HR Associate (Parental leave cover)

Based in Geneva, the Europe and Central Asia Regional Office (ECR) supports UNOPS offices throughout the region through: management, financial and programmatic oversight of global and country-specific portfolios, clusters and operations centres, including hosting services; fund and management advisory services; project implementation; procuring goods and services; and managing human resources.

ECR ensures that projects are executed to the highest standards, providing a shared knowledge base and ensuring that best practices and lessons learned are disseminated between business units and projects across the entire region.

 ECR strategy is to:

• Strengthen UNOPS role in operationalizing the Sustainable Development Goals with particular emphasis on health, environment and economic development.
• Position UNOPS in the Balkan sub-region, the Caucasus and Central Asia.
• Strengthen the implementation of ECR global and regional programmes, with revitalized partnerships in infrastructure, procurement and project management.

ECR operates global portfolios from offices in Geneva, Brussels and New York, and country-specific programmes from its operations and project centres located in Eastern Europe and Central Asian countries.

1. Support to policy development and implementation 

2. Advisory Services

3. Talent Acquisition and Administration

4. Team Management

5. Knowledge Building and Knowledge Sharing

• Contribute to HR policy development and corporate HR initiatives by assisting to collect data on trends, risks and opportunities and sharing local HR best practices.

• Assist with projects in support of HR initiatives for attainment of business objectives in line with the corporate HR strategy.  

• Support the communication of HR policy changes and new HR initiatives to management and personnel, providing guidance as needed.

• Provide guidance on HR related systems and processes including but not limited to Recruitment, Contracts, Position Management, Performance Management, Benefits and Entitlements consistent with UNOPS rules and procedures.

• Provide advice and guidance to personnel on administrative procedures, processes and practices.

• Act as liaison between unit and internal and external clients and provides proactive customer service to expedite completion of projects, and provide information. 

• As the first face of HR, ensure that new hires' first impressions are positive and that they have all in-processing information completed.

• Advise hiring management and guide personnel on UNOPS recruitment and performance management processes, and learning and development initiatives, resources, and plans.

• Provide advice to supervisors on good practices, policies and procedures in performance management, including managing of underperformance. 

• Support the implementation of institutional gender and diversity initiatives, providing education and advice on issues related to equity, compliance, inclusion, and diversity.

• Assist in recruitment processes ensuring best practices are used for effective and efficient talent acquisition in line with UNOPS policy.  

• Actively participate in work force planning at the office and project level and guide clients through recruitment and selection processes. Take lead on requisition initiation, longlisting, testing and interviews, formal approvals, selection minutes, reference checking, fee calculation, offers and rejections, and updating recruitment on-line information system.

• Inform and advise UNOPS personnel, consultants, partners and project personnel on their conditions of service and entitlements according to their contract modality, expediting actions to facilitate their efficient, timely, and client-focused onboarding.

• Liaise with UNOPS’ HR related groups such as SSC on personnel administration matters and submit transactional HR service data (normally within the ERP system).

• Research precedents and present recommendations to supervisor, taking into account institutionalized exceptions. Undertake research on a range of HR related issues and assist in the preparation of notes/reports.

• Establish and maintain monitoring systems, advising the supervisor on the status of pending requests and approaching deadlines. Follow up on team work processes to ensure clearance, approvals and timely workflows 

• Answer questions and follow-up with personnel and management to ensure completion of absences requests, performance management cycle, and other HR processes etc. in electronic information systems. 

• Liaise with relevant HQ and UN system units to exchange information and follow up on pending issues.

• Set up and maintain reference files/records. 

• Follow up or process payroll verification.

• Monitor status of HR actions to facilitate timely action by supervisor and line management, including on transactions initiated, expiring appointments/contracts, and pending separation actions. 

• Support efficient planning and management of the HR unit, including drafting annual recruitment plans, implementing designated projects in line with the corporate HR strategy, overseeing personnel file systems as well as provision of related statistical summaries and tracking movements of UNOPS personnel within the relevant business units.

• Facilitate the engagement and provision of high quality results and services of the team supervised through effective work planning, performance management, coaching, and promotion of learning and development.

• Provide oversight, ensuring compliance by team members with existing policies and best practices.

• Provide support to the organization, facilitation and/or delivery of training and learning initiatives for personnel on HR-related topics.

• Provides sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice by synthesizing of lessons learnt and dissemination of best practices in human resources.

• Collect feedback, ideas, and internal knowledge about processes and best practices and utilize productively. 

• Undertake research on a range of HR related issues and provide content for notes/reports including quarterly and year-end reports for monitoring, statistical and review purposes by management.

• Liaise with relevant HQ and UN system units to exchange information and follow up on pending issues.

• Completion of Secondary education is required. First University Degree in Human Resources Management, Business Administration, Public Administration, or equivalent disciplines is desirable. 

• Knowledge of  UN policies, procedures and practices highly desirable

• Minimum of six years of relevant experience in an international and/or national organization in providing HR advisory, recruitment, and/or HR-generalist services is required

• Experience in UNOPS/UN system is highly desirable
• Experience in use of HR information systems, Enterprise systems including OneUNOPS is desirable.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in both written and spoken English is required. Knowledge of French is an additional bonus.

Contract type: Local Individual Contractor Agreement (LICA)
Contract level: LICA 6, ICS6
Contract duration:  6 months, with possibility of extension. 

• Please note, this position is based in Geneva, Switzerland and therefore, the selected incumbent will have to register with the Swiss authorities and comply with local regulations, including but not limited to - Taxation and Social Security - including the employers' contribution. Additionally, the incumbent will have to purchase a Swiss based insurance (LaMal) within the first three months on contract, UNOPS will help subsidize the cost of this insurance, upon show of proof and for an amount up to 622 USD
• 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.
• Geneva, Switzerland  is a UN Family Duty Station
• 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.