The Position:
The Special Assistant works with both the Regional Director (RD) and the Deputy Regional Director (DRD) by providing operational, planning, managerial, technical, and coordination support to all aspects of the work of the Regional Office. You will report directly to the Regional Director and hold a supervisory role to the Personal Assistant to the Regional Director.
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 who transform, inspire, and deliver high-impact and sustained results; we need staff who are transparent, and exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results.
Job Purpose:
The Special Assistant will provide a wide range of technical, operational and professional support to the Director, acting as a key interface with all partners within and outside the Regional Office to ensure that the Regional Director is fully prepared to engage in substantive issues related to her broad corporate responsibilities, both with internal and external stakeholders. Specifically, the Special Assistant will ensure:
● Coordination of Director’s engagements in various fora;
● Management of operations of the Office of the Regional Director;
● Contribution to strategic communications in/through the Regional Office and coordinate environmental scanning of the region.
You would be responsible for:
A. Co-coordinate the Director’s engagement in strategic events and missions, including
regional and global meetings;
Coordinate substantive preparations for the RD’s engagements, prepare and/or facilitate the preparation of background papers, briefing notes, statements, and presentations for the Director, ensuring timeliness and quality.
Conduct research on organizational thematic areas and other topical issues for the Director and management; provide and organize relevant briefings for the Regional Director.
Follow up on actions/decisions related to UN reform, ICPD, AADPD, and the Sustainable Development Goals, key corporate priorities of the organization, and field queries related to these issues.
Facilitate RD’s participation in Executive Board sessions, Regional UN Sustainable Development Group (RUNSDG), Great Lakes Regional Strategic Framework (GLRSF) Management Board meetings, and other internal and external working groups.
B. Manage the organization and operations of the Office of the Regional Director
Take the lead in actively engaging and building relationships across UNFPA corporately to strengthen collaboration, share knowledge and expertise, and clarify priorities of the ESA Region.
Anticipate, and resolve managerial and administrative impediments to the RD’s Office engagement and response to critical corporate issues.
Draft statements and provide inputs into communications for the Regional Director including internal messages to staff in the region and external communication messages with partners.
Coordinate preparation of the RO’s inputs to corporate and UN documents and products such as UN frameworks, internal policy documents, annual reports, other key reports, and requests for information, from internal and external partners;
Contribute to the organization and planning of the Regional Director’s travels and missions and support the regional team to plan for incoming missions of the Executive Director and other Executive Committee members.
Develop systems and mechanisms to strengthen efficiencies in the management of the Regional office, in collaboration with relevant colleagues;
Oversee the flow of correspondence addressed to and originating from the Regional Director’s Office, analyze and appraise correspondence and documents to provide quality assurance;
Supervise/oversee the effective management of the RD’s calendar or Supervise the Personal Assistant in the day-to-day management of the RD’s calendar.
C. Provide Support to the Regional Director in coordinating the sharing of relevant information within the Regional Office, Country Offices in the ESA region, HQ, and wider UN System
Ensure effective preparations, support for and follow-up to meetings; including overseeing the secretariat function to the regional management team meetings, Virtual Representatives’ meetings; and attending strategic meetings as requested by the Director.
Ensure the RD is adequately supported for all meetings with stakeholders (internal and external) as required with appropriate documentation of deliberations for follow-up by the RO team as necessary.
Liaise between the ESA Regional Office and other offices of UNFPA and the UN system at regional,
country and global levels, to obtain relevant information and provide feedback and advice to the
Director.
Monitor and follow up on all of the Regional Office’s activities, and contribute to the planning of the annual regional management retreats and region-wide planning meetings as requested;
Collaborate closely with the regional communications and partnership teams, in order to position and communicate key directions from the Regional Director and the regional management team.
Establish mechanisms to regularly monitor and apprise the Regional Director on major political and development issues affecting the UNFPA mandate in the region, and follow-up on actions as directed by the Regional Director.
D. Be an active and collaborative member of the team of the ESA Regional Office and perform other duties in support of senior management processes, as required.
Qualifications and Experience:
Education: Advanced university degree in Development Studies, Public Health, International Relations, Management, Communications, or related discipline.
Knowledge and Experience:
Minimum of 5 years of increasingly responsible professional experience in programme development.
Strong organizational, planning, and analytical ability and professional experience in policy analysis and programme development.
Basic research skills and familiarity with quantitative and qualitative methods.
Strong ability to multi-task and deliver effectively in a high-pressure environment.
Excellent writing and strong oral communication skills.
Good networks within the academic, management, and development community.
Ability to form strategic partnerships and to collect and analyze strategic information in the field of population and sexual and reproductive health.
Strong interpersonal and networking skills.
Good knowledge of UN reform, RCP and the Sustainable Development agenda.
Knowledge management and environmental/political scanning;
Familiarity with UN development programmes and working methods, particularly with UNFPA’s mandate, agenda, policies, and programming procedures.
Field experience in the region is a strong asset
Languages:
Fluency in English; knowledge of other official UN languages, preferably French, is desirable.
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:
Strategically positioning UNFPA programmes
Providing conceptual innovation to support programme effectiveness
Generating, managing and promoting the use of knowledge and information
Providing a technical support system
Strengthening the programming capacity of Country Offices
Facilitating quality programmatic results
Internal and External communication and advocacy for results
Compensation and Benefits:
This position offers an attractive remuneration package including a competitive net salary plus health insurance and other benefits as applicable.
Disclaimer:
UNFPA does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Fraudulent notices, letters or offers may be submitted to the UNFPA fraud hotline http://www.unfpa.org/help/hotline.cfm
In accordance with the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations, persons applying to posts in the international Professional category, who hold permanent resident status in a country other than their country of nationality, may be required to renounce such status upon their appointment.
