Job Opportunity for Deputy Country Programme Manager at UN Habitat in New Delhi

About the Organization

UN-Habitat is the coordinating agency within the United Nations System for human settlement activities and in collaboration with governments is responsible for promoting and consolidating collaboration with all partners, including local authorities, private and non-governmental organizations in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular, Goal 11 of “Making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”, as well as the task manager of the human settlements chapter of Agenda 21 and focal point for the monitoring, evaluation and implementation of the New Urban Agenda adopted during the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III), in Ecuador, Quito, 2016.

Job Description/Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the Country Programme Manager (CPM), UN-Habitat India, the incumbent will work under overall guidance of the Senior Human Settlements Officer (SHSO), ROAP, UN-Habitat and will be responsible to undertake the following activities:

Representation of the Organization

• Represent UN-Habitat at UN country team meetings of deputy representatives, meetings with the Government and at various other forums and ensure garnering of support to the mandate and to the programmes of UN-Habitat in India.
• Serve as an effective spokesperson and establish collaboration and partnerships with key officials at all levels inside and outside the organization. Identify strategic areas of partnership with diverse stakeholders and find creative and innovative solutions to development challenges while appreciating political sensitivities.
• Support Country Programme Manager in developing, implementing, and evaluating programmes/projects and explore further resource mobilization to advance UNHabitat’s mandate in India.

Programme Management

• Supervise and provide technical and management support in urban sector analysis, needs assessments and other activities; participate in advisory missions to carry out high level consultations and other activities aimed at development of urban sector policies, strategies and programmes.
• Coordinate policy development, review the assessments of issues and trends, prepare evaluations or research activities and studies and contribute to wider knowledge management initiatives within the organization (regional offices/excellence centres/HQs) and to external stakeholders.
• Ensure coherence amongst various projects and between programmes, by guiding respective programme/project managers and their teams to share common sets of strategic principles derived from UN-Habitat’s strategic plan, normative work and performance standards.
• Support CPM in reviewing progress made, problems encountered, and concerns identified for four purposes: (i) to ensure that all projects are achieving their set targets, (ii) to promote synergy across the projects/programmes in terms of lessons learned (iii) maintaining coherence in implementation (especially where projects share a common geographical area), and (iv) to report periodically to ROAP.
• Peer review and supervise preparation of various written outputs, e.g., background papers, analysis, reports, studies and inputs to publications etc.
• Coordinate activities related to recruitment, budget and funding (programme/project preparation and submissions, progress reports, financial statements, etc.) and ensure preparation of related documents/reports (pledging, work programme, programme budget, etc.).
• Through advocacy and campaign work in the related field, develop and supervise the execution of priority projects and programmes in a cost effective and efficient manner to meet the expectations of governments, donors, partners and the organization.

Project Management

• Supervise and ensure effective and efficient execution of projects, within the limit of the allocated resources, by providing appropriate technical support to projects through project design, field visits, training and evaluation, coordination and monitoring activities related to the following areas: effective advocacy, monitoring and partnership, participatory urban planning, management and governance, land and housing, environmentally sound urban infrastructure and services, and climate resilience.

Capacity Development

• Provide capacity development support through documentation of knowledge management, tool development and by facilitating networking with partners and programmes that contribute to the enhancement of policy dialogues at UN-Habitat India and the region.

Education Qualification/Required Skills & Experience

• An advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in architecture, civil engineering, urban and regional planning, economics or physical sciences relevant to development and management of human settlements is required. A first level university degree in combination with qualifying two years of additional experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• WorkExperience: A minimum of 5 years of progressive experience in human settlements projects and programmes at national level and at least five years of similar experience at the international level. Proven experience in human settlements development fields, projects/programme design and implementation with the UN or other international agencies is desirable.