Technical Officer SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework

• A sharpened focus on coherent, coordinated and streamlined country support as part of the UN reform, including scaling up water-related work and collaboration among the UN-Water Members and Partners, providing access to expertise, technical assistance and advocacy support through a reinvigorated Resident Coordinators system and a new generation of UN Country Teams; 
• A multi-stakeholder, high-level, annual stock-taking moment, complemented by the SDG 6 Action Space, to enable stakeholders to keep up momentum on and accelerate implementation of SDG 6, as well as share lessons and best practices; 
• A purpose-driven collaboration among all stakeholders including various initiatives providing new activities in support of the Global Acceleration Framework; and 
• An SDG 6 Action Space platform to showcase on-going actions, share experiences, raise awareness and inspire actions among all types of people and organisations.

• The 2021 one-day high-level meeting hosted by the President of the General Assembly to promote implementation of the water-related goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development as part of the Midterm Comprehensive Review of the Implementation of the International Decade for Action, ‘Water for Sustainable Development’, 2018-2028; 
• The 2023 UN Conference on the Midterm Comprehensive Review of the Implementation of the Objectives of the International Decade for Action, ‘Water for Sustainable Development’, 2018–2028; and 
• Their respective preparatory processes.  

In the context of the SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework, this position is located in the UN-Water Technical Advisory Unit in Geneva. Under the overall guidance of the UN-Water Chair and the direct supervision of the UN-Water Chief Technical Adviser, the incumbent is responsible for the following:

Overall support to the SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework: 

• Coordinates information sharing on all actions resulting from the SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework within the UN-Water family, providing substantive technical support to UN-Water Members and Partners; 

• Coordinates outreach through the Action Space, including: developing and updating contents to be featured on the website, technical support for website development, liaison with UN DESA and with the main initiatives in support of the Global Acceleration Framework, and the World Water Day and World Toilet Day campaigns to ensure coherence with the Decade of Action’s and the campaigns’ online resources;  

• Facilitates UN-Water activities ensuring the synergy between the SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework – including its annual moment – and the critical milestone events listed above;

• Provides substantive technical support to and participates in the organisation of the annual high-level stock-taking moments and of side events in relevant international meetings and conferences.

• Provides technical support to the UN-Water Task Force on Country Level Engagement and the Expert Group on Regional Level Coordination, including: 

  • development and communication of the UN-Water offer to UN Country Teams (UNCTs) and Resident Coordinator Offices (RCOs); 

  • coordination with the UN Development Coordination Office (DCO); 

  • monitoring and assessment of requests from UNCTs; communication (e.g. webinars) to UN-Water’s constituency and other stakeholders; 

  • support development of regional knowledge products; 

  • promotion of regional level data and monitoring activities across UN-Water’s constituency; 

  • support assessments and reporting on SDG 6 progress at the regional level; 

  • developing contact databases and calendar of events and update relevant e-platforms; drafting harmonized communication materials and infographics drawn from for the five regions; 

  • substantive technical support for the organization of side events in relevant international, regional and national meetings and conferences;

• Provides specific coordination support for the country level engagement pilot phase (eight countries as of October 2020), including: 

  • managing communications with the UNCTs/RCOs and DCO; 

  • ensuring efficient and transparent responses by facilitating the matching of requests with available expertise among UN-Water Members and Partners.

Perform other related tasks as directed by supervisor.

• A minimum of five years of progressively responsible relevant experience in water and development, of which at least two years of experience in the areas of UN system’s country/regional level support is required. 
• Experience in international development issues as they relate to water and sanitation, including key players and processes, is required. 
• Experience in building and promoting good working relationships and collaboration across cultures and distance is required. 
• Practical experience in water related sectoral management, monitoring, data and data management and capacity development and/or sustainable finance and consumption aspects is desirable. 

• 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.
• 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
• For retainer contracts, you must complete a few Mandatory Courses (around 4 hours) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS.
• 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 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.

Working with us

UNOPS offers short- and long-term work opportunities in diverse and challenging environments across the globe. We are looking for creative, results-focused professionals with skills in a range of disciplines.

Diversity

With over 4,000 UNOPS personnel and approximately 7,000 personnel recruited on behalf of UNOPS partners spread across 80 countries, our workforce represents a wide range of nationalities and cultures. We promote a balanced, diverse workforce — a strength that helps us better understand and address our partners’ needs, and continually strive to improve our gender balance through initiatives and policies that encourage recruitment of qualified female candidates.

Work life harmonization

UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands.