Regional Director, Arab States Regional Office, Cairo, Egypt

VACANCY NO.: Job ID 2037

POST TYPE: Rotational

DURATION: One year (renewable)*

ORGANIZATIONAL UNIT: Arab States Regional Office

ORGANIZATIONAL SETTING: The post of Director, Regional Office, is located in Cairo, Egypt, and reports directly to the Deputy Executive Director for Programme. The Director is a member of the Executive Committee, provides overall strategic vision, direction and leadership in the Region, and serves as the senior adviser within the Fund on all matters related to the Region. S/he supervises the Regional Office as well as the Country Representatives in the region.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

A. Strategic direction, planning and management

• Provide continuous feedback and advice to the Deputy Executive Director/Office of the Executive Director on political, economic and social trends and perspectives in the region;
• Provide a regional perspective for the formulation and updating of the UNFPA long term vision, strategic plans, and for the polices and strategies which support its operationalization;
• Advance UNFPA’s strategic vision, goals and outcomes in the development of regional and country strategies and programmes and in the monitoring and reporting activities of the Region;
• Provide overall vision, strategic direction and exercise leadership in guiding the work of the Region and of the Regional Office; chair the Regional Management Team to ensure an integrated and coordinated achievement of Regional goals and objectives;
• Lead the strategic positioning of UNFPA in the Region, and ensure the Regional Office contribution to the achievement of the UNFPA strategic Plan;
• Identify and promote UNFPA’s comparative advantage and specific contribution in the broad and changing development environment and agenda in the region;
• Lead the development and ensure the implementation of regional strategies, including inter alia for capacity development, technical support delivery and advocacy, information and communication;
• Establish priorities for the work of the Regional Office and direct the development of the Regional Office Management Plan and of the Regional Programme;
• Establish modalities to ensure intra-divisional collaboration and coordination in the work of the Regional Office;
• Establish and maintain working relationships with other Regional Offices and HQ Divisions to ensure inter-divisional collaboration and coordination;
• Establish processes to ensure that policies and procedures; programming tools and mechanisms; and sound business practices are incorporated into UNFPA country and regional operations;
• Establish processes to ensure that state-of-the-art knowledge incorporated into the UNFPA knowledge sharing mechanism is available for use in country and regional operations; and
• Direct the process of establishing, building the capacity of, and maintaining partnerships, alliances and networks in the region.

B. Programme support and representation

• Act as the principal adviser on regional issues to the senior management of UNFPA;
• Ensure that the Regional Office provides high quality, integrated programme and technical support in response to the needs of country offices and country programmes;
• Direct and ensure that the Regional Office provides timely and adequate response and support to countries undergoing humanitarian crises;
• Provide leadership in the integration of the ICPD agenda in MDG / UN programming in the region;
• Represent UNFPA, advocate for the ICPD and provide the Fund’s regional perspective in regional, international, UNDG and other initiatives and events;
• Participates in high-level policy dialogues in countries, at the regional level, and internationally, as required;
• Supports the Resident Coordinator (RC) system and is an active member of the Regional Directors Team (RDT) promoting inter-agency coordination and consultative processes; and
• Initiates opportunities for South to South collaboration, especially for programme and technical support to countries in the region.

C. Programme oversight and coordination

• Oversees implementation of the regional and country programmes, ensuring that they reflect country and regional priorities;
• Ensure the application of results-based management and quality assurance frameworks and procedures for the work of the Regional Office and Country Offices;
• Ensure the application of financial and substantive monitoring processes, and the evaluation of programmes in the region;
• Establish processes for the incorporation of evaluation results in new and updated programme and operational guidance for the region;
• Establish processes to ensure the Regional Office complies with Audit recommendations; and
• Ensure UNFPA accountability for UNDAF results.

D. Management of resources

• Assume overall accountability for the management and work of the Regional Office;
• Propose and secure annual allocations for the Regional office, the regional programme and country programmes, and ensure the efficient and effective use of such resources in compliance with UNFPA financial rules, regulations, and procedures;
• Direct the formulation and implementation of a resource mobilization strategy for the region, and mobilize, in coordination with IERD, additional financial resources for the region;
• Develop and guide an integrated and systems approach to the work of the Regional Office;
• Supervise the Deputy Director of the Regional Office, Coordinators of sub-regional teams, Country Representatives, and the Operations Manager, and support and guide them in their work;
• Appraise RC performance; ensure RCs in the region are adequately briefed on UNFPA mandate and organizational strategies and priorities; provide inputs to the Division for Human Resources (DHR) on selection of RC candidates;
• Communicate standards of performance, and assign responsibilities for achieving results according to the Regional Office and sub-regional office OMPs and the PAD system;
• Uphold standards for the recruitment and selection of the highest quality of staff for the Regional Office, sub-regional offices and Country offices;
• Establish and maintain a harmonious working environment; seek to strengthen team-building by encouraging active participation and interaction at all levels; foster staff motivation, development and empowerment; and lead by example;
• Establish a regional security strategy and plan in line with UN procedures and requirements;
• Ensure an ethics-based approach to management of all human and financial resources; and

Carry out any other duties as may be required by the Deputy Executive Director/Office of the Executive Director.

CORE COMPETENCIES:

• Values/Guiding Principles; • Performance Management; • Developing People/Coaching and Mentoring & Fostering Innovation and Empowerment; Working in Teams; • Self-Management/Emotional Intelligence; • Communication; • Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making; • Analytical and Strategic Thinking and Results Orientation/Commitment to Excellence; • Knowledge Sharing/Continuous Learning

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:

• Advocacy/advancing a policy-oriented agenda; • Results-based programme development and management ; • Leveraging resources of national governments and partners, and building strategic alliances and partnerships; • Innovation and marketing of new approaches; • Resource mobilization; • Job knowledge / technical expertise.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Advanced university degree or equivalent (preferably PhD) in Public Health, Medicine, Sociology, Demography, Gender, International Relations, International Development, Economics, Public Administration, Management or other related field; • 15 years of increasingly responsible professional experience in public administration and international development of which 10 years in the field of population and development at the international level; • Strong track record of leadership in development programmes; • Proven ability to lead, develop and motivate a diverse team of programme specialists to achieve demonstrable results; • Extensive network within the development community; • Field experience essential; • Fluency in English, working knowledge of Arabic is an advantage

UNFPA provides a work environment that reflects the values of gender quality, teamwork, respect for diversity, integrity and a healthy balance of work and life. We are committed to maintaining our balanced gender distribution and therefore encourage women to apply.

We offer an attractive remuneration package commensurate with the level of the position. The package includes a competitive salary plus housing allowance, home leave, health insurance and other benefits.

How to apply:

How to Apply:

UNFPA has established an electronic application management system. This allows applicants to create a candidate profile, which can be updated regularly and submitted for more than one vacancy.

Download the Step by Step Guide to Applying in the E-Recruit System of UNFPA athttp://www.unfpa.org/employment/application_guide.doc. Please print out the Guide for your reference during the registration and application process. Notice: There is no application, processing or other fee at any stage of the application process. UNFPA does not solicit or screen for information in respect of HIV or AIDS and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status.

In accordance with the rules of the United Nations, persons applying to posts in the international Professional category, who hold permanent resident status in a country other than their country of nationality, are required to renounce such status upon their appointment. Exceptions to this rule are very limited and can be made only for: (a) stateless persons; (b) newly appointed staff members who have applied for citizenship by naturalization, when such citizenship will be granted imminently; (c) acting staff members in the General Service and related categories with permanent residency status, on promotion to the Professional category; (d) staff members appointed under a temporary appointment. Please understand that UNFPA is not in a position to provide advice on or assistance in applying for any citizenship.

*For this position, the first fixed-term appointment will be for one year, which may be renewed in increments of up to 2 years. There is no expectancy of renewal in accordance with UN Staff Regulations 4.5. This post is subject to a maximum term limit of 8 years.