INTER-REGIONAL ADVISER - 2 POSTS: AFRICA AND LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN (LAC) - 1 POST; ASIA - 1 POST, P5 (NAIROBI),DEADLINE: 5 May 2015

Job Opening

**Posting Title: INTER-REGIONAL ADVISER – 2 POSTS: AFRICA AND LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN (LAC) – 1 POST; ASIA – 1 POST, P5

Job Code Title:INTER-REGIONAL ADVISER

Department/ Office:United Nations Human Settlements Programme

Duty Station:NAIROBI**

Posting Period: 6 March 2015-5 May 2015
Job Opening number:15-ECO-UNHABITAT-38460-R-NAIROBI (R)

United Nations Core Values: Integrity, Professionalism, Respect for Diversity

Special Notice

Staff members are subject to the authority of the Secretary-General and to assignment by him or her. In this context, all staff are expected to move periodically to new functions in their careers in accordance with established rules and procedures. 1. All applicants are strongly encouraged to apply on-line as soon as possible after the job opening has been posted and well before the deadline stated int he job opening. On-line applications will be acknowledged where an email address has been provided. 2. If you do not receive an e-mail acknowledgement within 24 hours of submission, your application may not have been received. In such cases, please resubmit the application, if necessary. If the problem persists, please seek technical assistance through the Inspira “Need Help?” link.

Org. Setting and Reporting

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is the agency for human settlements mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities. These posts are located in Nairobi. Under the general supervision of the Director, Programme Division, the post incumbent will perform the following tasks:

Responsibilities

1. PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION:
   a) Promoting broad-based policy dialogue with national constituencies and development partners in the respective countries; b) Contributing to the world urban campaign and to the overall policy and strategy development within UN-HABITAT; c) Providing inputs to analyses and needs assessment and other activities aimed at human settlements policy, strategy and programme development; d) Coordinating activities within the work programme; e) Facilitating dissemination of information on good practices and their adoption at the local and national levels in the countries of Latin America, the Caribbean and of Africa and Asia respectively.


2. PROJECT/PROGRAMME DEVELOPMENT:
   a) Identifying key areas for interventions in human settlements within the framework of the Habitat Agenda, Habitat Country Programme Documents and sector reviews; b) Participating in the development and review of project documentation; c) Negotiating with multi-lateral/bilateral partners for resource mobilisation and promoting/coordinating joint activities; d) Identifying and working with stakeholders and providing assistance in the development of training programmes.


3. PROJECT MANAGEMENT:
   a) Providing management support, policy guidance and technical capacity; b) Conducting the process of identifying and selecting staff and consultants; c) Monitoring financial and technical performance of the activities and projects.


4. ADVISORY FUNCTIONS:
   a) Contributing to the overall policy and strategy development within UN-HABITAT; b) Undertaking technical advisory missions. c) Assisting governments in organizing and convening meetings on National Plans of Action; d) Assisting governments and their associations in developing cooperation activities; e) Assisting governments and their associations in seeking financial support from other UN agencies, bilateral and multilateral donors and regional organizations; f) Representing UN-HABITAT in major regional and national conferences and meetings; g) Advising the Executive Director on relevant programme and policy issues related to the region.


5. ADMINISTRATIVE:
   a) Ensuring effective implementation of operational activities; b) Organising and participating in project evaluation; c) Addressing issues pertaining to audit and monitoring; d) Supervising and monitoring the staff performance. 6. Performing other relevant duties as may be required.

Competencies

PROFESSIONALISM:
Expert knowledge in the area of specialization of the post. Proven ability to produce reports and technical papers. Ability to prepare project documents and funding proposals ensuring that the quality of the project design and their implementation meets all partners’ expectation. Ability to generate and communicate broad and compelling organizational direction by promoting sustainable human settlement development and related programmes, policies and strategies in the countries of assignment in the framework of the Work Programme of Habitat. Demonstrated ability to provide expert advisory services and developing and supervising the execution of priority projects and programmes in cost effective and efficient manner. Ability to communicate clearly links between the Organization’s strategy and the work unit’s goals. Ability to identify key strategic issues, opportunities and risks at the regional, country and city level.
COMMUNICATION: Speaks and writes clearly and effectively; demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed. Ability to present clear ideas to different audiences.
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.
LEADERSHIP: Provides leadership and takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work. Identifies the key issues in a complex situation, and comes to the heart of the problem quickly; 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.
VISION: Identifies strategic issues, opportunities and risks; clearly communicates links between the Organization’s strategy and the work unit’s goals; generates and communicates broad and compelling organizational direction, inspiring others to pursue that same direction; conveys enthusiasm about future possibilities.

Education

Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in architecture, civil engineering, urban and regional planning, sociology, economics, physical sciences or related field. A first university degree with a combination of two years professional and academic qualifications may be accepted in lieu of the advanced degree.

Work Experience

A minimum of ten years of responsible experience in human settlements projects and programmes at national level, of which at least five of similar experience at the international level; in both cases, within the region of Africa, Latin America and/or the Caribbean FOR ONE POST and Asia FOR THE SECOND POST. Experience in human settlements development fields, rojects/programme design and implementation with the UN or other international agencies is highly desirable.
Practical and relevant experience of at least six years in the Region is required.
Working experience in Technical Co-operation is highly desirable.

Languages

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the post in ASIA, fluency in oral and written English required and for the post in AFRICA and LAC, fluency in oral and written English and French is required. Knowledge of any other official language of the United Nations will be an advantage.

Assessment Method

Evaluation of qualified candidates for this position may include a substantive assessment which will be followed by a competency-based interview.

United Nations Considerations

Job openings posted on the Careers Portal are taken off at midnight (New York time) on the deadline date.
Applications are automatically pre-screened according to the published evaluation criteria of the job opening on the basis of the information provided by applicants. Applications cannot be amended following submission and incomplete applications shall not be considered. The selected candidate will be subject to a reference checking process to verify the information provided in the application.
Applicants are urged to follow carefully all instructions available in the online recruitment platform, inspira. For more detailed guidance, applicants may refer to the At-a-Glance on “The Application Process” and the Instructional Manual for the Applicants, which can be accessed by clicking on “Manuals” on the upper right side of the browser on Inspira.
The United Nations shall place no restrictions on the eligibility of men and women to participate in any capacity and under conditions of equality in its principal and subsidiary organs. (Charter of the United Nations – Chapter 3, article 8). The United Nations Secretariat is a non-smoking environment.
Candidates will be required to meet the requirements of Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter as well as the requirements of the position. The United Nations is committed to the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity for all its human resources, including but not limited to respect for international human rights and humanitarian law. Candidates may be subject to screening against these standards, including but not limited to whether they have committed, or are alleged to have committed criminal offences and/or violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS