Principal Programme Management Officer, D1 at United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Responsibilities

This post is located in UNEP’s MEAs Advisory Unit in the Corporate Services Division at the Nairobi duty station. Under the supervision of the Division Director the incumbent is the senior officer responsible for all administrative and operational components of the relationship between UNEP and Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) and will be responsible for the following duties:

• Strategic and Operational Leadership and Planning:
• Oversees the management of activities undertaken by the Unit, supervises the team and ensures that programmed activities are carried out in a timely fashion and coordinates work in the different areas both within the Unit and Division, with Secretariats of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) and other UNEP Divisions and/or organizations of the United Nations System, as appropriate.
• Oversee the development and implementation of the work plan of the unit including alignment with Divisional priorities and allocating resources for the completion of outputs and their timely delivery.
• Conceptualizes, prepares, and inputs on policy and administrative decisions/guidance to support the achievement of the objectives of MEAs within the parameters of the UN Secretariat rules and regulations and UNEP guidance on administrative, budget and human resources matters.
• Ensures key organizational priorities of the UN Secretariat and UNEP are shared with MEAs for information/adoption; providing support and guidance as needed to ensure a cohesive and aligned overall organization.
• Senior Engagement, Coordination and Liaison:
• Ensures one-stop liaison, coordination and quality service provision to MEAs across the various units within CSD and UNON.
• Develops mechanisms to manage escalated requests and their delivery informed by best practice of service and shared service providers.
• Develop monitoring and feedback mechanisms to support effective implementation of the relevant MoUs and other administrative coordination agreements in place.
• Support efficient and cost-effective management practices across MEAs by promoting best practices, shared services and other tools as needed.
• Coordinates the cooperation with and provision of support to the MEAs secretariats,

providing substantive operational contributions to the implementation of their Programme of Work and interacting with and supporting them in preparation for meetings of MEAs governing and or subsidiary bodies particularly in relation to budget and other procedural administrative requirements which may arise.

• Leads knowledge management and capacity building initiatives with MEAs administrative and finance teams through the development of networking forums; facilitate cross MEA sharing on substantive issues involving budgetary and operational matters including audits, pillar assessments, verifications, risk management etc.
• Provides support to MEA Secretariats administered through UNEP Divisions based on efficiencies of sharing solutions to common issues and requirements that emerge with parties
• Ensure periodic reviews and updates of MoU, financial frameworks, or other administrative tools agreed by the entities to incorporate new agreements or policies promulgated by the UN/UNEP when needed.
• High level support to MEAs Governing Bodies:
• Represent senior officials of UNEP such as the Executive Director, Deputy Executive Director, Director of Corporate Services Division with Executive Secretaries and their parties as required.
• Oversee the preparation of key reports of the Executive Director on administrative and budgetary matters as well as other informational notes and presentation to Parties as requested or required by established schedules.
• Engage with MEAs in advance of key meeting milestones to ensure alignment on policy positioning on operational issues and providing guidance and input where needed.
• Support and coach relevant financial and administrative MEA teams to deliver high quality draft decision papers or reference documents and serve as a technical advisory source when needed.
• Participate and support in Conference of the Parties (COPs) and other relevant MEA governing bodies meetings and provides substantive expertise on administrative, financial and budgetary issues and ensures alignment with procedures and policies.
• Engages closely with the Law Division on preparation of COPs and other statutory meetings.
• 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.
• Performs any other duties as assigned.

Competencies

• PROFESSIONALISM: Capacity to coordinate and execute multiple strategic deliverables within agreed timeframes. Knowledge of inter-governmental and inter-agency negotiations and networking functions. Knowledge and capacity to link organizational and strategic objectives to key deliverables of MEAs. Ability to manage and navigate administration of complex MOUs related to administrative and operational needs. Manage, prepare and amend MOUs to guide UNEP’s engagement with new MEA partners. Demonstrated working knowledge of managing varied operational issues such as legal, administration, finance and HR. Ability to apply UN rules, regulations, policies and guidelines in work situations. The ability to analyze and interpret data in support of decision-making and convey resulting information to management. Shows pride in work and in 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.
• CLIENT ORIENTATION: Considers all those to whom services are provided to be “clients” and seeks to see things from clients’ point of view; establishes and maintains productive partnerships with clients by gaining their trust and respect; identifies clients’ needs and matches them to appropriate solutions; monitors ongoing developments inside and outside the clients’ environment to keep informed and anticipate problems; keeps clients informed of progress or setbacks in projects; meets timeline for delivery of products or services to client.
• LEADERSHIP: Serves as a role model that other people want to follow: empowers others to translate vision into results; is proactive in developing strategies to accomplish objectives; establishes and maintains relationships with a broad range of people to understand needs and gain support; anticipates and resolves conflicts by pursuing mutually agreeable solutions; drives for change and improvements; does not accept the status quo; shows the courage to take unpopular stands. 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.
• BUILDING TRUST: Provides an environment in which others can talk and act without fear of repercussion; manages in a deliberate and predictable way; operates with transparency; has no hidden agenda; places confidences in colleagues, staff members and clients; gives proper credit to theirs; follows through on agreed upon actions; treats sensitive or confidential information appropriately.
• 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.

Education

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in business or public administration, finance, accounting, law, social sciences, or related area is required.
• 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 an advantage.

Work Experience

• A minimum of fifteen (15) years of progressively responsible experience in administration, programme management, financial management, budget or related field is required.
• Ten (10) years of management experience at the international level, including experience managing cross-functional teams comprised of persons from diverse professional and cultural backgrounds is required.
• Demonstrated senior management experience with the application of administrative, financial, human resources or other operational areas as guided by policy is required.
• At least two (2) years of experience with the inter-governmental processes; multilateral and international mechanisms established by UN or other inter-governmental bodies or in support of negotiations and international agreements is desirable.
• Experience in programme planning and analysis is desirable.
• Experience in policy and strategic planning is desirable.
• Experience coordinating initiatives across major stakeholders is desirable.
• Experience in analyzing audit reports, applying financial control and reporting procedures are desirable.
• Experience in data analytics or related area is desirable.