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 is the largest UN operation in the Middle East with more than 30,000 staff. UNRWA seeks the services of a seasoned and innovative professional, highly motivated to provide skilled leadership in the position of:
Director of Relief and Social Services
Vacancy Announcement Number
14-HQ-AM-12
Grade
D-1
Deadline for Applications
26 March 2014
Duty Station
Amman
Under the general direction of the Commissioner-General through the Deputy Commissioner-General, the Director of Relief and Social Services will be responsible for providing guidance and leadership to UNRWA’s efforts to help Palestine refugees attain a decent standard of living as articulated in the Agency’s Medium Term Strategy. This includes developing and overseeing in a resource-constrained environment the innovations required to transform UNRWA’s relief and social services programme into one that reflects best practice, and managing a change-process to support these programmatic improvements. It also includes leadership and dynamic support for the Agency’s programming in gender, youth, emergency, and disability as well as advocating for robust social protection for Palestine Refugees through Agency programmes. Accordingly, this post will require supervising temporary and contracted staff when necessary. In accordance with the established Agency policy and procedures, the incumbent will:
Primary Duties and Responsibilities
· Poverty response:
- Conceptualize and articulate a best-practice approach to poverty and support for vulnerable groups, identifying and managing the required strategic interventions and operational planning;
- Develop appropriate structures and tools for the Agency to address poverty, including through supporting HQ, Field Offices and Programme Departments, and ensuring that Agency-wide interventions cohere to the overall approach;
- Build and lead a working group that strengthens and builds across programmatic approaches to poverty;
- Manage the existing programme of food and cash assistance;
- Work with all five Fields; support and advise the harmonization of Agency funding sources into a coherent package of assistance to the most vulnerable;
- Assure continued refinement and roll-out of a unified poverty/vulnerability targeting mechanism to all five Fields and technical support for training and mentoring of field staff.
· Social Protection:
- Provide strategic leadership and management support to professional staff working to mainstream and integrate disability, gender and youth programmes in all aspects of the Agency’s work across the Fields;
- Enhance the social protection of beneficiaries in delivery of services ensuring close coordination with other initiatives and work in programmes and fields;
- Provide technical guidance and support to the Fields on the management of community-based interventions, aiming at expanding social capital, leadership, expertise and strengthening capacities in the community, ensuring overall Agency coherence to this approach;
- Manage oversight and support the Gender Based Violence Project being implemented in the five Fields, including supervision of project management staff;
- Manage and direct UNRWA response and activities related to the ten Youth commitments undertaken by the Commissioner-General and the Brussels Conference.
· Emergency:
- Working in the context of the Agency management team works collaboratively with other in technical areas of emergency including preparedness, contingency planning, response and administrative tasks associated with the development of the Humanitarian Programme Cycle and Emergency Appeal in occupied Palestinian territory (oPt);
- Provides strategic leadership and technical assistance to West Bank Field Office (WBFO) and Gaza Field Office (GFO) to harmonize and rationalize emergency funded activities and budgets with core Agency activities.
· Registration
- Manage the registration and documentation of Palestine refugees in the five Fields of operation, including related technical aspects, ensuring that the Agency’s systems and procedures are effective and responsive to refugee requirements while reflecting best practice; leads the development and implementation of the Refugee Registration Information System (RRIS) emergency module.
· Communication/Representation
- Communicate Agency reform efforts related to relief and social services (RSS) to external and internal stakeholders, including staff;
- Represent the Agency in interactions with donor and host government officials;
- Represent the Agency at regional and international meetings as appropriate.
· Committees:
- Serves as a member of the Management Committee, the Advisory Committee on Procurement and the Syria Task Force.
· Capacity Building:
- Build Agency capacities in the areas of emergency, protection, gender and disability.
Professional Knowledge and Experience
· Advanced university degree from an accredited educational institution in international development, social sciences or related field;
· Coursework or training in community development, social welfare or related field, with emphasis on the application of social welfare policies and methodologies;
· At least fifteen years of related international experience, including ten years at the managerial level, with comprehensive knowledge in best practices in mitigating and alleviating poverty including poverty measurement, poverty related policy research, and social policy;
· Extensive development experience (particularly in poverty programming, resilience, sustainable livelihoods), including in field work and project management;
· Proven experience in leading multi-sectoral teams;
· Familiarity with regional political and social dynamics;
· Excellent command of written and spoken English.
Competencies
· Proven managerial and leadership skills, particularly in programme development and organizational change;
· Proven ability to lead and motivate teams, including in the context of promoting innovation and managing reforms;
· Strong communication and advocacy skills;
· Ability to exercise sound judgment in sensitive or tense political environments; sound understanding of regional/international political trends;
· Planning, organizing and coordination skills, including the ability to plan and work to tight deadlines, to handle multiple concurrent activities, and to coordinate programme interventions in several fields;
· Demonstrated ability to develop and maintain collegial relations with staff, host authorities and donors at all levels.
Desirable Qualifications
· Prior service with the UN or international organizations in the Middle East;
· Working knowledge of written and spoken Arabic
Additional information
· The incumbent will be required to reside in the field of assignment and to travel occasionally in the Agency’s area of operations in the Middle East and occasionally to other locations to attend conferences and meetings.
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.
Conditions of Service
UNRWA offers an attractive compensation package including annual salary starting at $103,400 net tax free with dependants or $95,575 single, plus post adjustment of 48% (subject to change without notice). Other benefits, subject to eligibility, include education grant, dependency allowance, home leave, pension fund, health insurance and 6 weeks 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 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 UNRWA Personal History Form. Please note that UNRWA only accepts degrees from accredited educational institutions. Only applications received through http://jobs.unrwa.org will be considered. Due to the large number of applications received for UNRWA vacancies, only applicants short-listed for interview 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 encourages applications from qualified and experienced women.
UNRWA welcomes applications from qualified candidates with disabilities.
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 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.
Date of issue: 25 February 2014/SW
