Job Description
The Position:
The Technical Coordinator (TC) on UNFPA’s technical leadership initiative assists the Technical Division (TD) Director and the Technical Division Management Team (TDMT) in the management, coordination, and oversight of the Catalytic Leadership Investment (CLI) grant[1] implementation, with the aim to strengthen integrated, synergistic, and coherent technical leadership and support by the Division and its four Branches.
The position reports directly to the Director of the Technical Division and oversees all aspects of the CLI grant.
The CLI grant supports UNFPA’s work to bolster technical leadership in integrated delivery of Family Planning (FP) and Maternal and Newborn Health (MNH) at the global, regional, and country levels as part of the technical and programmatic work to achieve UNFPA Strategic Plan’s Transformative Results. It catalyzes the Technical Division’s technical leadership efforts towards increasing UNFPA’s capacity and influence as a gender transformative and human rights-based Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) thought leader and technical resource through three interconnected outcomes:
- Strengthened gender transformative and human rights-based SRHR thought leadership, technical coordination, and capacity across UNFPA (Headquarters TD-Regional Offices-Country Offices (HQ/TD-ROs-COs));
- Strengthened gender transformative human rights-based FP policy and programmatic thought leadership and technical capacity across UNFPA (HQ/TD-ROs-COs), and
- Strengthened gender transformative human rights-based MNH, and particularly midwifery and EmONC, thought leadership and technical capacity across UNFPA (HQ/TD-ROs-COs).
[1] The Catalytic Leadership Investment (CLI) grant is provided by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to UNFPA/TD to support UNFPA’s gender transformative and human rights based SRHR thought leadership, with a total funding of US$10.5 million over three years (2023-2025).
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.
Job Purpose:
The Technical Coordinator (TC) provides substantive support to the planning, management, implementation, monitoring, and reporting of the CLI grant, and effectively coordinates and supports cross-thematic engagement. The Technical Coordinator serves as the principal adviser on substantive issues covered under the CLI grant and ensures coordination and collaboration with key HQ units (Policy and Strategy Division (PSD), the Humanitarian Response Division (HRD), Division of Strategic Communications and Partnerships (DCS)) and with Regional Offices, to enhance the timeliness, relevance, and quality of technical collaboration to deliver timely and effectively on the CLI grant.
Responsibilities:
- Policy analysis and strategic planning
- Technical leadership and coordination
- Technical assistance
- Management of resources
The TC takes the lead in operationalizing the work of the Division as it relates to the CLI grant, and in this respect ensures that there is congruence between the substantive and technical goals and objectives of the CLI grant and the global technical programme.
You would be responsible for:
A. Policy analysis and strategic planning
- Support the Director in strategic engagements and dialogue with global technical and development institutions, academia, think tanks, and the UN partners as it relates to the CLI deliverables on technical leadership and excellence.
- Coordinate the process of scanning the environment on substantive issues and advise on the implications for the technical leadership and partnership work and mission of TD.
- Support the Director in the strategic positioning of UNFPA within the global health ecosystem and significant global health and health related partnerships.
- Assist in implementation of decisions and resolutions of the Executive Committee, the Executive Board and the Executive Director which pertain to the Division and are within the scope of the pillars of the CLI grant (FP, MNH and transversal issues including knowledge management, technical professional development, and capacity building, integrated and multidisciplinary technical assistance).
B. Technical leadership and coordination
- Assist the TD Director and TDMT in strengthening the technical coordination, coherence, integration, and cross-thematic collaboration for gender transformative and human rights-based approaches to SRHR thought leadership.
- Facilitate the coordination of TD inputs into strategic global thematic events, conferences, meetings/summits/Symposia, and donor strategic dialogues as it relates to the outputs of the CLI grant.
- Contributes to the Division’s knowledge sharing system; oversee the preparation of various reports, including CLI and other donor reports, annual reports, reports to the Executive Board, among others.
C. Technical assistance
- Provide technical guidance and support to field staff as it relates to the outcomes of the CLI grant to ensure coherence with corporate priorities and global development frameworks as well as consistency with principles of results-based and adaptive management.
- Represent the Division and participate in inter-divisional and inter-agency committees and meetings, as requested by the TD Director.
- Manage the process of ensuring robust monitoring, reporting and evaluation of all the work of the Division as it relates to the CLI grant and in support of the broader Strategic Plan monitoring and reporting.
- Coordinate the UNFPA technical delivery system in line with a revamped technical strategy (under development) and ensure the implementation of the quality assurance systems.
- Facilitate effective information and knowledge sharing across the Division; ensure the Division’s products are incorporated into the wider UNFPA knowledge sharing system.
D. Management of resources
- Oversee the management of CLI grant and its alignment with the related Global and Regional Programme (GRP) initiatives; alignment and coherence with other BMGF supported UN grants including with WHO, UNICEF, GFF, GFATM; lead and manage the process of preparing the annual work plans, quarterly milestones and deliverables and ensuring conformity with UNFPA Strategic Plan priorities.
- Support the Director in the integrated planning process and in monitoring the management and implementation of Branch annual work plans.
- Oversee the projection of the Division’s resource requirements and their subsequent allocation and management; monitor and bimonthly brief the Director on the status of CLI programme implementation; and recommend required adjustment in resources to ensure the achievement of results.
- Ensure high-level relationship and engagement with the senior leadership of the BMGF and any other funder to the technical leadership efforts.
- Guide the preparation of the Division’s component of the UNFPA global programme, oversee its management, and ensure its quality, and achievement of results.
- In collaboration with DHR, support the Director to ensure that the vision of the People Strategy as it relates to technical professional development and technical career path is implemented. This includes the creation of a technical leadership pool, human resource mapping of technical competencies, development of a certification programme for technical staff among others.
- Develop a sustainability strategy for the CLI grant ensuring ability to continue building UNFPA technical leadership and excellence to deliver on the Strategic Plan beyond 2025.
- Oversee the follow through of the plan of work resulting from the Global Technical meeting and the strategy for technical excellence to deliver programme excellence.
- Promote a team-based, harmonious working environment that support diversity and inclusion and recognizes initiative, openness, and performance; and,
- Monitor implementation of Audit recommendations related to technical aspects of the CLI grant and assigned to the Division.
Carry out any other duties as may be required by the TD Director and UNFPA leadership.
Qualifications and Experience:
Education:
Advanced university degree in one or more of the following disciplines: Public Health, Medicine, Sociology, Demography, International Relations, International Development, Economics, Public Administration, Management or another related field.
Knowledge and Experience:
- 10 years of experience of increasingly responsible professional experience in public administration and international development, of which at least 7 years at the international level.
- Job knowledge and technical expertise in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Population and Development and/or Gender.
- Proven ability to lead and manage teams of high-level experts to achieve demonstrable results.
- Extensive network within the academic and development community.
- Excellent communication skills in speaking and writing in English.
- Strong interest in development work, especially the mission of the United Nations Population Fund and dedication to the principles of the United Nations.
- Field experience is a strong asset.
Languages:
Fluency in English; knowledge of other official UN languages, preferably French and/or Spanish, is desirable.
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 self and relationships,
- Communicating for impact
- Convening and building partnerships
Functional Competencies:
- Conceptual innovation in the provision of technical expertise – conceptual innovation.
- Leveraging the resources of national government and partners, and building strategic alliances and partnerships – building strategic partnerships;
- Job knowledge / technical expertise – expert knowledge of own discipline.
Managerial Competencies:
- Providing strategic focus;
- Engaging staff and partners;
- Leading, developing and empowering people/creating a culture of performance;
- Making decisions and exercise good judgment
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.
We are no longer accepting applications for this position.
