Background

Under the leadership of the UNDG Chair, and with the guidance of the UNDG, the overall objective of the United Nations Development Operations Coordination Office (DOCO) is to provide the UNDG and its member agencies with technical advice and support to ensure effective development cooperation. To achieve this, DOCO supports the UNDG at all levels to ensure coordinated and coherent support to the UN’s national partners in meeting the MDGs/IADGs and the development priorities in a post 2015 agenda. The core objective is a relevant and impactful UN contribution to sustainable development. DOCO works closely with other UN entities and stakeholders (including DPA, DPKO, DSS, WB, OCHA and the Policy Committee in case of crisis countries), and through various interagency mechanisms to enable the following:

  • Analyze and advocate for improved policy, strategy and operational coordination as inputs for discussion and decision by UNDG;
  • Develop, manage and facilitate interagency networks of expertise to support the innovation, development and implementation of UNDG strategic priorities and work plans for reforms and shared results;
  • Address and support UN development system coordination and coherence issues at regional and country levels; and enable the lessons and experiences from the field to translate into improved policy;
  • Support the UNDG Chair, Regional UNDGs and UN Resident Coordinators in their leadership and coordination functions;
  • Provide advice and support to the Director in the context of opportunities to leverage UN development coordination objectives at all levels.

One such coordination goal is to support UN funds, programmes, and specialized agencies with pursuing higher-quality, more effective and cost-efficient support services in all programme countries, by reducing the duplication of functions, and administrative and transaction costs through the consolidation of support services at the country level.

The overarching goal is to explore potential savings across the organizations, including the harmonization of business practices in functional areas and the consolidation of support services to reduce duplication of functions and lower administrative and transaction costs, while at the same time increasing the quality and effectiveness of these services.

In light of the above, DOCO is coordinating on behalf of the UNDG the following initiatives to assist UNCTs with the above goal:

  • The Business Operations Strategy was developed and rolled out as a strategic planning instrument to assist UN Country teams to develop the analytical base and plan for harmonized business operations at country level;
  • new governance models for common operations are being developed and tested, including integrated service centers at the local level;
  • The harmonized Monitoring and Evaluation framework for common operations at the country level is under development, which will facilitate monitoring and assessment of impact of common operations  and reinforces comparability between countries and allows for trend analysis to inform policy development;

Standardized common services packages are developed with the aim to standardize service solutions to the degree possible, based on existing UN country practices developed across the system. While limited transaction costs are necessary to localize and implement these solutions, significant transaction cost reductions can be achieved by reducing the duplication of development cost of the individual solutions. The standardized packages are an important enabling factor in terms of knowledge sharing and standardization of good practices across the system. In addition, key work activities are required to reinforce Monitoring and Evaluation mechanisms in the context of harmonized business operations.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the UNDG DOCO Business Operations Specialist, the incumbent shall provide technical support with the implementation of Business Operations related mandates of the Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review 2013 – 2016 (A/Res/67/226) and the UNDG Strategic Plan:

Assist with the development of Standardized Common Services packages:

  • Collect and assess existing field practices for pre-defined Common Services;
  • Prepare business process maps based on existing practice;
  • Identify relevant guidance for specific common services;
  • Collect/ develop templates;
  • Draft FAQs for Common Services implementation for each Common Service package;
  • Develop Training materials for Common Services.

Monitoring current Business Operations Strategy pilot initiative and common operations initiatives:

  • Support the development and roll-out of the UNDG harmonized Business Operations Monitoring and Evaluation framework aimed to assess impact of Common Operations initiatives at the country level;
  • Assist with the preparation of annual report on the impact of harmonized business operations at country level;
  • Ensure the information resulting from the M&E reporting informs the development of the standardized Common Services Packages.

Knowledge Management and Sharing:

  • Document best practices and lessons learned in addressing issues of Business Operations Strategy design and implementation;
  • Ensure practices and lessons learned are reflected in UNDG’s broader corporate knowledge networks and websites;
  • Promote work within the inter-Agency setting of the UNDG to ensure effective results of the Business Operations Strategy initiative;
  • Support BOS trainings and workshops;
  • Perform other Business Operations related tasks as and when needed.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

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

Functional Competencies:

  • Good knowledge of and experience with UN reform and Delivering as One as outlined in the Standard Operating Procedures for DaO at the country level;
  • Proven ability to support formulation and development of policies, procedures and guidance;
  • Strong analytical skills with conceptual understanding;
  • Strong, proven functional skills in analytical writing, and producing reports and, research and assessments;
  • Share knowledge and experience and contributes to relevant discussions;
  • Ability to work in a team and respect diversity;
  • Excellent organizational skills;
  • Pro-active, self-directed, enthusiastic and well organized with an attention to details.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

  • Master’s Degree or equivalent credentials in Business Administration, Public Administration, Finance, Economics or other pertinent field.

Experience:

  • At least 5 years post Bachelor’s relevant work experience;
  • Technical knowledge on the design and implementation of UN Common Services, UN Common Premises, BoS and/or other harmonization efforts of UN business operations is required;
  • Knowledge of RBM and Monitoring and Evaluation in the context of Harmonized UN Business Operations is required;
  • Must have a proven track record in solution design for common operations, i.e. business process mapping, developing tools, templates, country support and guidelines for use at the country level;
  • Relevant experience in UN Reform is required, preferably in an inter-Agency coordination context or country level DaO context;
  • Background in one or more of the various operational areas, i.e. procurement, ICT, security, administration, finance, & HR, is highly desirable;
  • Ability to map out business processes and target areas for streamlining, is desirable;
  • Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages; experience in the design, roll-out and handling of web-based management systems, is desirable.

Language:

  • Fluency in oral and written English is required;
  • Proficiency in another UN working language is highly desirable