The duty station is Rasuwa, Nepal.
Background
The Humanitarian Affairs Officer, UNOCHA is established to support the humanitarian response to the floods affecting Rasuwa and surrounding disaster-affected areas of Nepal. The position is intended to reinforce UN field-level coordination during the immediate response period, working closely with government authorities, UN agencies, NGOs, humanitarian partners, and affected communities. Under the direct supervision of the RCO/OCHA Bidur Hub lead and the overall supervision of the Resident Coordinator’s Office Nepal and the Head of OCHA’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP), the incumbent will work in close collaboration with the UN Resident Coordinator, Government and relief/recovery partners to support the formulation of strategies of engagement in support of the mandate of OCHA at both managerial and operational levels.
The Humanitarian Affairs Officer will provide on-site humanitarian coordination in flood-affected areas, with a particular focus in Rasuwa and Nuwakot. The incumbent will help ensure that operational agencies and local authorities have a common understanding of priority needs, response activities, constraints and gaps, and that field-level issues requiring attention are communicated promptly to relevant coordination and decision-making structures. The role is operational and field-facing and requires regular travel to affected communities and response locations. The incumbent will also be responsible for providing advice and support to the Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator and operational partners to consider the priorities of the most vulnerable communities in humanitarian and early recovery planning.
Duties and Responsibilities
1.) Ensures effective humanitarian coordination at field level in support of national authorities
•Provide a visible and sustained OCHA /RCO coordination presence in Rasuwa and other designated flood-affected areas.
•Facilitate and support field coordination meetings with local authorities, UN agencies, NGOs, Red Cross/Red Crescent actors and other operational partners.
•Promote complementarity among responders, identify duplication and gaps, and support practical follow-up on agreed coordination actions.
•Maintain regular liaison with affected communities and relevant local structures so priority concerns can inform coordination discussions.
•Support field partners to steer a collective approach to Accountability to Affected People (AAP). This means joint community consultations, harmonized messaging in local languages, and shared feedback and complaint mechanisms, whose findings inform response planning and are followed up with communities. Work with the PSEA Network and agency focal points so that these channels are safe and accessible for reporting sexual exploitation and abuse, and that survivor-centred referral pathways are in place and known to communities and responders.
2.) Monitoring, assessment and analysis of humanitarian needs
•Monitor humanitarian conditions, priority needs, access constraints, emerging risks and response coverage through regular field visits and engagement with partners.
•Support or participate in inter-agency rapid assessments and field missions as required.
•Consolidate field observations and partner inputs into concise situation updates, analysis and recommendations for OCHA and humanitarian leadership.
•Flag critical gaps, underserved locations and operational bottlenecks requiring coordinated action.
3.) Support to operational response and emergency preparedness
•Promote timely coordination around immediate life-saving priorities and evolving operational requirements following the floods.
•Support contingency and preparedness discussions where continuing rainfall, landslides, access disruption or other hazards may affect communities or response operations.
•Encourage partners to integrate relevant humanitarian policies and principles, protection considerations, accountability to affected people and inclusion in field-level response planning.
4.) Information sharing, reporting and coordination support
•Maintain regular information exchange between responders in affected areas and coordination structures at national and regional levels.
•Support partners to engage women, persons with disabilities, older persons and marginalized groups in response decisions, using safe and inclusive channels that also serve as entry points for PSEA reporting and referral.
•Track how community feedback is acted upon across partners, and flag recurring concerns, including SEA risks, to coordination forums and the PSEA Network so the response can adjust.
•Prepare meeting records, action points, field updates, briefing notes and inputs to humanitarian reporting products.
•Support mapping of operational presence, needs and response gaps in collaboration with information management colleagues and partners.
•Track agreed actions and follow up with responsible partners to support timely implementation
5) Partnership, advocacy and enabling humanitarian access
•Build constructive working relationships with local and district authorities, humanitarian organizations, civil society and community representatives.
•Identify operational or coordination issues that may impede assistance and elevate them through appropriate channels.
•Provide field evidence and analysis to support advocacy on priority humanitarian needs, equitable assistance and effective response coverage.
Work implies frequent interaction with the following:
Staff at all levels within RCO/OCHA Bidur Hub, UN RCO Nepal and Regional Offfice for Asia and the Pacific . Representatives of Nepal National Disaster Management Organizations, other UN agencies and other organizations that work on disaster risk managemet and related issues.
Results Expected:
Provides sound analytical inputs and advice that contributes to improving institutional capacity and articulates humanitarian response to the Nepal 2026 Flash Flood with a special focus in Rasuwa. Provides timely delivery of assigned tasks, maintains partnerships and interacts effectively with colleagues internally and externally.
Competencies
Core Competencies
-
Achieve Results:
LEVEL 3: Set and align challenging, achievable objectives for multiple projects, have lasting impact -
Think Innovatively:
LEVEL 3: Proactively mitigate potential risks, develop new ideas to solve complex problems -
Learn Continuously:
LEVEL 3: Create and act on opportunities to expand horizons, diversify experiences -
Adapt with Agility:
LEVEL 3: Proactively initiate and champion change, manage multiple competing demands -
Act with Determination:
LEVEL 3: Think beyond immediate task/barriers and take action to achieve greater results -
Engage and Partner:
LEVEL 3: Political savvy, navigate complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaboration -
Enable Diversity and Inclusion:
LEVEL 3: Appreciate benefits of diverse workforce and champion inclusivity
People Management
Show Managerial Courage
• Face up to organizational and people problems
• Not be afraid to take decisions and action when and as needed
• Not hold back anything that needs to be said, respectfully and diplomatically
• Address conflict in a timely manner, not allow conflicts in teams to linger
• Help others through emotional or tense situations, tactfully bringing disagreements into the open and finding solutions all can endorse
Demonstrate Empathy and Emotional Intelligence
• Genuinely care about people; demonstrate empathy with the joys and pains of others
• Enable the wellbeing of the team(s)
• Read a group’s emotional currents and power relationships, identifying influencers, networks, and organizational dynamics; adapt leadership styles at the appropriate times
• See the positive in people, situations, and events
Motivate and Direct
• Create and communicate a compelling vision and purpose
• Align people and resources with organizational vision, strategy, objectives
• Understand and proactively build the team/organization culture
Build an Enabling Workplace
• Create a working environment where people are engaged and want to do their best; empower and enable team members to perform and have a positive workplace experience
• Promote honesty, openness, trust and psychological safety and create opportunities to innovate and learn
• Encourage collective action and integration
Build Capability
• Identify and develop talent in individuals, providing positive support to enable them to achieve their potential
• Foster learning or development of others by giving feedback, guidance, and support; support career development of others
• Have willingness and ability to delegate to help people learn, including from failure
Manage Performance and Ensure Accountability
• Ensure regular conversations with people about work
• Provide positive and constructive feedback
• Discuss poor performance in a timely manner
• Provide praise and recognition, as well as ensure accountability
Lead with Humility
• Be authentic and transparent, act with integrity
• Be accessible and available to team members they lead
• Encourage debate and discussion, creating a culture where people are comfortable to challenge senior leaders and feel listened to
• Be modest, giving credit for success to others and admit own shortcomings
Cross Functional & Technical competencies
Business Management
Operation Management
• Ability to effectively plan, organise and oversee different parts of corporate operations, simultaneously and in an integrated way, in order to convert the organisation’s assets into the best results in the most efficient way. Knowledge of relevant concepts and mechanisms
Partnership management
Emerging partnerships
• Ability to engage with emerging partners, develop and manage a strategy and develop approaches to developing and managing these new strategic partnerships
Communications
Advocacy strategy and implementation
• Ability to create and implement advocacy strategies which lead to impactful change
Required Skills and Experience
Education:
- Advanced University degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in Humanitarian, Environmental Science, Social Science, Climate Change, International Development, Business Administration, Public Administration, or related field is required, or;
- A first level university degree (bachelor’s degree or equivalent) in the above-mentioned fields with additional 2 years of relevant experience will be given due consideration in lieu of master’s degree.
Experience:
- Minimum 2 years (with master’s degree) or 4 years (with bachelor’s degree) of relevant working experience at the national or international organization in disaster management, humanitarian or in related thematic area is required.
- Relevant experience with a UN agency or comparable humanitarian organisation is required.
- Experience in crisis/emergency relief management, and humanitarian/ emergency field coordination is required.
- Excellent liaison, interpersonal and general communications skills; Ability to work with minimum supervision in a multi-cultural environment; Coordination and Information Management skills; Training and or capacity building skills; Presentation skills;
- Excellent command of MS Office suite applications (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint).
- Excellent oral and written command of Nepali and English is required. Knowledge of another UN language is desirable.
- Experience coordinating field-based humanitarian response, including engagement with government authorities and humanitarian partners, is highly desirable.
- Knowledge of Nepal, including local institutions and coordination arrangements, is highly desirable.
Equal opportunity
As an equal opportunity employer, UNDP values diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate and, as such, we encourage qualified applicants from all backgrounds to apply for roles in the organization. Our employment decisions are based on merit and suitability for the role, without discrimination.
UNDP is also committed to creating an inclusive workplace where all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, are valued, can thrive, and benefit from career opportunities that are open to all.
Sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse of authority
UNDP does not tolerate harassment, sexual harassment, exploitation, discrimination and abuse of authority. All selected candidates, therefore, undergo relevant checks and are expected to adhere to the respective standards and principles.
Right to select multiple candidates
UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement. We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.
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