Closing date: Sunday, 1 February 2015
Posting Title: SENIOR ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS OFFICER, P5
Job Code Title: SENIOR ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS OFFICER
Department/ Office: United Nations Environment Programme
Duty Station: NAIROBI
Posting Period: 3 December 2014-1 February 2015
Job Opening number: 14-ENV-UNEP-37551-R-NAIROBI (R)
United Nations Core Values: Integrity, Professionalism, Respect for Diversity
Special Notice
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.
Organizational Setting and Reporting
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the United Nations system’s designated entity for addressing environmental issues at the global and regional level. Its mandate is to coordinate the development of environmental policy consensus by keeping
the global environment under review and bringing emerging issues to the attention of governments and the international community for action. UNEP’s Division of Early Warning and Assessment (DEWA) is responsible for analyzing the state of the global
environment, providing early warning information and assessing global and regional environmental trends to catalyse and promote international cooperation and action on the environment. This post is located in UNEP/DEWA at the Nairobi Duty Station. Under the
overall guidance of the Director, DEWA, and the direct supervision of the Chief, Scientific Assessment Branch (SAB), the incumbent will function as Head of the Integrated Environmental Assessment Section (IEA)
Responsibilities
The incumbent will function as Head of the Integrated Environmental Assessment Section (IEA) and will perform the following functions: 1. Plans, coordinates and directs the production of recurrent Global Environment Outlook (GEO) reports and other environmental assessments by:
- consulting with member states, including through UNEP Governing Council and its subsidiary bodies, and with other stakeholders and partners on the scope and process for assessments and reports;
- identifying the targeted users and intended impacts, appropriate assessment methodologies and necessary cooperative arrangements and participation by national governments, thereby promoting global and regional collaboration and ensuring developing countries participation and input; consulting with collaborating centers, scientific experts, relevant UN system agencies and relevant UNEP programmes to plan the production of the assessments and agree on roles and responsibilities, taking into consideration gender, geographical and disciplinary balance;
- ensuring the integration of global assessment activities across UNEP as appropriate and with relevant national and international programmes;
- coordinating and directing assessment and reporting processes, including the preparation of syntheses, summaries and associated products;
- ensuring the scientific credibility of the assessments and reports, including their peer review processes;
- designing and formulating a publication and outreach strategy for each major report in line with the overall publication strategy of UNEP and making use of cost effective and innovative technologies where appropriate;
- establishing and maintaining an effective process to monitor and evaluate the use and impact of assessments and reports;
- developing, evaluating and testing in close collaboration with other parts of UNEP, new approaches, procedures, methods and tools, including indicators for transferring science information to policy makers in support of environmental governance;
- promoting the acceptance and use of appropriate integrated environmental assessment approaches, procedures and methodologies, within UNEP and relevant national and international organizations;
2. Manages the day-to-day operations of the IEA section by:
- providing leadership and supervising section staff, setting objectives and targets, promoting the values and principles of the UN, monitoring and appraising performance, identifying training needs and facilitating an environment of team work and high productivity;
- planning and managing section work plans and budgets effectively and efficiently and mobilizing additional resources as required;
- contributing to the development of UNEP’s biennial Programme of Work and developing strategies and work plans to ensure the effective integration of the environment assessment and reporting activities with other activities within DEWA and as an integral part of the UNEP sub-programmes;
- reporting regularly on Programme of Work implementation and expenditures and monitoring and evaluation results; reporting to the Government Council and other bodies on the implementation of relevant decisions and bringing to their attention the key findings of environmental assessments as well as emerging environmental issues;
3. Performs other duties including: representing the Division or UNEP at international meetings, workshops, seminars and conferences; carrying out other tasks as assigned by the Director.
Competencies
Professionalism
- Demonstrated ability to identify key strategic issues and to provide innovative technical and scientific inputs and guidance for the production of integrated, comprehensive, policy relevant, global environmental assessments and reports, including related projects, incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work. Proven ability to analyze and integrate diverse information and to communicate clearly and effectively.
- Broad knowledge of environment and development issues.
- Shows pride in work and in achievements;
- demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter;
- is motivated by professionalism rather than personal concerns;
- shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges.
Leadership
- Ability to identify key strategic issues, opportunities and tasks, links between the Organizations’ strategy and the work unit’s goals;
- demonstrated innovative technical leadership by performing and/or overseeing the planning, development, and management of operations;
- tact and negotiating skills;
- good judgement and decision-making skills.
Teamwork
- Demonstrated team building and team leadership skills.
- Ability to work collaboratively with and to establish and maintain effective working relationships with colleagues of different nationalities and cultural backgrounds, in order to achieve organizational goals.
Planning and Organizing
- Ability to identify priority activities and assignments within the areas of responsibility consistent with agreed strategies and organisational goals.
- Track record of excellent time management and ability to meet tight deadlines.
- Demonstrated ability to plan, budget, coordinate and manage complex projects.
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.
Education
- Advanced University degree in natural and/or environmental sciences, natural resources management or related disciplines.
- 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
- At least ten years of relevant working experience at the national and international levels.
- A mixture of working experience in developed and developing countries is highly desirable.
Languages
- English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat.
- For the advertised post, fluency in oral and written English is required.
- Knowledge of other United Nations languages an asset.
Assessment Method
- Evaluation of qualified candidates may include an assessment exercise which may be followed by 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.
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