Programme Management Officer (Zero Plastic Waste)

The Programme Management Officer will coordinate environmental, social and economic analyses related to plastic waste reduction and recycling, support policy development, provide technical guidance, and engage with partners to implement sustainable waste management solutions. The role is based in Osaka, Japan, within UNEP's Chemicals and Health Branch, focusing on holistic waste management and zero plastic waste initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Coordinates qualitative and quantitative environmental, social and economic analysis related to reduction and recycling of plastic waste and other municipal waste streams in collaboration with UNEP Regional Offices and partners.
• Generates surveys and consultation questions; designs data collection tools; reviews, analyzes and interprets responses; identifies problems/issues and prepares conclusions.
• Assesses information on latest innovations, technologies and solutions for reducing municipal waste and recycling plastic waste, including scalable and fundable solutions from incubators and start-ups; presents comparative analysis on strengths and limitations from environmental, economic and social aspects.
• Researches, analyzes and presents information from diverse sources to assist in policy development and enforcement on reducing material and commodities ending in the waste stream, with emphasis on plastic waste and methane generating waste.
• Delivers technical guidance and advisory on best practices, feasibility assessment, risk and impact assessment, and key indicators for activities to reduce waste generation and plastic waste in the value chain.
• Supports review and quality control of municipal waste and zero waste related publications, background papers, analytical notes, briefings, messaging and communication materials in UNEP.
• Supports engagement with the private sector and develops partnerships to support implementation of activities on knowledge sharing, scale-up of innovative solutions, financing, and capacity development.
• Supports resource mobilization through development of project concepts and proposals and establishment of cooperation with private sector and other stakeholders.
• Provides substantive backstopping to consultative and other meetings related to municipal waste, including plastic waste and methane emissions, including proposing agenda topics, identifying participants, preparation of documents and presentations.
• Collects and analyzes data to identify trends or patterns and provide insights through data visualization methods to enable data-driven planning, decision-making, presentation and reporting.
• Performs other duties as required.

Requirements

• An advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in industrial engineering, material science, industrial product design or economics is required.
• A first-level degree (Bachelor's degree or equivalent) in the above-specified fields of studies with two additional years of relevant work experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• Successful completion of both degree and non-degree programs in data analytics, business analytics or data science programs is desirable.
• A minimum of seven years of progressively responsible experience in project or programme management or related area is required.
• A minimum of two years of experience in working on greening of product supply chains, and/or directly supporting national or local governments on waste reduction in value chains is required.
• Experience working in, or with, developing countries and managing development projects to reduce plastic pollution is required.
• 2 years or more of experience in data analytics or related area is desirable.
• English is required at UN Level III proficiency in reading, writing, listening and speaking.
• Either French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin) or Russian is desirable at UN Level II proficiency in reading, writing, listening and speaking.

Skills

• Project Management
• Programme Management
• Plastic Waste Reduction
• Sustainable Waste Management
• Environmental Policy
• Economic Analysis
• Social analysis
• Data Analytics
• Business Analytics
• Industrial Engineering
• Material Science
• Industrial Product Design
• Greening of Product Supply Chains
• Waste Reduction in Value Chains
• Development Project Management
• Technical Guidance
• Stakeholder Engagement

Languages

English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Russian