Programme Specialist, Volunteer Offer – P3

Background

The Volunteer Solutions Section (VSS) develops policies and solutions to support the mobilization of UN Volunteers and Online Volunteers across the UN system. VSS is responsible for providing robust and innovative volunteer service offers to the UN system, including consolidated volunteer types and categories, policies, talent acquisition (sourcing to recruitment) and volunteer engagement and management expertise.

VSS collaborates closely with all UNV units (Headquarters, Regional Offices, and Field Units) to provide relevant products and tools to support volunteer mobilization.

Reporting to the Deputy Chief of the Volunteer Solutions Section, the Programme Specialist, Volunteer Offer is responsible for the review and update of the UNV Volunteer Offer to meet the organization’s needs and incorporate feedback from relevant stakeholders. She/he provides technical guidance for sound onsite and online offers implementation and proposes strategic direction to ensure a cohesive and harmonized UNV offer aligned with the organization’s mandate, responsive to partners’ and volunteers’ needs, innovative and considering institutional efficiency.

S/he works in close collaboration with the Regional Offices and Field Units, New York Office, Volunteer Services Centre, and other relevant subject matter experts and external stakeholders.

UNV adopts a portfolio approach to accommodate changing business needs and leverage linkages across interventions to achieve its strategic goals. Therefore, UNV personnel are expected to work across units, functions, teams, and projects in multidisciplinary teams in order to enhance and enable horizontal collaboration.

Duties and Responsibilities

Lead UNV volunteer offer development and mainstreaming

• Lead the development, review and continuous refinement of the UNV volunteer offer, ensuring alignment with UNV’s strategic priorities, in close collaboration with the VSS Policy Specialist, Volunteer Policies, and the Programme Specialist, Volunteer Solutions.
• Analyze and assess volunteer supply and demand trends.
  Work with relevant stakeholders and UNV sections to identify emerging needs and UNV offer’s gaps and address them through an innovative UN Volunteers catalog, integrating onsite and online solutions to meet diverse demands.
• Analyze human resources contractual UN trends and approaches of volunteer organizations, lead formulation, and evaluation of UN Volunteer offers.
• Coordinate the alignment of UN Volunteer and Online Volunteering policies, entitlements, processes, and tools to maximize UNV effectiveness in close collaboration with the Programme Specialist, Volunteer Solutions and the Policy Specialist, Volunteer Policies.
• Provide technical guidance and expertise to ensure seamless integration of onsite and online volunteer offers in broader volunteer mobilization strategies and initiatives.
• Coordinate onsite and online promotion and visibility at the corporate level.

Ensure onsite and online volunteering offer management

• Provide technical guidance to Regional Offices, Field Units, and the New York office (NYO) on the UNV offer, including online volunteering mainstreaming and consistency and compliance globally.
• Monitor the quality of advertised assignments and provide input for improvement.
• Monitor UNV offers usage and provide advice for future informed enhancement.
• Provide substantive support in customizing offers to address UN partners’ volunteer needs in collaboration with relevant UNV stakeholders.
• Lead and coordinate the corporate online volunteering strategy development and implementation, and address OV-related business requirements.
• Design and oversee the strategic development of the Online Volunteering service, ensuring its alignment with the corporate priorities and effective integration within the broader UNV offer.
• Provide technical guidance and support to UNV sections, Regional Offices, the New York Office and Field Units on UNV Offer.

Facilitate knowledge management and dissemination

• Consolidate and periodically share best practices on UNV onsite and online volunteer offers.
• Ensure knowledge generation and maintenance of institutional repository on volunteer offers.
• Engage with, learn from, and make sound contributions to relevant communities of practice to capture emerging trends and enhance offer formulation or refinement.
• Keep abreast of best practices in volunteer offers and contractual modalities among partners and international volunteer-sending organizations.
• Participate in onboarding, regional workshops, and other learning activities for UN Volunteers and UNV personnel, including developing training materials and delivering them.
• Support in the planning, design, execution and monitoring of the volunteer knowledge management tools and initiatives.

People management

• Manage Programme Associate including supervision, performance assessment and capacity development.
• Create a motivating, supportive, collaborative, and positive work environment.
• Keep abreast of service desk trends and best practices in and outside of the international and non-profit sectors.
• Establish and monitor implementation of annual work plan for the team.
• Produce inputs to corporate reporting and audit requirements.
• Backstop for the Operations Associate, Service Desk during absences.

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities:

Supervise the Programme Associate

Competencies

Core Competencies

Achieve Results

• Set and align challenging, achievable objectives for multiple projects, have lasting impact

Think Innovatively

• Proactively mitigate potential risks, develop new ideas to solve complex problems

Learn Continuously

• Create and act on opportunities to expand horizons, diversify experiences

Adapt with Agility

• Proactively initiate and champion change, manage multiple competing demands

Act with Determination

• Think beyond immediate task/barriers and take action to achieve greater results

Engage and Partner

• Political savvy, navigate complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaboration

Enable Diversity and Inclusion

• Appreciate benefits of diverse workforce and champion inclusivity

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies

Business Direction & Strategy-System Thinking

• Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgement to understand how interrelated elements coexist within an overall process or system, and to consider how altering one element can impact on other parts of the system

Business Direction & Strategy-Strategic Thinking

• Develop effective strategies and prioritised plans in line with UNDP’s mission and objectives, based on the systemic analysis of challenges, opportunities and potential risks; link the general vision to reality on the ground to create tangible targeted solutions; learn from a variety of sources to anticipate and effectively respond to both current and future trends; demonstrate foresight.

Business management-Communication

• Communicate in a clear, concise and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience. ‡Ability to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media and other appropriate channels.

Business development-Knowledge Generation

• Ability to research information and to turn it into useful knowledge, relevant for context, or responsive to a stated need. Ability to apply existing concepts to new situations, and to develop new concepts to generate workable solutions and new approaches. Knowledge of relevant concepts, conceptual models, and theories that can be useful in addressing new situations.

Business management-Customer Satisfaction/Client Management

• Ability to respond timely and appropriately with a sense of urgency, provide consistent solutions, and deliver timely and quality results and/or solutions to fulfil and understand the real customers’ needs. Provide inputs to the development of customer service strategy. Look for ways to add value beyond clients’ immediate requests. Ability to anticipate client’s upcoming needs and concerns.

Business Management-Portfolio Management

• Ability to select, prioritise and control the organization’s programmes and projects in line with its strategic objectives and capacity Ability to balance the implementation of change initiatives with regular activities for optimal return on investment.
• Knowledge and understanding of key principles of project, programme, and portfolio management

Partnership management-Relationship management

• Ability to engage with a wide range of public and private partners, build, sustain and/or strengthen working relations, trust and mutual understanding

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in Human Resources Management, Business Administration, or related fields is required. Or
• A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in the above -mentioned fields of study, in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• Minimum of 5 years (with master’s degree) or 7 years (with bachelor’s degree) of relevant experience in human resources and/or administration management.
• Experience in MS Office 365 is required.
• Experience in developing or managing volunteer offers in a development context is an asset
• Experience and knowledge of the conditions of service of the UN Common System or of international organizations would be an asset.
• Experience of coordinating online volunteers, volunteering online, or managing online volunteering projects would be an asset.
• Experience working in web-based management systems would be an asset.
• Experience working with UN Volunteers would be an asset.

Please note that continuance of appointment beyond the initial 12 months is contingent upon the successful completion of a probationary period.

Disclaimer

• Only short-listed applicants will be contacted;
• The successful candidate will hold a UNDP letter of appointment.

Important information for US Permanent Residents (‘Green Card’ holders)

Applicant information about UNDP rosters

Note: UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement. We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.

Non-discrimination

UNDP has a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual exploitation and misconduct, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.

UNDP is an equal opportunity and inclusive employer that does not discriminate based on race, sex, gender identity, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, age, language, social origin or other status.

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