Technical Adviser, Population & Development, Suva, Fiji, PSRO, P5

The Position:

The post of Technical Adviser, Population & Development is located in the UNFPA Pacific Sub-Regional Office (PSRO) in Suva, Fiji. S/he will serve as PSRO’s Chief of Population & Development, working under the direct supervision of UNFPA Pacific Deputy Director/Representative (Head of Programme) and the overall guidance by the Director/Representative. 

 

S/he will be the principal adviser at the sub-regional level for integrated technical and programme advice in population and development. The Technical Adviser works in an integrated manner with the Technical staff in the Headquarters, Asia-Pacific Regional Office (APRO) and within the Sub-Regional Office under the coordination of the PSRO Deputy Director and provides assistance to 14 Pacific Island Countries and Territories (Fiji; Federated States of Micronesia; Kiribati; Nauru; Palau; Marshall Islands; Samoa; Solomon Islands; Tonga; Tuvalu; Vanuatu; Cook Islands; Niue; and Tokelau) under the new 7th Multi-Country Programme (MCP7) 2023-2027. 

 

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.

 

Job Purpose:

14 Pacific Island Countries and Territories served by UNFPA Pacific Sub-Regional Office (PSRO) in Fiji, despite their diverse needs, share some critical commonalities including the need to harness the youthful populations’ potentials as ‘demographic dividends’ in achieving sustainable and equitable development, and their communities’ vulnerabilities against external shocks such as climate crises and health pandemics, as well as the high incidence of gender-based violence. This Technical Adviser post provides strategic technical and programmatic leadership for the Pacific region in the area of Population and Sustainable Development to ensure that the PSRO remain abreast of the Fund’s policy and programme policies as well as current thinking and academic advance in a given substantive areas affecting the ICPD Programme of Action and SDGs. S/he maintains the primary responsibility for development and implementation of technical assistance and programme support to the countries of the region in population dynamics, in coordination with UNFPA HQs, APRO, within PSRO, and among UN inter-agency and other external partners such as the Pacific Community (SCP) and the University of the South Pacific (USP).  S/he analyses regional as well as sub-regional trends and contributes to strategic actions and monitoring of UNFPA substantive areas being firmly placed within national and regional development frameworks and programmes, including the achievement of the SDGs and other relevant Pacific strategies such as the 2050 Strategy. 

              

Responsibilities of the Technical Adviser include: to support the elaboration of the UNFPA strategic plan and business plan in the region; to identify new and emerging needs, mobilize resources, develop and lead delivery modalities for technical guidance and support; to develop and maintain technical partnerships in the region; and, to ensure that technical knowledge is updated, generated, collected and disseminated for effective technical, capacity building and policy dialogue. In all activities, s/he works within an inter-disciplinary team providing integrated programme and technical support to the region.  S/he also liaises with other units, such as the Programme and Technical Divisions and the UNFPA thematic/technical networks, ensuring the timeliness, adequacy, relevance and quality of technical support to UNFPA programmes and operations.

 

You would be responsible for:

1. Strategic technical development, monitoring and oversight

• Provide technical and programme leadership, management advice and strategic guidance and support to Pacific countries and PSRO, including for data for development, Demographic Dividends, in addition to humanitarian operational datasets for emergency preparedness, response,  recovery and transition, in collaboration with concerned technical and programme staff in HQs, APRO and SRO, to help address the emerging climate-humanitarian-development-peace nexus in the Pacific region, as well as data on gender-based violence;
• Facilitate data related policy dialogues at the sub-regional level and participate in country level policy dialogues as required;
• Contribute to the development and implementation of an integrated strategy for the delivery of technical assistance and programme support in the region;
• Lead and manage the implementation of a sub-regional programme(s) on Population and Development, in line with the regional and countries’ priorities;
• Lead the resource mobilization for the MCP7 Outcomes related to Population and Development, including by developing quality funding proposals; 
• Contribute to the substantive elaboration of UNFPA Strategic Plan and to its implementation in the sub-region;
• Development, implementation and monitoring of sub-regional data strategies; 
• Scan the environment in the region and identify and analyze trends, threats and risks in the population and data thematic area of work that may affect the ICPD agenda and UNFPA’s work within the sub-region;
• Identify requirements for and contribute to the development of new or updated policies, frameworks, positioning and guidance documents, standards, instruments and tools;
• Initiate, develop, strengthen and monitor substantive and intellectual sub-regional partnerships in the Population and Development areas, including for South-South support to countries and for the implementation of the regional programme;   
• Participate in the relevant UNFPA technical / knowledge networks, maintaining communication and feedback loops on all substantive work; and
• Coach and manage junior professional staff and associates, direct and oversee expert consultants and facilitate working groups and task teams.

 

 

B. Quality control of technical support and capacity development

 

• Advise SRO and COs on the implementation and proper application of UNFPA Data policies, strategies, guidelines and tools on substantive matters in the region, ensuring consistency and coherence in addressing UNFPA priorities;
• Ensure that state-of-the-art thinking and research is integrated within the work of the SRO and networks; 
• Review products of technical support at key stages of national development planning exercises supported by UN/UNFPA,;
• Analyze technical, programmatic and substantive reports from the field and recommend follow-up actions; 
• Organize and/or contribute to sub-regional and inter-country capacity development activities in the substantive area for capacity development of national/regional counterparts and SRO/COs staff , adapting  training materials, manuals and tools;
• Support the development of sub-regional institutional capacities for delivering high-quality technical support in select areas of UNFPA’s mandate;
• Monitor the quality of the technical support received at the country level, in the area of expertise, for effective policy dialogue and programming;
• Liaise with respective counterparts in the Headquarters, Regional Office(s) and other Country Offices to identify opportunities for South-South cooperation in the region and with other regions.

 

C. Evidence and knowledge development and dissemination in the area of substantive expertise

 

• Play a key role in building up, coordinating and monitoring the sub-regional knowledge platform in the areas of data expertise and competency; 
• Facilitate and help maintain and make accessible databases on good practices, partnerships and consultant rosters and help ensure their accessibility; 
• Collect, analyze and synthesize information/data evidence and experience on programme and technical issues to be used for the regional and global advocacy and resource mobilization; 
• Lead the analysis and synthesis of substantive trends, emerging needs and research findings in the region in order to produce new, cutting edge technical knowledge, especially on Demographic Dividends, and advancing advocacy for the Financing for SRHR/ICPD; 
• Prepare white papers, briefing and materials for evidence-based policy dialogues at sub-regional level, provide similar support at the request of country offices;
• Disseminate and promote the use of state-of-the-art technical knowledge, evidence, lessons learned, and success stories and ensure their use to improve the effectiveness of UNFPA operations.
• Monitor and analyze reports on humanitarian, economic, political and social factors in development and management of population and development programmes;
• Contribute to the advocacy efforts to advance the ICPD agenda and the attainment of SDG targets and indicators at the regional level; and
• Contribute to generating evidence-based knowledge and sub-regional experiences of working with UN-wide frameworks and instruments in the context of the new aid environment.

 

D. Management and coordination of knowledge networks in the area of substantive expertise

 

• Coordinate and facilitate overall provision of technical support to the country offices in the region;
• Develop and co-ordinate the substantive elements of partnerships with other UN agencies especially UNICEF, UNESCAP, etc, particularly with the regional technical arms of these agencies, as well as with regional institutions such as SCP and USP;
• Identify sources of technical knowledge among institutions and consultants; and 
• Establish and maintain relationships with institutions in the region. 

 

E. Technical representation

 

• Represent UNFPA on substantive issues in the region and elaborate UNFPA’s substantive regional and global perspectives in the area of expertise;
• Participate in policy dialogue, and advocate for substantive issues in international, inter-governmental, UN, and other policy and technical meetings and fora;
• Collaborate on substantive issues with UN agencies, academia, research and training institutions, think tanks, centers of excellence, professional societies in the region and sub-region; and
• Act as focal point for inter-agency working groups in the substantive area. 

Carry out any other duties as may be requested by the Executive Office of the Pacific Sub-Regional Office. 

 

Qualifications and Experience: 

 

Education:  

 

• An advanced (Masters) University Degree in demography, statistics, population studies, economics, or other field directly related to the substantive area identified in the title of the post.
• A PhD in a relevant area is a strong asset.

 

Knowledge and Experience: 

Minimum 10 years of increasingly responsible professional experience in the substantive area, of which seven years at the international level;

• Population Research, Census, DHS/MICS, and civil registration experience is essential
• Experience of linkages between population, poverty alleviation, gender equality and humanitarian action, through the lens of Demographic Dividends, desirable
• Experience in population related policy development, an asset
• Understanding of Direct Budget Support, an asset
• Experience of PRSPs and MTEF analysis, an asset
• Understanding of Human Rights dimensions of Population and Development, an asset
• Demonstrated expertise in the substantive area of work; and programme experience;
• Strong track record of technical leadership, and proven ability to produce demonstrable results;
• Strong verbal and written communications skills in English and/or in the relevant language in the region
• Demonstrated ability to network within the academic and development community;
• Familiarity with management and monitoring tools is desirable;
• Familiarity with ICT/ERP is an asset;
• Field experience is strongly desirable.

Languages: 

• Proficiency in both spoken and written English is a must. Working knowledge of Pacific languages is an asset.

Required Skill Sets

• Ability to identify the relative merits of different policy arguments in the broad or specific thematic area, applying principles and reasoned personal view in a logical and coherent way including presentation of reasoned choice between alternative opinions and solutions; 
• Ability to think outside the box, and devise innovative solutions;
• Ability to conceptualize and to integrate knowledge with broader strategic, policy and operational objectives; 
• Ability to organize information using appropriate mode of presentation and style and to communicate effectively, illustrating relevance of information to the intended audience;
• Ability to forge strong partnership with external partners, including for mobilizing and leveraging resources with quality proposals;  
• Ability to produce high quality practical advisory reports and knowledge products in English;
• Ability to promote knowledge management and a learning environment through leadership and personal example;
• Ability to work with and within inter-disciplinary and multicultural groups to find agreed solutions to set problems and to accept responsibility and accountability for performance on any aspect of a team task;
• Strong negotiating and networking skills; and
• Humility and team spirit.

 

Required Competencies: 

Values:

Exemplifying integrity, 

Demonstrating commitment to UNFPA and the UN system, 

Embracing cultural diversity, 

Embracing change

 

Core Competencies: 

Achieving results,

Being accountable,

Developing and applying professional expertise/business acumen,

Thinking analytically and strategically,

Working in teams/managing ourselves and our relationships,

Communicating for impact.
 

Functional Competencies:

• Promoting accountability and results-based management, 
• Innovation and marketing development and management, 
• Impact and influence, Organizational awareness, 
• Promoting organizational learning and knowledge sharing,
• Advocacy/Advancing a policy-oriented agenda, 
• Leveraging the resources of national governments and partners/building strategic alliances and partnerships,
• Delivering results-based programmes;
• Internal and external communication and advocacy for results mobilization.

 

Compensation and Benefits:

 

This position offers an attractive remuneration package including a competitive net salary plus health insurance and other benefits as applicable.

Disclaimer: 

UNFPA does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Fraudulent notices, letters or offers may be submitted to the UNFPA fraud hotline http://www.unfpa.org/help/hotline.cfm

In accordance with the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations, persons applying to posts in the international Professional category, who hold permanent resident status in a country other than their country of nationality, may be required to renounce such status upon their appointment.