United Nations Environment Programme Current Jobs in Nairobi Kenya: Recruitment for Senior Coordinator

POST TITLE:   SENIOR COORDINATOR, P5

DEPARTMENT/ OFFICE: United Nations Environment Programme

DUTY STATION: NAIROBI

POSTING PERIOD: 7 December 2011-5 February 2012

JOB OPENING NUMBER: 11-ADM-UN ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME-21563-R-NAIROBI

UNITED NATIONS CORE VALUES: Integrity, Professionalism, Respect for Diversity

Org. Setting and Reporting.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the United Nations systems 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. 

The position is located in the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), GEF Coordination Office, at the Nairobi duty station. UNEP is one of three implementing agencies of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), alongside the World Bank and the UN Development Programme (UNDP). 

The GEF also partners with 7 other Agencies to help developing countries and those with economies in transition to meet the agreed incremental costs of measures designed to achieve global environmental benefits in six focal areas: biological diversity, climate change, international waters, ozone layer depletion, land degradation and persistent organic pollutants. Under the supervision of the Director, the incumbent will perform the following functions:

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Assist the Director in identifying trends, patterns and early warning of issues related to the GEF portfolio size, shape and relevance. Guide UNEP staff in ensuring coherence of their projects, and meeting focal area strategy targets. Provide information to all staff, including maintaining a functioning internal communication system. Assist in preparing regular business plans. Assist the Director in pipeline management.
• Assist divisions to enhance the quality of projects developed. Chair Project Review Committees and ensure all project review criteria have been followed. Improve the project cycle in UNEP. Work with UNEP's Quality Assurance Section (QAS) to harmonize the GEF and UNEP project cycles. 
• Establish and implement a comprehensive monitoring system for all GEF projects in UNEP, including coordinating responses to the GEF Secretariat, GEF Evaluation clients on requests for monitoring data. Coordinate the preparation of regular reports. Respond to requests for information from UNEP divisions and offices. Liaise with the UNEP Evaluation Office on all matters related to independent evaluations of GEF projects. Coordinate UNEP input to GEF corporate evaluations and contribute to the preparation of the Management Action Record. Assist the Director in enhancing and managing the project-at risk system, and the enterprise risk management system. Work with UNEP Evaluation Office and QAS to improve monitoring and evaluation in GEF projects. 
• Take the lead in ensuring corporate knowledge management, time recording and data management, and contribute to communications and outreach on the GEF portfolio. Ensure effective internal and external communication through website maintenance; Oversee portfolio data entry into the project information system; Coordinate the time recording system, including overseeing compliance and analyzing data generated by the system; Contribute to project data reconciliation exercises within UNEP and with the GEF Secretariat; Identify media and other outreach opportunities, contribute to the portfolio and project information and written materials. 
• Brief new staff on UNEP and GEF policies, strategies and procedures; Ensure a smooth running GEF Coordination Office. Develop a yearly budget for the Coordination Office. Provide on-going feedback on performance and guidance on work plan implementation to Office staff and mentor the staff for career development and capacity development; Conduct performance evaluations for support staff. 
• Perform other corporate tasks; Council document review and preparation of comments and briefings for management; Provide input to UNEP and GEF policy and information documents; Assist in providing training to UNEP staff on GEF matters; Function as Officer-in-charge of the Coordination Office in the absence of the Director.

REQUIRED SKILLS & COMPETENCIES:

Professionalism: 

Full understanding of and experience in international development, with technical expertise in any of the five Focal Areas of the GEF : Biodiversity, Climate Change Mitigation, Climate Change Adaptation, Land Degradation, International Waters, Persistent Organic Pollutants, Ozone Depleting Substances; experience with quality assurance, monitoring and evaluation systems; ability to design and implement innovative solutions to organizational, business, and administrative procedures; experience with project and programme management.

Leadership: 

Ability to translate the vision and goal of the GEF Coordination Office into practical procedures, actions and tasks that help to achieve that vision; ability to coordinate change management; proven ability to coordinate, consult and generate ownership for actions across a large institution; able to undertake tasks with minimal supervision from Director.

Planning and Organization: 

Evidence of strong skills in organizing tasks and activities; evidence of good time management; proven evidence of coordination skills.

Communication: 

Articulate both in writing and verbally, and able to express opinions and analyses in a convincing manner to technical experts as well as senior managers; experience with developing and disseminating outreach materials; good understanding of the principles of knowledge management.

Teamwork: 

Ability to run a small Office that acts as a hub of activities for a large institution; proven ability to delegate effectively; proven experience with performance management.

Client Orientation: 

Able to recognize and address the differences in needs and requirements of different clients, both internal and external to the institution; develops a climate of trust, openness and empowerment for clients; proven evidence of embracing transparency and gender sensitivity as working principles.

EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE:

• Advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in an environmental field of relevance to the GEF Focal Areas,
• A first level university degree in combination with qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. PhD preferred,
• #A minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible experience in design or execution of environmental projects and programmes,
• Proven experience in budget and financial management of projects is required,
• Experience with monitoring and evaluation, knowledge management, and risk assessment in an institutional context an advantage,
• Experience with the UN or other international organization, specifically GEF, is an advantage.

LANGUAGES:

• English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat,
• For the post advertised, fluency in oral and written English and in another UN language is required,
• Knowledge of another UN official language is an advantage.

ASSESSMENT METHOD:

• Evaluation of qualified candidates for this position will include a substantive assessment which will be followed by a competency-based interview.

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. 

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.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.

UNITED NATIONS CONSIDERATIONS:

• 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.

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.