Senior Programme Officer, P5 Job Vacancy: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Closing date: 16 Jan 2010

Location: Kenya - Nairobi

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the United Nations system's designated entity for addressing environmental issues at the global and regional level.

Its mandate is to coordinate the development of environmental policy consensus by keeping the global environment under review and bringing emerging issues to the attention of governments and the international community for action.

UNEP's Division of Environmental Law and Conventions (DELC) identifies synergies and promotes the substantive collaboration among Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs).

DELC also encourages interlinkages between UNEP's programme and those of MEAs. This post is located in UNEP/DELC in Nairobi.

Responsibilities

Under the overall leadership of the Division Director, the incumbent will perform the following tasks:

1. Provide policy, technical and strategic guidance to the Director, on the conceptual strategy development and implementation of the overall strategy for the Unit based on biodiversity and land law, negotiation and governance; Facilitate and enhance coherent and synergistic implementation of global and related biodiversity-related MEAs and establish appropriate linkages and nexus with other non-biodiversity related MEAs;

Provide guidance and advice to the Director on issues related to support for enhanced capacity of national Governments and other stakeholders for mainstreaming of national and international environmental objectives into national sustainable development and poverty eradication strategies, Millennium Development Goals (MDGs);

Develop, liaise, collaborate, promote and maintain close working relations, partnerships and liaison with the biodiversity and land related convention secretariats, their technical and scientific bodies, working groups, relevant UN bodies, non-governmental organization, private sector and civil society, in the execution of the Unit's activities and programmes.

2. Is responsible for, and provides substantive input in the preparation and development of the Unit's position papers and reports on policy-oriented scientific and technical documentation for the consideration of the governing bodies and/or presentation to intergovernmental bodies;

Contributes to the Unit's substantive activities related to the development, implementation and enforcement of biodiversity and land related conventions; Develops, directs and manages capacity building activities; serve as resource person and make presentations on assigned or programmed topics and activities.

3. Plans and oversees the management of activities undertaken by the Unit, ensures that substantive work programmes and programmed activities are carried out in a timely manner, coordinate development of projects proposals for binding for submission to bilateral/multilateral donors and/or funding agencies;

Manages, supervises and carries out the programme of work as well as coordinates the work carried out by the Unit including providing programmatic and substantive reviews of draft prepared by other members of the Unit and/or as relevant, of other departments, UN bodies and partners.

4. Carries out programmatic and administrative tasks necessary for the functioning of the Unit;

Participates and represents the organization at global, regional and national meetings, conferences, seminars on relevant substantive issues and provides programmatic and substantive expertise on an issue as well as preparing the necessary briefings and policy papers related to the Unit's mandate; Perform any other duties as assigned.

Competencies

Professionalism: Demonstrated professional competence including in-depth knowledge of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs).

Ability to advise senior management and other senior officials on approaches and techniques to address highly complex issues, recognized expertise in the field of biodiversity, strong project/programme, management, monitoring skills, experience in developing countries, ability to work under pressure, organization, programme management and performance evaluation, plan, coordinate and monitor own workplan and those of others, including management of consultants and ability to manage conflicting priorities. Knowledge of UN policies, procedures and operations.

Planning and Organizing: proven ability to plan and organize biodiversity programme of work, requiring an in-depth understanding of its strategic direction and ability to integrate the work of the Unit into the Division's work programme ensuring timely delivery of results. Accurately judges the amount of time and resources needed to accomplish a task and matches tasks to skills.

Communication: Effective communication (spoken, written and presentational) skills, commitment to continuous learning, willingness to keep abreast of new developments in the focal area of biodiversity.

Leadership: Ability to provide leadership, ability to take responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives into substantive work and commitment to the goal of achieving gender balance in staffing. Anticipates and resolves conflicts by pursuing mutually agreeable solution, is proactive in developing strategies to accomplish objectives.

Qualifications

Education: Advanced university degree in law with a focus on international environmental law or natural resource management or other relevant discipline related to environment management, biodiversity conservation and management.

A first level university degree in combination with qualifying experience, professional and academic qualifications may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Work Experience: A minimum of ten years of progressively responsible experience in programme management and implementation, five of which should be at the international level.

Extensive experience in environment law, policy and governance especially focused on capacity development is required. Experience with MEAs and intergovernmental processes with particular emphasis on biodiversity is desired. Experience in an international policy analysis setting is desired.

Languages: English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the advertised post, fluency in oral and written English is required. Knowledge of other United Nations languages an asset.

Other Skills: Excellent Computer skills (Microsoft Office, email, internet) are required.

How to apply

http://www.unep.org/vacancies (See Professional Positions)

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