Ethics & Compliance Officer

Ethics and Compliance Office

UNOPS is committed to fostering an organisational culture of ethics and a harmonious and inclusive work environment, anchored in the values of integrity, accountability, transparency, respect and professionalism. Operating at the highest integrity standards called in the Charter of the United Nationas the Ethics and Compliance design and implement creative and solutions to complex issues.

The Ethics and Compliance Office is integral to this effort, and it has an overall mandate to act as an independent organ pursuant to SGB (2007/11). The office is working under the leadership of the Ethics and Compliance Officer who will report to the Executive Office.

With strong influential leadership role, the incumbent will promote a strong ethics and compliance culture and be the Executive Office’ strategic advisor to ensure that all UNOPS personnel perform their functions consistently with the highest standards. The Ethics and Compliance Officer will be accountable to strengthening UNOPS corporate approach to Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) Management under the Principled Performance framework.

This includes:

• Serve as a key adviser to the senior management, with respect to the compliance and ethical  implications of the organisation’s major decisions, strategies and transactions.
• Setting compliance management standards and enabling and growing corporate compliance behaviours and culture,
• Development of effective/state of the art ethics and compliance trainings and personnel awareness initiatives on ethics topics in coordination with the relevant administered organisational functions (e.g. Legal, Internal Audit, HR, Regions) as well as the UN Ethics Panel, to ensure an appropriate alignment with UN-wide standards.   
• Oversees compliance training initiatives through monitoring of completion rates and periodic validation of employee knowledge and awareness Partnering with GRC actors, including policy owners, in establishing compliance management approaches
• In coordination with UNOPS internal stakeholders as well as the UN Ethics Panel, systemizing compliance practices and reporting mechanisms,ensuring   that   the UNOPS   rules,   policies,  procedures and practices reinforce and promote the standards of integrity called for under the Charter of the United Nations; 
• Analyzing and interpreting compliance trends and actively reporting back to the Executive Office with recommendations and areas for attention and improvements
• Ensuring there are appropriate mechanisms in place for undertaking  the  responsibilities   assigned   to   the   Ethics   Office   in  accordance  with  the  policy  for  the  protection  of  staff  against  retaliation for reporting misconduct, providing confidential advice on ethical issues to all personnel, as well as administering the financial disclosure programme
• Providing an independent annual report to the Executive Board, availing of the impartial advice of the Audit Advisory Committee and consulting with the Staff Council on pertinent matters.

Under the leadership of the Executive Office, the Ethics and Compliance Officer is the most senior post within the Ethics and Compliance Office.

The Ethics and Compliance Officer leads on the compliance management as per the dimensions outlined in the GRC approach and on all ethics activities. She/he works independently when it comes to the ethics activities and may seek guidance from the UN Ethics Panel on all technical ethics issues. 

Summary of functions:

1. Office Leadership and operational management
2. Strategic advisory
3. Growing the compliance and integrity mindset
4. Representation and networking
5. Knowledge management and innovation

1.     Office Leadership and operational management

• Foster a positive work environment, and ensure that the highest standards of conduct are observed.
• Develop the Ethics and Compliance Office strategy and frameworks as well as establish the annual work plan in collaboration with the team and stakeholders, set objectives, performance measurements, standards and results expected.
• Monitor implementation of the Ethics and Compliance Office work and evaluate the Office activities/initiatives to ensure alignment with organisational strategic plans, relevant frameworks and standards.
• Ensure appropriate management and coordination of the financial declaration programme within UNOPS, independent of external providers
• Drive the periodic review and update of UNOPS’ financial disclosure policy and procedures, harmonised with those in the UN system.
• Plan and allocate resources to achieve goals and ensure the cost effective and appropriate use
• Take overall responsibility for the performance and efficacy of the Ethics and Compliance Office and take decisions and/or recommend to the Executive Office appropriate changes in operations to enhance/maximise results.
• Promote teamwork and collaboration
• Plan, recruit and develop a flexible workforce with the relevant skills and competencies

2.     Strategic advisory

• Act as a strategic advisor to the Executive Office on ethics and compliance related matters for UNOPS
• Provide an independent annual report to the Executive Board (Ethics)
• Contribute to the formulation of UNOPS overall strategies and policies through advisory services and participation in senior management consultation on current and future business operations and strategy development and planning. 
• When relevant, participate as an observer at the Corporate Operations Group, to advise on preventing institutional conflicts of interest and mitigating reputational risks.

3.     Growing the compliance and integrity mindset

• Set compliance management standards across all functions in UNOPS, including Ethics Function.
• As the independent Ethics Officer, be provided with inputs into the PRA by the Chairperson of the United Nations Ethics Panel
• Set and promote ethical standards for UNOPS, in accordance with the integrity called for under the Charter of the United Nations as well as the UNOPS values
• Ensure policy holders are proactively engaged, to achieve clarity around compliance management and integrity standards, to eliminate conflict of interest in the UNOPS policies and governance.
• Ensure appropriate guidance is available on UN code of conduct (as outlined in the relevant staff regulations and rules, the Standards of Conduct for the International Civil Service, and applicable administrative issuance).
• Ensure there are appropriate mechanisms for a coherent application of the compliance and ethics standards, driving the culture of integrity, accountability, transparency, respect and professionalism
• Ensure there are relevant compliance and ethics training opportunities for all personnel (i.e. from onboarding, through induction to ongoing development)

4.     Representation and networking

• Establish effective relationships with the relevant regulatory bodies, to ensure a proper and timely interpretation of changes to the legislation affecting the UNOPS operations
• Establish effective relationships at leadership levels with external organisations and other UN agencies, to enable an effective exchange of best practice and lessons learnt
• Represent UNOPS externally on matters relating to ethics and compliance management

5.     Knowledge management and innovation

• Contribute to the implementation of programs and activities that are part of UNOPS Knowledge Management strategy
• Ensure appropriate tools and evaluation mechanisms are in place to provide regular feedback on the existing ethics and compliance management practices, to ensure their continual relevance to day-to-day operations, also in the light of external benchmarking and recent thought leadership in the subject of compliance management.
• Enable the exchange of lessons learnt and best practice for proactive compliance management, between all functions within UNOPS
• Drive development and implementation of best practice and innovative compliance management approaches

• A Master’s degree in a relevant field such as Business Administration, Public Administration, law, or similar area is required.
• A combination of a Bachelor’s degree with an additional 2 years of relevant work experience may be accepted in lieu of the education requirements outlined above
  
  

• Minimum 10 years of international professional and progressive work experience from a global function in an international organization or corporation  encompassing ethics (minimum 7 years) compliance management, accountability & compliance frameworks, risk management, governance, or internal quality control is required.

• Experience in guiding and advising senior leadership teams, with respect to the compliance and ethical implications of the organizations’ major decisions is required.

• Previous experience in operational management (such as developing office frameworks, annual work plans, performance measurement, results etc. is required.

• Previous private sector experience is an asset.

• Recognized relevant certification and knowledge of current industry best practices relating to compliance management would be an asset.

• Fluency in English is required;

• Proficiency in another UN official language, in particular French or Spanish would be an asset.

• 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.
• Work life harmonization - UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands. We have a progressive policy on work-life harmonization and offer several flexible working options. This policy applies to UNOPS personnel on all contract types
• 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.

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.