Regional Office Manager (UNCDF) – UNDP – Bangkok, Thailand

Location:  Bangkok, THAILAND

Application Deadline: 22-Feb-13

Additional Category: Millennium Development Goals

Type of Contract: FTA International

Post Level: P-5

Languages Required: English 

Starting Date: (date when the selected candidate is expected to start)   01-Apr-2013

Duration of Initial Contract: One year (renewable)

Background

UNCDF is the UN’s capital investment agency for the world’s 48 least developed countries. Its mission is to create new opportunities for poor households and small businesses by increasing access to financial services and investment capital. UNCDF programmes help to empower women and are designed to catalyze larger capital flows from the private sector, national governments and development partners, for maximum impact toward the MDGs. Within its broader economic development mandate, UNCDF focuses on public and private financing mechanisms. Effective and efficient finance – in both the public and private sectors – can spur economic growth and make it more sustainable and inclusive. UNCDF’s focus on financing mechanisms has special relevance for least developed countries, where public financial management is often weak, and private financial systems often underdeveloped and inaccessible to poor people. UNCDF is growing rapidly. Annual income and financial delivery are now roughly $60 million. This trend is expected to continue. Innovative new programmes (e.g. mobile money; climate change finance for local governments; savings-led microfinance; clean energy finance) are attracting significant partner interest and new programmes are in the pipeline. Regional Offices are closely integrated with the work of UNCDF Headquarters.  Their primary function is to: (i) provide technical support to the implementation of programmes; (ii) manage relationship with UNDP country offices; (3) develop and coordinate partnerships with regional institutions and organizations. The Manager of the Regional Office reports to the Deputy Executive Secretary. All regional office staff report to the Manager of the Office.  (Regional Technical Advisors also report to the Practice Director).

Duties and Responsibilities

Functions / Key Results Expected Managerial Build and manage a coordinated and effective team of technical advisors, portfolio specialists and operational staff; Prepare annual results oriented work plan for the Office in consultation with all concerned staff, and the Deputy Executive Secretary; Promote a work environment that is conducive to producing the outputs and delivering the results of the work plan; Assist the Deputy Executive Secretary with the preparation of the required annual planning, budgeting and reporting; Ensure effective liaison with the UNDP Resident Representatives in the host country, but without any representational functions vis-à-vis the host government; Liaise at appropriate level with regional organizations; Assess performance of the staff of the Regional Office and prepare RCAs in coordination with the Practice Directors for the Regional Technical Advisors. Assist the Practice Directors in management and delivery of their regional strategies and the staff and resources involved in implementing them. All Managerial/leadership functions are performed in an integrated and team relationship with the Headquarters units, in line with established UN/UNCDF management norms, rules and regulations, and in conformity with UNCDF internal accountability framework. Coordination, Coherence and Knowledge Management Ensure policy coherence across UNCDF two practice areas [Financial Inclusion Practice Area (FIPA) and Local Development Finance Practice (LDFP)] in the Office and work closely with the Directors of the Practices at HQ to ensure global and regional policy coherence; Manage the team of regional technical advisors for the provision of policy advisory services, programme and technical support for programme development and implementation; Promote effective implementation of the Practice functions including quality standards, creation and sharing of knowledge products; Promote incorporation of lessons learned from regular monitoring and project reviews as well as recommendations from evaluations into planning and programme development; Serve as liaison in the Region on behalf of UNCDF with UNDP Regional Service Centers and UNDP Country Offices; Ensure inclusion of UNCDF in UNDAFs; Participate as necessary in the meetings of the Regional and Country based UN Development Group. Partnership, Resource Mobilization and Communications Develop a comprehensive resource mobilization and regional partnership development strategy for the Regional Office; Develop strategic partnership with regional institutions and organizations for knowledge, research, advocacy, policy impact, programme replication; Manage relations with donors in the region; Ensure achievement of resource mobilization targets; Represent UNCDF at key events at regional and country level to promote the organization’s comparative advantages and strategic niches. Impact of Results The post of the Manager, Regional Office is critical for: The efficiency of the Office; The policy coherence of UNCDF’s work; The quality of support to UNCDF programmes; The contribution to knowledge management. The Regional Office Manager has a critical role in ensuring effective and efficient functioning of the office and in ensuring coherence between the practice areas and representing UNCDF’s policy agenda in the region.  She/he has an important role in managing the relationship with UNDP in the region and in maintaining the image of the organization internally and with external stakeholders.

Competencies

Functional Competencies Advocacy/Advancing A Policy-Oriented Agenda  Influencing the public policy agenda Dialogues with national counterparts and other stakeholders to strengthen advocacy efforts, incorporating country, regional and global perspectives Strategic Partnerships Building strategic alliances Makes effective use of UNCDF’s resources and comparative advantage to strengthen partnerships Creates networks and promotes initiatives with partner organizations Resource Mobilization Developing resource mobilization strategies at country level Actively develops partnerships with potential donors and government counterparts in all sectors at country and regional level Develops innovative approaches and strategies for fund raising activities Promoting Organizational Learning and Knowledge Sharing Participating in the development of policies and innovative approaches and promoting  their application throughout the organization Promotes UNDP as a learning/knowledge sharing organization Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise Expert knowledge of own discipline Possesses expert knowledge of advanced concepts in primary discipline, a broad knowledge of related disciplines, as well as an in-depth knowledge of relevant organizational policies and procedures Core Competencies: Promoting ethics and integrity Building staff competence,  creating an environment of creativity and innovation Building and promoting effective teams Creating and promoting enabling environment for open communication Building an emotionally intelligent environment Sharing knowledge across the organization and building a culture of knowledge sharing and learning  Fair and transparent  decision making; calculated risk-taking Capacity to lead and manage multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams and resolve conflicts Strong interpersonal, communications and presentation skills In-depth practical knowledge of inter-disciplinary development issues, particularly in the area of economic development and poverty reduction Ability to mainstream Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women into the programme cycle

Required Skills and Experience

Education: Masters degree in economics, public/business administration, social sciences, political science, or other development-related field. Essential Knowledge and Experience: At least ten (10) years relevant experience in progressively more responsible positions in the field of development-both in the field and headquarters environments-with an international development organization At least three years of management responsibilities of similar size and complexity Knowledge and experience in the UN system particularly UNDP Experience in designing policies and programmes and in managing teams of experts Experience and understanding of public finance for local development and financial services for the poor and/or private sector development an asset Good understanding of the role of civil society and private sector in development Language Requirements:  Fluency in English and French is an asset.

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UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

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