Development Cooperation Intern

Job Description

INTERNSHIP OFFICE BACKGROUND

The UNDP Seoul Policy Centre (USPC), established in 2011, represents UNDP in the Republic of Korea (ROK), works with the ROK on international development priorities, and shares the development experience and technical expertise of the ROK with other countries. As one of UNDP’s global policy centres, USPC works as a facilitator of innovative development cooperation for the achievement of the SDGs in four thematic areas of i) development cooperation modalities and approaches, ii) governance and gender, iii) green recovery and transition, and iv) private sector engagement and development.

Building on the unique development experience of the Republic of Korea and UNDP’s wide Global Policy Network, USPC facilitates knowledge exchanges of SDG-enabling development solutions in the above-mentioned thematic areas through its signature ‘SDG Partnership’ country-support programme and other initiatives, and brokers partnerships between Korea and other countries to help tackle development challenges.

The Centre’s development cooperation work is an integral component of USPC’s programmatic work, and aims to i) identify, implement and disseminate practices and lessons learned as to how development cooperation could be undertaken better and ii) build and strengthen relations with Korean and other international development cooperation actors to establish innovative partnerships that address shared challenges such as achieving digital transformation and green transition.

The Development Cooperation team has traditionally worked on broad development cooperation issues, including engaging with bilateral government partners, and exploring emerging modalities of cooperation. While the team continues to support these areas, its current focus has expanded to digitalisation and AI adoption. This includes work on statistical capacity building, AI integration, open-source innovation, digital transformation, research on Official Development Assistance (ODA) data, and the development of in-house digital solutions.

USPC offers a small group of outstanding final-year undergraduate, graduate students, and recent graduates the opportunity to acquire direct exposure to UNDP’s work and gain technical knowledge and experience in international development and multilateral cooperation.

For more information on USPC’s work, please visit the website: https://www.undp.org/policy-centre/seoul.

DUTIES

The intern will assist in the following duties and responsibilities:

1.) Assist and support to Development Cooperation programme activities (90%):

• Support the conceptualization and facilitation of projects in collaboration with the wider UNDP network and Korean partners. This may include tasks such as supporting the drafting of idea and concept notes on topics related to digital transformation and green transition;
• Support research, the organization of meetings and other events, and the drafting of policy briefs on subjects related to the broader issue of development cooperation (e.g., modalities of knowledge exchange, aid effectiveness, South-South and Triangular Cooperation, Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus) and sectoral issues such as climate change and digitalisation;
• Support partnership building efforts between UNDP and the Republic of Korea through the preparation of corporate missions and proposals on issues of strategic interests (e.g., Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, GCF Programming), while supporting the analysis of relevant policy documents and producing summary documents of relevant events;
• Support the conceptualization and development of digital tools for effective development cooperation;
• Support administrative, monitoring, and communications tasks such as updating USPC’s office calendar, annual work plan, and results framework as necessary in day-to-day office operations.
  

2.) Support other/ad hoc activities as seen relevant and needed (10%).

REQUIREMENTS AND QUALIFICATIONS

Education:

Candidates must meet one of the following educational requirements:

• Be enrolled in a postgraduate degree programme (such as a master’s programme, or higher);
• Be enrolled in the final academic year of a first university degree programme (such as bachelor’s degree or equivalent);
• Have recently graduated with a university degree and, if selected, must start the internship within one-year of graduation;
• Be enrolled in a postgraduate professional traineeship program and undertake the internship as part of this program.

Field of study: Development studies, international relations, economics, politics, environmental studies, or other relevant fields of study.

Experience:

• Familiarity with basic aspects of project management is desirable;
• Familiarity with issues related to broader development cooperation issues and/or the sectoral areas of Green transition and digitalization is desirable;
• Experience writing analytical pieces on relevant issues is highly desirable;
• Proficiency or prior experience in using Zoom and other digital tools would be preferable;
• Prior experience with the multilateral system or with a bilateral donor agency is desirable;
• Familiarity with Large-Language Models such as GPT-4 is desirable.

IT skills:

• Knowledge of/proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office productivity tools;
• Proficient in hosting Zoom and other web-based meetings and seminars;
• Familiar with data visualisation tools (e.g., Power BI, Tableau, R, etc.);
• Skills in visual communication and graphic design (including Canva) would be an advantage.

Language skills:

• Fluency in oral and written English is required;
• Fluency in oral and written Korean is required;
• Knowledge of another UN language is also an asset.

DEADLINE: DECEMBER 17, 2025