Humanitarian Senior Advisor (Surge Retainers)

Contract

This is a IICA-4 contract. This kind of contract is known as International Individual Contractor Agreements. It is normally internationally recruited only. It's an external contract. It usually requires 10 years of experience, depending on education. More about IICA-4 contracts.

Background Information - Job-specific

About the Surge Mechanism

At UNOPS, the Surge Mechanism is the quick mobilization and deployment of highly experienced personnel and specialized experts to reinforce an office's capacity during periods of immediate needs. Surge is characterized by its urgency and short-duration commitment in high-risk situations. In collaboration with other business units, the Surge Team, managed by the Surge Coordinator, is leading the growth of the Surge Mechanism at UNOPS. Today, the Surge Mechanism is focused on providing 4 areas of support:

1. Operational Support: Filling urgent and unforeseen gaps
2. Diagnosis: Undertaking analyses and developing action plans.
3. Turnaround: Providing support in internal crises, working to get current projects or processes back on track.
4. Emergency Response: Responding to humanitarian and external crises.

In order to meet the needs for surge support at UNOPS, the Surge Team is establishing a Surge Pool of Humanitarian Senior Advisors interested in short-term assignments in various locations. The Advisors will serve to address critical situations, hence, the members of this pool are expected to be internationally mobile and willing to travel to different locations around the world, including hardship locations. Missions abroad may last for several weeks/up to a maximum of 3 months. Availability to travel is therefore a prerequisite for this position, even though some of the assignments may be conducted remotely.

About the Role

The Humanitarian Senior Advisor will play a vital role within UNOPS, providing expert advice and guidance to country directors and office leaders on humanitarian and crisis response actions, particularly in the areas of procurement, human resources, and other support services practices.

This role involves deploying on assignments to countries facing conflict or humanitarian crises and working closely with stakeholders, partners, and local authorities to ensure the effective delivery of humanitarian assistance. The Humanitarian Senior Advisor will provide strategic recommendations, technical expertise, and capacity building support to enhance the quality, coordination, and efficiency of humanitarian response operations. They will work with existing teams, office leaders, and country directors to meet the needs of the organization.

Functional Responsibilities

1. Strategic Advisory Support:
2. Humanitarian Response Planning and Coordination
3. Procurement and Supply Chain Management
4. Human Resources and Capacity Development
5. Monitoring, Evaluation, and Reporting

1. Strategic Advisory Support

• Provide high-level strategic advice to country directors and office leaders on humanitarian response actions in conflict-affected countries.
• Analyze complex situations and develop context-specific strategies to enhance the effectiveness of the humanitarian response.
• Advise senior management on policy development, operational planning, and risk management within the humanitarian response framework.
• Stay updated on evolving humanitarian practices, methodologies, and trends to ensure UNOPS remains at the forefront of response efforts.

2. Humanitarian Response Planning and Coordination

• Collaborate with country directors and office leaders to develop and implement comprehensive humanitarian response plans.
• Support establishing and coordinating response clusters, working groups, and inter-agency coordination mechanisms.
• Foster partnerships and promote collaboration among different actors involved in humanitarian response.
• Assist in developing and implementing contingency plans to ensure preparedness for emergencies and rapid response.

3. Procurement and Supply Chain Management

• Provide technical expertise on procurement and supply chain management in humanitarian response.
• Assess local procurement markets and develop strategies to enhance local procurement capacity, aligned with UNOPS policies and guidelines.
• Support the identification and selection of suppliers, ensuring transparency, efficiency, and compliance with procurement standards.
• Monitor and evaluate procurement processes to ensure timely and cost-effective delivery of goods and services.

4. Human Resources and Capacity Development

• Advise on human resources policies, practices, and procedures to enable efficient recruitment, deployment, and personnel management in humanitarian response operations.
• Assess capacity gaps and develop training programs to enhance the skills and knowledge of staff engaged in humanitarian response.
• Support country directors and office leaders in recruiting and onboarding national and international staff, ensuring diversity, inclusion, and gender mainstreaming.

5. Monitoring, Evaluation, and Reporting

• Develop monitoring and evaluation frameworks to assess the impact, outcomes, and effectiveness of humanitarian response interventions.
• Monitor progress against response plans, ensuring compliance with project objectives, timelines, and budgets.
• Prepare timely and accurate reports, briefings, and updates on humanitarian response activities for internal and external stakeholders.

Competencies

Develops and implements sustainable business strategies, thinks long term and externally in order to positively shape the organization. Anticipates and perceives the impact and implications of future decisions and activities on other parts of the organization. Treats all individuals with respect; responds sensitively to differences and encourages others to do the same. Upholds organizational and ethical norms. Maintains high standards of trustworthiness. Role model for diversity and inclusion.

Acts as a positive role model contributing to the team spirit. Collaborates and supports the development of others. For people managers only: Acts as positive leadership role model, motivates, directs and inspires others to succeed, utilizing appropriate leadership styles. Demonstrates understanding of the impact of own role on all partners and always puts the end beneficiary first. Builds and maintains strong external relationships and is a competent partner for others (if relevant to the role). Efficiently establishes an appropriate course of action for self and/or others to accomplish a goal. Actions lead to total task accomplishment through concern for quality in all areas. Sees opportunities and takes the initiative to act on them. Understands that responsible use of resources maximizes our impact on our beneficiaries. Open to change and flexible in a fast paced environment. Effectively adapts own approach to suit changing circumstances or requirements. Reflects on experiences and modifies own behavior. Performance is consistent, even under pressure. Always pursues continuous improvements. Evaluates data and courses of action to reach logical, pragmatic decisions. Takes an unbiased, rational approach with calculated risks. Applies innovation and creativity to problem-solving. Expresses ideas or facts in a clear, concise and open manner. Communication indicates a consideration for the feelings and needs of others. Actively listens and proactively shares knowledge. Handles conflict effectively, by overcoming differences of opinion and finding common ground.

Education/Experience/Language requirements

Education - An advanced university degree (Master's or equivalent) in International Relations, Humanitarian Studies, Development Studies, or a related field is required. - A first level university degree (Bachelor’s or equivalent) in the above mentioned subjects or related field, combined with an additional 2 years of relevant work experience may be accepted in lieu of a Master’s degree.

Experience - A minimum of 10 years of relevant professional experience working in international organizations or other humanitarian contexts is required. - Within these 10 years, a minimum of 5 years demonstrated experience in humanitarian response operations is required. - Proven expertise in procurement, supply chain management, and/or human resources within a humanitarian context is required. - In-depth knowledge of humanitarian principles, standards, and best practices is required. - Strong analytical and strategic thinking skills, with the ability to synthesize complex information and provide practical recommendations is essential. - Excellent communication, negotiation, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build and maintain effective relationships with diverse stakeholders is essential. - Familiarity with the United Nations system, its policies, and procedures related to humanitarian response is highly desirable.

Language requirements - Fluency in English is required. - Proficiency in additional official UN languages, particularly French or Spanish, is highly desirable.

Contract type, level and duration

Contract type: ICA Contract level: IICA-4 (ICS-12) Contract duration: Several possible short-term full-time / part-time opportunities (see below), subject to organizational requirements, availability of funds and satisfactory performance.

Modality

There are two contract options to consider in this vacancy announcement:

1. Short-term / part-time opportunities on home-based retainer contracts or similar.
2. Short-term / full-time opportunities on home-based or Copenhagen-based contracts.

For more details about the ICA contractual modality, please follow this link: https://www.unops.org/english/Opportunities/job-opportunities/what-we-offer/Pages/Individual-Contractor-Agreements.aspx

More information about retainer contracts:

• The functions/responsibilities/key results of this job description are generic and may not always be applicable, nor be comprehensive, for all missions/assignments under this job title. The specific tasks and deliverables for each assignment may vary and will be detailed in the terms of reference developed for each assignment by the requesting office/unit.
• Under this contract type, the assignments will vary in scope and duration, ranging from short term assignments of a few hours at a time to longer blocks of time (e.g. several weeks or months).
• Work may also vary with regards to the time zone / location. Whilst some assignments can be delivered working from home, some may require international travel.
• Whilst the successful incumbent can be based in different time-zones, they should be able and willing to ensure a degree of time overlap with the team they are working with.
• As a UNOPS ICA retainer, you are required to complete at least two (2) online courses upon signature of your contract and prior to commencing any retainer assignment. If you travel on an official mission, you are required to complete an online course related to security awareness. These courses are available for free on UNOPS learning platform and shall be completed within the first three months following the contract signature, at no cost for UNOPS. UNOPS reserves the right to request a refresher of the mandatory courses or request newly promulgated mandatory courses to be completed at no cost for UNOPS.
• For more information on a retainer contract, click here.

Additional Information

• Please note that UNOPS does not accept unsolicited resumes.
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process, which involves various assessments.
• UNOPS embraces diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity. Our workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures, languages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. UNOPS seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce.
• Qualified women and candidates from groups which are underrepresented in the UNOPS workforce are encouraged to apply. These include in particular candidates from racialized and/or indigenous groups, members of minority gender identities and sexual orientations, and people with disabilities.
• We would like to ensure all candidates perform at their best during the assessment process. If you are shortlisted and require additional assistance to complete any assessment, including reasonable accommodation, please inform our human resources team when you receive an invitation.

Terms and Conditions

• All UNOPS personnel are responsible for performing their duties in accordance with the UN Charter and UNOPS Policies and Instructions, as well as other relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, all personnel must demonstrate an understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a manner consistent with UN core values and the UN Common Agenda.
• It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential personnel. Recruitment in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.