Country/Multi-Country Office Director Talent Bench and Global Roster (ICS 12)

UNOPS is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world. Our mission is to help people build better lives and countries achieve sustainable development.

UNOPS areas of expertise cover infrastructure, procurement, project management, financial management and human resources.

At UNOPS, we strive for excellence! We work in challenging environments around the world and we best serve people in need by being able to fill business critical roles very quickly.

In order to strengthen our capacity to meet our future needs to fill business critical roles, UNOPS has an ambitious and proactive recruitment approach: the Talent Benches and Global Rosters.  

Talent Benches (Internal Candidates Only): are part of UNOPS’ Talent Management initiatives, to further strengthen the capacity to identify and develop internal talent and to enable succession planning for business critical roles.

Global Rosters(External Candidates Only): also for business critical roles, we establish rosters which are pools of assessed candidates who can be recruited  in an efficient manner once a vacancy arises. 

Talent Bench and Global Roster members will be considered first for external vacancies. As a member you will remain on the Talent Bench and the Global Roster for a duration of 3 years.

UNOPS is looking for candidates who are internationally mobile and who could accept a job offer within the next 12 to 18 months.

The Talent Bench and Global Roster are part of UNOPS’ Talent Management initiative to further increase diversity among business critical roles.

Further information about UNOPS and its international activities can be found here. For further information about the talent bench/global roster, please subscribe to the upcoming webinar taking place on the 10th of September. Please send an email to talentbenches@unops.org and we shall get back to you with further details about the login details and schedule.

Note to all applicants: 

• Candidates with field experience will be given special consideration, work experience in "non-family" and hardship duty stations being an asset;
• Candidates selected to be part of the talent bench or roster are expected to be reasonably mobile;
• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

Please ensure you update your UNOPS Jobs user profile  with your most recent work experience.

The Country/Multi-Country Office Director represents UNOPS on behalf of the Regional Director. The Regional Director provides general direction and guidance for the role. The incumbent oversees all project management and support services in the Country/Multi-Country Office, including managing all human resource and delivering timely and cost effective services for sustainable results by partners and stakeholders.

Summary of key results:

1. Country/Multi-Country Office management
2. Alliance building, networking and advocacy
3. Service delivery and quality assurance
4. Representation and inter-agency coordination
5. Knowledge management and innovation

• Develop the Country/Multi-Country Office strategy, establish priorities and supervise the implementation of programmes and projects, managing the strategic and operational risks associated with the Country/Multi-Country Office portfolio of engagements.
• In collaboration with the team and partners, establish annual objectives and targets, performance measurements, standards and results expected to ensure timely and partner oriented services.
• Monitor implementation, oversee progress toward annual objectives and take decisions to ensure the delivery of results as planned.
• Plan and allocate resources (human, financial and administrative) to achieve goals and ensure financial sustainability in accordance with UNOPS standards of ethics, integrity and accountability framework.
• Operate within the defined limits of authority on matters of Finance, Procurement and Human Resources and subject to any limits or conditions that may be imposed as per delegated authority.
• Plan, recruit, manage and develop a flexible workforce with the skills and competencies needed to ensure optimum performance, and ensure gender and geographical diversity.
• Foster a positive work environment, respectful of both men and women, and ensure that the highest standards of conduct are observed.
• Promote teamwork, collaboration and diversity by providing the Country/Multi Country Office management team with clear direction, objectives and guidance to enable them to perform their duties responsibly, effectively and efficiently.
• Oversee, monitor and direct appropriate measures to maintain the safety and security of UNOPS personnel, assets, property and information within the respective area of responsibility. 
• In consultation with the UNOPS Chief of Security act as the UNOPS Security Focal Point (SFP) within the Country/Multi-Country of operation including participating actively in the Security Management Team (SMT) and perform duties on security as outlined in the Framework of Accountability in the UN Security Management System Policy manual.

2.      Alliance building, networking and advocacy

• Keep abreast of and assess the needs of the relevant national government and other UNOPS partners operating in the Country/Multi-Country, to identify and plan with them (and the Regional Director) areas for leveraging UNOPS services/competencies in project service delivery and management that will facilitate their achievement of sustainable results.
• Actively represent UNOPS' role and participation in UN common engagement tools.
• Build and strengthen strategic partnerships in the Country/Multi-Country.
  through active networking, advocacy and effective communication of UNOPS competencies in project service delivery and management to develop opportunities and engagements with new partners.
• Keep the Regional Director informed/advised on opportunities and/or challenges to strengthen UNOPS capacity for programme management and business development in the Country/Multi-Country.

3.      Service delivery and quality assurance

• Monitor and supervise the overall timely and cost-effective delivery of the Country/Multi-Country
  Office programmes, according to partner expectations, approved budgets and full cost recovery.
• Take overall responsibility for financial decisions, and exercise financial control to ensure the fiscal health/sustainability of the Country/Multi-Country Office, including compliance with financial report submissions.
• Provide advice to the Regional Director and peers, on opportunities to further enhance UNOPS’ sustainable contribution to the achievement of results in the Country/Multi-Country and region.
• Establish internal performance and quality control systems for the Country/Multi-Country Office, including tracking, monitoring and reporting on project delivery and financials.
• Evaluate performance to measure efficacy and alignment of the Country/Multi-Country Office, with the organizational/regional/country strategies and compliance with UNOPS standards of accuracy, transparency and accountability and to ensure that service delivery reinforces business development objectives.

4.      Representation and inter-agency coordination

• Represent UNOPS in relevant inter-agency and external meetings/bodies to promote the organization, influence policy discussion and identify potential areas for UNOPS partnership and engagement.
• Represent UNOPS in the UN Country Team (UNCT), and supports the UNCT programming and advocacy activities.
• Participate actively and effectively in UNCT meetings, and contributes to the formulation and implementation of United Nations Development Assistance Framework/One Programme, Integrated Strategic Framework, and Delivering as One within the Country/Multi-Country.
• Is accountable to the Resident Coordinator for actions as part of the UNCT, making substantial contribution to UNCT's work, and assuming a leadership role, as relating to UNOPS' mandate.
• Participate in UNCT initiatives to strengthen UN coherence, inclusiveness, and aid effectiveness, including playing an active role in the Operations Management Teams (OMTs) and other senior management group of the Country/Multi-Country team.
• Keep UN Resident Coordinator abreast of UNOPS activities within the Country/Multi-Country through regular communication, including a formal regular reporting on business acquisition and implementation of activities led by UNOPS as part of the UNDAF.

5.      Knowledge management and innovation

• Lead the development and introduction of innovation to ensure UNOPS is continually incorporating best practices approaches in the delivery of project services.
• Ensure the dissemination and sharing of best practices and lessons learned for corporate development planning and knowledge building.
• Lead the planning, implementation and organization of capacity building of personnel, partners and stakeholders.
• Establish priorities, in consultation with the Regional Director, for targeted investments in growth and innovation and as a member of the UNOPS global management team, contribute to identification and implementation of innovation and continuous improvement in support of organizational excellence and world-class performance.
• Share knowledge with peers in other regional/country teams and corporate practice groups to ensure a corporate coordinated delivery of services and synergies.

• Master’s degree in a relevant field is required.
• A combination of Bachelor’s degree with an additional 2 years of relevant work experience may be accepted in lieu of the education requirements outlined above.

• A minimum of 10 years of experience that combines strategic and managerial leadership in international development, business development, operations and/or program management in a large international and/or corporate organization.   
• At least 3 years of leadership experience including supervising teams and managing budgets. 
• Experience working in developing countries is desirable.
• Experience in hardship or post conflict environments is desirable.
• Experience developing and maintaining relationships with public and/or private sector high-level partners and ability to handle complex negotiations with those partners is an asset.
  
  

Language Requirements:

• Full working knowledge of English is essential. 
• Knowledge of French and/or Spanish is a strong asset.
• Knowledge of another official UNOPS language is an asset. 

• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time (CET)
• 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.
• UNOPS seeks to reasonably accommodate candidates with special needs, upon request.
• 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.

• Fixed-term staff contracts - 'One year initially, renewable subject to satisfactory performance and funding availability'
• Ongoing ICA – ‘Open-ended, subject to organizational requirements, availability of funds and satisfactory performance.’