Pradeep leads the work of the United Nations Capital Development Fund where he sets the strategic direction of the organization’s financial instruments (grants, loans, and guarantees) to support developing countries, especially Least Developed Countries, crowd in public and private financing to meet the country’s SDG ambitions.

Prior to UNCDF, Pradeep was the Executive Coordinator and Director of Environmental Finance at UNDP (United Nations Development Programme). He led the UNDP’s Vertical Funds Hub, where he was accountable for the oversight of a $5 billion climate finance portfolio across 140 countries. He provided strategic leadership of partnerships with the multilateral climate funds, the private sector, development banks, and private equity funds related to climate finance. This included overseeing blended finance programming, results-based management, and compliance with financial rules and regulations. From 2019-2023, Pradeep led UNDP’s Nature, Climate, and Energy Practice, with 300+ personnel across headquarters and 5 Regional Hubs. Previously, he led the development and oversight of UNDP’s Climate Change Adaptation portfolio, and as a senior technical lead in the Global Environmental Finance team from 2010–2018, he played a key role in the trebling of UNDP's resource mobilization efforts for nature, climate, and energy.

Pradeep has leadership experience in risk management, responding to audit recommendations and improving internal systems of controls. He played a key role in addressing OAI's 2020 audit findings on UNDP’s management of resources from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), co-chairing an inter-bureau task force to implement organization-wide changes that have enhanced UNDP's oversight systems for the climate funds and beyond. On this basis, the GEF Council’s recently renewed its recognition of UNDP’s cutting-edge oversight systems. Pradeep also brings extensive experience in actively engaging with member states on executive boards, as well as in building partnerships with programme countries and financial contributors. Prior to joining UNDP in 2006, he worked with the World Bank and an NGO in Sri Lanka.

Pradeep is a Sri Lankan economist, with a PhD from Yale University in the United States and a MPhil from Cambridge University in the UK.