UNDP Jobs - 58081- Ethics Adviser

Ethics Adviser

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

FTA International

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

29-Jul-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-5

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

Organizational Context

The Ethics Adviser (EA) for UNDP reports to the Director of the Ethics Office for UNDP, who in turn reports to the Administrator. The EA helps to nurture and promote a culture of ethics and integrity in the organization by ensuring that the Organization offers advisory services, learning and awareness-raising opportunities and protection against retaliation to staff members and non-staff personnel to support them in performing their functions consistent with the highest standards of integrity as envisaged in the Charter of the United Nations.

The Ethics Adviser will assist the Director of the Ethics Office in carrying out his/her responsibilities in the following areas:

Provide confidential ethics advice and guidance to staff, non-staff personnel and management (including senior management);
Administer the Financial Disclosure Policy (FDP), and address potential conflicts of interest;
Protect staff and non-staff personnel from retaliation and promote whistleblowing;
Provide advocacy, education and training on ethics, values, and standards;
Consult on policy development and standard setting;
Promote staff awareness through outreach/communication initiatives;
Apprise senior management of ethics-related risks.

Financial Disclosure Policy (FDP)

The Financial Disclosure Policy is an effort of the Organization to promote accountability and transparency and to raise the awareness of staff to avoid and resolve any potential conflicts of interest in the best interest of the organization.

Level of Responsibility

For the aforementioned areas of responsibility, the Ethics Adviser will support and manage the processes, and provide content management. For example, the EA supports the FDP on the user side by managing the day to day implementation of the filing exercise and review process. The EA develops policy and procedures for implementing the FDP that is approved by the Director of the Ethics Office. The EA recommends the user requirements for the online reporting system for FDP, updates the user requirements as needed, develops materials, instructions and communications for FDP, recommends the parameters and criteria for conducting the review of data submitted by staff members; conducts the substantive reviews of the disclosures made; selects the criteria for samples of the data; establishes the protocol for conducting follow-up with staff members; conducts follow-up reviews with staff members, recommends and implements a security protocol for follow-up reviews; recommends solutions to staff to manage/mitigate conflict of interest situations; and reports on all matters where the staff member does not agree on how to resolve the conflict of interest.

Enabling Environment

The EA works closely with staff members and non-staff personnel who are clients for the services provided by the Ethics Office, such as those who seek protection against retaliation (i.e., “whistleblower protection”) and those who are required to comply with the FDP, for the purpose of supporting and guiding the individual; the EA also liaises with other units as needed for institutional support.

Internal/External Focus of the Job

The EA liaises closely with counterparts in internal offices in UNDP who are stakeholders in implementing ethics or ethics-related policies in their respective business units such as the Office of Audit and Investigations, the Legal Support Office, the Office of the Ombudsman and the Office of Human Resources. The purpose of such contact is to ensure that the policies and implementation are harmonized and cohesive within UNDP.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Functions and Key Results Expected

Provide Confidential Ethics Advice and Guidance To Staff, Non-Staff Personnel and Management (Including Senior Management):

Provide confidential advice and guidance on ethics and standards of conduct to individual staff and business units, ethical business decision making, ethical behaviour, and on organizational resources available to them;
Advise of possible avenues to address sensitive situation and ethical dilemmas facing the individual. Work with the Director, or at the Director’s request, on responding to various questionnaires and/or requests for information received by the organization where Ethics’ input is required or warranted. Expected Results: A more informed and engaged staff (and other personnel) committed to embedding and living the values of an ethical culture in UNDP. Queries on ethical conduct made by staff that are promptly answered with practical and pragmatic advice and guidance;
Advise staff and non-staff personnel on the UN Staff Regulations and Rules and how ethical decision-making must be a part of daily activities at work;
Based on the facts presented by an individual seeking advice and guidance, the Ethics Adviser provides advice on various courses of action a staff member or non-staff personnel may take in his or her personal or professional life to avoid compromising his or her official duties.

Administer the Financial Disclosure Programme (FDP) and Address Potential Conflicts of Interest:

Administer the rollout of the annual Financial Disclosure Programme, and serve as initial provider of advice and guidance under the FDP Policy;
Raise awareness within UNDP on what constitutes a conflict of interest (COI) and support staff and non-staff personnel with advice and guidance on how to resolve any cases of COI that are reported by or detected in the activities or disclosures of individuals working for UNDP. The primary purpose of the FDP is to identify and propose ways to manage/mitigate actual, apparent and potential conflicts of interest arising from financial holdings and outside activities of staff, non-staff and their respective spouses and dependent children. This may result in advising staff/non-staff to divest themselves of holdings in stocks, bonds, and other business interests, or to recuse themselves from a particular activity or aspect of their official functions;
Prepare all memos and bulletins to announce and roll-out the annual programme;
Draft and issue memos to all FDP focal points to identify annual filers;
Work with dedicated IT resource to ensure smooth rollout;
Monitor compliance by all staff and select individuals who are required to submit statements;
Refer violations or failure to comply with the policy to the Director of the Ethics Office and/or appropriate units;
Review information submitted by staff and follow-up on the cases of potential conflict of interest as needed, providing appropriate advice and guidance;
Conduct verification exercise on a representative sample of filers to ensure accuracy in their filings;
Monitor the Ethics Office email box and address requests for approval to engage in outside activities. This will entail reviewing such requests for potential Conflicts of Interest. As a result, the Organization should experience a reduction in the incidents of conflict of interests on the part of staff through prevention and an increase in managing/mitigating conflicts of interest that are detected through timely and appropriate advice and guidance;
Advise staff about existing mechanisms for reporting restricted or prohibited activities (such as accepting gifts or participating in unauthorized outside activities) or for granting authorization for them.

Protect Staff and Non-staff Personnel from Retaliation and Promote Whistleblowing:

Assist the Director of the Ethics Office in reviewing requests for protection against retaliation. The EA will: Monitor and track all requests for protection against retaliation reported to the Ethics Office;
Assist the Director of the Ethics Office in reviewing the case and in establishing if a prima facie case exists;
Assist the Director of the Ethics Office in recommending appropriate corrective measures for protection of the individual seeking protection;
Monitor and follow-up on all administrative actions taken with respect to the individual requesting protection;
Draft the necessary report(s) supporting or declining to find a prima facie case, and letters transmitting findings at the conclusion of the preliminary review and investigation (if any);
Performs other functions as the Director of the Ethics Office considers important;
It is expected that these activities will yield the result that UNDP is deemed to have an effective whistleblower protection programme and ensure that individuals alleging retaliation and seeking protection from that retaliatory threat, are appropriately afforded that protection;
Adequately document all actions taken by the Organization with respect to cases of retaliation that are filed with the Ethics Office.

Provide Advocacy, Education and Training on Ethics, Values, and Standards:

Responsible for assisting the Director in developing and delivering training and education on ethics issues. This will include undertaking missions on his/her own in order to deliver said training where and when needed, and/or delivering in-person training live via the Web;
Contributes substantially to developing the content and method of delivery for periodic ethics training, including live classroom based training Coordinates and delivers training efforts by collaborating with other key contacts within and outside of UNDP to tailor the training to the needs of the group and to enhance the curriculum of ethics training;
Develops, updates and revises training modules targeted at specific audiences in response to the evolving needs of the organization. This may include working jointly with the Director, and/or Learning Management staff. The expected results will include an increased understanding by staff and non-staff personnel of the UN Staff Rules and Regulations, the Standards of Conduct for the International Civil Service, the UN Code of Conduct, the UNDP Code of Ethics, and related documents and the behaviour that is expected by UNDP; an increased understanding of UNDP core values; a keen appreciation of the business value of an ethical culture in fostering a harmonious work environment, deepening staff engagement and producing development results for UNDP. The Organization should be able to demonstrate that it has fulfilled its obligation to ensure that every staff member and non-staff personnel is well informed on the behaviour expected of them.

Consult on Policy Development and Standard Setting:

Assist the Director in developing standards, drafting, reviewing and/or editing policies within the ambit and control of the Ethics Office as well as policies and standards with which the Ethics Office regularly works and on which the Office offers guidance, EA may also be called upon to represent the Ethics Office on cross-functional teams and collaborative efforts to review, revise and update other policies where Ethics’ input is required or warranted.

Promote Staff Awareness through Outreach/Communication Initiatives:

Take a substantive role in raising awareness in the Organization regarding ethics and ethical issues so that the ethical culture in the organization is strengthened;
Reinforce and raise awareness of staff and non-staff personnel regarding the ethics and accountability practices and standards of the Organization, and develop strategies and methods to disseminate to staff and non-staff personnel the resource materials necessary to foster ethical conduct and ethical decision-making. These may include easy to understand guides on standards of conduct for international the civil service, social media messages, blog posts, ethics email messages, website improvements and updates, and other informational material.

Apprise Director of ethics-related risks (as they arise) that may be of import to senior management, so that Director can offer advice and guidance to management as required

Draft Annual Report of the Ethics Office to the Executive Board of UNDP:

Provide statistical and narrative reports on all activities undertaken during the preceding year. These reports will be incorporated into the annual report of the Ethics Office;
Draft the annual report of the Ethics Office and submit it to the Director of the Ethics Office for finalization;
In the absence of the Director of the Ethics Office, the EO will represent UNDP on the Ethics Panel of the UN.

Competencies

Core Values and Ethics

Demonstrates integrity and fairness;
Displays cultural sensitivity, tact and diplomacy;
Shows strong corporate commitment;
Demonstrated a history of personal honesty and compliance with all UNDP regulations, rules, and code of conduct;
Maintains a professional demeanour.

Core Competencies:

Demonstrated an ability to handle information and cases in a confidential manner;
Leadership;
Focuses on client impact and result;
Takes initiative and leads a team effectively;
Displays positive attitude and enthusiasm;
Takes decisions;
Builds strong client relationships;
Articulate and communicates clearly and convincingly;
Manages conflict, stress and complexity;
Provides constructive coaching and feedback.

Functional Competencies:

Manages projects effectively;
Ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously;
Builds and shares knowledge and actively builds deep knowledge in one or more areas;
Applies existing knowledge to work;
Provides discreet advice and support to others;
Engages in earning and people development;
Manage and lead a team to accomplish stated objectives;
Demonstrated ability to design and personally deliver training;
Demonstrated proficiency in Microsoft Office suite of software applications;
Promotes a learning environment;
Understand topics and challenges in administering a policy of conflicts of interest for staff/non-staff, including financial disclosure.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced university degree in law, ethics, human resources, business administration, international affairs, regulatory compliance, management, anti-corruption, or other related fields.

Experience:

A minimum of 10 years of professional experience in dealing with the compliance of employees to the internal accountability systems or an organization, either in the disciplinary or administrative arena;
Experience in supervision and management, preferably five years at the managerial level and at least five years in an international setting;
Experience in designing or delivering ethics training and/or anti-harassment, and/or anti-corruption programmes, and in managing and implementing conflict of interest disclosure (and/or financial disclosure) policies, and have some experience in reviewing cases of noncompliance with administrative policies.

Language:

Fluency in English, (written and verbal) is required;
Fluency in Spanish or French is highly desirable.