Chief Business Relationship Officer (Refugee Systems)

Before submitting an application, UNHCR staff members intending to apply to this Job Opening are requested to consult the Recruitment and Assignments Policy (RAP, UNHCR/HCP/2017/2 and the Recruitment and Assignments Administrative Instruction (RAAI), UNHCR/AI/2017/7 OF 15 August 2017.

Chief Business Relationship Officer (Refugee Systems)

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT
The Chief Business Relationship Officer (Refugee Systems) is principally responsible for ensuring business partners have innovative information and communication technology systems and services that enable them to carry out their mandate efficiently and effectively.  The incumbent is expected to develop strategic relationships with key leaders in DPSM (IMRS and FICCS) in Copenhagen and DIP and DPMS (CBIS) in Geneva and, through these relationships, develop a deep understanding of business challenges and provide technological leadership in the development of ICT plans and systems.  The staff member also collaborates with a wide array of contacts internal to UNHCR and across DIST, as well as external suppliers and strategic partners in the delivery of solutions.  The focus of this role is the development and maintenance of all major applications used in the registration, protection and assistance of refugees throughout UNHCR (e.g. proGres, BIMS, Refugee Data Warehouse/BI, Global Distribution Tool, and CBI Systems). 
The post is located within the Business Relationship Management service and reports directly to the Deputy Director. 
The incumbent has direct supervisory responsibility over Business Analysts and Service Delivery Managers, as well as matrixed management responsibilities over Solution Engineers, Project Managers and other project and business-as-usual staff performing activities under his/her responsibility.

FUNCTIONAL STATEMENT
Accountability
- Strategic relationships are developed with business partners in the Divisions and Bureaux to exploit full potential of ICT in the achievement of business objectives.
- Development and delivery of appropriate ICT solutions are ensured.
- The technology platforms and solutions for systems are fit for purpose, managed and supported using the standard Service Management processes with well-defined SLAs.
- Partners in the Divisions and Bureaux are continuously updated on ICT operational status and efforts to maintain, support and improve services.

Responsibility
Strategy & Planning
- Develop strong collaborative business partnering relationship to understand business requirements and deliver continual ICT service improvement.
- Engage proactively with partners in the Divisions and Bureaux to identify and prioritize opportunities for business improvement through the use of ICT.
- Propose changes or solutions to products and services for optimal business results, as well as analyze and determine operational and financial impact of new product and service offerings.
- Proactively share knowledge of technology risks and opportunities to build competitive advantage and improve efficiency and effectiveness of business units.
- Ensure that Solution Engineers develop and maintain systems and service roadmaps for customer product offerings;
- Secure funding for new initiatives or ICT projects and work with other DIST and business partner units to ensure projects are appropriately staffed.
- Oversee and assist in the drafting of requests for proposals and reviewing of support contracts in area of responsibility including, but not limited to Service Level Agreements, Standard Operating Procedures, and Operational Guidelines for internal and external service providers.

Projects Oversight and Solution Development
- Provide highly-valued strategic consulting support and guidance for key ICT initiatives by leveraging solution engineering resources and/or external subject matter expertise.
- Work collaboratively with business partners to develop project funding requests to the ICT governance board (i.e. project goals, benefits, scope, schedule, budget and risks).
- Participate throughout the project lifecycle as an observer on project steering committees and through regular direct engagement with Project Managers especially when issue escalation and resolution is necessary.
- Communicate decisions, priorities and relevant project information to appropriate levels of staff regarding business unit requests, projects and initiatives.

Service Delivery Management
- Ensure that appropriate support resources, processes and tools are in place before new initiatives, business as usual activities, or ICT project go into production.
- Ensure that business-as-usual production support teams and service delivery managers address and resolve application and system problems within agreed upon service level agreements.
- Prioritize application and systems related tasks based on business needs, in particular in relation to recovery of critical business processes following interruptions in service.
- Continually seek opportunities to increase customer satisfaction and strengthen client relationships by interacting effectively at all levels of the client organization to assess user satisfaction.

Management and Communication
- Foster positive and collaborative working relationships with internal colleagues and external partners.
- Plan and oversee the management of activities undertaken by the Section, including the work of managed service providers.
- Communicate decisions, priorities and relevant project information to appropriate levels of staff regarding business unit requests, projects and initiatives.
- Develop and implement an efficient and effective resourcing strategy to ensure that business demand is met in a timely manner and delivered with the expected quality.
- Participate in the annual program review process to ensure that budget requirements are captured and that expenditure is within the approved budget.
- Act as the audit focal point for systems and services that fall under the scope of responsibilities.
- Represent business needs and advocate for business interests to the other DIST services and Sections.
- Perform other related duties as assigned.¿

Authority (decisions made in executing responsibilities and to achieve results)

- Make hiring recommendations to supervisor.
- Assign technical staff to projects.
- Recommend ICT projects and new ICT services to be included in operational and Headquarters¿ plans.
- Recommend a sourcing strategy for the section.
- Facilitate the planning and execution of business changes through the use of technology.

ESSENTIAL MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE REQUIRED
- Graduate degree (equivalent of a Master¿s) in Computing Science, Business Administration, Social or Hard Sciences, Economics, International Relations or related fields.
- 11 years of relevant experience, 8 of which are at the managerial level.
- Significant experience managing business relationships with customers in a service provider and partnership role, as well as developing short-, medium- and long-terms business plans and strategic roadmaps.
- Demonstrable experience engaging with senior business leaders and influence their plans to adopt new ICT services and ways of working.
- Ability to understand and analyze complex business issues and processes.
- Direct experience developing and/or supporting enterprise-wide, mission-critical systems such as ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning Software), CRM (Customer Relationship Management), Enterprise Content Management, Enterprise Collaboration Platform, Enterprise Business Intelligence Platform.
- Experience and thorough understanding of major systems operations and maintenance support including running an on-call support team covering 24 hours by 7 days.
- Experience successfully delivering ICT projects and/or managing the development/support of major ICT applications/systems.
- Solid knowledge and understanding of UNHCR field operations in general and relevant registration, protection and assistance processes in particular.
- Significant field operational experience with technological awareness.
- Strong supervisory experience including leading a matrixed team to ensure collaboration and effective operations;
- Demonstrated ability to lead a team of staff from different business and technical disciplines.
- Ability to work with Managed Service Providers to develop SLAs and oversee/enhance service delivery.
- Familiarity with the procurement processes, and drafting requests for proposals.
- Strong verbal communications and executive-level presentation skills.
- Willingness to travel internationally up to 25% at a short notice.
- Fluent in written and spoken English.

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS & COMPETENCIES
- Business experience working in operational environments managing programs and/or humanitarian and/or development activities.
- Experience with the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and Project Management Life Cycle (PMLC) best practices and methodology.
- Knowledge of UNHCR specific ICT processes and technologies.
- Experience with large software development and/or infrastructure projects.
- Experience and working knowledge of ITIL processes.
- Experience operating in humanitarian, development, or United Nations organizations.
- Working knowledge of any other UN language. C001L4 - Accountability Level 4
C002L4 - Teamwork & Collaboration Level 4
C003L4 - Communication Level 4
C004L4 - Commitment to Continuous Learning Level 4
C005L4 - Client & Result Orientation Level 4
C006L4 - Organizational Awareness Level 4
M001L4 - Empowering and Building Trust Level 4
M002L4 - Managing Performance Level 4
M006L4 - Managing Resources Level 4
M005L4 - Leadership Level 4
M003L4 - Judgement and Decision Making Level 4
M004L4 - Strategic Planning and Vision Level 4
X002L4 - Innovation and Creativity Level 4
X001L4 - Analytical Thinking Level 4
X003L4 - Technological Awareness Level 4

Before applying to this position, we strongly encourage colleagues to read the country specific FAQs information leaflets which can be found  on the Intranet under Staff Resources > Duty of Care. The information leaflets are specifically designed to answer some of the key questions potential applicants might have before deciding to apply. 

Possess solid knowledge and understanding of UNHCR field operations in general and relevant registration, protection and assistance processes in particular

Significant field operational experience with technological awareness 

Capacity to encourage, recognize and discover opportunities to use information and communications technology to improve operational effectiveness UNHCR's need for software and information systems support continues to grow, as does the need to continuously improve and expand information and communications systems and infrastructure across the organization 

A key element of DIST¿s strategy is to be a trusted strategic partner of the Business Units and be engaged at the onset of an idea, opportunity or problem

As the lead for the strategic interface between DIST and the business, this position partners with and facilitates business/IT strategy development, solution discovery, service management, risk management and relationship management primarily with DPSM (IMRS and FICCS) in Copenhagen and DIP and DPMS (CBIS) in Geneva

The need for Business Relationship Officer (BRO) is particularly acute in the area of refugee systems which support core protection processes that UNHCR implements directly, and where productivity enhancements will directly improve the quality of the protection services UNHCR and its partners provide to Persons of Concern Copenhagen is a category H station No current security concerns Demonstrated ability to lead and work well in a matrix management environment

The focus of this role is the development and maintenance of all major applications used in the registration, protection and assistance of refugees throughout UNHCR e.g. proGres, BIMS, Refugee Data Warehouse/BI, Global Distribution Tool, CBI Systems

Please note that the closing date for all vacancies in the September 2017 Compendium is Monday 6 November 2017 (midnight Geneva time).