Programme and Partnership Manager, P-4

Position description

Org. Setting and Reporting

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme, UN-Habitat, is the agency for human settlements. It is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all.

The Global Solutions Division (GSD) is responsible for providing programmatic direction for UN-Habitat and is responsible and accountable for the programmatic delivery of the Strategic Plan. The Division leads the tools and methodology production and the integration of the various substantive competencies towards the effective delivery of the Strategic Plan and the mandate of UN-Habitat. It provides substantive training and supports capacity development of Member States and partners.

The Urban Practices Branch (UPB) is the tools and methodology production and skills centre of the UN-Habitat, that develops normative guidance and cutting-edge tools through its five sections and Agency-wide communities of urban practice. It provides technical and policy advice approaches and methodologies to MCOs/CO, government and partners and mainstreams them throughout the programme portfolio. It also ensures that the cross-cutting area of safety and the social inclusion issues including human rights; gender; children, youth and older persons; and disability, are developed and mainstreamed across the Agency. The Local2030 Coalition is the UN system-wide mechanism to advance the crucial engagement of local stakeholders in a systematic way – a common space to mobilise, engage and empower every local actor, everywhere – towards achieving the SDGs. The Coalition is underpinned by the recognition that strategic and committed partnerships are key to ensuring coherence and effectiveness. Inside the UN system, the Local2030 Coalition aims to strengthen coordination between the UN entities’ efforts and expand and deepen their partnerships with local actors to advance the SDGs.

The Coalition is co-chaired by UN-Habitat (as the permanent co-chair) and one other UN entity, which rotates every two years (currently FAO). UN-Habitat also serves as the Secretariat of the Local2030 Coalition. The Coalition is governed by a Steering Committee and supported by a UN Directors’ Group, which includes senior representatives from various UN Agencies, Offices, Funds and Programmes. The Executive Office of the Secretary-General (EOSG) closely accompanies and supports the work of the Local2030 Coalition.

This position will provide direct support to the Senior Programme Officer (SPO)/Head of Secretariat (HoS) in managing the work plan and governance of the Local2030 Coalition.

The focus of this position is to lead the implementation, financial management, monitoring and evaluation of the Local2030 Coalition’s programmatic activities and partnerships.

The position is located in the Local2030 Coalition Secretariat in Bilbao, as part of the Urban Practices Branch (UPB) within the Global Solutions Division. The position reports to the Head of Secretariat, Local2030 Coalition. Within delegated authority, the Programme and Partnerships Manager will be responsible for the following duties:

Responsibilities

• Supports developing and implementing the vision for the strategic direction of Local2030; contributing to the development of the Local2030 Coalition Secretariat work programme and budget with the active participation of the Secretariat staff members, Coalition co-chairs, the UN Directors’ Group and partners; ensuring the alignment of the Secretariat work programme with UN-Habitat’s strategic plan and work programme and organizational priorities; increasing awareness and improve the effectiveness of SDG localisation-related programmes.
• Coordinates the implementation of advocacy, action, and monitoring activities of the Secretariat, including support to the UN Resident Coordinator Offices and Country Teams, as requested.
• Prepares and analyses budgets and financial reports; provides assistance in the interpretation of budget guidelines for the review and approval by the Head of Secretariat; including the revision and coordination of submissions of programme proposals and budget estimates, ensuring that requisite information is included and justified in terms of proposed activities; proposing adjustments as necessary; and preparing reports.
• Coordinates the development of Local2030 Coalition-related knowledge management products, reviews the assessments of issues and trends, guides preparation of evaluations or research activities and studies; Ensures that the quality of all the Secretariat products and activities is up to the UN-Habitat standards.
• Guides survey initiatives and design of data collection instruments; reviews, analyzes and interprets responses; identifies problems/issues and prepares conclusions.
• Organizes and prepares various written outputs, e.g. background papers, analysis, substantial sections of reports and studies, inputs to publications.
• Provides substantive backstopping to consultative and other meetings, conferences, to include proposing agenda topics, identifying participants, preparation of documents and presentations.
• Initiates and coordinates outreach activities; designs and conducts training workshops, seminars, makes presentations on assigned topics/activities.
• Ensures a strong presence of Local2030 in key high level international and regional fora, and coordinating the preparation of Local2030 Secretariat events, and actively participating, in such fora.
• Leads field missions, including provision of guidance to external consultants, government officials and other parties and drafting mission summaries.
• Provides support to activities related to budget and funding (programme/project preparation and submissions, progress reports, financial statements) and ensures preparation of related documents/reports (pledging, work programme, programme budget).
• Works closely with the host country institutions to ensure smooth operations of the Local2030 Coalition Secretariat.
• In line with UN Habitat policies and processes, supports all necessary financial resource mobilization activities including through liaising with donor agencies, international and regional development banks, private sector partners, foundations and philanthropies, and other relevant actors to maintain and enhance financial support to the Local2030 Coalition.
• Establishes and maintains professional relationships with substantive partners of Local2030, including those from the private sector; supports UN-Habitat in maintaining strong relationships with governmental agencies and development partners to ensure political support to Local2030 and SDG Localization.
• Manages the Local2030 Secretariat Office and running of its day-to-day operations by recruiting the needed personnel; supervising the Secretariat staff members in the implementation of the developed Secretariat work programme; managing staff performance and overseeing staff training and development.
• 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.
• May perform other duties as required.

Competencies

• PROFESSIONALISM: Knowledge and understanding of theories, concepts, and approaches relevant to local governance and local development, the SDGs, the New Urban Agenda, and other international development agendas. Ability to identify key strategic issues, opportunities and risks. Ability to generate and communicate broad and compelling organizational direction. Ability to communicate clearly links between the Organization’s strategy and the work unit’s goals. Demonstrated ability to provide innovative technical leadership by performing and/or overseeing the planning, development, and management of operation. Demonstrated ability to negotiate and apply good judgment; 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. Takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 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 international development, governance, public administration, urban and regional planning, economics, law, management or a related field is required.
• A first-level university degree, in combination with 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 desirable.

Work Experience

• A minimum of seven (7) years of progressively responsible experience in one or more of the fields of sustainable development, local governance, global network establishment and support is required.
• Proven experience in financial resource mobilization is required.
• Experience in managing and supervising a large, diversified team is desirable.
• Experience in managing and leading coordination with several parties in a collaborative effort, in a changing environment, is desirable.
• Experience in working with one or more UN entities (Agencies, Funds, Offices or Programmes) or similar international organizations is desirable.
• Two (2) years 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 Spanish is desirable.

Application instructions

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