Learning & Development Officer (HR in Emergency)

Contract

This is a UNV International Specialist contract. This kind of contract is known as International UN Volunteer. It is normally internationally recruited only. More about UNV International Specialist contracts.

UNICEF´s Latin America and Caribbean Regional Office (LACRO) (LACRO) has the commitment to develop and implement a regional learning and development strategy to bring clarity, structure and guidance to the way in which UNICEF invests in its people, enabling the organization to meet the scale of the humanitarian challenges and deliver its compelling mandate.

Under the supervision of the HR Specialist in LACRO, the IUNV will be responsible for the implementation, monitoring and tracking of the regional humanitarian learning and development strategy as well as to contribute to the regional learning and development initiatives covered under responsibility of LACRO in the region. The incumbent will work closely with the LACRO Emergency and Human Resources Teams, the Learning and Development Committee (LDC), as well as other relevant stakeholders in the Regional Office and Country Offices under responsibility of LACRO, to coordinate learning and development activities and support emergency selection and recruitment processes as required. In addition to the coordination of Learning & Development for LACRO, the incumbent will support the HR team, when needed, in selection and recruitment specific responsibilities for emergency related positions.

In addition to duty station specific vaccine requirements, appointments are subject to confirmation of fully vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the appointment.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for UN Volunteers with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the recruitment process and afterwards in your assignment.

Under the supervision of the HR Specialist in LACRO, the IUNV will:

Learning and Development

• Support the coordination of the implementation of the Humanitarian Learning and Development strategy in line with current LACRO humanitarian strategic priorities and the Emergency Preparedness and Response Programme (EPR) training materials and guidance.
• Coordinate, track and follow up of the humanitarian learning journey for staff LACRO, in close coordination with the Office of Emergency Programmes (EMOPS), DHR and the emergency section at LACRO.
• Provide guidance and support to managers/supervisors and individual staff members in determining appropriate learning and development opportunities.
• Drafting guidance documents and/or standard operating procedures for the efficient, effective, consistent, and fair administration of learning and development activities for LACRO.
• Provide feedback on learning and development discussions and manage individual and group learning requests.
• Coordinate applications of candidates and screenings of eligibility in coordination with the different sections in LACRO, Countries Offices and HQ for the different courses and learning initiatives administrated by the regional office.
• Oversee and report on Learning & Development in the region.
• Develop data collection systems to optimize the quality of metrics, analytics and report related to the Humanitarian Learning and Development strategy.
• Support the evaluation of learning/training programmes to ensure compliance with desired quality standards.
• Submit/present periodic learning and development reports to the Learning & Development Commitee (LDC) and to the Management.

Capacity Development

• Develop, support the implementation and communicate on office-wide coaching, mentoring and shadowing guides/procedures, in coherence with the resources already available for UNICEF globally.
• In close collaboration with the Emergency section, Chief of Sections, Country Offices and the management, identify potential internal coaches and mentors and follow up on their commitment and involvement in coaching, mentoring and shadowing programmes for the humanitarian learning and development strategy.
• Facilitate the identification of external providers for coaching and mentoring, if needed, and coordinate long terms arrangements and suppliers, if applicable.
• Follow up and update on Emergency Regional Roster members, profiles and their respective learning journey.
• Organize sessions/workshops with staff and managers as required and follow up on attendance for reporting purposes.

Regional Response Roster (RRR)

The incumbent is expected to support current HR staff or act as the focal point, if needed, for the LAC Rapid Response Roster (RRR) and under close supervision of the HR Specialist in LACRO, s/he will support recruitment/selection or quality assurance review for emergency related positions in the region, when applicable. Some responsibilities may include:

• Vacancy announcement campaigns for new applications to the RRR.
• In close coordination with the emergency section, review, strengthen and maintain an assessment tool for use of Regional Advisers (RAs) to review RRR applications.
• Follow-up and communicate with Regional Advisors on screening of applications.
• Undertake all required HR actions in the systems for the roster calls, including communicating timely with candidates on the stages of the process.
• Maintain and verify RRR database. Partner with DHR Emergency in New York in uploading accurate LACRO RRR data for reporting in Power BI;
• Prepare and update regional data for the management.

Emergency: - Coordinate with HQ and Country offices on Surge requirements, including maintaining the surge tracking system (STS) for each emergency arising in the region. - Compile surge information and for risk mitigation, analyse trends and challenges to present to the attention to the HR Specialist and Regional Chief of HR.
- Support recruitment and selection tasks for emergency related positions, when required.

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS).

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are:
• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (1) • Works Collaboratively with others (1) • Builds and Maintains Partnerships (1) • Innovates and Embraces Change (1) • Thinks and Acts Strategically (1) • Drives to achieve impactful results (1) • Manages ambiguity and complexity (1).

Human Resources related areas and/or Learning and Development and experience working with global/international organizations. Experience working in related functions with humanitarian organizations or under emergency contexts will be highly valued.

Skills • Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively in a diverse organization tailoring language, tone, style, and format to match audience. • Ability to empathize and coordinate with diverse stakeholders, supervisors and staff while advocating for consistent and equitable applications of promulgated HR regulations and rules, as well as policies. • Ability to work and adapt professionally and effectively in a challenging environment; ability to work effectively in a multicultural team of international and national personnel. • Strong coordination and planning skills. • Facilitation skills and/or exposure to coordination of learning and development activities. • Demonstrated ability to coordinate, track, follow up and report on learning activities or HR development initiatives. • Ability to implement clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies, identify priority activities and assignments, adjust priorities as required. • Excellent oral and written skills; excellent drafting, formulation, reporting skills. • Accuracy and professionalism in document production and editing. • Excellent interpersonal skills; culturally and socially sensitive; ability to work inclusively and collaboratively with a range of stakeholders. • Solid overall computer literacy, including proficiency in various MS Office applications (Excel, Word, Power point reporting tools etc.) and email/internet; familiarity with database management; and office technology equipment. • Self-motivated, ability to work with minimum supervision; ability to work with tight deadlines.

Panama is in Central America with a population of 4,300,000 million, the official language is Spanish, but most Panamanians are bilingual. Panama has a lower crime rate than many other countries in the region. Panama City is largely a safe city – but care does need to be taken in some areas and with personal property. It is your choice whether you opt for a house or an apartment. Beautiful spacious houses, with gardens are available. Those staff that have opted for an apartment have done so on the basis that they offer more security and more facilities. The US Dollar is used as a legal currency in Panama. There are also coins of the Balboa, which is the national currency, similar in shape and value to the US Dollar. Please make sure to leave Panama only with US Dollar currency, as there are some international difficulties changing the Balboa abroad. Panama has a tropical climate with practically the same average temperature of 27°C year-round with 78% humidity. The rainy season in Panama is from March until November each year, we recommend you bring an umbrella. The air conditioning may be cool at times in the office and in local shops, so we suggest you bring a jacket or sweater. The voltage in Panama is 110v, 60 cycle with two and three prong plugs. Wall plugs are mostly for 110v. In some properties there may by 220v for air conditioning or similar. Current fluctuations are common and electricity cuts are still possible. There are many clinics and medical centers in Panama: For your information, below the largest private hospitals in Panama City. Hospital Paitilla +507 265 8888 +507 265 8800 Hospital Pacífica Salud [former Punta Pacífica] +507 204 8184 +507 204 8000 Hospital San Fernando +507 305 6305 +507 305 6300 Hospital Nacional +507 306 3300 +507 207 8100 There is also an Emergency Ambulance service, government-owned 911. If you open a local bank account, banks in Panama request the following documents. - Reference letter from your bank. - Present original and bring copy of your national Passport, - Employment letter.