Lebanon: Director of UNRWA Affairs

UNITED NATIONS RELIEF AND WORKS AGENCY

FOR PALESTINE REFUGEES IN THE NEAR EAST

UNRWA

UNRWA is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949 and is mandated to provide assistance and protection to a population of some 5 million registered Palestine refugees. Its mission is to help Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank and the Gaza Strip to achieve their full potential in human development, pending a just solution to their plight. UNRWA’s services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, microfinance and emergency assistance. UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions. UNRWA seeks the services of a seasoned and innovative professional, highly motivated to provide skilled leadership in the position of:

Director of UNRWA Affairs

Vacancy Announcement Number

16-FO-LB-51

Grade

D-2

Deadline for Applications

26 October 2016

(12 October 2016 for internal applicants)

Duty Station

Beirut

UNRWA encourages applications from qualified women and welcomes applications from qualified candidates with disabilities.

Under the overall supervision of the Commissioner-General, the Director of UNRWA Affairs, Lebanon acts as UNRWA’s representative in one of its areas of operations where he/she is assigned, and administers and directs its programmes, operations and resources including education, health, infrastructure and camp improvement and relief and social services rendered for a population of 474,000 Palestine refugees in Lebanon where the Agency employs a significant number of Palestine refugee staff of 3,100. He/she is also responsible for the organizational support functions including finance, human resources, legal, procurement and logistics, general administration, security, IT and public information.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

The incumbent will be required to abide by the roles and responsibilities as set out in the United Nations Security Management System Framework of Accountability and the UNRWA Framework of Accountability. He/she will be responsible for fulfilling his/her duties as provided by the United Nations Security Management System and the UNRWA Security and Risk Management System.

Under the overall direction of the Commissioner-General and in consultation with all Headquarters Directors, and in accordance with the established Agency policy and procedures, the incumbent of the post will plan, manage and control all aspects of UNRWA’s activities in a country or area characterized by a large and complex refugee population; difficult, sensitive, and volatile political situations; a large complement of staff in dispersed centres of operations, quasi-government social programmes; complex inter-relationships with governmental and non-governmental organizations and difficult security situations, especially where refugees are involved in conflict situations. Specifically, the incumbent will undertake the following duties and tasks:

· Work to directly influence the protection and care of Palestine refugees and support for UNRWA locally, regionally and globally:

o Oversee vital advocacy, public communication and resource mobilization functions, sourcing and providing, as appropriate, current information on the conditions affecting Palestine refugees and promoting support for UNRWA and Palestine refugees with host and donor governments;

o Provide oversight for building an effective partnership with local authorities, community leaders, UN agencies and NGOs and in ensuring that programme design and delivery enables the continuation of services in a difficult, frequently hazardous, operating environment; advocate with government representatives, community leaders and the broader public for the Agency’s programme, highlighting its critical importance and the quality and value of its work;

· Lead UNRWA delivery of public and community services in education, health, relief and social services and infrastructure and camp improvement, ensuring consistency and quality in programmes; oversee the development and delivery of programme and emergency operations, ensuring that refugee needs are met as far as possible and that the services delivered meet Agency and international standards;

· Lead, motivate and supervise a team of programme and operations managers and specialists, build an effective integrated service delivery capacity which is adapted to the needs of the refugee community and to the particular demands of a volatile environment;

· Serve as the principal advisor to the Commissioner-General on the programme design, state of operations, the determination of UNRWA priorities and resource needs in the field and on the security and political context;

· Be responsible for ensuring accountability and rigor in financial and budget management and the maintenance of internal controls:

· As part of the Senior Management Team, contribute to determining the strategic direction of UNRWA and to accomplishing its mission; advocate for the needs of refugees within the overall programme priorities of the Agency.

Professional Knowledge and Experience

· An advanced university degree from an accredited educational institution in political science, social science, public or business administration, or international relations;

· At least 15 years of professional and managerial background of which at least 10 years should have been in a large governmental or international agency dealing with similar programmes to UNRWA’s, five years of which should have been in a senior international position outside one’s home country;

· Excellent command of spoken and written English.

Competencies

· Professionalism: Knowledge of the substantive field of work in general and of specific areas being supervised; 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;

· Communication: Speaks and writes clearly and effectively; listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately; asks questions to clarify, and exhibits interest in having two-way communication; tailors language, tone, style and format to match audience; demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed;

· Accountability: Takes ownership of all responsibilities and honours commitments; delivers outputs for which one has responsibility within prescribed time, cost and quality standards; operates in compliance with organizational regulations and rules; supports subordinates, provides oversight and takes responsibility for delegated assignments; takes personal responsibility for his/her own shortcomings and those of the work unit, where applicable;

· Creativity: Actively seeks to improve programmes or services; offers new and different options to solve problems or meet client needs; promotes and persuades others to consider new ideas; takes calculated risks on new and unusual ideas; thinks “outside the box”; takes an interest in new ideas and new ways of doing things; is not bound by current thinking or traditional approaches;

· 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;

· Commitment to Continuous Learning: Keeps abreast of new developments in own occupation/profession; actively seeks to develop oneself professionally and personally; contributes to the learning of colleagues and subordinates;

· 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;

· 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;

· Empowering Others: Delegates responsibility, clarifies expectations, and gives staff autonomy in important areas of their work; encourages others to set challenging goals; holds others accountable for achieving results related to their area of responsibility; genuinely values all staff members’ input and expertise; shows appreciation and rewards achievement and effort; involves others when making decisions that affect them;

· Building Trust: Provides an environment in which others can talk and act without fear of repercussion; manages in a deliberate and predictable way; operates with transparency; has no hidden agenda; places confidences in colleagues, staff members and clients; gives proper credit to theirs; follows through on agreed upon actions; treats sensitive or confidential information appropriately;

· 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;

· Judgment/Decision-making: Identifies the key issues in a complex situation, and comes to the heart of the problem quickly; gathers relevant information before making a decision; 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; determines the actions proposed will satisfy the expressed and underlying needs for the decision; makes tough decisions when necessary.

Equivalency

When the minimum requirements are not fully met, the Human Resources Department may substitute part of the unmet requirements under UNRWA’s equivalency determination guidelines with a combination of relevant academic qualification, additional professional training and/or progressive relevant work experience. Note: Work experience alone or formal qualifications with no relevant work experience are not considered sufficient for an equivalency determination.

Desirable Qualifications

· Knowledge of activities of UNRWA operations and services;

· Knowledge of Middle East geo-political realities and its socio-culture implications;

· Knowledge of other UN languages in particular Arabic and/or French is desirable for dealing with host government/authority officials and refugee population representatives, and with delegations from donor countries. Knowledge of other languages is an asset for dealing with delegations from donor countries.

Additional Information

The incumbent may be required to travel frequently throughout the Agency's area of operations in the Middle East.

Conditions of Service

UNRWA offers an attractive compensation package including annual salary starting at $114,668** net tax free with dependants or $105,345 single, plus post adjustment of 52% (subject to change without notice). Other benefits, subject to eligibility, include education grant, dependency allowance, home leave, pension fund, health insurance and 6 weeks of annual leave. All UNRWA duty stations (with the exception of Gaza and Syria) are family duty stations. Initial contract is for two years**,** with the possibility of further extensions subject to the availability of funds, satisfactory performance and the continuing need for the post.

How to Apply

To start the application process, applicants are required to register at http://jobs.unrwa.org by creating a personal profile and completing UNRWAPersonal History Form. Please note that UNRWA only accepts degrees from accredited educational institutions. Only applications received throughhttp://jobs.unrwa.orgwill be considered. Due to the large number of applications received for UNRWA vacancies, only short-listed applicants will be contacted.

The United Nations does not charge fees at any stage of the recruitment process (application, testing, interviewing, etc). The United Nations does not concern itself with information related to bank accounts.

General Information

UNRWA is a United Nations organization whose staff are expected to uphold the highest standards of integrity, neutrality and impartiality. This includes respect for and commitment to human rights, diversity, and non-violent means of dealing with all kinds of conflict. UNRWA staff are expected to uphold these values at all times, both at work and outside. Only persons who fully and unconditionally commit to these values should consider applying for UNRWA jobs. UNRWA is a non-smoking work environment.

The statutory retirement age for staff entering or re-entering service in the UN Common System after 1 January 1990 is 62 and 65 after 1 January 2014. For external applicants, only those who are expected to complete a term of appointment will normally be considered.

The Agency reserves the right not to make an appointment, to make an appointment at a lower grade, or to make an appointment with a modified job description.

On appointment, all individuals will be asked to sign a self-attestation, confirming that they have not committed, been convicted of, or prosecuted for, any criminal offence and that they have not been involved, by act or omission, in the commission of any violation of international human rights law or international humanitarian law.

How to Apply

To start the application process, applicants are required to register at http://jobs.unrwa.org by creating a personal profile and completing UNRWAPersonal History Form. Please note that UNRWA only accepts degrees from accredited educational institutions. Only applications received throughhttp://jobs.unrwa.orgwill be considered. Due to the large number of applications received for UNRWA vacancies, only short-listed applicants will be contacted.