Country: United States of America
Closing date: 24 Oct 2018
Org. Setting and Reporting
This position is located within the Information Services Section (ISS), Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which is part of the United Nations Secretariat responsible for bringing together humanitarian actors to ensure a coherent response to emergencies. OCHA also ensures there is a framework within which each actor can contribute to the overall response efforts. OCHA’s mission is to mobilize and coordinate effective humanitarian action in partnership with national and international actors in order to alleviate human suffering in disasters and emergencies; advocate the rights of people in need; promote preparedness and prevention and facilitate sustainable solutions.
The Information Services Section provides information service and technology solutions and expertise to OCHA and the humanitarian community to inform a rapid, effective and principled response. It gathers, shares and uses data and information, underpinning coordination, decision-making and advocacy.
The Chief, Information Services Section reports to the Chief, Information Management Branch and is based in New York.
Responsibilities
The Chief of Section supports the Branch Chief with the overall management of the Branch, ensuring that it is able to deliver information and technology solutions that: a) enable OCHA to fulfill its mandated responsibilities and deliver on agreed priorities; and b) enable humanitarian clients to access essential information for better analysis and decision-making for effective humanitarian action. In particular, the Chief of Section is responsible for overseeing a) OCHA's corporate (or enterprise-level) information and technology infrastructure and b) the development, delivery and ongoing support of information products and services including business intelligence and analytics for OCHA and clients in the humanitarian community.
Within delegated authority, the Chief of Section will be responsible for the following:
• Provides policy guidance to the Chief of Branch, on conceptual strategy development and management of the implementation of overall strategies and intra and interdivisional/departmental policies and procedures, particularly with respect to enterprise and information system solutions for OCHA; and information products and services for the humanitarian community.
• Plans and oversees the management of activities undertaken by the Section; ensures that substantive work programmes and programmed activities are carried out in a timely fashion, coordinating diverse projects in the Section, and in liaison with other organizations of the United Nations System, donors and agencies as appropriate.
• Manages, supervises and carries out the work programme of the Section under his/her responsibility. Co-ordinates the work carried out by the Section to ensure provision of information and technology solutions for OCHA and clients in the humanitarian community.
• Ensures that the outputs produced by the Section maintain high-quality standards and that products, services, support and solutions meet client needs. Ensures that all outputs produced by the Section under his/her supervision meet required standards before completion to ensure they comply with the relevant mandates.
• Provides substantive input in the preparation of position papers and reports for presentation to intergovernmental bodies such as the Inter-Agency Steering Committee (IASC) and other policy making organs, as appropriate.
• Carries out programmatic/administrative tasks necessary for the functioning of the Section, including preparation of budgets, assigning and monitoring of performance parameters and critical indicators, reporting on budget/programme performance, preparation of inputs for results-based budgeting, evaluation of staff performance (PAS), interviews of candidates for job openings and evaluation of candidates.
• Recruits staff, taking due account of geographical balance.
• Manages, guides, develops and trains staff under his/her supervision.
• Fosters teamwork and communication among staff in the Branch and across organizational boundaries.
• Participates in international, regional or national meetings as required.
Competencies
Professionalism: Knowledge of the latest approaches to information technology systems, services, and solutions and their application in a humanitarian context. Ability to produce reports and papers on technical issues and to review and edit the work of others. Ability to apply UN rules, regulations, policies and guidelines in work situations. 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.
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.
Technological Awareness: Keeps abreast of available technology; understands applicability and limitation of technology to the work of the office; actively seeks to apply technology to appropriate tasks; shows willingness to learn new technology.
Managerial Competencies:
Leadership: Serves as a role model that other people want to follow: empowers others to translate vision into results; is proactive in developing strategies to accomplish objectives; establishes and maintains relationships with a broad range of people to understand needs and gain support; anticipates and resolves conflicts by pursuing mutually agreeable solutions; drives for change and improvements; does not accept the status quo; shows the courage to take unpopular stands. Provides leadership and takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work; demonstrates knowledge of strategies and commitment to the goal of gender balance in staffing.
Managing Performance: Delegates the appropriate responsibility, accountability and decision-making authority; makes sure that roles, responsibilities and reporting lines are clear to each staff member; accurately judges the amount of time and resources needed to accomplish a task and matches task to skills; monitors progress against milestones and deadlines; regularly discusses performance and provides feedback and coaching to staff; encourages risk-taking and supports creativity and initiative; actively supports the development and career aspirations of staff; appraises performance fairly.
Education
Advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in business and operations management, public administration, information services or a related field. A first level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
Work Experience
A minimum of ten years of progressively responsible experience in information technology management or a related field is required. Experience in the project management of information and technology initiatives is required. Experience in the product management of information and technology services is required. Experience in managing multi-skilled teams in the delivery and support of information and technology services is desirable. Experience in managing outsourced technology and support services, working with multiple service providers, is desirable. Experience in business intelligence and analytics is desirable. Relevant experience in the humanitarian or development aid sector is desirable.
Languages
English and French are the working languages of the UN Secretariat. For the post advertised, fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another UN official language is desirable.
Assessment
Evaluation of qualified candidates may include an assessment exercise which may be followed by competency-based interview.
Special Notice
The United Nations Secretariat is committed to achieving 50/50 gender balance in its staff. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for this position.
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.
Staff members of the United Nations Secretariat must fulfill the lateral move(s) requirements, or geographical to be eligible to apply for this vacancy. Staff members are requested to indicate all qualifying lateral or geographical move(s) in their Personal History Profile (PHP) and cover note.
United Nations Considerations
According to article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Candidates will not be considered for employment with the United Nations if they have committed violations of international human rights law, violations of international humanitarian law, sexual exploitation or sexual abuse, or crimes other than minor traffic offences, or if there are reasonable grounds to believe that they have been involved in the commission of any of these acts. The term “sexual exploitation” means any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust, for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially or politically from the sexual exploitation of another. The term “sexual abuse” means the actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions.
Due regard will be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible. The United Nations places 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. The United Nations Secretariat is a non-smoking environment.
Applicants are urged to follow carefully all instructions available in the online recruitment platform, inspira. For more detailed guidance, applicants may refer to the Manual for the Applicant, which can be accessed by clicking on “Manuals” hyper-link on the upper right side of the inspira account-holder homepage.
The evaluation of applicants will be conducted on the basis of the information submitted in the application according to the evaluation criteria of the job opening and the applicable internal legislations of the United Nations including the Charter of the United Nations, resolutions of the General Assembly, the Staff Regulations and Rules, administrative issuances and guidelines. Applicants must provide complete and accurate information pertaining to their personal profile and qualifications according to the instructions provided in inspira to be considered for the current job opening. No amendment, addition, deletion, revision or modification shall be made to applications that have been submitted. Candidates under serious consideration for selection will be subject to reference checks to verify the information provided in the application.
Job openings advertised on the Careers Portal will be removed at 11:59 p.m. (New York time) on the deadline date.
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.
How to apply: