VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT
Organization: UNICEF
Regional Chief of Operations, P-5, Kathmandu, Nepal, #8345
Job no: 507078
Position type: Fixed Term Staff
Location: Nepal
Division/Equivalent: Kathmandu(ROSA)
School/Unit: Reg Serv Division, Kathmandu
Department/Office: Reg Serv – Oper, Kathmandu
Categories: P-5, Operations and Business Management
UNICEF works in 190 countries and territories to protect the rights of every child. UNICEF has spent 70 years working to improve the lives of children and their families. Defending children’s rights throughout their lives requires a global presence, aiming to produce results and understand their effects. UNICEF believes all children have a right to survive, thrive and fulfill their potential – to the benefit of a better world.
How can you make a difference?
Under the general guidance of the Deputy Regional Director, supports and advises the Regional Director, the Regional Management Team and Country Offices within the region on operational aspects pertaining to budgets, finance and accounts, general administration and office management, monitoring and control mechanisms, as required.
In the capacity of Regional Chief of Operations, provides leadership, guidance, coordination, or oversight, where appropriate, to ensure cost effective, efficient gender-sensitive and secures operations in support of the country office programme management consistent with organization’s goals, strategy and objectives.
Provides leadership and guidance in operations to a gender-balanced, multidisciplinary team of professionals to identify and correct gender balances.
If you are committed and passionate about advancing UNICEF operations management thereby ensuring a better future for every child, this is the chance to make a difference by:
Effective operations of financial, human resource and administrative management
Oversees and advises to ensure the effective, equitable and efficient operations of the region’s or office’s finance, human resource and administrative systems to support and facilitate the attainment of programmatic goals and objectives by meeting changing operational requirements.
Ensures efficient, cost-effective and transparent utilization of resources through knowledge and technology transfer between offices and consistency of approaches across the region.
Advises management and assists in establishing new offices.
Policy interpretation and application
Oversees and advises to ensure the consistent application of organizational policies and procedures in the management of finance and administrative functions through the provision of technical leadership, guidance and operational support at the regional and country levels. Ensures the effective communication, training, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of new operational initiatives, guidelines and procedures throughout the region, with emphasis on all aspects required to achieve UNICEF’s objectives for gender parity, diversity, and a supportive work environment for men and women.
Fiduciary integrity and transparency for funds and assets
Safeguards the financial resources entrusted to the office and region by advising on management of financial assets; Provides guidance on fiduciary integrity and transparency for funds and assets for optimum utilization. Advises on financial decisions, financial transactions, disbursement of funds, and administrative arrangements.
Leadership in strategic planning, policy formulation, and corporate management process in the area of operations
Assists the Deputy Regional Director in strategic decision making within UNICEF Operations and provides initiative and substantive input to the development, reform and change of financial, human resource and administrative policies, systems and procedures that secure the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity in staff.
Participates in global and regional strategic planning and policy changes, including formulation on operational matters; provides authoritative advice from technical, operational and administrative perspectives to contribute to the improvement and establishment of operational guidelines, including those that strengthen gender policy in programming and staff gender parity.
Provides guidance to the Regional Director and Deputy Regional Director on operational aspects of the UN Reform agenda.
Capacity Building and Staff Learning/Development
Advises on training and learning policies in line with UNICEF’s training and learning/development strategy, ensuring linkage to relevant operations systems. Ensures that training is provided in interviewing and selection for diversity, gender-awareness and gender-sensitivity.
Works with the HQ Advisors to implement operations systems and learning programmes to upgrade the capacity of Regional offices, Country Offices, and key counterpart staff in area of operations and gender-balanced staff recruitment and promotion; provides guidance and support to build Country Office capacity to plan, organise and conduct orientation and training activities.
Determines training and learning needs in consultation with organizational units at HQ and in the field in order to identify organizational competency gaps. Plans and arranges regional operations workshops/learning programmes for organizational competency building. Advises on staff learning/development, career development, coaching and counselling in operations area.
Monitors training activities to ensure to have cost-effective training programmes are available and meet the needs of enhanced operational performance and efficiency.
Exchanges best practices in the area of learning and training in operations; advocates for continuous learning; advises Country Offices on learning and training programmes and techniques. Assists in establishing processes to ensure that state-of-the-art knowledge in operations management is incorporated into the knowledge sharing mechanism is available for use in country and regional operations.
Forms a network of external training institutions relating to operations management and participates in inter-agency meetings and working groups to exchange information and collaborates for the benefit of staff and organization.
Budget Planning and Review
Advises and guides the country and regional programme and budget review processes as regional focal point to ensure that all operations components of annual/biennium budgets for submission are accurate, integrated, consistent and coherent with the corporate/regional priorities and budget guidelines. Ensures timely submission of all required consolidated budget documentation in time for budget planning and review.
Provides technical advice and support in contributing to making decisions on budgets and operational issues during the deliberations at corporate committees (PBR, RMTs, etc).
Compliance and Internal Control
Monitors compliance with all operational systems and procedures and ensures integrity in all financial and other administrative operations of the office; advises on corrective measures to be taken and establishes relevant internal controls to ensure the implementation of agreed audit recommendations.
Partnership, Coordination and Collaboration
Advises on establishment and maintenance of effective government counterpart relations. Coordinates and advises to resolve issues pertaining to conditions of service, operational facilities and privileges within the context of the Basic Cooperation Agreement. Promotes and assists capacity building of government counterparts to ensure adherence to financial regulations and rules pertaining to Cash Assistance to Government (CAG).
Advises the Regional Director/the Deputy Regional Director, on finance, human resource and administrative matters. Provides expert guidance on all operational submissions for the approval of the Regional Director/Deputy Regional Director. Briefs office staff on financial, human resource and administrative policies and procedures. Provides technical guidance, oversight and advice to Operations Officers in country offices and resolves complex and sensitive problems.
Coordinates with the HQ Divisions and other Regions to support policy/position formulation in the area of global/regional operations as well as harmonization of operations in the UN common system; advises on the applicability of new policy directives to regional operations. Coordinates and makes major, substantive recommendations on the establishment of systems and internal controls, and on planning and restructuring.
Participates in and provides expert advice and support to consultative and management committees (e.g. IBRs, PBR, RMTs, CMT, CRC, PSB, TRT, etc. ); trains and/or briefs committees accordingly.
Collaborates with Deputy Representatives, Programme Officers and country level staff providing creative problem solutions in support of programming endeavours while maintaining sound internal controls.
Represents the office in meetings with other UN Agencies to coordinate and collaborate on operational activities, including those of UN Reform agenda addressing UNICEF’s Gender Balance Action Plan within the SG’s initiative for gender parity in staffing.
Emergency Preparedness and Response
Assists in monitoring and assessing the emergency preparedness plan including its validity for the current crisis, i.e. the security situation and immediate actions needed, the ability of the office to function, the funds that have been reallocated from existing sources, etc. Advises on adapting the emergency preparedness and response plan as necessary with particular attention to gender issues that may be expected to intensify during emergencies.
To qualify as a champion for every child you will have…
• An advanced university degree in accounting with ISPAS certification, Business Administration, Financial Management or in directly related fields of education, including credited courses in accounting, financial management, training in gender awareness and management of a gender balanced office an asset, supply, logistics, procurement, purchasing and/or office administration.
• A minimum of ten years of relevant professional experience, eight years of which in senior advisory capacity, with both national and international work experience in office management, finance, budget, accounting, supply and administration and/or other related fields.
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) is an asset.
Last date to apply: Sep, 25 2017
