adopt and use new technologies in professional activities, and to empower others to use them as needed. Knowledge of the usage of digital technologies and emerging trends.
• Working with Evidence and Data - Ability to inspect, cleanse, transform and model data with the goal of discovering useful information, informing conclusions and supporting decision-making

Partnership Management

• Emerging Partnerships - Ability to engage with emerging partners, develop and manage a strategy and develop approaches to developing and managing these new strategic partnerships

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced university degree (master's degree or equivalent) in Economics, Agricultural Economics, Forest Management, Rural Management, Forestry, Agribusiness, Rural Development, Development Studies, Public Policy, or related field is required; or
• A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) 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 2 years (with master’s degree) or 4 years (with bachelor’s degree) of progressively responsible experience in NTFP value chain development, including value chain analysis, intervention design, and programme implementation, with exposure to livelihood promotion, agricultural markets, and work with producer collectives in rural/tribal contexts.

Required skills

• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with government systems and multi-stakeholder partnerships, with proven experience in the forestry ecosystems and regulations related to harvesting of minor forest produce and NTFP

Desired skills

• Demonstrated experience of working with SHGs, producer collectives, or FPOs in value chain or livelihoods programmes or private sector companies dealing with NTFP products, processing, procurement & marketing
• Proven experience in managing agricultural programmes for NTFP, integrating gender-inclusive approaches and market linkage/value chain solutions.
• Experience supporting enterprise development, value addition, and livelihoods initiatives within agricultural or rural value chains.
• Prior experience working with multilateral organizations in the implementation of relevant programmes.

Required Languages

• Fluency in English and Hindi 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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