Senior Development Officer

All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR’s core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.

Duties

For positions in Country Operations only

• Advise operations on practical research and analysis to interpret long-term political, economic and social trends that will enhance opportunities for solutions, resilience and inclusion for populations of concern to UNHCR as well as more sustainable approaches to refugee protection;
• Support the operation in planning for resilience and inclusion with a clear shared vision of longer term protection and solution outcomes for people of concern that takes account of host communities and leverages the roles, resources and capacities of development partners, including International Financial Institutions, Multilateral Development Banks, and Bilateral Development donors.
• Support the development of comprehensive multi-year protection and solutions plans/strategies (incl. Multi-Year Multi-Partner Strategies) for Persons of Concern to UNHCR and/or facilitate the inclusion of populations of concern into national and local development planning and programming instruments.
• Support and advise the operation in identifying, strategically articulating and capitalizing development and resilience opportunities, including through Government pledges and or pledges made by bilateral or multilateral development and/or peacebuilding partners.
• Provide technical leadership and support for relationship building with development co-operation agencies and peace and state-building agendas through the different stages of policy and programme identification, preparation, implementation and review.
• Develop partnerships and networks with development cooperation actors to influence the policy dialogue with governments on institutional arrangements related to sectors, locations and programme content of consequence to UNHCR and persons of concern. This would, in particular, focus on supporting the coordination of the in-country relationship with the World Bank and other multilateral development banks, especially where there is potential for specific funding directed towards UNHCR’s persons of concern (e.g. WB IDA sub-window for refugees and host communities or the WB Global Concessional Financing Facility).
• Cooperate with development partners to assist them in incorporating the concerns of refugees, returnees and others of concern to UNHCR into the design and implementation arrangements of projects and interventions in a manner that impacts positively on protection circumstances.
• Identify, commission and/or contribute to studies and analytical activities that build the conceptual framework and evidence base for comprehensive, development-oriented responses, including preparedness work, to forced displacement.
• Ensure that development actors are provided relevant data to inform their planning, programming and advocacy around resilience for and inclusion of UNHCR persons of concern.
• Engage with governments, development partners (both multilateral and bilateral), and with the private sector and civil society (as appropriate) to identify opportunities for UNHCR to contribute to the design and implementation of monitoring systems to track progress towards agreed outcomes.
• Facilitate coordination and collaboration and the sharing of knowledge and experience sharing between UNHCR and development actors and across UNHCR operations globally by documenting and disseminating good practices and active participation in the Division of Resilience and Solutions’, Development Partnerships Community of Practice
• Support training activities aimed at the capacity building of UNHCR and partner agency staff to achieve greater coordination, effectiveness and synergies between humanitarian and development interventions.

For positions in Regional Bureaux only

• Provide support, as detailed in the above duties for a country SDO for countries without an SDO as specified in the operational context for this position.
• Support the Regional Bureau and country operations in analysing from a development perspective the potential components of longer-term situational solutions strategies, identifying the protection/resilience/solutions challenges, and the means to address these and possible regional opportunities for engagement.
• Support and advise the Regional Bureau and/or operations in identifying, articulating and capitalizing development and resilience opportunities, including through pledges made by regional partners, and regional development initiatives and programmes.
• Aggregate, analyse and package available knowledge and data from country operations to feed into regional and HQ policy, programme and advocacy efforts.
• Ensure support and coherence, where relevant, across operations in how they engage with development actors (e.g. messaging, policies, etc.).
• Interpret long-term political, economic and social trends from a situational or regional perspective that will define the opportunities for inclusion for populations of concern to UNHCR as well as more sustainable approaches to refugee protection management.
• Engage with regional bodies, such as IGAD, ECOWAS, etc. to identify and advocate for entry points for inclusion in development-related fora
• Identify, commission and/or contribute to studies and analytical activities from a situational or regional perspective that build the conceptual framework and evidence base for comprehensive, development-oriented responses, including preparedness work, to forced displacement.
• Lead risk assessments and discussions with team(s) to proactively manage risks and seize opportunities impacting objectives. Ensure that risk management principles are integrated in decision-making both at strategic and operational levels. Allocate resources for planned treatments with resource requirements in Strategic Plans. Ensure that risks are managed to acceptable levels and escalate, as needed.
• If a Risk Owner, designate the Risk Focal Point and certify that the annual risk review is completed and ensure that the risk register is updated during the year, as needed.
• Perform other related duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications

Education & Professional Work Experience

• Years of Experience / Degree Level
• For P4/NOD – 9 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 8 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 7 years relevant experience with Doctorate degree
• Field(s) of Education
• Development Economics; Development Studies; Socio-economic Development;
• International Relations; Political Science; Law or other relevant field.

• Certificates and/or Licenses
• Not specified.

Relevant Job Experience

Essential

• Six (6) years of direct work experience in a large international development institution in a relevant position and of which at least two (2) years in field operations.
• Preferably with knowledge of, or experience in, local or area based economic development, direct engagement in a technical sector such as education, WASH, social protection, health, energy.
• Practical experience working with and an understanding of the different aspects of economic growth, governance, fragility and conflict. Expertise related to the governance of specific multilateral development banks or bilateral development actors most relevant to the AoR.

Desirable

• Experience with forced displacement. Experience in primary data collection, quantitative research methods and results-based management.

Functional Skills

• MG-Partnership Development
• IM-Knowledge Management
• CL-Strategy Development and Monitoring
• SO-Critical Thinking and problem solving
• SO-Networking
• UN-Policy Advocacy in UNHCR
• PG-Results-Based Management
• CO-Strategic Communication
• CO-Drafting and Documentation
• PR-Refugee Protection Principles and Framework

(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Language Requirements

• For International Professional and Field Service jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English.
• For National Professional jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language.
• For General Service jobs: Knowledge of English and/or UN working language of the duty station if not English.

Source: https://unhcr.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/External/job/Nairobi-CO-Kenya/Senior-Development-Officer–Temporary-Appointment-_JR2443939