Partnerships and External Relations Officer

Contract

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

The UNV Regional Office for Europe and CIS provides oversight and strategic guidance to the UNV Field Units in the region and is accountable for the placement of UN Volunteers mobi-lized for UN Agencies, Funds, and Programmes focused on peace, development and humanitarian needs. The UNV Regional Office represents and strategically positions UNV and bring UNV’s services and solutions closer to its partners from governments, UN entities, civil socie-ty, and private sector. UNV’s services and solutions in Europe and CIS are covered on unv.org website and social media. To increase awareness of these initiatives among key audiences and to enhance co-operation with the UN and external partners in the region is one of the main priorities of the UNV Regional Office for Europe and CIS, related to diversification of informational content, design of visual materials and speed of news flows. The IUNV Expert supports the Regional Manager for Europe and CIS to establish strategic partnerships with UN agencies, member states and all other external partners (CSOs, VIOs, Academia, etc). The IUNV Expert also supervises the communications team to provide clear and effective messaging to build new partnerships and strengthen existing ones.

Under the general guidance and supervision of UNV Regional Manager and in consultation with teams from ERCS, VASS, VSC and UNV legal specialist, the Partnerships and External Relations Officer will undertake the following tasks:

1- Partnership development and donor relations (50%)

• With the support of ERCS, strengthen and enhance UNV partnerships with key programme countries Members States to increase resource mobilization through Fully Funded Programmes (FF) and the Special Voluntary Fund (SVF) in programmes countries such as Uzbekistan, Turkey and Azerbaijan; • Identify entry points for collaboration with governments to position UNV in strategic re-source mobilization efforts for FF and SVF in programme countries. • Liaise with ERCS for SVF/FF mobilizations with Member states and partners that fall un-der HQ management • In close coordination with ERCS, Regional Office Communication and Portfolio Teams, develop and provide substantive inputs in partnerships documents ( annual reports) and maintain regular communication and follow up on agreed actions with key government entities in the programme countries. • Coordinate with the Communication and Online Volunteering Teams to effectively utilize communication products for partnership management with different stakeholders at all levels with regards to the UNV mandate and advocate for volunteerism integration in strategic documents ( UNSDCFs, CPDs, VNRs) and other proposals;

2- Coordination of strategic communication and UNV programme visibility in the region (25%)

• Assist the Regional Manager in providing guidance to communication team including Online Volunteering Team at the regional office • Ensure that the Regional Office communications plans are properly developed and Implemented in a timely fashion in collaboration with ERCS. • Ensure regular reports on key communications activities / highlights are delivered on a timely basis to Regional Manager. • Coordinate the analysis, consolidation and dissemination of information on programme management. Contribute to the preparation of monitoring and progress reports, briefing notes to the management, proposals, reports, communications and advocacy documents required for strategic decision making. • Attend various partner meetings, coordinate relevant activities, ensure predictable follow-up on agreed action points with relevant stakeholders.

3- Lead and coordination of talent acquisition strategy in the region (25%)

• Collaborate with Talent acquisition and communication teams on Talent acquisition and outreach activities to attract the right talent for national assignments in the region and into the UNV global talent pool; • Regularly review the National Talent Pool and provide suggestions for talent outreach partners and channels that can support the attraction of high quality profiles available at the disposal of UN Agencies in the region • Assess the capacity needs of UN partners and ensure enriching national pools with qualified candidates and create a fit-gap analysis between the demand for and supply of pro-files/CVs in the talent pool. • Generate targeted calls for applications to strengthen the National Talent Pool in areas in demand with an objective of engaging countries nationals as UN Volunteers within and outside country, • In collaboration with VSC Talent acquisition Team, review the existing candidate talent pool for all countries in the region with a special focus on countries with scarcity of local/ national candidates; categorize registered candidates as per different occupational categories following the UNV Programme’s taxonomy. • Ensure talent sources and activities are regularly recorded and updated in UNV’s Client Relationship Management system and contribute to knowledge exchange on talent sourcing by sharing good practices and lessons learned.

Expected Results • Strengthened partnerships and increased mobilization of fully funded UN volunteers from development programme countries in the region by 10% annually • Technical support to integrate volunteerism evidence in national policies and plan is provided to Uzbekistan, Turkey and Azerbaijan; • SVF/FF resources mobilized from Uzbekistan, Turkey and Azerbaijan is increased by 10% annually • Partnerships with regional and country key stakeholders strengthen to ensure visibility of the UNV programme in the region • Ensure UNV National Talent Pool is inclusive and integrates high quality profiles from all the countries in the region and Increased the number of country nationals in the UNV global talent pool for national/ international assignments by at least 30% • Key success indicators on talent acquisition are monitored daily and a weekly report on talent acquisition activities is submitted to management.

• Ensure the effective use of resources: ability to identify priorities in accordance with the organization’s strategic directions. Develop and implement action plans, organize the necessary resources and monitor outcomes. • Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences: demonstrates ability to work constructively with people with different backgrounds and orientations. Respects differences and ensures that all can contribute. • Teamwork: develops and promotes effective relationships with colleagues and team members. Deals constructively with conflicts. • Producing results: produces and delivers quality results. Is action oriented and committed to achieving outcomes. • Communication: expresses oneself clearly in conversation and interaction with others; actively listens. Produces effective written communications. Ensures that information is shared.

any of the following areas: external relations public relations, advocacy, donor relations, partnerships • Experience in resource mobilization in a development context is desirable • Demonstrated experience in partnership development with governments, donors and UN entities

Turkey is an upper middle-income country, with highly-urbanized cities and well developed infrastructure systems. Most of Turkey is assessed to be at security level 1-Minimal. Security level 2 Low applies to Ankara and Istanbul.

Seismic activity remains one of the primary hazards in Turkey. Turkey’s population of nearly 81 million is almost entirely Muslim. Turkish is the official language. English predominates as the second language.

The post will be located in Istanbul, which has a population of around 15M people, and straddles the European and Asian continents.

Istanbul is a UN Hub for the Europe and Central Asia Regional Offices of several UN agencies, including UNDP, UNFPA, UN Women among others. There is a lively and large group of international community. Istanbul International Airport and Sabiha Gokcen Airport have direct connections with all European, Central Asian and global cities.

Istanbul provides modern services and entertainment opportunities and an elaborate medical services system.

Healthcare is exceptionally good with various public and private hospitals with experienced doctors and medical staff, some of whom speak English. No specific vaccination is required to enter Turkey. Considering the rapidly changing pandemic situation in Istanbul, travellers should consult the receiving entity or the partner UN Agency, or UNDSS about the latest travel requirements/restrictions.