Surge consultant

The number of disasters and people affected has increased globally and we are faced with growing humanitarian needs. Although emergencies are becoming more complex and more frequent, the gap between humanitarian needs and the resources available to meet those needs continues to grow, further compounded by the impact of the pandemic.

This increased demand for UNFPA to respond to humanitarian situations has led to a doubling of the organization’s humanitarian requirements, impacting responsiveness and global demand for SRH and GBV experts, to increased IASC scale-up emergencies, more is expected of UNFPA than ever before to provide life-saving assistance.

The surge continues to be a sustainable tool, supporting the fulfilment of UNFPA’s over-arching strategy.

To implement the above, and noting the open vacancies, assistance is required to support the day-to-day functions in the surge team around deployment and roster management.

The Consultant will support the team in administrative processes, as well as monitoring the roster and updating as necessary.

Under the overall supervision of the Head of the Response and Technical Unit (RTSU), in close consultation with HO Senior Management, the Consultant will support the surge team in all related activities.

The Consultant will work within the Surge Team, including but not limited to:

● Provide daily back up support related to Surge deployments and Roving Team deployments, including processing of requests, assistance in the selection of candidates, contracting support functions, liaise with Standby Partner agency on deployment administration needs, and coordination of candidate briefing and debriefing tasks and functions

● Support the collection, input, consolidation and analysis of information related to the different components of UNFPA’s Surge mechanism.

● Support in any necessary activities around the general preparation and follow up of the Surge assessment workshops: analysis of participant learning needs post workshop and support coordinating staff learning plans.

● Support the Surge Team to ensure deployment information is maintained in the UNFPA Global Emergency Roster in an accurate and timely manner.

● Assist the Surge Team in any additional activities as required.

Normal office working hours

3 months

Remote-based assignment with the assigned duty station in Geneva, Switzerland, (with flexibility to track exchanges taking place on New York time-zone)

Work will be delivered electronically and hard copies as necessary and as requested by the direct supervisor.

Regular updates by Head, RTSU, presented to the HO Director.

The Surge Consultant will be supervised by the Head RTSU, HO

Humanitarian Office consultancies are under the overall guidance and supervision of the HO Director. All final products and deliverables need to be approved by the Director.

Potential travel as necessary.

Qualifications and Experience:

· Master’s degree, preferably in human resources, social and behavioural science, business administration, and political science or other related fields.

· Minimum of 2 years of progressively responsible professional work experience

· Demonstrate planning and organization skills.

· Ability to think and work logically and work precisely with attention to detail.

· Ability to write clearly and concisely.

· Initiative, sound judgment and demonstrated ability to work harmoniously with staff members of different national and cultural backgrounds.

· Ability to communicate effectively.

· Ability to work in a multicultural environment.

· Fluency in English required. An additional UN language is desirable (French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Russian).

Other requirements:

As the person will be directly supporting emergency interventions, and due to the unpredictability of such crises, the incumbent should be prepared to work long hours and/or out of work hours when such incidents arise.

Required Competencies:

Values:

● Integrity,

● Commitment,

● Embracing cultural diversity,

● Embracing change

Core competencies:

● Achieving results

● Accountability,

● Developing professional expertise

● Analytical thinking,

● Working in teams,

● Communicating for impact.

Required Skillset:

· Conceptual innovation in the provision of technical expertise,

· Leveraging the resources of national governments and partners/Building strategic alliances and partnerships,

· Job knowledge/Technical expertise.

Other Desirable Skills:

● Leading, developing and empowering people, creating a culture of performance

● Providing strategic focus