UNV Jobs

United Nations Volunteers Programme:

The United Nations Volunteers programme (UNV) is the United Nations organization that contributes to peace and development through volunteerism worldwide. Volunteerism is a powerful means of engaging people in tackling development challenges, and it can transform the pace and nature of development. Volunteerism benefits both society at large and the individual volunteer by strengthening trust, solidarity and reciprocity among citizens, and by purposefully creating opportunities for participation. UNV contributes to peace and development by advocating for recognition of volunteers, working with partners to integrate volunteerism into development programming, and mobilizing an increasing number and diversity of volunteers, including experienced UNV volunteers, throughout the world. UNV embraces volunteerism as universal and inclusive, and recognizes volunteerism in its diversity as well as the values that sustain it: free will, commitment, engagement and solidarity.

UNV is headquartered in Bonn, Germany and has approximately 150 staff positions – with the majority in Bonn and some positions with different UN peacekeeping and political missions, and in other Headquarters locations (e.g. New York and Tokyo). The major organizational groups within UNV are:

• The Office of the Executive Coordinator (OEC) comprising the Evaluation Unit (EU) and the Corporate Planning and Performance Unit (CPPU);;
• The Volunteer Programming and Management Group (VPMG) comprising the Peace Division (PD) and the Development Division (DD), Volunteer Recruitment Resources Section (VRRS), Quality Assurance Unit (QAU), Volunteer Knowledge and Innovation Section (VKIS);
• The Partnerships and Communications Division (PCD) comprising comprising the Partnerships Section (PS) and the Communications Section (CS);
• The Management Services Division (MSD) comprising the Information and Communication Technology Section (ICTS), Finance Section (FS), Human Resources Section (HRS), and the Administration Unit (AU). Additionally the Common Services Unit (CSU) provides support to the UN presence in Bonn.
  

Organizational setting:

The Volunteer Knowledge and Innovation Section enhances UNV’s proactive capacity to mainstream volunteerism into peace and development initiatives through:

• Promoting sound volunteer management practices, including the development of innovative volunteering solutions (volunteer modalities and volunteer management resources and tools)and the management of the Online Volunteering service;
• Leading the delivery of volunteerism advisory services for integration of volunteerism for peace and development into policies and programming; and for enhancing the recognition of volunteerism contributions;
• Leading initiatives for Volunteer Learning and Knowledge management.

Reporting to the Deputy Executive Coordinator, the Chief, Volunteer Knowledge and Innovation, provides leadership in developing innovative volunteer management solutions, volunteerism advisory services and coordinated learning and knowledge management for integration of volunteerism into policies and programming.

Specific duties include the following:

1. Provide strategic leadership in the development and application of sound volunteer management practices across UNV, including the development of products and services:

• On the basis of identified needs and opportunities, field experiences, lessons from programming, and best practices, lead development of innovative volunteering solutions through identification of new/improved services and practices, new/improved policies, and develop marketable volunteer products;
• Lead the design, testing, and mainstreaming of new, marketable volunteer modalities / schemes;
• Oversee the Volunteer Management Cycle Project to lead the integration of sound volunteer management practices, tools, and resources into UNV’s volunteer management system;
• Oversee the management of the Online Volunteering service operations, including development of a sustainable business strategy facilitating the integration of online volunteering into peace and development programming.

2. Lead the provision of high-quality volunteerism advisory services, contributing to the strategic, global positioning of UNV on volunteerism for peace and development and effective partnership engagement:

• Provide overall practice leadership within UNV in volunteerism for peace and development;
• Design, establish, and coordinate a network of internal and external experts on volunteerism;
• Oversee the provision of high-quality advisory services to internal and external clients in priority UNV areas of work including volunteer management, voluntary policy, national volunteering schemes, and the integration of volunteerism into peace and development programming;
• Set and monitor the application of quality standards for the provision of services and establishes overall engagement approach for the network, including standard operating procedures and templates, cost recovery processes, and feedback mechanisms;
• Engage the network in UNV research and outreach efforts in priority areas (e.g. youth), contributing to the overall positioning of UNV as the global norm-setting organization on volunteerism;
• Develop documentation of the contributions of volunteers to peace and development and provide substantive content for advocacy messaging;
• Coordinate the provision of substantive expertise  on programming and promoting volunteerism;
• Keep abreast of global policy debates on the Millennium Development Goals, and the post-MDG development dialogue, and advise on strategic positioning of UNV;
• Provide substantive policy advice and guidance on issues of volunteerism in order to position UNV strategically in terms of global partnerships, programming, and advocacy;
• Provide strategic and substantive volunteerism related content for high level communications, speeches, publications, and statements;
• Advise on and represent UNV in efforts to integrate volunteerism for peace and development into joint and collaborative programming and partnerships;
• Develop strong working partnerships with the VSOs, CSOs, NGOs, UN entities, donors, governments, universities, community organizations and other partners on volunteerism;
• Represent UNV in conferences, workshops or meetings to highlight the importance of and promote knowledge sharing relating to volunteerism for peace and development; 
• Undertake innovative outreach with diverse national, regional and international stakeholders;
• Represent UNV, as assigned, on volunteerism for peace and development in UN inter-agency meetings, civil society/volunteer involving organization conferences, etc.

3. Lead UNV’s effort to promote volunteer learning and knowledge management:

• Oversee volunteer knowledge management;
• Lead the development and management of tools and processes to enhance knowledge-sharing amongst internal and external stakeholders;
• Lead efforts to develop UN Volunteers’ capacity to advocate for and integrate volunteerism into their assignments:
• Ensure access to high-quality induction training and learning opportunities for all UN Volunteers;
• Lead the documentation of the contributions of volunteerism to peace and development and provide substantive content for advocacy messaging;
• Develop and provide substantive advice and support to initiatives for research on and measurement of volunteerism and its contributions to peace and development at national, regional and local levels, including national Human Development Reports.

4. Provide overall management and leadership of the section:

• Promote and model organizational culture that supports innovation, consultation, risk-taking, and client service;
• Lead VKIS to serve as an incubator for volunteerism innovation, coordinating peer review and in-house technical support for innovative proposals;
• Provide strategic direction and guidance to ensure coherence within the Section;
• Ensure substantive engagement of the Section in the programmatic activities of UNV, in particular in support of the Peace and Development Divisions, the Quality and Assurance Unit and the Partnership and Communications Division;
• Build a coordinated and effective team of professionals and volunteerism advisors, promote a work environment in the Section that is conducive to delivering results;
• Provide conceptual and strategic inputs into the formulation, implementation and advocacy of UNV’S organizational strategy, corporate business model, and results framework, ensuring common vision and linkages to practice areas, strategic planning and goals;
• Ensure development, implementation and enhancement of functional linkages between the Volunteer Knowledge and Innovation Section and other UNV HQ units;
• Contribute to capacity building of UNV staff, field  units and partners on volunteerism for peace and development  as a resource person at training courses/workshops and individual mentoring.

Other related duties may be assigned.

Functional Competencies:

Building Strategic Partnerships

• Makes effective use of UNV’s resources and comparative advantage to strengthen partnerships;
• Builds partnerships with non-traditional sectors by translating UNV’s agenda into messages that reflect the pertinence of their values and interests;
• Creates networks and promotes initiatives with partner organizations.

Promoting Organizational Learning and Knowledge Sharing

• Actively seeks and promotes innovative methodologies and leads the development of supporting policies/tools to encourage learning and knowledge sharing;
• Develops and/or participates in the development of policies and new approaches and participates in training of staff in their application throughout the organization;
• Promotes UNDP as a learning/knowledge sharing organization.

Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise

• Possesses expert knowledge of advanced concepts in primary discipline, a broad knowledge of related disciplines, as well as an in-depth knowledge of relevant organizational policies and procedures.
• Applies knowledge to support the unit/branch’s objectives and to further the mandate of UNV.
• For managers: applies a broad knowledge of best management practices; defines objectives and work flows, positions reporting relationships in such a way as to obtain optimum effectiveness for the unit/branch;
• Keeps abreast of new developments in area of professional discipline and job knowledge and seeks to develop him/herself personally;
• Demonstrates comprehensive knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments;
• Demonstrates expert knowledge of the current programme guidelines and project management tools and manages the use of these regularly in work assignments.

Promoting Organizational Change and Development

• Identifies problems central to the organization’s success, assesses their impact;
• Provides change and development advice, including the design and implementation of change strategies / processes to enable staff/the organization to deal with change effectively;
• Drives process definition, simplification, and integration efforts throughout the organization.

Strategic Alignment of Management Practice (HQ & RSCs)

• Understands the strategic direction and context in terms of management requirements and ensures management policies and practices support the achievement of organizational goals;
• Anticipates and understands internal and external issues and opportunities that may impact the organization;
• Leads the effort to develop/maintain management systems which help UNV achieve its strategic objectives.

Design and Implementation of Management Systems

• Designs management systems based on established best practice and identified needs within UNV;
• Manages complex design projects where different actors are involved at different stages of the project until completed
• Formulates strategy for the implementation of systems;
• Advocates through internal networks the demonstrable value of existing systems to facilitate achievement of organizational goals;
• Review systems performance to support rigorous development of systems standards and modes of operation.

Client Orientation

• Anticipates constraints in the delivery of services and identifies solutions or alternatives;
• Proactively identifies, develops and discusses solutions for internal and external clients, and persuades management to undertake new projects or services;
• Consults with clients and ensures their needs are represented in decision-making processes;
• Advises and develops strategic and operational solutions with clients that add value to UNV programmes and operations.

Promoting Accountability and Results-Based Management

• Ensures compliance with the organizational standards for audit, monitoring and evaluation and results-based management and promotes and monitors their application;
• Promotes a culture of accountability in the organization;
• Develops, disseminates and promotes the use of sound methodologies and tools to assist organizational units in carrying out results-based monitoring and evaluation;
• Analyses audit, evaluation and policy application review results, extracts key elements and prepares proposals to address areas of weakness in the organization’s performance.

Core Competencies:

• Promoting ethics and integrity, creating organizational precedents;
• Building support and political acumen;
• Building staff competence,  creating an environment of creativity and innovation;
• Building and promoting effective teams;
• Creating and promoting enabling environment for open communication;
• Creating an emotionally intelligent organization;
• Leveraging conflict in the interests of UNDP & setting standards;
• Sharing knowledge across the organization and building a culture of knowledge sharing and learning;
• Fair and transparent decision making; calculated risk-taking.
  

Education:

• Master’s degree in social sciences, political science, public or business administration, or related fields.

Experience:

• 10 years of relevant professional experience with at least 5 years in an international organization;
• At least five years in middle to senior management positions;
• Experience in managing volunteer programmes and/or in a development context involving volunteers is required;
• Experience coordinating an Advisor Network desirable;
• Experience in knowledge management is required.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English; proficiency in an additional UN language is desirable.
  

Applications should be submitted on line and include an up to date UNDP Personal History Form (P11) posted at http://sas.undp.org/Documents/P11_Personal_history_form.doc.  Only short-listed applicants will be contacted.

The successful candidate will hold a UNDP letter of appointment.