Associate Human Resources Officer

Only candidates who are not nationals of the country of assignment are eligible to apply to this position

E (most hardship)Non Family with Residential LocationDanger PayBudapest, HungaryPR2Professional

* Staff members will not normally serve in International Professional positions in the country of their nationality. In addition, in case of a first appointment upon recruitment, the assignment must be outside the staff member’s country of nationality.

In practical terms this means that you are not eligible to apply for International Professional vacancies advertised in the country where you are national of.

Reason

Regular > Regular AssignmentNo2023-10-13November 9, 2023

Associate Human Resources Officer

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships
The Associate Human Resources Officer supports the UNHCR's People Strategy and contributes to the implementation of the 2018 independent Human Resources review, which resulted in the establishment of HR strategic priorities and the reconfiguration and transformation of the Division of Human Resources (DHR) from a largely transactional model into a strategic business partner for field operations and senior management. Having the right people in the right place at the right time is at the core of enabling UNHCR to protect and respond to persons of concern. By attracting, retaining and developing a talented, diverse and agile workforce while nurturing a culture of excellence, respect and wellbeing for all, UNHCR's Human Resources acts as a strategic partner to the organization, enabling a people-centric culture.
The Associate Human Resources Officer provides support and assistance in the areas of operational support, workforce planning, assignments and talent acquisition, organizational cultural changes, HR policy implementation and duty of care. The incumbent maintains employee confidence and protects the organization and its workforce by keeping human resources information confidential.

The Associate Human Resources Officer is usually supervised by the HR Officer or Senior HR Officer or Head of Office in a Country Operation, or the most senior HR staff in a Regional Bureau. She/he usually supervises HR General Service staff.

The incumbent maintains a direct working relationship with a number of units within the Division of Human Resources (DHR). The incumbent also works closely with the Senior HR Partner, the Senior Medical Officer and the Senior Staff counsellor for his/her region.

All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR's core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.

Duties
Workforce Operational Support:
- Assist in implementation of HR initiatives that support organizational culture change such as good people management practices, and promoting gender, inclusion and diversity.
- Implement HR operational activities to ensure timely provision of HR solutions, prioritizing according to the needs and risks.
- Contribute to the development of a HR customer service-oriented culture that values proactivity, continuous improvement, innovation and high performance.
- Provide support, guidance and trainings to HR staff.
Assignments and Talent Acquisition:
- Coordinate the process of recruitment, assignment and reassignment of locally-recruited staff and affiliate workforce, also assisting with set up and running of (Regional) Assignments Committee where relevant.
- Assist in organizing outreach campaigns to attract diverse applicants. Ensure proper consideration is given to all applicants without distinction on the grounds of race, color, sex, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity.
- Analyse, track and report on recruitment and assignments trends for management, including efforts to reach gender parity.
- Take a proactive approach to risk management in the areas of recruitment, ensuring the issues are identified, addressed and reported and, where appropriate, escalated.
Advice to managers and staff, and contribution to an inclusive work environment:
- Build dialog and outreach with staff; answer questions, and provide information to staff as to where to go for help or ask questions.
- Be proactive in identifying issues, themes and patterns affecting the workforce's health and welfare, including sexual harassment and abuse of authority.
- Ensure that on-boarding, induction, re-integration into the workplace and off-boarding support, is provided to colleagues. Induction programmes should include information on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) and Sexual Harassment, Code of Conduct as well as workforce's rights and obligations.
HR policies and inter-agency:
- Enforce compliance with UNHCR's Human Resources policies and procedures and the UN staff rules, regulations and UNHCR administrative instructions.
- Participate in the ICSC survey on living conditions and classification of duty stations as well as in the UN Country Team local staff salary survey and other local inter-agency HR-related fora and initiatives.
Duty of Care:
- Contribute to establishing and maintaining a medical evacuation plan with senior management, Field safety and the Senior Medical Officer.
- Assist in the security and medical evacuations of UNHCR personnel.
- Support the implementation of a Duty of Care strategy. Identify and assess issues related to duty of care including physical, mental health and safety of UNHCR's workforce, promoting workforce balance.
For positions in Regional Bureaux only:
In the absence of a Senior Talent Development Officer in the Bureau:
- Contribute to the implementation of a talent development strategy for UNHCR workforce in the region, in line with UNHCR's needs and staff members' career planning.
- Contribute to the implementation of a talent sourcing and acquisition plan to identify talent mainly among but not limited to national staff and affiliate workforce in the region.

- Support the identification and management of risks and seek to seize opportunities impacting objectives in the area of responsibility. Ensure decision making in risk based in the functional area of work. Raise risks, issues and concerns to a supervisor or to relevant functional colleague(s).
- Perform other related duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications

Education & Professional Work Experience
Years of Experience / Degree Level
For P2/NOB - 3 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 2 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 1 year relevant experience with Doctorate degree

Field(s) of Education
Human Resources Management; Human Resources Development; Personnel Administration;
Business Administration; or other relevant field.

Certificates and/or Licenses
Not specified.

Relevant Job Experience
Essential
Experience working in Human Resources. Knowledge of general HR policies, processes and systems.
Desirable
Experience in one or more of the following areas: HR Administration, workforce planning, recruitment, HR policy or talent development. Experience in HR information technology systems and tools. Experience in field humanitarian operations and/or emergency settings. Experience working with the United Nations. Experience working in a multi-cultural setting.

Functional Skills
HR-Local mass recruitment
HR-Talent Development and Nurturing
HR-HR data and people analytics
HR-Employee Relationship Management
SO-Learning Agility
HR-HR Business Partnering
MG-Client Relationship Management
HR-Inclusion, Diversity and Gender strategy design and implementation
(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Language Requirements
For International Professional and Field Service jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English.
For National Professional jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language.
For General Service jobs: Knowledge of English and/or UN working language of the duty station if not English.

All UNHCR workforce members must individually and collectively, contribute towards a working environment where each person feels safe, and empowered to perform their duties. This includes by demonstrating no tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, harassment including sexual harassment, sexism, gender inequality, discrimination and abuse of power.

As individuals and as managers, all must be proactive in preventing and responding to inappropriate conduct, support ongoing dialogue on these matters and speaking up and seeking guidance and support from relevant UNHCR resources when these issues arise.

This is a Standard Job Description for all UNHCR jobs with this job title and grade level. The Operational Context may contain additional essential and/or desirable qualifications relating to the specific operation and/or position. Any such requirements are incorporated by reference in this Job Description and will be considered for the screening, shortlisting and selection of candidates.

The Associate HR Officer in Dnipro provides support and assistance in the areas of human resource managemnet, workforce planning, and duty of care in line with Ukraine's strategic objectives and Business Operations Strategy as well as performing transactional personnel management tasks. The incumbent will be mainly responsible for Dnipro Sub-Office in Ukraine; however, the incumbent is part of the country HR Team and will have a technical reporting line to the HR Unit at Country Office. The position, therefore, targets the profile of an experienced Associate HR Officer with excellent knowledge of HR rules and regulations, UNHCR HR management tools (WORKDAY, EVOLVE etc.) coupled with interpersonal skills and leadership to HR management in a broader context. Given the emergency nature of the operation, ongoing war which often makes it necessary to change priorities and high turnover of staff both regular and temporary needs, the incumbent on this international HR position should have prior work experience in a similar emergency and/or large operation with proven flexibility and expertise to work in challenging and demanding situations. Prior work experience in a high-risk duty station and/or proven knowledge of administration of staff entitlements in high-risk locations will be considered a huge asset. Given the current four-week RnR cycle, the incumbent may also be called upon to back up other international HR staff in other operations and therefore, proven flexibility and willingness to take additional work will be highly valued. With a proven track record of working efficiently within a team, the incumbent is expected to oversee certain non-conventional projects and supervise an HR Associate directly while providing support to other HR team members in different offices. The operation is complex given the war in Ukraine, the total number of positions, for the time being, is above 400 in Ukraine. The Associate HR Officer is expected to assist with the provision of HR support and guidance, vacancy management (for the regular and affiliated workforce), and capacity-building, especially with the ongoing planned decentralization and knowledge sharing. The incumbent, reporting to HR Officer and Snr HR Officer, is expected to maintain close working relations with various Sections at HQs and Geneva Bureau.

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Operational context

Nature of Position:

The Associate HR Officer provides support and assistance in the areas of operational support, workforce planning, and duty of care in line with Ukraine's strategic objectives and Business Operations Strategy as well as performing transactional personnel management tasks. The incumbent will be mainly responsible for Dnipro Sub-Office in Ukraine; however, the incumbent is part of the country HR Team and will have a technical reporting line to the HR Unit at Country Office. The position, therefore, targets the profile of an experienced Associate HR Officer with excellent knowledge of HR new rules and regulations coupled with interpersonal skills and leadership to HR management in a broader context. With a proven track record of working efficiently within a team, the incumbent is expected to oversee certain non-conventional projects and supervise an HR Associate directly while providing support to other HR team members in different offices. The operation is complex given the war in Ukraine, the total number of positions, for the time being, is above 400 in Ukraine. The Associate HR Officer is expected to assist with the provision of HR support and guidance, vacancy management (for the regular and affiliated workforce), and capacity-building, especially with the ongoing planned decentralization and knowledge sharing.

The incumbent, reporting to HR Officer and Snr HR Officer, is expected to maintain close working relations with various Sections at HQs and Geneva Bureau.

General:

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been present in Ukraine since 1994 and substantially increased its presence and response after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The geographical presence within Ukraine has significatively expanded to deliver the emergency response. The country office is located in the capital, Kyiv, and sub- and field offices, as well as field units, are located in Chernivtsi, Dnipro, Kyiv, L’viv, Odesa, Poltava, Uzhhorod and Vinnytsia. The current set-up is the foundation for the 2024 structure, which, however, may need to be continuously reviewed and adjusted in response to the evolving operational environment.

The war in Ukraine has caused death and suffering on a dramatic scale and left at least 17.6 million people in urgent need of humanitarian assistance and protection.  At the end of September 2023, some 5 million people are estimated to be internally displaced, while around 6 million refugees from Ukraine have been recorded across Europe, most of them women and children. Ukraine also hosts a few thousand asylum-seekers and refugees and is home to more than 35,000 people who are stateless or at risk of statelessness.

The massive destruction of civilian infrastructure, with the energy sector being particularly targeted has made life unbearable for millions of people who have lost their homes and livelihoods, and has severely disrupted access to electricity, water, heating as well as critical services, including healthcare, education and social protection services. Humanitarian access continues to be hampered, particularly in areas in the East under the temporary military control of the Russian Federation.

Civilians remain exposed to serious risks to their physical security and integrity, particularly in eastern and southern regions of Ukraine. The risk of GBV, including sexual violence, is high particularly in areas of active hostilities. The separation of families is one of the problems most reported by protection actors, particularly following displacement. Populations displaced or affected by the war live in situations of deprivation, following the loss or damage of their housing, loss of incomes, and the lack of access to essential services, such as health care or education.

The Government of Ukraine maintains a strong lead role in responding to the needs of its population and UNHCR supports the Government and its central and local institutions to provide protection, shelter/housing, cash and in-kind assistance to people impacted by the war. Currently, UNHCR has MOUs with three line ministries, 17 regional state administrations and agreements with 29 partners, mainly local NGOs. Under the leadership of the UN Humanitarian Coordinator, UNHCR operates as part of the inter-agency humanitarian response, working in close coordination with local authorities and humanitarian partners. UNHCR is leading three clusters - Protection, Shelter and NFIs, and CCCM and is part of the Durable Solutions Steering Committee.

The strategic orientation of UNHCR’s response is to reach people with specific vulnerabilities who remain in frontline and heavily affected areas with immediate relief while supporting displaced people and those who have remained in their homes, or returned, with protection advice, housing support and cash assistance to enable their recovery and attainment of durable solutions.

Protection is truly at the centre of this response, as the highest critical needs of the population caused by the international armed conflict are in the area of protection, and UNHCR leads this sector through the Protection Cluster. The Assistant Representative (protection) is therefore not only a key member of the senior management team in the Operation, s/he also regularly represents UNHCR in meetings/conferences, before donors and on the Humanitarian Country Team and in other fora where protection strategies and programmatic responses are developed. Since Ukraine is a highly sophisticated country with a strong government leadership and well-established administrative, social protection and digital systems, it is essential to design and deliver UNHCR’s protection programs in a way which simultaneously addresses immediate needs and supports the further development of sustainable and inclusive national protection systems.

As an EU candidate country, Ukraine will also embark on substantial reforms in numerous sectors, including justice and home affairs, which presents an opportunity to contribute to strengthened and more inclusive protection, asylum and statelessness reduction systems. Working closely with government authorities, local community representatives and partners from the embassies, UN, civil society and international financial institutions, amongst others, is thus key to ensuring that UNHCR’s response is closely aligned with and complementary of national and local strategies and recovery plans.

As the war continues, new urgent humanitarian needs are created every day, alongside protracted ones and peoples’ and communities’ efforts to recover and rebuild their lives in war-torn communities. Among the some 5 million IDPs and 6 million refugees from Ukraine, the majority express a hope and desire to return to their homes as soon as the security situation allows. The protection needs of the population thus need to be analysed and addressed both from a humanitarian as well as from an early recovery and durable solutions perspective, with UNHCR playing a leading role in this work.

Working and Living conditions:

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been present in Ukraine since 1994 but has increased its presence by a substantially larger scale up in the operation’s structure, staffing and response after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The geographical presence within Ukraine has significatively expanded to deliver the emergency response. The Country Office is based in Kyiv and new operational offices have been established in the central and western regions. UNHCR now has direct operational presence in Chernivtsi, Dnipro, Kyiv, L’viv, Odesa, Poltava, Uzhhorod and Vinnytsia. The current structure will be continuously reviewed and adjusted in response to the evolving operational environment.

International and national staff live in private apartments in the cities of their duty stations. The quality of life is high, as Ukraine is a developed country with functioning infrastructure. However, the volatile security situation, which includes frequent missile and drone attacks that trigger air raid alarms, affects the living and working environment on a more or less daily basis, including during the winter when energy infrastructure has been attacked.

Security:

There is an ongoing armed conflict in Ukraine and parts of some oblasts, including Donetska, Luhanska, Khersonska, and Zaporizka oblasts, are temporarily controlled by the Russian Federation Armed Forces. The Line of Contact (LoC) is the primary area of kinetic military operations, particularly in the east (Donbas) and southeast regions. Cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, aero-ballistic missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been targeting vital civilian and military sites, including airports, since the start of the invasion. As a result, commercial air travel is suspended, and vehicles and trains are the only modes of transportation.

Critical energy and transportation infrastructure have also been targeted in large-scale aerial attacks since October 2022, resulting in frequent power outages and connectivity issues. These conditions may lead to additional challenges during the upcoming winter season, affecting staff safety and well-being.  The UN has not been targeted and retains its impartiality and neutrality when delivering its mandate. However, the danger cannot be fully ruled out, and risks to personnel and dependents, assets, and programmatic activities remain extant.

UN Security Management System (UNSMS) is using comprehensive Security Risk Management (SRM) processes to identify and evaluate security threats and risk levels, which are regularly reviewed. Currently, the most significant threats and hazards are associated with armed conflict, with current risk levels ranging from “high” to “very high” or “unacceptable” in areas with ongoing hostilities. This has resulted in a reduction of humanitarian space, making it difficult and sometimes impossible to access beneficiaries in contested areas.  When assessing risk levels, the security personnel and the UNHCR Representative, as part of the country’s Security Management Team, adhere to the SRM process as defined by the UNSMS. However, it's important to note that, in general, the projected risk levels in all three SRM areas where the UN/HCR operates are “high”.

Therefore, those applying for positions in Ukraine should be prepared to work in a highly dynamic security environment where unexpected events occur frequently. Air raids are common, and staff may be required to work from bunkers or underground carparks, metro stations, and other locations for extended periods. Power and water outages could be expected during the winter months and disruptions to public services such as shops and restaurants may occur. Curfews are in place throughout the country, and mission travel must be authorized by the Representative or designated managers, subject to the completion of mandatory BSAFE, SSAFE, and IFAK training and security clearance procedures.

The security unit works closely with UNDSS to ensure that program activities can be implemented within the acceptable level of risk by following the required measures and procedures set up and approved by the Designated Official. Due to the evolving operational and security environment in the country, UNHCR is flexible and may relocate its offices to better serve its mandate of providing protection and assistance to those in need.

Additional Qualifications

Skills

CL-Multi-stakeholder Communications with Partners, Government & Community, CO-Drafting and Documentation, CO-Reporting skills, PR-Accountability to Affected People - Principles and Framework, PR-Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) OperationsBachelor of Arts (BA): Business Administration, Bachelor of Arts (BA): Human Resource Development, Bachelor of Arts (BA): Human Resources Management, Bachelor of Arts (BA): Personnel Administration

Certifications

Annual Budget OL in Operation/Office, Number of Persons of Concern Served, Number of Workforce in Operation/Work Setting, Workforce to Supervise, Working with Persons of Concern: Internally Displaced Persons, Working with Persons of Concern: Others of Concern, Working with Persons of Concern: Returned IDPs, Working with Persons of Concern: Stateless

Competencies

Accountability, Analytical thinking, Change capability & adaptability, Client & results orientation, Commitment to continuous learning, Communication, Empowering & building trust, Managing performance, Managing resource, Organizational awareness, Planning & organizing, Teamwork & collaboration

https://icsc.un.org/Home/SalaryScales

Compendium

Bi-annual Compendium 2023 Part B - October 2023

Additional Information

This position doesn't require a functional clearance

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