Human Resources Manager

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.

UNOPS strategy for Afghanistan is aimed at providing maximum support to the Government and people of Afghanistan through the delivery of projects and services in line with the government’s own priorities. The UNOPS Afghanistan Operation Center (AFOC) has been established as an organizational mechanism to deliver a range of projects for which UNOPS has been designated as the implementation agency. At present, UNOPS AFOC is implementing a number of projects in a range of sectors including infrastructure (roads and schools) development, capacity building to various ministries, and environmental protection, among others, on behalf of the Government of Afghanistan and the donor community.

The functional objective of UNOPS AFOC is to deliver projects in an efficient and effective manner, to achieve the development outcomes sought by the Government of Afghanistan and the donor community, where capacity building is always considered and encouraged. The aim of UNOPS AFOC is to provide implementation services to the Government of Afghanistan, the donor community and partner agencies in the reconstruction and development of the country. In doing so, UNOPS aims to exceed client expectations in the delivery of quality services throughout the country.

Based in the support services structure, reporting directly to the Head of Support Services and collaborating closely with the Integrated Practice Advice and Support (IPAS) HR, the HR Manager ensures consistent application of appropriate policies, rules, guidelines, procedures and practices in service provision in a given geography. The HR Manager supports the business unit in the management, implementation and oversight of HR service lines and initiatives to meet client needs, i.e. including recruitment, contract administration, interpretation and guidance, learning and personnel re-alignment exercises in consultation with HQ. Specifically, s/he is the primary HR focal point within a given geography.

1. Support to Policy Development and Implementation
2. Advisory Services & Change Management
3. Talent Acquisition and Administration
4. Team Management
5. Knowledge Building and Knowledge Sharing

Reporting directly to the Head of Support Services (HoSS), the HR Manager is expected to perform the following duties and responsibilities, but not limited to:

A. Support to Policy Development and Implementation 

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

• Maintain an effective level of business literacy about the office/program/unit's objectives and plans, and in consultation with Management, take the lead on the implementation of the corporate HR strategy and initiatives;

• Design and lead projects in support of HR initiatives for attainment of business objectives in line with the corporate HR strategy;

• Collaborate with leadership to develop and implement workforce-planning initiatives employing HR business processes mapping, to ensure efficient and effective services and work flows. Monitor workforce status and trends; and

• Communicate HR policy changes and new HR initiatives to management and personnel, providing guidance as needed.

B. Advisory Services and Change Management

• Provide guidance on HR policy application for personnel management, assessing and anticipating HR needs to provide value-added consultative service to management on human resource-related issues;

• Define, develop, model and deliver HR services, programs, and communications to add value for prospective and current personnel, and UNOPS partners;  

• Under the guidance of IPAS HR, advise, assist and mediate, as needed, on sensitive matters including grievances, potential violations in code of conduct, harassment, abuse, workplace disputes, performance improvement plans, complex employee relations matters, and other business;

• Encourage line management responsibility for implementation of HR policies and effective team management, providing guidance and coaching as needed. Foster the relationship between supervisors and personnel, encouraging dialogue and two-way constructive feedback;

• In collaboration with management as appropriate, encourage continuous improvement and professional growth by advising on, planning, and tracking learning and development activities; and

• Collaborate with leadership to support institutional gender and diversity initiatives, providing education and advice on issues related to equity, compliance, inclusion, and diversity.

C. Talent Acquisition and Administration

• Oversee the application and implementation of talent acquisition and management policies and processes covering Recruitment, Onboarding, Position Management, Performance Management, Learning and Development, Change Management, Job Classification, Salary and benefits administration, Contract Administration, Succession Planning and Out-processing;

• Drive and initiate recruitment outreach activities, to improve the quality of applications and their diversity. Contribute to source diverse talent on short and medium outlook for senior and positions which are difficult to fill;

• In collaboration with PCG, contribute to develop an employer branding strategy to position UNOPS as international and inclusive employer of choice in particular among underrepresented groups;

• In collaboration with PCG, develop recruitment branding initiatives to build awareness among specific talent audiences in specific job categories (i.e.: leadership, civil engineering, project management, ICT) or even specific groups (i.e.: women, diaspora, talent with disabilities);

• Contribute to develop the digital talent attraction strategy (i.e. LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram,);

• Contribute to develop innovative recruitment campaigns including media, print, web/online content and event promotion;

• Under the guidance of IPAS HR, coordinate the efficient administration of contractual modalities, loans, exchanges, and secondments in the given geography, including oversight of engagement with relevant partners;

• In collaboration with IPAS HR, coordinate personnel realignment exercises, including job fairs, to ensure timely competency elaboration, sourcing, selection, placement of required talent and transitions as well as due process;

• Identify key talent areas and provide coherent, well-developed plans for obtaining, developing, and managing critical talent.  Develop, utilize recruitment plans, tools and contribute to policy guidance to efficiently and effectively recruit and retain a diverse workforce to meet the needs of the business objectives;

• Liaise with UNOPS’ HR related units such as Shared Service Centre on all personnel administration matters; and

• Collaborate with business units to take a lead role in engagement and work enrichment initiatives and development of annual training plans in consultation and collaboration with People Change Group (PCG) Learning Unit.

D. Team Management

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

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

E. Knowledge Building and Knowledge Sharing

• Organize, facilitate and/or deliver training and learning initiatives for personnel on HR-related topics;

• Lead, approve and conduct initiatives on capacity development and knowledge building for HR personnel, including network development, plans, learning plans and activities, HR practice information and best practice benchmarking;

• Oversee team’s contributions to HR knowledge networks and communities of practice including collaborative synthesis of lessons learnt and dissemination of best practices in human resources management;

• Guide team’s collection of feedback, ideas, and internal knowledge about processes and best practices and utilize productively; and

• Guide the development and maintenance of HR analytic parameters and data.

Impact of Results

The effective and successful achievement of results by the Human Resources Manager directly affects the capacities and performance of the HR teams in their management, and implementation of Human Resources service lines and initiatives for the given geography. This affect client satisfaction as well as the readiness and capabilities of the human capital, to effectively develop and implement the programmes and projects of UNOPS. This promotes the credibility of the organization as an effective service provider in project services and management.

• Advanced University degree in Human Resources Management, Business Administration, Public Administration or other relevant discipline is required. A Bachelor’s Degree with two additional years of relevant experience can be accepted in lieu of a Master’s degree.

• A minimum of 5 years of professional-level human resources experience, including HR advisory services, in a major area(s) of human resources management (HR Contract Administration, HR Reporting, Recruitment or Organizational Design) in an international, public or corporate organization at the national and/or international level.

• Some experience in UN system organizations preferably in a developing country is desirable.

• Proficiency in the usage of computers and Google apps as well as web-based management systems.

• Fluency in English is required.

Contract type: Local Individual Contractor Agreement (LICA)
Contract level: LICA-10
Contract duration: Ongoing ICA - Open-ended, subject to organizational requirements, availability of funds and satisfactory performance 

• 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
• 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.