Programme Officer

D

Non FamilyNon FamilyDanger Pay

PR3

Professional

Reason

Regular > Regular Assignment

No

2023-03-24

April 20, 2023Programme Officer Organizational Setting and Work Relationships The Programme Officer may be based in HQ, field/regional bureau, typically reporting to and be guided by the Senior Program officer and may supervise a small team of local and international staff. He/she may refer to UNHCR¿s Programme Manual (Chapter IV), UNHCR's corporate and regional strategic priorities, operation plans and other relevant institutional rules and regulations for further guidance. The Programme Officer will provide programmatic guidance and support with regard to the implementation of protection and solutions strategies within available resources. S/he will coordinate with the other sections/units to ensure harmonized programmatic approaches at all levels and throughout the UNHCR Operations Management Cycle. S/he will work in line with the overall UNHCR directions which crucially require working with partners, including with persons of concern, governmental institutions and the private sector, ensuring that programme management is approached as per UNHCR¿s Strategic Directions, Global Strategic Priorities (GSPs), Global Compact for Refugees (GCR), corporate positions on SDGs. The incumbent is expected to work in line with the multi-functional team (MFT) approach as defined within the Program Manual, ensuring the participation of relevant stakeholders in all phases of the Program Management Cycle. 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 - Support in assessing and analysing the needs of persons of concern in a participatory manner, using an Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) perspective as basis for planning. - Provide support on programmatic aspects of developing multi-year protection and solutions strategies and annual plans with corresponding priorities taking into account corporate priorities. - Support Results Based Management and programme capacity in light of evolving requirements, programming approaches and gaps. - Support the planning process in compliance with planning parameters outlined in the Programme Manual and the planning instructions. - Review and analyse plans, mid-year and year-end reports of UNHCR office(s), ensuring quality assurance and compliance with established policies, guidelines, procedures and standards. - Support in the provision of overall direction to broaden partnerships with key stakeholders in order to maximize the protection and solutions response for persons of concern. - Provide support to ensure a consistent application of the framework for implementing with partners, including the effective implementation of the policy on selection and retention of partners, management of partnership agreements, risk-based project performance monitoring, and risk-based project audits, among others. - Contribute to ensure consistent and coherent monitoring approaches, tools and systems in line with global standards and polices. - Actively contribute to UNHCRs programming of community of practice and continuously contributing to improvements of programming tools and processes. - Identify potential gaps and problems and in cooperation with other relevant sections recommend appropriate solutions to ensure the efficient implementation of programme activities. - Oversee a timely and effective follow-up of internal and external audits observations and recommendations that relate to programmatic issues. - Perform other related duties as required. Minimum Qualifications Education & Professional Work Experience For P3/NOC - 6 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 5 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 4 years relevant experience with Doctorate degree. Field(s) of Education Economics Business Administration Social Sciences or other relevant field. Essential Demonstrated experience in programme management including familiarization with the OMC and sound knowledge Results Based-Management. Demonstrated experience in field operations, sound knowledge on the centrality of protection in programming, Joint Needs Assessments and the principles of targeting. Desirable Demonstrated experience in coordination within an inter-agency context and other actors, in a refugee or humanitarian context. Sound experience in program management training and capacity building activities. Functional Skills PG-Programme Management (programme cycles and reporting standards) PG-Results-Based Management PG-UNHCR's Programmes (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 candidate should have operational protection experience dealing with emergency response to displacement as well as protracted situations and ideally experience working with stateless populations. Experience in working with both international partners and national partners is key, as well as in direct implementation.
Candidate should have leadership and management experience as it will be leading the programme unit and may need to act as Officer in Charge when the Head of Office is absent. Candidate should also strategic thinker, strong stakeholder engagement skills, good time management and planning skills, a creative and solution orientated mindset and experience and motivation to work in a multi-cultural office.

,

,

Operational context

Occupational Safety and Health Considerations:

Nature of Position:

The incumbent reports to the Head of Field Office and directly supervises the Programme Unit composed of three national staff and affiliated workforce. The incumbent also oversees two warehouse and logistics national staff.   He/She may serve as an Officer-in-Charge in the absence of the former.

Given the highly complex operational environment, the incumbent requires a profile with experience in IDP situations (both emergency and protracted), skills to design and implement protection and solutions strategy jointly with other units (including partnership agreements as well as direct implementation) and ability to build a constructive relationship with different stakeholders including partners, CSOs, UN agencies, I/NGOs and donors etc.

Further, in addition to the protracted situation of Rohingya and Kaman IDPs, it is important to note that displacement continues due to the ongoing armed conflict in various parts of Rakhine and that Myanmar faces frequent small to medium scale natural disasters.

He/she actively engages in the Field Offices ' Multi-Functional Team to design, implement and monitor the protection and solutions related activities undertaken directly by UNHCR or NGO partners.

He/she works very closely with all other units of the office, especially Protection, CCCM/Shelter/NFI, Supply and Information Management.

Living and Working Conditions:

All locations in Myanmar are classified high-risk duty stations (non-family with Danger Pay) since 01 April 2022 with a six-week R&R cycle. All staff members who apply to positions in Myanmar are encouraged to attend the duty of care webinars with security, medical, and staff welfare, where they have opportunity to ask any questions following which they have a possibility to withdraw the application.

Following the events of 1 February 2021, the security situation has been deteriorating across the country and two L2 Emergency situations were declared (30 March 2021 until March 2022, and 22 July 2022 until 21 January 2023).

In addition to causing displacement in several areas throughout the country, the situation is impacting supply chains, banking system and markets. Commodity prices (food, petrol, construction materials) have risen across the country, with significant increases for some basic commodities such as rice and oil. The banking system continues to suffer from bank closures, unpredictable business hours, and lack of cash. Staff are encouraged to bring enough money before coming in country or check with local HR/Admin prior to arriving in country. This again has had an impact on the ability of UNHCRs partners to implement humanitarian activities. Communication and access to information are increasingly challenging, coupled with frequent Internet disruptions and electricity cut.

In addition, Myanmar has experienced a couple of waves of COVID-19 pandemic, in an operational environment where effective medical attention cannot be expected with very limited health facilities. Incumbent therefore is required to be in very good health condition given the general lack of medical facilities in country. No quarantine is required at arrival in Myanmar and as per the Ministry of Health (MOH), travelers must present a COVID 19 vaccination certificate showing they were fully vaccinated at least 14 days before arrival to Myanmar, or the negative COVID-19 RT-PCR result issued at most 48 hours before arrival to Myanmar if they are unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated.

Furthermore, Myanmar is a country prone to natural hazards, including heavy rains and cyclones. Danger Pay is applicable in some parts of the country, including Yangon. The security level is substantial (4) in the country except Rakhine State which is moderate (3). A curfew is imposed across the country and restriction time varies from townships to regions. For instance, some major cities like Yangon, Mandalay, Myitkyina, Lashio, the curfew time is from 12:00 am to 4:00 am.

The country had rapidly developed after several decades of being largely closed to international modern influences but since 1 February 2021, everything has come to a standstill.

Getting visa for Myanmar is a challenge. Visa process takes 8 weeks to several months due to the procedure changes at the counterpart ministries and will require starting functions under teleworking arrangement pending the issuance of the visa/travel. Staff entitlements cannot be released to staff before arriving to the duty station, and the salary of staff will be kept at the level of previous duty station/place of home leave until they reach the duty station. The incumbent requires abilities to effectively manage teams remotely, work independently and at a different time zone.  Depending on their function, and time zone, staff members might have to work early mornings or late at nights during teleworking to be aligned with Myanmar working hours. As per the new Policy on Flexible Work, teleworking outside the country of the official duty station could impact salaries/benefits and applicants need to get clear information about related entitlements prior to applying.

Some important aspects of working and living conditions in Sittwe are:

• Sittwe is a D Duty Station; it has limited medical and other facilities and has 6-week R&R cycles; there are basic infrastructure, restaurants, shops, and local markets in town. There is little leisure and recreational facilities.
• Sittwe is about 1 - 1.5-hour flight away from Yangon, there are several flights per day.
• There is no UNHCR guesthouse in Sittwe. International staff live in private housing or hotels.
• Very limited health facilities available locally.
• Very limited local banking and ATM facilities.
• Field missions are undertaken by vehicles and speed boats.

Additional Qualifications

Skills

BA: Business Administration (Required), BA: Economics (Required), BA: Social Science (Required)

Certifications

HCR Learning Program - UNHCR

Competencies

Accountability, Analytical thinking, Change capability & adaptability, Client & results orientation, Commitment to continuous learning, Communication, Empowering & building trust, Judgement & decision making, Managing performance, Managing resource, Negotiation & conflict resolution, Organizational awareness, Teamwork & collaboration

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

Compendium

March 2023 Compendium - Part B

Additional Information

This position doesn't require a functional clearance