Principal Administrative Officer, New York City

Org. Setting and ReportingDepartment of Operational Support (DOS) was established to provide operational advisory services to operating entities across the Secretariat, including other departments, offices-away-from headquarters, field missions, and regional commissions. Division for Special Activities (DSA) oversees a range of specialized or cross-cutting operational capacities. A large part of its responsibilities is to support start-up, surge, transition, and liquidation requirements and to exercise authority on behalf of entities to which authority has not been granted owing to a lack of capacity or from which authority has been temporarily withdrawn. The focus of this job is to support the planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of DOS responses in cross-cutting operational support during start-up, surge, transition, liquidation, and crisis. Within DSA, Operational Planning Service (OPS) helps identify emerging support requirements and works with counterparts across DOS and other United Nations entities to provide operational planning capacity, technical assistance and advice for the deployment, establishment, transition and liquidation of client entities. This position is located within the Operational Planning Service (OPS) under the Division for Special Activities (DSA) of the Department of Operational Support (DOS) and will be based in New York. The Principal Administrative Officer will report to the Director of the Division.

ResponsibilitiesWithin the delegated authority, the Principle Administrative Officer, D-1 will perform the following duties: \u2022 Formulates and implements the substantive work programme of the Service under his/her supervision. Oversees the management of activities undertaken by the Service, ensures that programmed activities are carried out in a timely fashion and co-ordinates work in the different areas both within the Division and Department, and with other organizations of the United Nations System, as appropriate. \u2022 Leads, supervises and carries out the work programme of the Service under his/her responsibility. Co-ordinates the work carried out by different work units under the Service and by other agencies and bodies of the United Nations system; provides programmatic/substantive reviews of the drafts prepared by others. \u2022 Leads and coordinates cross-cutting operational support and planning activities to ensure the effective delivery of mandates in headquarters and field settings. \u2022 Provides cross-cutting operational planning, advisory and coordination support for field entities during start-up, surge, transition, crisis response, drawdown and liquidation phases, ensuring coherence with organizational priorities and operational requirements. \u2022 Oversees the development of policy papers, manuals, operational guidance, SOPs, briefing materials, as well as reports to Senior Leadership for presentation to intergovernmental bodies such as the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budget Questions, Committee for Programme Coordination, Economic and Social Council, the General Assembly and other policy-making organs, as appropriate. \u2022 Reports to intergovernmental bodies on budget/programme performance or on programmatic/ substantive issues, as appropriate. Ensures that the outputs produced by the Service maintain high-quality standards; that reports are clear, objective and based on comprehensive data. Ensures that all outputs produced by the teams under his/her supervision meet required standards before completion to ensure they comply with the relevant mandates. \u2022 Assists the Director in preparing the work programme of the Service, determining priorities, and allocating resources for the completion of outputs and their timely delivery. \u2022 Undertakes or oversees the programmatic/administrative tasks necessary for the functioning of the Service, including preparation of budgets, reporting on budget/programme performance, evaluation of staff performance (ePAS), interviews of candidates for job openings, evaluation of candidates and preparation of inputs for results-based budgeting. \u2022 Recruits staff, taking due account of geographical balance. \u2022 Manages, guides, develops and trains staff under his/her supervision. \u2022 Leads coordination and collaboration across HQ departments, field entities and other stakeholders on cross-cutting operational support and crises response matters; Fosters teamwork and communication among staff in the Service and across organizational boundaries. \u2022 Leads and supervises the organization of meetings, seminars, etc. on substantive issues. Manages the substantive preparation and organization of such meetings or seminars. \u2022 Participates in international, regional or national meetings and provides programmatic/substantive expertise, on relevant issues, including crisis preparedness and response, and holds programmatic/substantive and organizational discussions with representatives of other institutions. \u2022 Represents the Division at international, regional or national meetings.

CompetenciesPROFESSIONALISM: Knowledge of the substantive field of work in general and of specific areas being supervised. Ability to produce reports and papers on technical issues and to review and edit the work of others. Ability to apply UN rules, regulations, policies and guidelines in work situations. Shows pride in work and in achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations. PLANNING AND ORGANIZING: Develops clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies; identifies priority activities and assignments; adjusts priorities as required; allocates appropriate amount of time and resources for completing work; foresees risks and allows for contingencies when planning; monitors and adjusts plans and actions as necessary; uses time efficiently. CLIENT ORIENTATION: Considers all those to whom services are provided to be \u201cclients\u201d and seeks to see things from clients\u2019 point of view; establishes and maintains productive partnerships with clients by gaining their trust and respect; identifies clients\u2019 needs and matches them to appropriate solutions; monitors ongoing developments inside and outside the clients\u2019 environment to keep informed and anticipate problems; keeps clients informed of progress or setbacks in projects; meets timeline for delivery of products or services to client. LEADERSHIP: Serves as a role model that other people want to follow: empowers others to translate vision into results; is proactive in developing strategies to accomplish objectives; establishes and maintains relationships with a broad range of people to understand needs and gain support; anticipates and resolves conflicts by pursuing mutually agreeable solutions; drives for change and improvements; does not accept the status quo; shows the courage to take unpopular stands. Provides leadership and takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work; demonstrates knowledge of strategies and commitment to the goal of gender balance in staffing. JUDGMENT/DECISION-MAKING: Identifies the key issues in a complex situation, and comes to the heart of the problem quickly; gathers relevant information before making a decision; considers positive and negative impacts of decisions prior to making them; takes decisions with an eye to the impact on others and on the Organization; proposes a course of action or makes a recommendation based on all available information; checks assumptions against facts; determines that the actions proposed will satisfy the expressed and underlying needs for the decision; makes tough decisions when necessary.

EducationAdvanced university degree (Master\u2019s degree or equivalent) in business or public administration, finance, accounting, law, engineering, social sciences or related area. A first-level university degree in combination with 2 years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Job - Specific QualificationNot available.

Work ExperienceA minimum of fifteen years of progressively responsible experience in human resources management, logistics, financial management/budget or related field is required. Experience in leading in a cross cutting operational planning, including advisory or coordination support in start-up, surge, transition, drawdown/liquidation or crisis preparedness/response of a field entity of an international organization is required. Experience in crisis or emergency situations response in an international organization or not for profit setting is required. Experience in developing or overseeing the preparation of policy papers, analytical reports for intergovernmental legislative/budgetary/oversight bodies, manuals, SOPs and papers, as well as high level statements to legislative and oversight bodies is required. A minimum of two years of experience in a country-setting or a field-based organization, in an operational support or senior leadership advisory function, is required. A minimum of two years of experience at an organization\u2019s headquarters coordinating across various stakeholders is desirable. Experience in liaising with government counterparts or regional or sub organizations is desirable.

LanguagesEnglish and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this job opening, English is required. French is desirable. The table below shows the minimum required level for each skill in these languages, according to the UN Language Framework (please consult for details).