Posting Title: Coordinator, Urban Planning and Design Branch (UPDB), D1
Job Code Title: Principal Coordination Officer
Department/ Office: United Nations Human Settlements Programme
Duty Station: NAIROBI
Posting Period: 26 March 2015-25 May 2015
Job Opening number: 15-PGM-UNHABITAT-39692-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 in the 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.
Organizational Setting and Reporting
The United Nations Human Settlements Programme, UN-Habitat, is the agency for human settlements. It is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all. This post is located in the Programme Division, Urban Planning and Design Branch, Housing and slum Upgrading Section. Under the supervision and general guidance of the Director, Programme Division, the Coordinator of the Urban Planning and Design Branch (UPDB).
Responsibilities
1.Provide policy advice to the Executive Director on urban planning and design issues; Undertake planning exercises and contribute to the development of different agency wide policy documents; Provide overall guidance and supervision to the Units to ensure proper policy papers and work plan development and implementation.
2. Ensure provision of adequate human and financial resources to facilitate timely and competent completion of Branch activities; Engage and identify UN and other partners and manage relations with partners in respect of the work plan of focus areas.
3. Participate in UN-Habitat Board meetings and provide inputs on Strategic Plan implementation; Coordinate planning exercises and inputs to policy; Ensure that Regional Offices requests are supported by the Branch in line with the work programme; Provide Input and active contribution to UN-Habitat’s engagement in the Post 2015 Development Agenda; Provide inputs to the UN-Habitat Country Programme Documents and UNDAF; Create partnerships with relevant key international actors to implement the focus area activities; Support Regional Offices in the design and implementation of urban planning and design, housing and slum upgrading programmes and projects. 4. Perform other relevant duties as assigned.
Competencies
Professionalism: Expert knowledge in management of large-scale programmes related to urban planning and design, urban environment, housing and slum upgrading; proven ability to produce reports and papers on these technical issues; ability to apply judgment and manage conflicting priorities; 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.
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; 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.
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.
Judgement/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
An advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in Urban and/or Regional Planning, Housing, Urban Management, Urban Economics, Architecture, Civil Engineering or other disciplines related to human settlements. A first university degree with a combination of additional two years professional and academic qualifications may be accepted in lieu of the advanced degree.
Work Experience
Minimum of fifteen years of substantive professional experience, including at the senior level, in housing and urban/regional planning, urban policy development or other human settlements related areas, with special reference to developing and transitional countries is required. International experience in human settlements and experience in managing teams is an added advantage.
Languages
English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this position fluency in oral and written English is required. Working knowledge of another UN language is desirable.
Assessment Method
Evaluation of qualified candidates may include an assessment exercise which may be followed by competency-based interview.
United Nations Considerations
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.
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.
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’ hyper-link on the upper right side of inspira account-holder homepage.
Applications are pre-screened by the system according to the published requirements of the job opening on the basis of the information provided in the application. In relation to the requirements of the job opening, applicants must provide complete and accurate information pertaining to their qualifications, including their education, work experience, and language skills. Each applicant must bear in mind that submission of incomplete or inaccurate applications may render that applicant ineligible for consideration for the job opening. Initial screening and evaluation of applications will be conducted on the basis of the information submitted. Applications cannot be amended following submission. Candidates under serious consideration for selection will be subject to a reference-checking process to verify the information provided in the application.
Job openings advertised on the Careers Portal will be removed at midnight (New York time) on the deadline date.
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