The Position:
The Director of the Programme and Technical Division reports directly to the Deputy Executive Director (Programme) (DED-P). A member of the Executive Committee, the Director provides overall strategic vision, direction and leadership to the Division and serves as the senior adviser within the Fund on all substantive, programmatic, and technical matters.
With a view to accelerating progress, the Director will guide global positioning of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) and the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) agenda through ensuring the provision of integrated and coherent programme and technical excellence in support of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and UNFPA three transformative results.
The position of the Director of the Programme and Technical Division is currently located at UNFPA Headquarters in New York, USA, and will be relocated to Nairobi, Kenya, with its incumbent, by 2025. As Director of the Programme and Technical division, the Director will initially supervise two divisions, the Policy and Strategy Division and Technical Division and will be responsible for leading the integration of the people, processes and work plans for the new Program and Technical Division. A fully integrated Programme and Technical Division will be in place by August 2024 ahead of the physical move planned between March and September 2025.
How you can make a difference:
UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled. UNFPA’s strategic plan (2022-2025), reaffirms the relevance of the current strategic direction of UNFPA and focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning; and end gender-based violence and harmful practices. These results capture our strategic commitments on accelerating progress towards realizing the ICPD and SDGs in the Decade of Action leading up to 2030. Our strategic plan calls upon UN Member States, organizations and individuals to “build forward better”, while addressing the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on women’s and girls’ access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, recover lost gains and realize our goals.
In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical staff, who embody these international norms and standards, and who will defend them courageously and with full conviction.
UNFPA is seeking candidates that transform, inspire and deliver high impact and sustained results; we need staff who are transparent, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results.
Qualifications and Experience:
Education:
An advanced degree in Public Health, Medicine, Sociology, Demography, International Relations, International Development, Economics, Public Administration, Management or related fields is required.
Knowledge and Experience:
- Over 15 years of increasingly responsible professional experience in public administration and international development of which 10 years in the field of Reproductive Health and Rights, Population and Development or Gender at the international level, and at least five years effectively leading a large global organization;
- Job knowledge and technical expertise – the incumbent is expected to be a world class expert and recognized authority in the area of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Population and Development, or Gender, preferably also with a strong research background in reproductive health areas;
- Strong demonstrated leadership skills and proven ability to manage multiple teams of high level experts to achieve results in programme delivery at a global scale;
- Proven ability to support coherent and integrated programming at a global scale;
- A strong track record in successful partnerships building, including large scale fundraising and resource mobilization with diverse types of donors;
- Extensive network within the academic, civil society and development community.
Languages:
Excellent communication skills in speaking and writing in English; Working knowledge of another official UN language is highly desirable.
We are no longer accepting applications for this position.
