Career Openings at UN-Habitat

Duties and Responsibilities

• Under the overall supervision of the Senior Human Settlements Officer and the Human Settlements Officer at the Regional Office for Africa (ROAf), UN-Habitat, in collaboration with ROAf staff and other local staff assigned to the project, the consultant will support ROAf in carrying out the duties and responsibilities listed below:
• Under the project ‘Building urban climate resilience in south-eastern Africa’:
• Preparations for the third regional workshop – including the Project Steering Committee meeting and the DiMSUR Executive Board meeting – to be held in Quarter 4 of 2023 in collaboration with DiMSUR and Oxfam, including drafting content for specific sessions, organization of the agenda, invitations.
• Drafting of the revised Project Performance Report (PPR) and checklist after the first round of comments received by the Adaptation Fund related to the third year of activities including the direct provision of inputs and coordination of the process for the retrieval of information and progress reports from all the Executing Entities.
• As part of the resource mobilization team, contribute to the drafting of concept notes, project proposals, and all necessary material to scale-up the project contributing to its sustainability.
• Under the UN-Habitat Regional Office for Africa’s portfolio of work on disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation and urban resilience:
• Drafting of the CityRAP trainer’s manual in collaboration with other expert trainer colleagues as appropriate.
• Development of proposals for a regional project for the African SIDS (Small Islands Development States), based on the existing donor analysis and research on the latest findings on SIDS climate financing and sustainable development through the most recent literature review and main key messages coming from global conventions such as COP27.

Qualifications/special skills

• Master’s degree in urban planning/ design, architecture, environmental studies, sustainable development or equivalent is required.
• Minimum 7 years international working experience in architecture, graphic design, project management or related fields is required.
• Familiarity with the concepts of disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation and urban resilience.
• Previous working experience in Southern Africa is an asset.

Skills:

• Ability to work in team and individually with a high degree of responsibility, often under pressure is required.
• Capacity in research and information analysis.
• Good communication and writing skills.

Languages

• English and French are the official working languages of the United Nations. Proficiency in oral and written English language is required. Some knowledge of Portuguese is an asset.

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Duties and Responsibilities

• Under the overall supervision of the Human Settlements Officer (HSO) in the Regional Office for Africa, and in close collaboration with the Technical Leading Team (TLT) of the project and the National Project Manager in Comoros, the Urban Resilience Specialist will be responsible of providing substantive and administrative contribution to regional work on the Central Sahel, the African regional component of the DA project on SIDS and the country programme in Comoros. Within the Regional Office for Africa, he/she will have to support in:
• Contributing training on writing bankable projects and disseminating the Resilience Framework for Action with purpose of resource mobilization in seven (07) cities under Sahel Urban Resilience project (under Outcome 2 of Sahel project).
• Contribute technical assistance for the implementation of the CityRAP tool in Comoros under the SEA Climate Urban Resilience Project.
• Contributing technical expertise to the further development of material for the CityRAP tool.
• Contributing to the DA15 project in Senegal, Burkina Faso and other French-Speaking LCDs “Harnessing urbanization for a more resilient, inclusive and green recovery in French-speaking Least Developed Countries”.
• Providing technical inputs to the delivery of the African regional and pilot components of the project “Strengthened Capacities of African, Caribbean and Pacific SIDS for Green, Resilient and Pro-poor Pandemic Recovery”.
• Contributing to the development and delivery of capacity building activities for the different activities of the UN-Habitat portfolio in Comoros.

Qualifications/special skills

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in Urban Planning/Design, Architecture, Environmental Studies, Sustainable Development or Development Studies, International Relations and/ or other relevant discipline with a focus on human settlements equivalent is required.
• Minimum of 2 years of working experience in Urban Planning, Architecture, Graphic Design, Project Management, or related fields at international level is required.
• Familiarity with the concepts of disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation and urban resilience, and a demonstrable understanding of urban development processes, urban planning, urban social issues, urban policy analysis is required.
• Good understanding and knowledge of urbanization issues in the Sahel region.
• Experience within multi-cultural international institutions would be considered an asset.

Skills

• Capacity to analyze and synthesize information.
• Ability to work in team and individually to achieve organizational goals with a high degree of responsibility, often under pressure.
• Excellent communication and writing skills.
• Excellent communication and writing skills.

Languages

• English and French are the working languages of the United Nations. Fluency in oral and written English and French is required.
• Knowledge of another UN language is an added advantage.

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Responsibilities

• Human Resources Management:
• Initiates, reviews, processes and follows-up on actions related to the administration of the unit’s human resource activities, e.g., recruitment of staff and consultants, placement, promotion, relocation, performance appraisal, job classification reviews, separation of staff members, training, ensuring consistency in the application of UN rules and procedures.
• Responds to enquiries and provides information and advice to staff regarding their entitlements, administrative procedures, processes and practices, conditions of service, duties and responsibilities, and entitlements under the Staff Rules and Regulations.
• Oversees the maintenance of vacancy announcement files and keeps track of status of vacancy announcements.
• Monitors staffing table and prepare relevant statistical data/charts.

Budget and Finance:

• Assists in the preparation and review of financial and human resource proposals/requirements. Consolidates budget/work programme with respect to Headquarters’ budget, trust funds, grants and procurement.
• Monitors expenditures and compares with approved budget; prepares adjustments as necessary.
• Assists managers in the elaboration of resource requirements for budget submissions.
• Assists in preparation of budget performance submissions and finalization of budget performance reports, analysing variances between approved budgets and actual expenditures
• Prepares or customizes financial reports from UMOJA system generated reports.
• Co-ordinates with other finance and budget staff on related issues during preparation of budget reports.

General Administration:

• Drafts routine correspondence to respond to enquiries in respect to relevant administrative, financial audit, personnel matters.
• Ensures communication and follow-up related to internal directives, reports, status updates and other relevant information; brings sensitive and urgent matters to the attention of the Section manager and management team.
• Establishes/improves administrative procedures and systems to ensure smooth functioning of the Section, including filing (paper and electronic) systems, approval processes and overall maintenance of records.
• Performs other related administrative duties, as required (e.g., operational travel programme; monitoring accounts and payment to vendors and individual contractors for services).
• May be responsible for guiding, training, and supervising the work of more junior General Service staff.

Contract Administration:

• Assists with day-to-day administration of contracts between the UN and external contractors for outsourced services.
• Audits the contractors' invoices against the goods and services provided by the contractor and approved by the UN.
• Processes the payment of contractors' invoices and monitor payments.

Data:

• Assists with the collection and analysis of data as well as preparation of data presentations and reports for information sharing, responding to queries, knowledge management, planning and decision making.
• Assists with visualizations and updating information material such as web pages or brochures.

Competencies

• PROFESSIONALISM: Ability to perform a broad range of administrative functions, e.g., budget/work programme, human resources, database management. Ability to apply knowledge of various United Nations administrative, financial and human resources rules and regulations in work situations. The ability to perform analysis, modeling and interpretation of data in support of decision-making. 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; commitment to implementing the goal of gender equality by ensuring the equal participation and full involvement of women and men in all aspects of work.
• TEAMWORK: Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals; solicits input by genuinely valuing others’ ideas and expertise; is willing to learn from others; places team agenda before personal agenda; supports and acts in accordance with final group decision, even when such decisions may not entirely reflect own position; shares credit for team accomplishments and accepts joint responsibility for team shortcomings.
• PLANNING AND ORGANIZING: Develops clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies; identifies priority activities and assignments; 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.

Education

• High school diploma or equivalent.
• Passing the Global General Service Test (GGST) is a prerequisite for recruitment consideration in the General Services and related categories in the United Nations Secretariat. Successful passing of the Administrative Support Assessment Test (ASAT) in English at the United Nations Headquarters (UNHQ), Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG), United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV), International Criminal Tribunal for
• Rwanda (ICTR) or International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) may be accepted in lieu of the GGST.
• The GGST is administered to applicants when required before the administration of a written assessment and/or interview.

Work Experience

• A minimum of at least seven (7) years of experience in administrative services, finance, accounting, audit, human resources or related area is required.
• Experience with office support tools such as Microsoft 365 package is required.
• Experience with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems is desirable.
• One (1) year or more of experience in data analytics or related area is desirable.

Languages

• English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the post advertised, Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official United Nations language is desirable.

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Responsibilities
Within delegated authority, the incumbent will be responsible for the following duties:

• Coordinates policy development, including the review and analysis of issues and trends, preparation of evaluations or other research activities and studies.
• Analyzes, develops and systematize for knowledge purposes innovative financial and urban economy solutions and translated them into best practices and learning tools.
• Conducts research and prepares policy papers on topics related to innovations in the urban economic field.
• Develops, implements and evaluates assigned programmes/projects, etc.; monitors and analyzes programme/project development and implementation; reviews relevant documents and reports; identifies problems and issues to be addressed and initiates corrective actions; liaises with relevant parties; ensures follow-up actions.
• Organizes and prepares written outputs, e.g. draft background papers, analyses, sections of reports and studies, inputs to publications in innovative solutions, etc.
• Researches, analyzes and presents information gathered from diverse sources.
• Plans and facilitates workshops, trainings and interactive sessions aimed at strengthening urban innovation knowledge.
• Generates survey initiatives; designs data collection tools on innovation components; reviews, analyzes and interprets responses, identify problems/issues and prepares conclusions.
• Leads and provides substantive backstopping to consultative and other meetings, conferences, etc., to include proposing agenda topics, identifying participants, preparation of documents and presentations, etc.
• Initiates and coordinates outreach activities; conducts training workshops, seminars, etc.; makes presentations on assigned topics/activities.
• Leads and/or participates in large, complex field missions, including provision of guidance to external consultants, government officials and other parties and drafting mission summaries, to mainstream innovative solutions, etc.
• Coordinates activities related to budget funding (programme/project preparation and submissions, progress reports, financial statements, etc.) and prepares related documents/reports (pledging, work programme, programme budget, etc.).
• Collects and analyzes data to identify trends or patterns and provide insights through graphs, charts, tables and reports using data visualization methods to enable data-driven planning, decision-making, presentation and reporting.
• Performs other duties as required.

Competencies

• PROFESSIONALISM: Knowledge and understanding of theories, concepts and approaches relevant to particular sector, functional area or another specialized field, particularly related to finance innovation. Ability to identify issues, analyze and participate in the resolution of issues/problems. Conceptual analytical and evaluative skills to conduct independent research and analysis, including familiarity with and experience in the use of various research sources, including electronic sources on the internet, intranet and other databases. 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. Takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work. The ability to analyze and interpret data in support of decision-making and convey resulting information to management.
• PLANNING & ORGANIZING: Develops clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies; identifies priority activities and assignments; 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.
• CREATIVITY: Actively seeks to improve programmes or services; offers new and different options to solve problems or meet client needs; promotes and persuades others to consider new ideas; takes calculated risks on new and unusual ideas; thinks “outside the box”; takes an interest in new, innovative ideas and new ways of doing things; is not bound by current thinking or traditional approaches.

Education

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in economics, finance, business administration, urban planning, urban development, or a related area is required.
• A first-level university degree in combination with qualifying years of 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 seven (7) years of progressively responsible experience in economic research and analysis, urban innovation solutions, urban policy formulation, economic principles in development of programmes or related fields is required.
• Experience in project or programme management, design, development, deployment and ongoing delivery of projects involving strategic planning is desirable, .
• Experience working in digital technology, smart cities or related field 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. Knowledge of another official United Nations language is an advantage.

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Responsibilities
Project Management:

• Provide assistance in support of planning and implementation activities/processes of the programme.
• Research, compile, analyze, summarize, and present basic information/data on specific programmes/project and related topics.
• Assist in the coordination of project planning and preparation; monitors status of project proposals; takes necessary action to ensure project documents are completed and submitted to relevant parties for approval.
• Focal point for coordination of program implementation activities, involving extensive liaison with different units on follow ups, and backstop country office when need be.

Financial and Budgetary:

• Review project documents for completeness and compliance with relevant rules and procedures and identify inconsistencies prior submission for final approval.
• Prepare budget revisions verify funds availability; and ensures necessary approval and entry in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)/Umoja system. Compile, summarize and enter data on project delivery, identify shortfalls in delivery, deviations, budget overruns, and bring it to the attention of management.

General Administration:

• Review submissions of programme requests ensuring that requisite information is included, obtain necessary clearances, process and follow-up on all administrative actions related to project implementation, e.g., recruitment, travel arrangements, organization of workshops, payments, procurement.
• Prepare, maintain, and update filing systems; generate periodic and ad hoc reports, statistical tables, graphic content and other background materials to facilitate inspection and reviews.
• Provide assistance to the country team on reporting requirements and ensure completeness and accuracy of data submitted.
• Maintain calendar/schedules; monitor changes and communicate relevant information to appropriate staff inside and outside the immediate work unit.
• Assists with the collection and analysis of data as well as preparation of data presentations and reports for information sharing, responding to queries, knowledge management, planning. and decision making.
• Assists with visualizations and updating information material such as web pages or brochures.
• Perform other relevant duties as assigned.

Competencies

• PROFESSIONALISM: Knowledge of internal policies, processes and procedures generally and in particular those related to programme/project administration, technical cooperation, human resources, finance and budgeting. Ability to perform a broad range of administrative functions, e.g. budget/work programme, human resources, database management. Ability to apply knowledge of various United Nations administrative, financial and human resources rules and regulations in work situations. The ability to perform analysis, modeling and interpretation of data in support of decision-making. 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.
• PLANNING & ORGANIZING: Develops clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies; identifies priority activities and assignments; 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.
• TEAMWORK: Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals; solicits input by genuinely valuing others' ideas and expertise; is willing to learn from others; places team agenda before personal agenda; supports and acts in accordance with final group decision, even when such decisions may not entirely reflect own position; shares credit for team accomplishments and accepts joint responsibility for team shortcomings.

Education

• High school diploma or equivalent is required.

Job - Specific Qualification

• Supplementary courses or training in Business Administration, economics, finance or other related field is required.

Work Experience

• A minimum of five (5) years of progressive work experience in programme or project administration, technical cooperation, human resources, finance and budget or related area is required. The minimum years of relevant experience is reduced to three (3) years for candidates who possess a first-level university degree or higher.
• Working experience with the UN system or other international organization is required.
• Experience working with the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, preferably Systems Applications and Products (SAP), is desirable.
• One (1) year or more of experience in data analytics or related area is desirable.
• Experience with contract administration/support operations with the UN or other international organization is desirable.
• Experience with procurement and accounting methodologies system is desirable.

Languages

• English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the post advertised, fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another UN official language is desirable.