Partnerships Team Leader, Multiple positions

 UNOPS supports the successful implementation of its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world. Our mission is to serve people in need by expanding the ability of the United Nations, governments and other partners to manage projects, infrastructure and procurement in a sustainable and efficient manner.

Working in some of the world’s most challenging environments, our vision is to advance sustainable implementation practices, always satisfying or surpassing our partners’ expectations.

With over 7,000 personnel spread across 80 countries, UNOPS offers its partners the logistical, technical and management knowledge they need, wherever they need it.

A flexible structure and global reach means that we can quickly respond to our partners' needs, while offering the benefits of economies of scale. 

Established in 2009, UNOPS Ethiopia Office has been providing services to various partners, including the government of Ethiopia, UN agencies such as WHO, UNHCR and WFP, and other international organizations. In 2014, the UNOPS Executive Director decided to establish the UNOPS Ethiopia Operational Hub (ETOH), which manages and coordinates the UNOPS activities in Ethiopia, Sudan and Djibouti.

UNOPS ETOH activities range from tailor-made administration, operations, human resources, and logistics support for implementation of development and humanitarian projects; infrastructure and procurement management services; and advisory services to partners to facilitate effective procurement, supply, and financial management.

The Partnerships Team Leader reports directly to the ETOH Director, and works under his/her general guidance and supervision, and in direct consultation with the OH Leadership Team will have the following responsibilities:-

Supervising Program Support Associate, Communications Associate and two Program development officers (retainers) the Team Leader will work to develop and implement partnerships, programme development, and communications strategies to specific partners and frameworks.

In terms of impact on results, the incumbent will be expected to play a key role in managing relationships of the hub with partners, clients, and other stakeholders in the region. In line with the UNOPS vision and business strategy, the incumbent will be responsible for supporting the development, implementation and monitoring of the ETOH hub partnership development strategy and work plan. Accordingly, the incumbent will be responsible and accountable for ensuring that ETOH partnership development and communications efforts facilitate establishment of ETOH as a preferred service provider and reliable partner of choice for implementation of humanitarian and development projects.

3. Functional Responsibilities

The Partnerships Team Leader will perform the following duties and responsibilities in support of senior management; his/her work will include tasks relating to the presence of the Operational Hub in all areas of responsibility, currently Ethiopia, Sudan and Djibouti. Accordingly, s/he will be expected to travel at least one-third of working days.

Business strategy development and implementation

• Assist senior management with development and implementation of a hub partnership development strategy and work plan, and regular monitoring and reporting of progress and challenges in consultation with relevant personnel and units;
• Facilitate efforts to establish effective and quality networking and communications policies, tools and systems across the operational hub, as well as at the country level;
• Support the overall programme development, partnership management and communications efforts of the operational hub, and relevant work of ETOH units and personnel, as required by senior management;
• Help senior management with aligning strategic, business plans and portfolio of UNOPS with the MDGs/SDGs, UNDAF, Humanitarian Requirements Documents, government development plans, etc.;
• Brief senior management regularly on ongoing partnership development, partnership, and communications activities, and potential partnerships and project opportunities; coordinate efforts to follow up on potential opportunities and partnerships;
• Make sure that engagements and project opportunities are recorded, monitored, and followed up on in a timely and high quality manner through UNOPS corporate systems, and in collaboration with the relevant programme and operations units and personnel;
• Ensure a consultative process in the development of new engagements and opportunities through appropriate discussions with relevant stakeholders including governments, international development aid organizations, and donors;
• Liaise regularly with UNOPS Regional Office and relevant HQ units, as well as other UN agencies, to respond to requests in areas related to project development, partnerships, and communications;
• Liaise regularly with UNOPS Partnership and Liaison Offices (under the Partnership unit) to identify and develop project opportunities together;
• Attend relevant meetings including UNDAF related meetings and government consultations, and assist senior management with follow up, as required.

Business intelligence and partnership management

• Network and hold discussions with various partners and stakeholders, and conduct research to develop programme development related information and analyses, as well as recommendations for senior management;
• Actively scan opportunities for project development, and provide advice to senior management on client needs, UNOPS’s  comparative advantages and synergies, and conduct of partner surveys;
• Identify potential clients and partners, and pursue new partnership opportunities through various forums and networks such as working groups at the UNCT, government and donor community, particularly based on already existing relationships through the liaison offices to ensure sustainable growth of the UNOPS business portfolio;
• Work with relevant units and personnel in the hub to develop proposals and concept notes, and support development of project documents in coordination with liaison offices when needed;
• Draft project briefs, proposals, and presentations for further discussion with clients and donors, and for the use of UNOPS senior management;
• Develop templates relevant to partnership development, including project and reporting templates; coordinate implementation of these templates through relevant units;
• Prepare project proposals, concept notes, status updates, letters of Expression of Interest, tender submissions, and other proposals, as required by senior management;
• Work with relevant units to facilitate organization of consultations for development of new engagements and project proposals through discussions with relevant stakeholders of ETOH;

Communications and media

• The incumbent of the post will support OH Director in development and implementation of the communications strategy and work plan for the ETOH Hub
• Work with relevant units and personnel to ensure that the ETOH services and achievements are communicated to the relevant stakeholders in an effective and timely manner to support strategic positioning of ETOH, and marketing of its solutions to existing and potential partners;
• Assist with identification of stakeholders and their communications needs, and establishment of networks, systems, and tools to facilitate effective communications management at the hub level;
• Advise management on communications tools and resources to be deployed, including but not limited to articles, publications, news stories and website articles; take the lead and work with relevant personnel such as Project Managers to finalize these;
• Monitor and support project reporting and support project level stakeholder management, as required by senior management and Project Managers;
• Provide support to ETOH senior management on communications related issues, prepare documents and presentations as required, and assist with organization of events, seminars, briefings, interviews and other public events for media and other stakeholders;
• Advise ETOH senior management on coverage of UNOPS activities and projects through various media channels, including news stories, fact sheets, and website articles; support development and deployment of relevant tools and resources, including preparation of relevant background documents and organization of donor and corporate missions, as well as organization of audio-visual and media coverage of project activities and achievements

A.  Education: Level and area of required and/or preferred education

• Master’s Degree in Business Development, Business Administration, International Relations, Communications or related field. A First Level University (Bachelor’s) degree with an additional 2 years of relevant professional experience may be accepted in lieu of a Master’s Degree. 

B. Work Experience:

• Minimum 5 years’ experience in strategic and managerial leadership, business development, executive management and/or program management and planning and operations in a large international and/or corporate organization. Experience in partnerships management, programme development, communications, public relations or similar is also required. This experience should preferably include working with international organizations in areas such as partnerships management, business and project development, information management, and communications.

• PRINCE2 Foundation Certification and/or similar project management certification may be considered an advantage.
• Holds high level of computer literacy and the demonstrable ability to work with relevant tools, including MS Excel and Power Point;

C. Language Requirements: Fluency in spoken and written English is required. Working level knowledge of French will be considered an asset. 

Leadership

• Serves as a role model that other people want to follow, particularly in promoting a vision of partner-orientation across ETOH;
• Empowers others to translate vision into results in the areas of partnerships development, and communications;
• Is proactive in developing strategies and work plans to accomplish various and time-bound project development and communications objectives;
• Establishes and maintains relationships with a broad range of people to understand needs and develop solutions for partners;
• Drives for change and improvement; has strong analytical skills; and ability to deliver agreed outputs within agreed deadlines;
• Possesses excellent verbal and written communications skills, and networking skills; excellent presentation skills;
• Is a team player and strives to working together with other units across UNOPS whether in regional, HQ or liaison offices; 

Vision

• Identifies strategic issues, opportunities and risks;
• Clearly communicates links between the organization's strategy and the work unit's goals;
• Generates and communicates broad and compelling organizational direction, inspiring others to pursue that same direction;
• Conveys enthusiasm about future possibilities;

Client Orientation

• Considers all those to whom services are provided to be "clients" and seeks to see things from clients' point of view; establishes and maintains productive partnerships with clients and potential partners by gaining their trust and respect;
• Ability to establish and maintain excellent contacts with colleagues, senior government officials, donors and UN agencies;
• Identifies clients' and potential partners’ needs and matches them to appropriate solutions;
• Monitors ongoing developments within and outside the office to adjust strategies and plans accordingly and outside the clients' environment; and keeps informed regarding issues and challenges;
• Keeps clients informed of progress or setbacks in projects; meets timeline for delivery of products or services to clients;

• Ethiopians (1) Who are residing outside of Ethiopia at the time of application (2) Who have been living there for five years or more (3) Who are fulfilling the requirements stated on this job advert are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time.
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.
• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post.
• The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.  

It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential recruits/interns.
Recruitment/internship in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.