Chief of Branch, Outreach and Partnership Branch

Position description

This position is located in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), Division for Sustainable Development Goals (DSDG), in the Outreach and Partnerships Branch. The Division for Sustainable Development Goals, in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, acts as the Secretariat for the SDGs, providing substantive support and capacity-building for the goals and their related thematic issues, including water; energy; climate; oceans; transport science, technology and innovation; small island developing states; and partnerships. The Division also plays a key role in the analysis of SDG progress, including through cross-sectoral approaches, by coordinating UN conferences related to sustainable development and providing substantive support to the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, and on advocacy and outreach activities related to the SDGs. For more information, please visit our website at http://sdgs.un.org. The Chief of Branch reports to the Director of the Division.

Under the overall supervision and guidance of the Director of the Division for Sustainable Development Goals, the incumbent will be responsible for the following: • Formulates and implements the substantive work programme of the Branch under his/her supervision. Oversees the management of activities undertaken by the Branch, ensures that programmed activities are carried out in a timely fashion and co-ordinates work in the different areas both within the Division and Department, and with other organizations of the United Nations System, as appropriate. • Provide policy advice to the Director of the Division on outreach, partnerships, and communications on the follow up to the implementation the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 SDGs, the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS), and other outcomes of major UN conferences and summits. • Leads, supervises and carries out the work programme of the Branch on stakeholder engagement and partnerships related to sustainable development, while supporting the inter-governmental processes including the General Assembly, the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), the ECOSOC Partnership Forum, the multistakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the SDGs, relevant high-level meetings mandated by the General Assembly, and other major UN conferences on sustainable development. • Leads the Division’s knowledge management, outreach and communication work, including the development and execution of communication strategies, website management and social media. • Co-ordinates and oversees the preparation of briefing material, presentations, draft speeches, policy proposals and reports on development issues for the Director and Senior Management. Formulate, plan and manage the work programme of the Branch and its resources, including: (i) Assists the Director in preparing the work programme of the Branch, determining priorities, and allocating resources for the completion of outputs and their timely delivery. (ii) Undertakes or oversees the programmatic/administrative tasks necessary for the functioning of the Branch, including preparation of budgets, reporting on budget/programme performance, evaluation of staff performance, interviews of candidates for job openings, evaluation of candidates and preparation of inputs for results-based budgeting. (iii) Cooperating and maintaining liaison with other branch chiefs in divisional level work and activities. • Leads and supervises the coordination and cooperation with other partners in the UN system as well as with other national, regional and global organizations for the implementation of the work programme of the Branch. • Act as Officer-in-Charge of the Division in the absence of the Director and represent the Director in DESA’s Directors’ meetings or other senior management meetings, and represents the Division at international, regional or national meetings. • Leads team members efforts to identify trends or patterns and provides insights through graphs, charts, tables and reports using data visualization methods to enable data-driven planning, decision-making, presentation and reporting. Ensures that everyone can discover, access, integrate and share the data they need.

Qualifications

• Professionalism: Knowledge of sustainable development issues, inter-linkages, and consensus-building in negotiations. Demonstrated knowledge of the United Nations system in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs, the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS), and other important outcome of major UN conferences. Ability to produce reports and papers on technical issues and to review and edit the work of others. Ability to apply UN rules, regulations, policies and guidelines in work situations. 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. Ability to perform analysis, modeling and interpretation of data in support of decision-making. • Communication: Speaks and writes clearly and effectively; listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately; asks questions to clarify, and exhibits interest in having two-way communication; tailors language, tone, style and format to match audience; demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed. • 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. • 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. • 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.

Application instructions

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