Deputy Regional Director, AEMO

Summary of functions:

1. Corporate function and services
2. Regional leadership
3. Representation and inter-agency partnership
4. Knowledge management and innovation

1. Corporate function and services

• Provide advice to the Regional Director on current and future business operations and strategy development and planning.
• Keep abreast of organizational changes and provide advice to the Regional Director on the alignment of regional strategy and approaches to business development, management of the regional project portfolio and delivery of sustainable results.
• Review the performance and efficacy of the regional operations and recommend to the Regional Director appropriate changes in operations to enhance/maximise results for regional portfolio delivery and regional business development.
• Collaborate with senior UNOPS colleagues and stakeholders, other Practice Groups, especially Communications Practice Group and the Partnership Practice Group to exchange ideas on strategies for communications and public relations to optimise strategic outreach and results for business development in the region.
• At the request of the Regional Director, represent UNOPS, at key global/regional events (including media and pubic relations events) and meetings to speak on (regional) organizations goals, interests and competencies, build and maintain alliances and to promote/advocate UNOPS position as a partner of choice in sustainable development in the region.

2. Regional leadership

• Provide advice to the Regional Director on the development of the regional strategy, including establishing priorities, and following up on the implementation of the annual business plan for AEMO.
• Assist the Regional Director to establish the Regional Office annual work priorities, set objectives, performance measurements, standards and results expected to ensure timely and partner oriented services.
• Plan and make recommendations to the Regional Director on the resources (human, financial and administrative) to achieve goals and ensure the cost effective and appropriate use of resources in accordance with UNOPS standards of ethics, integrity and accountability framework.
• Plan, recruit and develop a diverse and flexible regional workforce with the skills and competencies needed to ensure optimum performance, and ensure gender and geographical diversity.
• 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. 
• Foster a positive work environment, respectful of both men and women, and ensure that the highest standards of conduct are observed.
• Monitor implementation, oversee progress toward annual objectives and make recommendations to the Regional Director to ensure the delivery of results as planned and according to partners’ expectation. 
• Ensure that AEMO activities/initiatives are aligned with organizational strategic plans, framework and standards of accountability, ethics and integrity and to ensure that portfolio delivery and business development are mutually reinforcing.
• At the delegation of the Regional Director, maintain operational control of regional safety and security related matters as appropriate.

3. Representation and inter-agency partnership

• At the request of the Regional Director, represent UNOPS in senior inter-agency and external meetings/bodies in the region to promote the organization, influence policy discussion and to identify potential areas for UNOPS partnership and engagement.
• Collaborate with internal and external partners, colleagues and stakeholders to keep abreast of evolving trends, advocate UNOPS services and build partnerships/alliances to maintain/enhance UNOPS visibility in project services in development cooperation.
• Build and maintain (regional) public/media relations to actively engage their interest/support in promoting and communicating UNOPS achievements, competencies and interest in global development.
• Proactively contribute to UN coherence and ensure that UNOPS engagement within the UN system adds to system-wide efficiency, effectiveness and relevance in the realization of post-2015 development agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.

4. Knowledge management and innovation

• Oversee the successful implementation of regional policies, standards and tools to effectively manage business development within the regional portfolio to enhance/maintain UNOPS competitive edge as a provider of effective project services for sustainable results.
• Lead the ongoing research, development and implementation of best practice and innovative approaches to maximise performance and sustain achievements.
• Drive knowledge sharing and strategic communications across the region and with corporate functions, ensuring collaboration and continuous feedback through regional communications network and other channels, as appropriate.
• Lead the planning, implementation and organization of strategic capacity building of personnel, partners and stakeholders for strategic business development and engagement.

Core competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards.
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNOPS.
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Functional competencies:

• Ability to think strategically and conceptually and to translate these into concrete results.
• A demonstrated experience as a people manager with a track record of managing large teams, and a proven ability to deliver results through people
• Ability to lead and manage a diverse group of colleagues to achieve results in a responsible and collaborative manner through clear direction, supervision and modeling behavior.
• Ability to communicate ideas and concept clearly and convincingly.
• Ability to go beyond established procedures and models and to introduce new approaches and strategic innovations.
• Ability to establish and maintain broad strategic networks and partnerships with UN agencies and other international partners to promote partnership and build alliances to advance organizational interests and competencies.

• A Master’s degree in a relevant field is required.
• A minimum of 10 years of experience that combines strategic and managerial leadership in public affairs, management, business development planning and operations in a large international and/or corporate organization.  
• Demonstrated people management experience, including managing large / diverse teams
• Some experience in the UN system organizations and/or a developing country is an asset.
• Full working knowledge of English is essential.
• Knowledge of another official UNOPS language, particularly Arabic, 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.
• 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.