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. Equally, as part of the UNOPS drive to strengthen its corporate approach to Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) under the Principled Performance framework, UNOPS is committed to working towards a reliable achievement of its objectives, whilst addressing uncertainty and acting with integrity. The Ethics and Compliance Office is integral to this effort, and it has an overall mandate of assisting the Executive Office in ensuring that all personnel perform their functions consistently and with the highest standards of integrity. This includes:

• Setting compliance management standards and enabling and growing corporate compliance behaviours and culture, built around the values of integrity, accountability, transparency, respect and professionalism
• Partnering with GRC actors, including policy owners, in establishing compliance management approaches
• Systemizing compliance practices and reporting mechanisms; analyzing and interpreting compliance trends and actively reporting back to the Executive Office with recommendations and areas for attention and improvements
• Ensuring development of standards, training and education on ethics topics, in coordination with the relevant, separately administered organisational functions (e.g. Legal, Internal Audit, PCG, Regions) as well as the UN Ethics Panel, in order to ensure that there is an appropriate alignment with UN-wide standards and a uniform and consistent application of ethics-related matters across UNOPS
• Providing guidance to management, to ensure that the UNOPS rules, policies, procedures and practices reinforce and promote the standards of integrity called for under the Charter of the United Nations
• Driving efforts to continually raise personnel awareness and capability in relation to ethical standards and expected behaviours
• Ensuring there are appropriate mechanisms in place to provide confidential advice on ethical issues to all personnel, protect personnel from retaliation for reporting misconduct 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.
• Holding an observer status at the senior management meetings of the Corporate Operations Group

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

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

• 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 plan, oversee progress and ensure the delivery of results as planned and according to expectation.
• 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 of resources in accordance with UNOPS standards of ethics, integrity and accountability framework.
• 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 by providing the team with clear direction, objectives and guidance to enable them to perform their duties responsibly, effectively and efficiently.
• Plan, recruit 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.

2.     Strategic advisory

• Act as an advisor to the Executive Office on ethics and compliance related matters for UNOPS
• Provide an independent annual report to the Executive Board (Ethics)
• 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.
• 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. 

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, minimise risks and maximise reliable achievement of objectives, whilst addressing uncertainty and acting with integrity.
• Drive the effort focused on building compliance management capacity and capability amongst the relevant stakeholders, ensuring operational practices follow a consistently high compliance standards within the established Principled Performance framework.

• A Master’s degree in a relevant field such as Business Administration, Public Administration.

• Minimum 10 years of international professional and progressive work experience in public and/or private institutions, encompassing ethics ( at least 7 years) and balance in compliance management, accountability & compliance frameworks, risk management, governance, and internal quality control.
• 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.