Background

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is the UN 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 UN 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 engaged 6,807 UN Volunteers in 2012, on a total of 6,912 assignments. With an average age of 38 years and the requisite professional skills and qualifications of some 5 to 10 years relevant experience, UN volunteers served in 127 countries in 2012 and came themselves from 159. The majority – 79 per cent – come from developing countries themselves. One third of UN volunteers served in their own countries, with the others carrying out international assignments. The financial equivalent of programme activities exceeds US$220 million annually.  

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 Quality Assurance Unit (QAU), Volunteer Knowledge and Innovation Section (VKIS), and Peace and Development Division (PDD), which includes the Peace Programming Section (PPS), the Development Programming Section (DPS), and the Volunteer Recruitment Resources Section (VRRS);
• The Partnerships and Communications Division (PCD) 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:

In 2012, over 6800 international and national volunteers were fielded worldwide. Of these, 966 (or approximately 14%) of all UN Volunteers fall into the “youth” category, i.e., between the ages of 21 and 29. In this age range, there were 241 female and 149 male international UN Volunteers and 357 female and 219 male national UN Volunteers.  

UNV recently completed a review of UNV’s youth schemes and launched a new Youth Strategy in 2013. Work is under way now to formulate a new Youth and Volunteerism global programme (2014-2017), which operationalizes the Strategy and serves as a programmatic chapeau for all youth-related interventions by UNV.

The programme is centred around three pillars:

• Design, implement and manage the new UN Youth Volunteers modality with UN system and other partners;
  
• The recommendations of the University and UN Volunteers Intern review will be addressed, including UNV staffing, enhancing youth volunteer recruitment and management skills, volunteer living allowance, youth appropriate support and training, appropriate descriptions of assignment, host agency expectations, etc.; 
  
• The modality will be designed to serve Member Countries and the UN system. 

• Position UNV as the leader in youth volunteering within the UN system and with outside partners by engaging with volunteer sending organizations, civil society, governments and other UN agencies to promote active participation of youth as volunteers in the Rio+20, MDGs and post MDGs agenda.
  

• Strengthen national and regional capacities including policy and legislative frameworks for governments, civil society, and other partners to develop and sustain youth volunteer schemes, through technical assistance, knowledge sharing, and collaborative programming.
  

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the general guidance of, and reporting directly to the Deputy Executive Coordinator, the Senior Programme Manager will take the substantive lead in the development and implementation of all Youth Programme related activities in UNV. He/she will be responsible for the management of financial and human resources allocated to the programme and oversee timely and complete implementation of all programme activities.

Specific duties include the following:

Strategic Leadership to the United Nations Youth Volunteer Programme Team

• Position UNV as the leader in youth volunteerism and development;
• Act as an effective champion and advocate of the UNV Youth Programme to external and internal stakeholders
• Enable UNV and major stakeholders in the identification/design/preparation of activities that support youth volunteerism;
• Ensure synergies within the different components of the Youth programme as well as with the other global programmes being developed;
• Ensure systemic integration of experiences from key stakeholders (external and internal) in programme implementation;
• Manage programme staff and consultant resources in delivery of the programme.

Programme planning, management, monitoring and oversight:

• Oversee and coordinate programmatic and financial management of the Youth Programme;
• Introduce a comprehensive implementation strategy for the programme, including through systematic  linkages with related UNV initiatives at global, regional and local levels; clarify and define roles/responsibilities of stakeholders;
• Lead all activities related to reporting and work planning. In this regard, lead the development of results-based Annual Work Plans that clearly set out the quarterly and output targets, indicators, activities, resource requirements, and budget;
• Establish effective working procedures related to the management of the programme and oversee compliance;
• Lead the roll-out of the new UNV Youth Volunteer modality and work closely with internal partners in helping to further develop and refine the modality over time;
• Ensure coordination with key partners at global, regional, and country levels in timely and effective implementation of planned activities;
• Implementation of a comprehensive Monitoring and Evaluation system for the project and regular monitoring of activities;
• Conduct visits to programme sites to assess collaboration with local partners;
• Assess programmatic impact and monitor the appropriateness of indicators used to verify progress and results
• Monitor and ensure that all programme and budget allocations/targets are on track;
• Ensure financial and narrative reporting to UNV Senior Management and other relevant stakeholders.

Effective partnership building, resource mobilization, and external communications:

• Coordinate and build partnerships with the relevant UN host agencies, increase awareness of the UNV Youth Volunteer Programme and communicate the unique value proposition of UN Youth Volunteers for the UN system;
• Build and maintain relationships with a wide array of partners such as Government counterparts, NGOs, and youth networks and organizations at all levels to foster on-going strategic alliances and to enlist their support and contribution for the development and implementation of the Youth Programme;
• Develop and implement a resource mobilization strategy to ensure long term sustainability of the programme;
• Engage as a global leader in the relevant UN System networks in particular the UN Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development (IANYD) to position UNV in the area of youth volunteerism;
• Build and maintain effective partnerships with donors and other champions of the programme to ensure sustained interest and cooperation;
• Collaborate with internal and external partners, stakeholders and clients on advocacy related to Youth volunteerism and development, and in the promotion of the UNV Youth Programme.

Facilitation of knowledge building and knowledge sharing among different stakeholders, including UN and non-UN partners:

• Facilitate research in the area of youth volunteerism and development, through the Youth Programme as well as linkages to the work of the UNV Volunteer Knowledge and Innovation Section (VKIS) as well as other key programmes;
• Lead and coordinate UNV’s substantive contribution to relevant practice networks to share UNV’s experience and knowledge in the area of youth and volunteerism;
• Stimulate knowledge sharing among the different country initiatives by initiating discussion and coordinating the development of relevant knowledge products;
• Identify and codify good practices globally and regionally;
• Ensure effective linkages with other (development) partners active in the area of youth and volunteerism including through participation in the Interagency Network on Youth and Development (IANYD), promote and support the establishment of joint technical working groups of development partners, representing UNV at the technical level in these working groups;
• Any other tasks as assigned.
  

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Building Strategic Partnerships

• Identifies and prioritizes opportunities and obstacles to advance UNV’s Youth agenda; identifies common interests and goals and carries out joint initiatives with partners;
• Makes effective use of UNV’s resources and comparative advantage to strengthen partnerships;
• 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 in the area of Youth Volunteerism to encourage learning and knowledge sharing;
• Promotes UNV 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;
• 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.

Strategic Alignment of Management Practice (HQ & RSCs):

• Anticipates and understands internal and external issues and opportunities that may impact the organization.

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;
• Provides advice on the financial structuring and designs necessary budgets for complex projects and prepare financing documentation;
• 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.
  

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master's degree in Development Studies, Economics, Project Management International Development, Political and Social Sciences or any relevant field.

Experience:

• 10 years of progressive responsible experience and proven track record in managing and implementing development programmes and projects;
• Technical expertise in the area of volunteerism and development and/or youth and development would be a significant advantage;
• Extensive experience in managing volunteer programmes  or in a development context involving volunteers, or extensive experience in civil society engagement and development;
• Fully proficient computer skills and use of relevant software and other applications, e.g. word processing, PowerPoint or equivalent, internal databases, Internet and modern social media tools.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English;
  
• Knowledge of French or Spanish will be a strong asset.