Field Personnel Consultant - Field Service Staff Rules (FSSR), Personnel Operating Guidelines and Procedures

Work Location Montreal/Remote

Expected duration 3 months

Duties and Responsibilities THE ORGANIZATIONAL SETTING The Technical Cooperation Bureau’s Field Personnel Section (FPS) facilitates recruitment and administers contracts of aviation experts who support the capacity building requirements of the States in projects managed by ICAO’s Technical Cooperation Bureau (TCB) under its Technical Cooperation and Assistance Programmes. FPS provides a one-stop shop for sourcing of world class experts specialized in the aviation field from around the globe to support the States in meeting their obligations through effective implementation of the ICAO Standards and recommended practices. Employment contracts of international and national field experts managed by FPS are administered in accordance with the provisions of ICAO’s Field Service Staff Rules, Field Personnel Instructions, National manuals, ISO 2015 procedures, as well as other United Nations (UN) common system Administrative recommendations and decisions. Under the Field Personnel Section (FPS) are two units, namely the Field Personnel Administration Unit (FPA) and Field Recruitment Unit (FRU).

The incumbent will report to the Chief, Field Personnel Section and conduct the review and update of Draft Field Service Staff Rules (FSSR). Pending to be concluded under this assignment, is the harmonization of the ethics framework policy and procedural guideline in the Field Service Staff Rules), national personnel project manual for local project personnel and administrative instructions for different cadres of Field Project(s) for implementation and administration of Special Service Agreements and Service Contracts. Prior to this a comprehensive analysis was conducted, harmonization and alignment of implementation of processes conducted (to the extent possible). Also, the differences between currently existing guidelines and procedures, related to recruitment and classification of posts, types of appointments and practices governing international fixed term staff, national fixed term staff, local project personnel were determined (where applicable) and consultants hired to support the ICAO Technical Cooperation Projects vis-a-vis those hired by the ICAO Regular programme. The assignment lays emphasis on review and finalization of the above processes in conjunction with internal Stakeholders within ICAO (i.e. HR Policy and Legal Bureau).

To this extent, the ICAO Staff Regulation (Service Code), ICAO staff Rules (SR), Administrative instructions on contracts of individual consultants/contractors, Ethics framework, Administration of Justice, joint inspection audit reports, other UN Common System provisions and practices. To be included will be case law, jurisprudence and precedences recorded within the context of the United Nations Administrative Tribunals (or any other international Tribunals), as foundation and base research documentation/information to be used in support, review and analysis of the work to be done.

MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES Function 1 (incl. Expected results) Conduct a comprehensive review of guidelines and procedures, best practices, existing case law, jurisprudence and precedence related to administration of Field Service Personnel contracts, entitlements and benefits, achieving results such as:

• Reviewing the draft guidelines and analyse other relevant documentation and operational guidelines (internal to ICAO), revisit the documented differences in application of processes related to implementation of the Field Service Staff Rules (FSSR) vis-a-vis the ICAO Regular Programme Staff rules for re-authentication of previous justification to affirm the substantial disparity in needs and circumstances;
• Reviewing general documentation relevant to Field Service Personnel Management (external to ICAO) to inform on potential risks arising from common practices in similar operational environment within the UN. This process should incorporate review of related incidences if any, outlined in case law, jurisprudence and precedences of the UN Tribunals, reports of the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and general best practices in management of Staff and Non-staff contracts in Field Operations in the United Nations;
• Review relevance and efficacy of Fixed term contracts, Special Service Agreements and Service contract(s) vis a vis the purpose, applicability in law and potential risks;
• Determine differences in operational practices and implementation of guidelines, that warrant further harmonization without implications to the overall legal framework;
• Identify unique, relevant, necessary and justifiable needs in administration of the Field Service Personnel (short term project appointments) contracts, comparative to the medium and long term appointments (3 year fixed term posts), which may have direct implications to the overall ICAO Legal Framework and recommend for incorporation (ICAO Service Code).

Function 2 (incl. Expected results) Conduct meetings and discussions to gather information from relevant internal stakeholders responsible for the development of legal framework, guidelines and administrative instructions for administration of Human Resources management systems and procedures to determine common areas for harmonization and differences that require recognition and incorporation, achieving results such as:

• Schedule meetings and invite stakeholders for exchange of ideas and information gathering;
• Identify areas of convergence, agree and document the varied practices and recommend a harmonized approach to implementation and administration of contracts, benefits and entitlements and minimizing the existing variances in application of staff rules between the Regular programme and the Field Service personnel management practices.

Function 3 (incl. Expected results) Make recommendations for inclusion into the updated Field Personnel rules, guidelines and operational manuals, achieving results such as to:

• Provide clarity and determine a globally accepted classification of the different contract(s) offered by ICAO’s Field Service Personnel Section by definition(s), purpose(s), type(s) and duration(s);
• Re-affirm the uniqueness, relevance and necessary aspects of Field Personnel Administration practices outside the harmonized operating guidelines for management consideration and where possible, require inclusion and incorporation to the ICAO Legal Framework.

Function 4 (incl. Expected results) Update, align and harmonize the FSSR, Field Personnel guidelines and Administrative instructions to ICAO Service Code, ICAO Staff rules, administrative instructions on contracts of individual consultants/contractors, ethics framework and Administration of Justice. To be incorporated, are the UN reforms and best practices related to Field Personnel Management and any adopted best practice or changes in administration of contracts, benefits and entitlements across the UN Common system (as recommended by the UN HLCM), achieving results such as:

• Updating the existing rules, operational guidelines and administrative instructions that ensures harmonization to the highest extent possible, of the implementation procedures and practices pertaining to the latest UN reforms in HR Management e.g. administration of salaries, benefits and entitlements of internationally-recruited experts and consultants in the Field Service Staff Rules and the National Project personnel Manual are aligned and congruent to the provisions of the ICAO Service Code, Staff Rules and other relevant United Nations Common System administrative recommendations, with the following specific results; a) Updated Field Service Staff Rules (FSSR) and inclusion of provisions of ICAO Ethics Framework and Administration of Justice; b) Finalize the review and stakeholder approval of the Draft Field Project Administrative Instructions manuals for: - Internationally Recruited Consultants; - Locally recruited Consultants - OPAS Personnel; and - Service Contracts
• Reviewing and draft Contract templates aligned to the Provisions of the harmonized rules, guidelines and administrative instructions.

Function 5 Perform other related duties, as assigned.

Qualifications/special skills An advanced level university degree (Masters’ degree or equivalent) in Law, Human Resource Management or Related Field is required.

• Minimum of 7 years relevant experience in the HR management field is required.
• Experience in development of staff regulations, rules and procedures is required.
• Experience in contracts management, interpretation and application of HR policies, Rules and guidelines is required.

• Five years of experience gained in managing implementation of HR legal framework, Employee relations, and development of policies and interpretation of the same, within the context of International Organizations, preferably the United Nations Common System is desirable.

  Languages - Fluent reading, writing and speaking abilities in English is required.

• A working knowledge of a second language of the Organization (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, or Spanish) is desirable.

  Additional Information It should be noted that this post is to be filled on temporary/consultancy basis for an initial period of three (3) months. Please note that the monthly rate for Band C varies from CAD 7,562 to CAD 10,910 per month.

  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.