In February 2013, 11 nations signed the Peace, Security and Cooperation (PSC) Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the region, in a renewed drive to end the recurring cycles of devastating conflict in eastern DRC which impacts stability and development in the Great Lakes area of Africa. On 31 January 2014, two more countries, Kenya and Sudan, became signatories of the PSC Framework. The framework aims to help "address the root causes of conflict and put an end to recurring cycles of violence" in eastern DRC and the Great Lakes Region. In its Resolution 2098 (2013), the Security Council welcomed the signing of the PSC Framework. It called on the Special Envoy, in coordination with the Special Representative for the DRC to "lead, coordinate and assess the implementation of national and regional commitments under the PSC Framework, including through the establishment of benchmarks and appropriate follow-up measures". The Security Council further encouraged the Special Envoy to "lead a comprehensive political process that includes all relevant stakeholders to address the underlying root causes of the conflict".
This position is in the Office of the Special Envoy of The Secretary-General for the Great Lakes in Nairobi, Kenya.
Nairobi is classified as a "B" hardship duty station and a family duty station.
The incumbent reports directly to the Special Envoy, who is also the Head of the Mission.
Within the limits of delegated authority, the Chief of Staff will be responsible for performing the following duties:
Management:
• Ensures the effective direction and integrated management of all the mission's activities in line with the strategic vision and guidance of the Special Envoy.
• Oversees the internal management of the mission on behalf of the Special Envoy, including providing advice on and the promotion of policies on management issues, including risk management.
• Facilitates the translation of policy intent and direction of mission leadership into viable tasks and works with components to ensure their effective implementation.
• Directs and oversees core integrated processes and mechanisms that enable the delivery of the mission's mandate, including programme management, reform/change management, information management and crisis management.
• Oversees the coordination of and support from UNHQ and UNCT in the field, ensuring the implementation of a well-articulated policy for collaboration in the implementation of mandates and the reporting and management of meetings and interactions between the Mission and Headquarters.
• Oversees the activities of all entities located in the Chief of Staff Pillar and/or the Office of the Special Envoy, as delegated by the Special Envoy.
• Serves as the focal point in the Office of the Special Envoy for all sensitive personnel and management issues, as well as for contacts with the Office of Internal Oversight Services and the Resident Auditor.
• Serves as management interface between the Office of Special Envoy and the relevant Headquarters, UNON, and RSCE entities.
•Provides support on all personnel matters and oversees the recruitment of senior mission management appointments.
Planning and budgeting:
• Oversees planning and budgetary processes, including Mission-wide planning processes, ensuring coherence is maintained between mandated tasks, component plans/concepts of operations and, where appropriate, United Nations-system-wide integrated planning processes (such as Integrated Strategic Frameworks), as required by policies, guidelines and best practices on planning, in particular the Integrated Mission Planning Process (IMPP) and risk management, and incorporates mandated cross-cutting issues, such as gender mainstreaming; ; and, supervises and provides managerial guidance to mission planning staff to this effect.
• Ensures the proper conduct of processes critical to the delivery of mandate implementation, particularly strategic planning, policy coordination and senior level decision-making; ensures a clear understanding between substantive priorities and support capacities; and, liaises with all components to advise and ensure the use of best methods for achieving the objectives and priorities of the Mission.
• Facilitates the translation of policy intent and high-level direction by the leadership of the Mission into viable work plans and ensure the implementation of those work plans.
• Provides guidance and direction to the Senior Programme Management Officer and Administrative Officer to ensure an integrated approach to the results-based budget process, including alignment with strategic and operational plans and adequate provisions to meet resource requirements, and oversees the process as it relates to substantive mission components.
• Periodically reviews, with the mission leadership team, the delivery of work plans, identifying necessary adjustments to mission plans and/or revised assumptions, as appropriate.
• Initiate, where necessary, innovative approaches in operational planning to ensure the smooth delivery of mission mandate.
Policy:
• Provides guidance on United Nations policies and procedures.
• Coordinates the development and implementation of cross-cutting and management policies within the Mission and liaises with the United Nations Country Team on the same, when required, and in coordination with the Special Envoy and the Director of Political Affairs, as appropriate.
• Ensures that advice and information on cross-cutting issues is coordinated with all relevant components of the Mission prior to submission to the Special Envoy.
Reporting, communications and information management:
• Ensures effective functioning of coherent communications structures and systems and serves as the focal point for communication with United Nations Headquarters in New York.
• Supervise the delivery of external communication and public information products.
• Oversees mission-wide, integrated procedures and systems for information analysis and management, including Intra-mission information sharing, reporting requirements, security classification, records management and publication of Intranet content.
• Oversees the implementation of knowledge management approaches throughout the mission, such as handover notes, after-action reviews and end-of-assignment reports.
• Ensures the review and clearance of outgoing documents and correspondence and their compliance with Office mandate and UN policies.
Protocol:
• In close consultation with the Special Envoy and the Director of Political Affairs, facilitates discussions between the mission and signatory states on issues related to mission's functions.
• Advises the Special Envoy on protocol matters and supervises and provides guidance on the preparation and coordination of official visits.
• Performs other related work as required.
• Perform any other duties as required by the Special Envoy.
Professionalism: Ability to provide seasoned effective specialized advice in a broad range of human resources, financial, logistical, and administrative areas to the Head of Mission, and to Headquarters and Senior Mission Staff; ability to ensure adequate preparation of reports or rationale with respect to key logistic and administrative decisions; strong negotiation and conflict-resolution skills. Shows pride in work and achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines, and achieving results; is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations. Provides leadership and takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work; demonstrates knowledge of strategies and commitment to the goal of gender balance in staffing.
Communication: Speaks and writes clearly and effectively; Listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately; Asks questions to clarify and exhibits interest in having two-way communication; Tailors language, tone, style and format to match the audience; Demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed.
Planning and Organizing: Develops clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies; Identifies priority activities and assignments and adjusts priorities as required; Allocates appropriate amount of time and resources for completing work; Foresees risks and allows for contingencies when planning; Monitors and adjusts plans and actions as necessary; Uses time efficiently.
Managing Performance: Delegates the appropriate responsibility, accountability and decision making authority; Makes sure that roles, responsibilities and reporting lines are clear to each staff member; Accurately judges the amount of time and resources needed to accomplish a task and matches task to skills; Monitors progress against milestones and deadlines; Regularly discusses performance and provides feedback and coaching to staff; Encourages risk-taking and supports creativity and initiative; Actively supports the development and career aspirations of staff; Appraises performance fairly.
Judgement/ Decision-making: Identifies the key issues in a complex situation, and comes to the heart of the problem quickly; Gathers relevant information before making a decision; Considers positive and negative impacts of decisions prior to making them; Takes decisions with an eye to the impact on others and on the Organization; Proposes a course of action or makes a recommendation based on all available information; Checks assumptions against facts; Determines that the actions proposed will satisfy the expressed and underlying needs for the decision; Makes tough decisions when necessary.
Advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in one of the following disciplines: international relations, political science, business administration, public administration, management, law, or military studies is required. A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
A minimum of 15 years of progressively responsible experience in areas such as: management and administration; political, social, civil, military or legal affairs is required.
Experience in both inter-agency and operational programme management and/or planning and analysis is required.
Experience in preparing documents for the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) and Fifth Committee or similar bodies in a comparable international organization is required.
A minimum of seven years’ experience in the United Nations system or a comparable international organization is required.
A proven track record of leadership and management in multicultural settings, including coordination of interdisciplinary teams is desirable.
Experience serving in a senior advisory or managerial capacity in support of or in a field operation of the United Nations is desirable.
English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the position advertised, fluency in English and French, oral and written, is required.
Evaluation of qualified candidates may include an assessment exercise which may be followed by competency-based interview.
• This position is temporarily available until 31 May 2023. If the selected candidate is a staff member from the United Nations Secretariat, the selection will be administered as a temporary assignment.
• While this temporary assignment may provide the successful applicant with an opportunity to gain new work experience, the selection for this position is for a limited period and has no bearing on the future incumbency of the post.
• Subject to the funding source of the position, the eligibility for this temporary job opening may be limited to candidates based at the duty station.
• This temporary job opening may be limited to “internal candidates,” who have been recruited through a competitive examination administered according to staff rule 4.16 or staff selection process including the review of a central review body established according to staff rule 4.15.
• Staff members of the United Nations common system organizations who will reach the mandatory age of separation or retirement within the duration of the current temporary need period are not eligible to apply.Submitting an application or selection for the current temporary job opening does not delay or increase the mandatory age of separation.
• Retirees above the mandatory age of separation who wish to be considered for the current temporary job opening must indicate the reason for their last separation as "retirement." Such retirees shall not be employed by the Organization, unless (a) the operational requirements of the Organization cannot be met by staff members who are qualified and available to perform the required functions; and (b) the proposed employment would not adversely affect the career development or redeployment opportunities of other staff members and represents both a cost-effective and operationally sound solution to meet the needs of the service.
Aux termes du paragraphe 3 de l’Article 101 de la Charte des Nations Unies, la considération dominante dans le recrutement du personnel doit être la nécessité d’assurer à l’Organisation les services de personnes possédant les plus hautes qualités de travail, de compétence et d’intégrité. Ne seront pas retenues les candidatures des personnes qui ont commis des violations du droit international des droits de l’homme, des violations du droit international humanitaire, des actes d’exploitation, d’atteintes ou de harcèlement sexuels, ou au sujet desquelles il existe des raisons plausibles de croire qu’elles ont été impliquées dans la commission de tels actes. L’expression « exploitation sexuelle » désigne le fait d’abuser ou de tenter d’abuser d’un état de vulnérabilité, d’un rapport de force inégal ou de rapports de confiance à des fins sexuelles, y compris mais non exclusivement en vue d’en tirer un avantage pécuniaire, social ou politique. On entend par « atteinte sexuelle » toute atteinte physique de nature sexuelle commise par la force, sous la contrainte ou à la faveur d’un rapport inégal, ou la menace d’une telle atteinte. Le harcèlement sexuel s'entend de tout comportement déplacé à connotation sexuelle raisonnablement propre ou de nature à choquer ou humilier, lorsqu'il entrave la bonne marche du service, est présenté comme une condition d'emploi ou crée au lieu de travail un climat d'intimidation, d'hostilité ou de vexation, et lorsque ce comportement est assez grave pour justifier le licenciement de son auteur. La candidature de personnes qui ont commis des infractions autres que des infractions mineures au code de la route ne sera pas retenue.
Sera dûment prise en considération l'importance d'un recrutement effectué sur une base géographique aussi large que possible. Aucune restriction ne sera imposée par l'Organisation à l'accès des hommes et des femmes, dans des conditions égales, à toutes les fonctions, dans ses organes principaux et subsidiaires. Le Secrétariat de l'Organisation des Nations Unies est un espace non-fumeurs.
La considération dominante dans l’engagement, la mutation ou la promotion du personnel est la nécessité de s’assurer les services de personnes possédant les plus hautes qualités de travail, de compétence et d’intégrité. En acceptant une offre d’engagement, les membres du personnel sont soumis(es) à l’autorité du Secrétaire général, qui peut leur assigner l’une quelconque des tâches ou l’un quelconque des postes de l’Organisation des Nations Unies, conformément à l’alinéa c) de l’article 1.2 du Statut du personnel. Dans ce contexte, tous les membres du personnel recrutés sur le plan international sont tenus de changer de fonctions périodiquement à l’intérieur d’un même lieu d’affectation ou dans un autre lieu d’affectation, dans les conditions fixées par le Secrétaire général.
Les candidats sont invités à respecter scrupuleusement toutes les instructions disponibles sur la plateforme de recrutement en ligne Inspira. Pour des informations plus détaillées, ils ou elles peuvent consulter le manuel d'instructions pour le candidat, en cliquant sur le lien hypertexte « Manuels » sur le côté supérieur droit de la page d'accueil de leur compte Inspira.
Les candidatures feront l'objet d'une évaluation et d'un examen préalables sur la base des informations soumises conformément aux critères d'évaluation de l'avis de vacance de poste et aux dispositions législatives internes applicables de l'Organisation des Nations Unies, notamment la Charte des Nations Unies, les résolutions de l'Assemblée générale, le Statut et le Règlement du personnel, les textes administratives et les directives. Les candidats doivent fournir des informations exhaustives et précises conformément aux instructions fournies sur la plateforme Inspira. Une fois la candidature envoyée, aucune modification, suppression ou révision, ni aucun ajout ou changement ne pourra être fait. Il sera procédé à une vérification des références des candidats faisant l'objet d'une attention particulière pour s'assurer de l'exactitude des renseignements qu’ils ont fournis dans leur candidature.
Les avis de vacance de postes publiés sur le Portail des carrières sont retirés à 11:59 p.m. (heure de New York), le jour de la date limite de dépôt des candidatures.
L’ONU NE PERÇOIT DE FRAIS À AUCUN STADE DU RECRUTEMENT (DÉPÔT OU TRAITEMENT DE LA CANDIDATURE, ENTRETIEN, FORMATION, ETC.), ET ELLE NE DEMANDE AUCUNE INFORMATION BANCAIRE.