UNDP Jobs - 51813- Special Assistant (Directorate, Crisis Response Un

Special Assistant (Directorate, Crisis Response Unit)

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

FTA International

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

09-Dec-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-3

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

Job Purpose and Organizational Context

The recently approved Strategic Plan for UNDP (2014-2017) recognizes the importance of preparedness, response, early recovery and the management of the risk cycle as fundamental for development. The objective of the Crisis Response Unit (CRU) is to ensure that UNDP is well positioned to respond in the most timely and effective manner to crisis.

The responsibility of CRU will focus primarily upon and be confined to the two specific typologies of crisis, namely:

Sudden onset crisis: This would include countries that have been affected by natural disasters or sudden outbreak of armed conflicts;
Complex protracted crisis: Examples include countries that are impacted by protracted conflicts, often with regional implications.

Under the direct supervision of the CRU Director, the Special Assistant within the CRU Directorate is responsible for the provision of advisory, analysis, coordination, and quality assurance support to the CRU Director. S/he works in close collaboration with the CRU Deputy Director and other CRU teams and all other parts of UNDP to support the high-level representational, advocacy, partnership, positioning and management commitments of the Director. S/he supports CRU, UNDP, and UN management mechanisms as required, monitoring and tracking implementation on senior management directives, commitments, and agreements with internal and external stakeholders.

S/he is responsible for performing and contributing to the following:

Serves as CRU focal point for the UNDP Executive Office;
Manages scheduling and front office support for the CRU Director;
Conducts research, review and analysis of key documentation for the CRU Director and Deputy Director;
Coordinates substantive preparations, accompaniment and follow-through on the engagements (including missions) of the CRU Director; and
Provides management and communication support to the CRU Director.

Duties and Responsibilities

Serves as CRU focal point for the Executive Office

Primary point of contact for UNDP’s Executive Office on all issues related to UNDP’s response to sudden-onset and complex protracted crisis, working in close coordination with relevant regional and central bureaux;
Coordination of briefs, inputs to briefs, speeches, and position papers for the Administrator and Assistant Administrator, ensuring completeness, substantive accuracy, strategic messaging, alignment with corporate policies, standards and guidelines;
Facilitates preparation of submissions and background documentation for UNDP/UN management mechanisms including the EG, OPG, the Executive Board, and S-G's Policy Committee;
Tracks internal management/policy group as well as OPG/EG/EB/PC commitments; and
Quality assures for management responses to Executive Board decisions.

Manages scheduling and front-office support for the CRU Director:

Careful review (in conjunction with the Executive Associate) of the daily calendar and schedule of the CRU Director, ensuring at all times that the Director’s day-to-day schedule is well planned and serviced in terms of background briefs and issues to be covered in the meetings;
Ensures forward planning of the quarterly and long-term calendar of the CRU Director and Deputy Director, in close collaboration with the Executive Associate, ensuring strategic prioritization of engagements ;
Coordinates preparation of all routine correspondence, notes-to-the-file, and all formal documentation required by the CRU Director; and
Ensures fulfillment of corporate registry items, in conjunction with the Executive Associate.

Conducts research, review and analysis of key documents for the CRU Director and Deputy Director:

Coordinates timely preparation of substantive documents in liaison with relevant CRU staff and other UNDP units, ensuring quality control for substance, clarity, completeness, and context-appropriate messaging;
Collects, analyzes, and synthesizes relevant background information and materials to facilitate strategic engagement and decision-making by the Director;
Provides quality control of key documents for approvals by the CRU Director, ensuring alignment with corporate guidance and standards as well as quality and comprehensiveness of input; and
Channels feedback/comments/questions from the CRU Director to teams and vice versa.
Support to the Executive Team mechanism as directed by the Deputy Director, including collaboration with Executive Team Secretariat to support the planning and preparations of ET meetings and follow-up on the implementation of ET decisions

Coordinates substantive preparation, accompaniment and follow-through on the engagements (including missions) of the CRU Director
Coordinates, drafts, reviews and edits speeches and briefs for the CRU Director, ensuring provision of clear guidance to staff to facilitate an efficient preparation process:

Ensures appropriate accompaniment for meetings of the CRU Director with key internal and external stakeholders, attending meetings with key external and internal stakeholders as required;
Travels with the CRU Director, as needed, on his official visits to UNDP country offices/United Nations system meetings and donor and intergovernmental meetings;
Facilitates official side-meetings and visits of the CRU Director while on mission;
Produces of all meeting reports and correspondence, including back-to-office reports for the Administrator, in coordination with other CRU staff; and
Facilitates and tracks follow-up actions in coordination with relevant focal points within CRU, in line with commitments made by the CRU Director.

Provides management and communication support to the CRU Director:

Maintains regular contact with the Office of the Administrator, the Directorates of other Bureaux, and external stakeholders such as Missions to the UN, UN System partners, IGOs, NGOs, donors, and other multilateral agencies to keep the CRU Director and Deputy Director abreast of key developments within the organization;
Provides Secretariat support in CRU management meetings and identifies key issues for management discussion and holds responsibility for communication and implementation of decisions made by that body to CRU staff;
Facilitates implementation of the requests, directives and commitments of the CRU Director and Deputy Director, in coordination with relevant managers and teams within the bureau;
Supports the organization of regular staff meetings and special events, in conjunction with the Executive Associate;
Supports effective internal communications between staff and CRU management; and
Supports design and implementation of special projects and assignments on behalf of the CRU Director and Deputy Director, frequently involving senior managers of the Bureau as well as a broader constituency.

Competencies

Core Competencies:

Innovation

Ability to make new and useful ideas work.

Leadership

Ability to persuade others to follow..

People Management

Ability to improve performance and satisfaction.

Communication

Ability to listen, adapt, persuade and transform.

Delivery

Ability to get things done.

Technical/Functional:

Primary:

Knowledge Curation

Ability to turn raw information into useful knowledge, relevant for context, or responsive to stated need.

Relationship Management

Ability to engage with other parties and forge productive working relationships.

Priority setting

Ability to scan and synthesize diverse sets of information to arrive at strategic priorities and positioning recommendations.

Brief & Speech Writing

Ability to prepare quality speeches and briefs.

Research

Knowledge of various programme information for research to provide recommendation and guidance to management

Coordination

Ability to manage complex relationships through pathways of knowledge exchange, capacity development, funding relationships and strategic engagement.

Secondary:

Project Management

Ability to plan, organize, and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals.

Emergency Response and Coordination

Ability to coordinate organizational response to emergency situations.

Substantive positioning of UNDP

Knowledge of global institutions (such as the UN, IFIs), processes (such as G20 and various UN initiatives), good grasp of UNDP’s niche, and ability to engage and foster strong networks with those institutions.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced university degree in economics, business administration, social sciences or related disciplines.

Experience:

5 years of professional work experience with the United Nations system, with sound knowledge of UN/UNDP systems, procedures and policies;
Experience working in developing country settings is required and experience in crisis contexts is an asset.

Language:

Fluency in English, both written and oral. Working knowledge of another UN language is desirable.

Other:

Strong knowledge of UNDP crisis response, prevention and recovery mandate, policy and tools.