Senior Programme Officer

Org. Setting and Reporting

UN-Habitat, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, is the coordinating agency within the United Nations System for human settlement activities and in collaboration with governments is responsible for promoting and consolidating collaboration with all partners, including local authorities, private and non-governmental organizations in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular, Goal 11 of “Making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”. It is a focal point for the monitoring, evaluation and implementation of the New Urban Agenda adopted during the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III), in Ecuador, Quito, 2016. With its Headquarter in Nairobi, Kenya, UN-Habitat’s Regional Programme Division has its Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) in Fukuoka, Japan, and under it, a Bangkok Programme Office in Thailand. The Bangkok Programme Office focuses on the collaboration with the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in Bangkok and also supports the coordination with Bangkok-based UN regional entities under the regional UN’s Development Coordinator Office (DCO). The office participates in the Regional Collaborative Platform (RCP) which supports a key regional function of reviewing the Common Country Analyses (CCA) and the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks (UNSDCF). Furthermore, it liaises with Member States’ Permanent Representatives in Bangkok, with ASEAN under the UN-ASEAN collaboration framework, and other stakeholders. The office also serves as a Multi-Country Office supporting projects in a number countries under purview of Regional Office of Asia and the Pacific. This position is located in the Bangkok Programme Office. Under the direct supervision of the Chief, Bangkok Programme office, the incumbent will be responsible for the following duties:

Responsibilities

• Provides policy guidance to the Chief Bangkok Programme Office on conceptual strategy development and management of the Bangkok Programme Office, in relation to its functions with the Regional Coordination Platform and region UN-wide system.
• Plans and oversees the management of activities undertaken by the Bangkok Programme Office under her/his responsibility; ensures that substantive work programs and programmed activities are carried out in a timely fashion, coordinating inter-governmental, inter-agency, and partner engagement activities, in liaison with Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), UN’s Development Coordinator Office (DCO)-AP, Regional Collaborative Platform (RCP), PRG and with other organizations of the United Nations System, donors and agencies as appropriate.
• Provides substantive input in the preparation of position papers and reports for presentation to regional intergovernmental bodies, the RCP and other policy-making organs, as appropriate.
• Collaborates with missions, multilateral organisations and programs and initiatives, including the Belt and Road International Cooperation, an initiative of China, seeking inputs, initiating and supporting the mobilization of regional and sub-regional programming resources, and liaising for monitoring, reporting and evaluation of programs and projects.
• Manages, supervises, and carries out the work programme of the Bangkok Programme Office under his/her responsibility. Co-ordinates the work carried out by the Bangkok Programme Office; provides programmatic and substantive reviews of drafts prepared by others.
• Takes the lead, for UN-Habitat, in the review of the urban dimensions of Common Country Analyses (CCAs) and UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks (UNSDCF) submitted to the PRG and maintain data and evidence resources in support thereof.
• Contributes to the reporting to ROAP on budget/programme performance or on programmatic/ substantive issues, as appropriate, particularly those presented in biannual and/or annual reports
• Ensures that the outputs produced by the Bangkok Programme Office maintain high-quality standards and that reports are clear, objective and based on comprehensive data. Ensures that all outputs produced by the Bangkok Programme Office meet required standards before completion to ensure they comply with the relevant mandates.
• Prepares inputs for the work programme of ROAP, determining priorities, and allocating resources for the completion of outputs and their timely delivery.
• Develops and implements regional substantive knowledge sharing initiatives on sustainable urbanization, including in relation to the Shanghai Manual, the Shanghai Adapted Index, regional World Habitat Day / World Cities Day celebrations, regional/global substantive UN-Habitat reports or joint reports with ESCAP and UN-Habitat’s formal reporting on the delivery to the SDGs and NUA, as appropriate
• Recruits staff for Bangkok Programme Office taking due account geographical and gender balance and other institutional values.
• Manages, guides, develops and trains staff under his/her supervision
• Fosters teamwork and communication among staff in the Bangkok Programme Office and across organizational boundaries.
• Represents the Organization when delegated at inter-agency meetings, seminars, etc. on substantive-related issues.
• Participates in international, regional or national meetings and provides programmatic/substantive expertise on an issue, or hold programmatic/substantive and organizational discussions with representatives of other institutions.
• Leads team members efforts to collect and analyze data and provides insight to identify trends or patterns for data-driven planning, decision-making, presentation and reporting. Ensures that everyone can discover, access, integrate and share the data they need.

Education

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in public administration, international relations and development, political and social sciences, urban sciences, or related area. A first-level university degree in combination with two (2) additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. Successful completion of both degree and non-degree programs in data analytics, business analytics or data science programs is desirable.

Work Experience

• A minimum of ten (10) years of progressively responsible experience in project/programme management in the context of urban development cooperation or related area is required. Experience in strategic planning is required. Experience in sustainable urban development policy is required. Experience in resource mobilization is required. A minimum of five (5) years of responsible experience working for an international organization or Government, as a senior advisor or senior team leader is required. Experience in supporting development and providing technical advice or research activities in China and with its institutions is desirable. Experience in leading an organization of high-level events involving business and government and inter governmental work with multilateral entities is desirable. Experience in data analytics or related area is desirable.

Languages

• English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the position advertised, fluency in English is required and knowledge of Chinese is desirable. Knowledge of another official United Nations language is desirable. NOTE: “fluency equals a rating of “fluent” in all four areas (read, write, speak, understand), and ” Knowledge of” equals a rating of ” confident” in two of the four areas.

Source: https://careers.un.org/jobSearchDescription/237627?language=en