Director, Partnerships and Futures

The Director, PFG provides leadership and strategic direction of the group, working collaboratively with key internal and external stakeholders to strengthen capabilities that support implementation of UNOPS 4-year strategic plan to scale up and speed up  delivery for impact for the partners and people UNOPS serves.

The Director, PFG reports directly to the Executive Director (ED), and supports the two Deputy Executive Directors (DEDs), respectively, Management and Policy (M&P), and Delivery and Partnerships (D&P).

The Director, PFG is accountable for: 

• Driving growth in the volume and value of UNOPS portfolio of engagements and ensuring the portfolio is strategically aligned, diverse and balanced.
• Strengthening UNOPS positioning, ensuring that it is demand-ready for partner needs across mission thematic areas.
• Driving increases in partner satisfaction with the quality and delivery of UNOPS services.
• Ensuring PFG is adding value to the overall strategic direction of UNOPS.

1. Organizational Leadership and Strategic Direction 

• Serve as a senior organizational leader contributing to UNOPS corporate strategy, advising the Executive Director and senior management on emerging global trends, risks and opportunities in partnerships, knowledge, innovation and foresight.
• Translate UNOPS organizational mandate into a strategic vision and multi-year plan for partnerships, knowledge, innovation and foresight that leverages innovation, strengthens organizational coherence and enhances UNOPS global positioning.
• Envision and advocate for the role of partnerships, knowledge, innovation and foresight as core drivers of sustainable development and operational excellence within and beyond UNOPS.
• Ensure alignment between PFG priorities and organizational goals, while championing initiatives that strengthen leadership capacity, institutional resilience, and long-term impact.

2. Functional Stewardship

• Lead the development, implementation and continuous evolution of the strategies and approaches that define how UNOPS develops partnerships and integrates knowledge, innovation and foresight across the organization.
• Ensure the quality and effectiveness of partnerships, knowledge, innovation and foresight across UNOPS, building capabilities and sharing accountability for results with regional and country offices and headquarters groups.
• Promote devolved, empowered decision-making models that place accountability and authority closest to the point of delivery while ensuring coherence and organizational learning.
• Guide regional and country teams on strategic negotiations, programme design and high-impact engagements with partners, ensuring alignment with UNOPS priorities and global standards.
• Provide authoritative advice to the Executive Director, the Deputy Executive Directors, Regional Directors, governing bodies and external partners on complex and politically sensitive matters.

3. Strategic Partnerships

• Oversee the development of partner segment strategies for growth, framed by missions, and driven by partner needs and trends.
• Ensure segment portfolios are mission aligned and balanced, drawing on knowledge, innovation and foresight, and market intelligence.
• Serve as a member of the Strategic Portfolio Committee (SPC), providing strategic recommendations on portfolio composition, and the Portfolio Oversight Committee (POC), ensuring high-stakes engagements are managed at the appropriate level and in a way that protects the organization while maximizing UNOPS impact.
• Oversee the generation and dissemination of segment and partner insights among UNOPS leadership team and partner-facing personnel.
• Oversee the strengthening of quality standards for partnership development among partner-facing personnel across UNOPS.

4. Key Partner Leadership

• Oversee the development and delivery of key partner strategies to strengthen relationships, engagement and positioning, and ensure mission-led intent is embedded.
• Oversee Key Partner Leads (KPLs) in PFG and the functional coordination of KPLs across UNOPS geographic offices.
• Support the ED, DEDs and UNOPS leadership team in representing UNOPS and engaging with Member States, donors, international financial institutions, host governments and implementing partners to advance UNOPS strategic interests and expand  opportunities for collaboration and partnership development.
• Represent UNOPS at the highest levels in inter-agency bodies, executive boards, governing bodies and major international forums.
• Strengthen collaboration across the UN system, ensuring UNOPS contributes to collective results and sector-wide standards.
• Oversee the development of global-level capabilities to support opportunity development, and guide efforts to identify and develop opportunities with key partners in collaboration with regions and countries.

5. Knowledge, Innovation and Foresight

• Guide the development and advancement of missions, driving the creation of  evidence and strategic insights, ensuring UNOPS credibility, visibility and positioning are strengthened across each mission and bringing mission-led perspectives to senior discussions.
• Oversee the integration of knowledge, innovation and foresight through missions into policy and practice, working across Management & Policy and Delivery & Partnerships to align policy framing, service offering development and service delivery.
• Promote a culture of experimentation and learning that anticipates future needs and positions UNOPS to respond to global shifts.
• Oversee the establishment and continuous improvement of knowledge management, innovation and foresight frameworks, tools and capacity development approaches - enabling personnel to access the right information at the right time and the organization to learn systematically, ensuring the organization remains at the forefront of global best practice and technological innovation.

6. People Leadership, Culture and Organizational Capacity

• As a member of UNOPS global leadership team, role-model UNOPS values and behavioral competencies. 
• Drive leadership development and talent pipelines, ensuring the cultivation of the next generation of partnerships, knowledge, innovation and foresight leaders.
• Promote teamwork and collaboration across PFG, ensuring team members have clear direction, objectives and guidance to enable them perform their duties responsibly, effectively and efficiently. 
• Foster a positive work environment that is respectful of all. Ensure appropriate focus on team well-being, empowerment, diversity and inclusion and that the highest standards of conduct are observed.
• Champion organizational learning, continuous improvement, and a high-performance culture.

Required

• Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in international development, business administration, public policy, economics, political science, or related discipline with 12 years of relevant experience OR

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in any of the above or related disciplines with 10 years of relevant experience is required

Required

• Relevant experience includes strategic leadership, partnership development, and organizational positioning within large, complex UN system organizations.
• Experience in development and/or humanitarian contexts is required.
• Strong experience in portfolio growth, opportunity development, and/or market/partner intelligence is required.
• Proven experience leading multi-year strategy development and implementation, including performance monitoring and results-based management, is required.
• Demonstrated experience in building and managing high-level partnerships with governments, multilateral institutions, donors, and/or private-sector actors, is required.
• Experience advising senior leadership and governance bodies (e.g. executive committees, boards, etc) on strategic, political and operational matters is required.
• Experience leading cross-functional teams and driving alignment across diverse organizational units is required.

Desired

• Experience  in innovation, future studies, foresight methodologies or knowledge management is desired.
• Experience in programme, portfolio or project management  is desired

• UNOPS does not accept unsolicited resumes. 
• UNOPS will at no stage of the recruitment process request candidates to make payments of any kind.
• Applications to vacancies must be received before midnight Copenhagen time (CET) on the closing date of the announcement. Applications received after the closing date will not be considered. 
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and invited to proceed to the next stage of the selection process, which may include various assessments. 
• UNOPS embraces diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity. Our workforce consists of a wide range of nationalities, cultures, languages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. We strive to sustain and strengthen this diversity, fostering an inclusive working environment where all personnel are treated with respect and have equal access to opportunities.
• UNOPS evaluates all applications based on the skills, qualifications and experience outlined in the vacancy announcement. We are committed to a fair and transparent selection process and welcome diverse perspectives, including those of women, indigenous and racialized communities, individuals of diverse gender identities and sexual orientations, and persons with disabilities.
• We are committed to enabling all candidates to perform at their best during the assessment process. If you are shortlisted and require support or reasonable accommodation to complete any assessment, please inform our human resources team upon receiving your invitation.
• UNOPS has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment, and other forms of abusive conduct, including discrimination, abuse of authority, and harassment. To uphold these standards, background checks are conducted for all final candidates to help ensure that individuals with a history of such conduct are not hired. By applying for a position with UNOPS, candidates acknowledge and consent to these verification processes.
  

• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post. 
• For retainer contracts, you must complete a few mandatory courses (they take around 4 hours to complete) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS. Refreshers or new mandatory courses may be required during your contract. Please note that you will not receive any compensation for taking courses and refreshers. For more information on a retainer contract here. 
• For more details about the contract types, please click here.
• 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.