Partnerships Development Manager

Background Information – Job-specific

* FEMALE CANDIDATES ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY

UNOPS supports partners to build a better future by providing services that increase the efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of peace building, humanitarian and development projects. Mandated as a central resource of the United Nations, UNOPS provides sustainable project management, procurement and infrastructure services to a wide range of governments, donors and United Nations organizations.

The New York Portfolios Office (NYPO) supports the United Nations Secretariat, as well as other New York-based United Nations organizations, bilateral and multilateral partners in the delivery of UNOPS mandate in project management, infrastructure management, and procurement management.

The Sustainable Development Cluster (SDC) supports diverse partners with their Peacebuilding, humanitarian and development operations. It was formed by combining the following portfolios: Grants Management Services (GMS), UN Technology Support Services (UNTSS), Development and Special Initiatives Portfolio (DSIP) It provides Services to partners’ programmes that are designed, structured, and managed with a global perspective and primarily serving partners that are headquartered in New York. The SDC has a footprint of approximately 125 countries.

UNOPS has signed an agreement with the United Nations to implement the project activities for the UN Futures Lab Global Hub.

UN Futures Lab Global Hub
UN Global Pulse (UNGP) is the Secretary-General’s Innovation Lab. It broadened its scope and focus over the past two years to become the Secretary-General’s lead and hub for experimentation and digital innovation. One of the experiments that UNGP incubated was the concept of the UN Future’s Lab (UNFL) Network, a proposal outlined in the Secretary-General’s Our Common Agenda report. Over the past year UNGP, in partnership with the Development Coordination Office (DCO), UNESCO, and UNDP, has incubated the Lab and is now ready to build the Global Hub initially out of UNGP Finland.

Long-term thinking including foresight capabilities are integral to the Secretary-General’s vision of UN 2.0. The Secretary-General identified the need to use foresight to identify and plan for possible futures. Accordingly, the UN Futures Lab Network will be designed to support the UN family, as a whole, at the global, regional, and country levels across the UN family, and within UN entities, and connected to the international community. Support will include capacity support, foresight products, the production of knowledge and learning, and an ability to collaborate with, and nurture networks for action.

UNFL Network will operate a hub-and-spokes model with a Global Hub that will be linked to other UN entities and thematic nodes. The Global Hub will be central to the UNFL Network, an inter- agency initiative including UNGP, UNESCO, UNDP, and DCO as key partners, connecting with other UN entities and the broader international community, providing a cross-cutting, aggregate global view. The Global Hub will be hosted by UN Global Pulse in Helsinki, Finland, with participation of the core group partners (UNESCO, UNDP, DCO). The Global Hub will be in a position to drive foresight efforts through development actions via its core partnership with UNDP and the UN Country Teams, and through DCO as part of its support to the Resident Coordinator (RC) system.

The incumbent of this position will be a staff member of UNOPS, under its full responsibility.

Functional Responsibilities

The UN Futures Lab Network is a new and exciting entity, with a team being built at the same time as undertaking emerging work together with our UN partners. The successful candidate will be able to quickly understand complicated and complex issues and be able to translate these into opportunities to broker, and in turn, nurture multi-stakeholder partnerships. The Partnerships Officer is an integral part of the team ensuring the approaches taken to partnering are both strategic and pragmatic, and proactive. The successful candidate will be able to build capacity as well as systems, creating strong relationships between people and organizations who will come from a diversity of backgrounds, geographies, and with varied incentives. Alignment of values and perspectives with play a central role in achieving success in this role, so too will the ability to work from alignment of purpose through to maturity of partnerships, spanning both public and private sector entities.

To succeed in this position, the person will inspire and help others, will be able to adapt quickly. They will also be experimental, embracing innovation processes and approaches to their everyday work.

Under the supervision of the Senior Programme Manager/Global Hub Lead, and Programme Management Advisor, the incumbent will execute the following duties:

1. Explore, initiate, and understand potential opportunities for partnerships

• Explore the feasibility of using a range of approaches to partnerships with a diverse range of stakeholders
• Understand and anticipate emerging partnerships needs of the Futures Lab and the UN partners it supports
• Propose and advise on appropriate directions and approaches to partnerships to Futures
• Lab team members, including management
• Participate in and, as appropriate, organize high profile events to expand networking opportunities and to seek new partnerships.

2. Create and manage appropriate and effective partnership management processes

• In close collaboration with Futures Lab team members, facilitate and enable negotiations and dialogues towards the formation of partnerships
• Ensure there is capacity within the Futures Lab team, and within potential partners to form partnerships that contribute to real world impact. This will include the development of systems, tools, and knowledge exchanges.
• Steer partners and the Futures Lab through appropriate vehicles for partnership, including accountability mechanisms that reinforce engagements between stakeholders and organizations

3. Iterate and adapt partnerships to emerging and evolving needs

• Create and maintain mechanisms through which to understand the impact of partnerships, including signals, data, and insights that allow for agile and iterative approaches
• Ensure effective and efficient communication and coordination with managers through periods of review and iteration, supporting partnerships to become more effective, as well transparent in the sharing of lessons learned
• Build solid stewardship plans aimed at increasing engagement and heading towards increasingly sustainable partnerships

4. Nurture and grow impact of partnerships

• Reviewing partnerships to enable them to respond to emerging needs and concerns, including the potential for growth and scale
• Ensure management is in place to conclude partnerships, including transferring partnerships to more appropriate entities within the UN and beyond, as well as joint decisions to recognize success and the need to move on to other impactful work areas and impact

Impact of Results

The Futures Lab will be capacitated to broker, nurture, iterate, and grow partnerships with a diversity of people and organizations. It will have the processes in place to establish robust and agile partnerships cycles and team members who understand and are fluent in how to partner, when to partner, why to partner, and what partnerships can look and feel like. The Futures Lab will be able to be proactive in exploring and forming partnerships that support the goals and ambitions of the Lab, and will have the maturity of approach to partnerships to identify when and how to iterate partnerships along with other key stakeholders. Partnerships will be formed around values and shared ambitions of a range of entities.

Education/Experience/Language requirements

*FEMALE CANDIDATES ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY

*CANDIDATES WITH NO UNITED NATIONS OR UNOPS EXPERIENCE ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY

Education

• An advanced university degree (Masters or equivalent) is required
• A first-level university degree (Bachelors degree) in combination with 2 additional years of relevant professional experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience

Required

• A minimum of 5 years of relevant work experience in partnerships and/or resource mobilization, global development, humanitarian action, and peace building or related areas.

Desired: The following experience is optional. Candidates who do not have experience in these areas are welcome to apply:

• Experience working in a UN context is an asset.

Language

• Fluency in English (write, read, speak) is required.
• Knowledge of another United Nations official language is an advantage.