Head of Operations (Parental Leave Cover)

Background Information – SUN Movement Secretariat

Since 2010, the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement has inspired a new way of working collaboratively to end malnutrition, in all its forms. With the governments of SUN Countries in the lead, it unites people—from civil society, the United Nations, donors, businesses and researchers—in a collective effort to improve nutrition. The SUN Strategy 2021–2025 (SUN 3.0) prioritises country leadership and focuses on supporting systemic change at the country level. It seeks to capture the ambition of SUN countries and guide the work of all actors at all levels aligning concerted action behind and responding to commonly agreed national priorities set out by governments in SUN countries.

SUN 3.0 is committed to fundamental, non-negotiable aspects of effective nutrition action, including equity and the principle of leaving no one behind. For its third phase, the SUN Movement will drive forward gender equality and enshrine youth leadership across the Movement. SUN 3.0 will strengthen partnerships to achieve greater impact on nutrition through food systems, health systems, social protection systems, actions by the private sector and humanitarian and development actors, and through education, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and climate change adaptation.

The SUN Movement Secretariat plays a central role in enabling the multiple members and structures of the Movement to work together to advance progress on country-level priorities and the global positioning of nutrition.

The SUN Movement Secretariat comprises approximately 35 personnel, based in Geneva and in various regions globally. All parts of the Movement – member governments, the SUN Global Support System – the GSS, consisting of four SUN networks (Civil Society, United Nations, Business, Donors) and the SUN Movement Secretariat, together with the SUN Movement Coordinator, work together to align and focus efforts on priorities within countries.

The SUN Movement Secretariat is hosted by UNOPS.

Role of the Head of Operations

The Head of Operations reports to the Director, SUN Movement Secretariat, who provides direction and general supervision.

The Head of Operations is a critical leadership role responsible for ensuring effective provision of support service for the Secretariat across all aspects of operations (Finance, HR, Procurement, Health, Safety, Security and Environmental (HSSE), Information Technology (ICT) and Administration) to ensure achievement of results, whilst driving compliance with corporate strategies, UNOPS rules, regulations, policies, and standards of accountability, ethics and integrity.

The role is responsible for managing the daily relationship with UNOPS, including ensuring hosting terms and standard operating procedures are maintained and liaising closely with the UNOPS Geneva office on support services management.

Functional Responsibilities

Operational leadership and advisory

• Advise and assist the Director in developing strategies, processes and opportunities for ensuring coherence amongst the various work streams and priorities of the SMS.
• Support the Director with the development and implementation of the Secretariat’s work plan and collaborate with colleagues, to identify the needs, determine cost and plan all support services, including human resources, procurement, finance, travels, human resources and administrative services.
• Contribute to the formulation of SMS strategies and policies through advisory services to the Director.
• Ensure effective operations/support services processes are defined and maintained between the SMS Operations Team, UNOPS Geneva Office and UNOPS headquarters.
• Ensure client service and satisfaction with operations/support services processes, liaising with UNOPS Geneva Office and UNOPS headquarters for required support as required.
• Lead on health, safety, security and environmental (HSSE) matters to ensure they are integrated into all aspects of the operations and that related risks are managed effectively.
• Monitor and supervise all aspects of operations to ensure compliance with corporate strategies, UNOPS rules, regulations, policies, and standards of accountability, ethics and integrity and achievement of results.

Programme management

• Ensure the financial sustainability of the programme and delivery of desired results, ensuring compliance with organisational strategies, rules, regulations and standards of performance.
• Manage and oversee the preparation of programme documents (including business cases/strategies, programme plans and risk assessments).
• Manage the structured transition of new UNOPS systems and tools into the SMS.
• Monitor use of Delegations of Authority (DOA).

Financial Management

• Prepare the Secretariat’s financial plan and manage the budget process/cycle to ensure timely revisions and reallocation of funds.
• Monitor, track and control expenditures and supervise all financial services (accounting, cash management, payments etc.) ensuring optimum and appropriate use of resources and compliance with standards of accountability and performance.
• Monitor project financial projections, take necessary action(s) and/or refer critical issues to the Director and/or other stakeholders for action.
• Ensure the availability of required financial reports including investigating anomalies to resolve problems, reporting or recommending any action required to relevant stakeholders.
• Approve disbursement of allocated financial resources for the SMS.
• Act as the SMS focal point for any internal/external audit exercise.

Human resource management

• Advise the Director on staffing needs and plan personnel required for the Secretariat.
• Ensure that hiring managers actively seek to create diverse teams in terms of gender and geography.
• Promote and support a learning culture by empowering individuals and teams to identify critical learning needs and plan/provide easy access to learning opportunities.
• Foster a positive work environment, respectful of both men and women, and ensure that the highest standards of conduct are observed.

Procurement

• Oversee and supervise the Secretariat procurement processes, including tendering processes and evaluation and supplier selection, to ensure viable procurement solutions that are cost-effective and meet operational needs.
• Ensure that UNOPS procurement procedures, regulations and standards of accountability, ethics, integrity and performance are met.
• In consultation with relevant colleagues, review, administer and issue contracts, agreements/amendments with the different vendors/subcontractors/service providers.
• Liaise with UNOPS to ensure appropriate procurement support capacity is in place for major events.

Administration and IT

• In close collaboration with UNOPS, support maintenance of a secure and reliable ICT environment, including adequate plans for disaster recovery.
• Manage the acquisition, maintenance, inventory, recording, verification and protection of project and administrative facilities/assets, including IT infrastructure, equipment and servers.
• Identify opportunities for leveraging the use of IT to enhance business operations and efficiency and to facilitate knowledge management, and information sharing.
• Manage the timely and efficient delivery of all administrative services, (e.g. premises, asset management, organisational and personnel security, travel and IT).
• Lead the project management of major SMS events, including maintaining a roster of specialist events managers to oversee all aspects from pre planning through to post event evaluation.

Innovation and knowledge management

• Ensure feedback on client service and satisfaction with operations/support services processes is provided to UNOPS Geneva Office and UNOPS headquarters and contribute to updating processes as appropriate.
• Contribute to the dissemination and sharing of best practices and lessons learned for knowledge building within the Secretariat.
• At the request of the Director and in collaboration with the team, plan, implement and organise strategic capacity building of personnel and other stakeholders.

Education

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in a relevant field such as finance, business, public administration or other relevant related field is required.
• A Bachelor’s degree with a combination of two additional years of relevant experience may be accepted in lieu of the master’s degree

Experience

• A minimum of 7 years of progressively responsible experience covering at least two of the following operations functions: Procurement, Finance, Logistics/ Asset Management and Human Resources. Knowledge of the other functions is required.
• A minimum of 3 years of leadership experience, including a proven track record managing staff and operational systems is required.