The Position:

The post is located in the Corporate Performance and Foresight Unit (CPFU) under the Office of the Executive Director (OED) and reports to the Chief of the CPFU.

How you can make a difference:

UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled. UNFPA’s strategic plan (2022-2025), reaffirms the relevance of the current strategic direction of UNFPA and focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning; and end gender-based violence and harmful practices. These results capture our strategic commitments on accelerating progress towards realizing the ICPD and SDGs in the Decade of Action leading up to 2030. Our strategic plan calls upon UN Member States, organizations and individuals to “build forward better”, while addressing the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on women’s and girls’ access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, recover lost gains and realize our goals.

In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical staff, who embody these international norms and standards, and who will defend them courageously and with full conviction.

UNFPA is seeking candidates that transform, inspire and deliver high impact and sustained results; we need staff who are transparent, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results.

Job Purpose:

As the UNFPA Strategic Plan 2022–2025 stresses, transforming the world also requires reinvigorating and transforming UNFPA, in line with the United Nations reform. The landscape UNFPA operates in is changing rapidly – with climate change, demographic shifts, growing inequalities, and technological advancements reshaping the world.

In this context and to ensure that UNFPA is future-fit and strategically positioned to deliver on its mandate, in alignment with the ICPD Programme of Action, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Secretary-General’s vision for a UN 2.0, UNFPA is continuing its journey of essential organizational transformation.

CPFU supports the UNFPA Executive Leadership in anticipating global trends, understanding their impact on the UNFPA organizational model and realigning it so that it is best equipped to deliver effectively and efficiently on the Strategic Plan, in line with the reform of the UN Development System. CPFU acts as a governance mechanism, working under the DED-M towards facilitating institutional insight, ensuring the substantive and operational coherence of the various change initiatives and processes within UNFPA. CPFU has overall responsibility in coordinating and providing oversight of change process in the organization.

Changing the mindsets and inherent culture of the organization is a key component that is both an enabler and an outcome of institutional transformation. CPFU, therefore, also leads the Culture Initiative, an organization-wide exercise championed by the Executive Director to promote culture change and ensure even stronger alignment with UN values.

Within this context, the Institutional Transformation Specialist will provide technical, managerial and coordination support to achieve corporate change objectives, by collaborating with different UNFPA business units, contribute to the work related to further institutionalization of the UNDS reform, and serve as the focal point for the work related to organizational culture.

You would be responsible for:

• Contribute to building a conducive environment for institutional transformation, including through the organization of a series of initiatives to foster a more positive, innovative and proactive approach to change;
• Build capacity, facilitate knowledge sharing, and develop and curate lessons learned and innovations to support improved corporate performance.
• Support the identification of major organizational changes to ensure that organizations are best future-fit, through scanning the environment for trends and ideas and assessing their potential impact and opportunities for UNFPA.
• Coordinate and help implement corporate-related change activities to support UNFPA capability and performance to deliver on its Strategic Plan(s) in collaboration. Identify key changes necessary, review processes and functions, review roles and responsibilities;
• Serve as focal point for the UNFPA Culture Initiative, designing relevant activities to promote culture change and ensuring coherence and integration of various culture-related workstreams;
• Contribute to the preparation of monitoring components and operational indicators of the institutional transformation aligned with the Strategic Plan in close collaboration with relevant units and aligned with UN Reform;
• Produce, coordinate and gather substantive inputs for communication materials related to corporate changes for internal and external audiences;
• Perform any other activity as required by supervisor in order to support the achievement of the goals and priorities of CPFU in support of the UNFPA mandate and strategy.
• Support the assimilation of UN 2.0 into UNFPA; this would include institutionalizing the aspirational culture as part of UNFPA regular business and marshalling innovative solutions to that end.

Qualifications and Experience:

Education:

Advanced university degree in international affairs, public management or related area.

Knowledge and Experience:

• 7 years of relevant experience in multilateral organizations or public institutions;
• Previous experience in the UN an advantage;
• Strong analytical skills and data competencies and visual presentation;
• Ability to communicate, structure, curate, process and analyze data, including identifying trends;
• Ability to think logically and work with attention to detail;
• Initiative, sound judgment and demonstrated ability to work harmoniously with IDWGs, and colleagues from different national and cultural backgrounds;
• Strong interpersonal and organizational skills;
• Computer literacy – Word, Excel, Power-point, etc.;
• Good writing and communication skills.

Languages:

Proficiency in English required. Knowledge of an additional UN language an asset.

Required Competencies:

Values:

• Exemplifying integrity,
• Demonstrating commitment to UNFPA and the UN system,
• Embracing cultural diversity,
• Embracing change

Core Competencies:

• Achieving results,
• Being accountable,
• Developing and applying professional expertise/business acumen,
• Thinking analytically and strategically,
• Working in teams/managing ourselves and our relationships,
• Communicating for impact.

Functional Competencies:

• Ensuring operational effectiveness and accountability for results
• Generating, managing and promoting the use of knowledge and information
• Job knowledge / technical expertise
• Managing information and workflow
• Planning, organizing and multi-tasking
• Managing documents, correspondence and reports
• Demonstrates cultural sensitivity.
• Performance management.

Compensation and Benefits:

This position offers an attractive remuneration package including a competitive net salary plus health insurance and other benefits as applicable.

UNFPA Work Environment:

UNFPA provides a work environment that reflects the values of gender equality, diversity, integrity and healthy work-life balance. We are committed to ensuring gender parity in the organization and therefore encourage women to apply. Individuals from the LGBTQIA+ community, minority ethnic groups, indigenous populations, persons with disabilities, and other underrepresented groups are highly encouraged to apply. UNFPA promotes equal opportunities in terms of appointment, training, compensation and selection for all regardless of personal characteristics and dimensions of diversity. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is at the heart of UNFPA’s workforce – click here to learn more.

Disclaimer:

Selection and appointment may be subject to background and reference checks, medical clearance, visa issuance and other administrative requirements.

UNFPA does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process and does not concern itself with information on applicants’ bank accounts.

Applicants for positions in the international Professional and higher categories, who hold permanent resident status in a country other than their country of nationality, may be required to renounce such status upon their appointment.