Org. Setting and Reporting

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities. UN-Habitat is the focal point for all urbanization and human settlement matters within the UN system. UN-Habitat works with partners to build inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities and communities. UN-Habitat promotes urbanization as a positive transformative force for people and communities, reducing inequality, discrimination and poverty. With its Headquarter in Nairobi, Kenya, UN-Habitat’s Regional Programmes Division (RPD) has a Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) in Fukuoka, Japan, and a Bangkok Programme Office in Thailand. ROAP was established in 1997 as the second Regional Office of UN-Habitat. The Office oversees programme and project portfolios in the region, manages country teams undertaking country projects as part of UN country teams, engages with Member States at national level and in Bangkok, the regional UN center, and collaborates with the UN system and the Regional Commission. ROAP engages with over 30 developing countries in Asia and the Pacific and has 15 country offices. The ROAP office in Fukuoka has a dedicate team, currently of 15 professionals of whom 4 are international. Under the guidance of a Regional Representative, the office employs a team of substantive and admin/finance specialists and staff. The NO-A responsibilities, which is for a Japanese national, intensive collaboration with local and national counterparts to promote partnerships and development cooperation, always in support of the ROAP programme and the Regional Representative. Counterparts include: various sections of national ministries and Japanese development cooperation entities; and various relevant counterparts in local governments, academia, the private sector and civil society. Within delegated authority, the Assistant Programme Officer will be responsible of the following duties:

Responsibilities

Description of Functions: 1. Provides support for strategic planning for and coordination of ROAP’s partnerships in and with Japan: • Provides support as assigned, for the development and implementation of ROAP’s Strategy in alignment with and support of the UNSCDFs in relevant countries; • Monitors and assesses, as relevant, the strategy at regular intervals to harness new emerging opportunities, to identify probable changes to the internal direction and external environment, and to propose mid-term adjustments; • Provides support to the relevant Programme Officers, (Senior) Human Settlements Officers and the Regional Representative in identifying risks and opportunities related to specific partnerships, and suggests mitigation measures as relevant; • Prepares inputs on due diligence processes of potential investment and partnership opportunities, under close guidance and in accordance with UN regulations and procedures; • Provides support to ROAP to develop and implement locally-tailored partnerships and resource mobilization strategies and initiatives; • Contributes to dialogues with partners to improve development assistance policies and practice; • Assists in liaison and coordination with UN entities at country, regional and HQ levels, to help package and define UN collaboration opportunities, including differentiated value propositions to attract partners, both traditional and non-traditional. 2. Participates in relevant resource mobilization for ROAP programmes; • Provides support to ROAP to develop and implement locally-tailored resource mobilization strategies and initiatives, and identify appropriate data and benchmarks to measure progress and success; • Monitors and analyzes existing resource mobilization partnerships and relationships, including those with high net worth; • Contributes to the design, formulation, implementation, monitoring and reporting of joint programmes and programming processes for use in joint resource mobilization; • Assists in the production and distribution of marketing materials to raise awareness about opportunities for working with the UN-Habitat on SDG investment; • Contributes to building the UN-Habitat brand via events, media and public relations opportunities targeted to the diverse partners, in close collaboration with the UN-Habitat communications focal points. 3. Provides technical and mission support on financing for accelerating collaboration with Japanese entities, including JICA, as directed; • Provides support on financing for development options, instruments, modalities to ROAP, in alignment with the relevant Common Country Analyses (CCA), UNSDCFs and the agreements with Japanese institutions including JICA; • Analyzes trends and provides support on new and innovative financing mechanisms for development and SDG acceleration; • Provides inputs for briefing papers and discussion points on issues related to financing for development for consideration by ROAP; • Assists in engaging with external stakeholders – including the national government and relevant financial institutions and others; • Contributes to the design and execution of innovative proposals to strengthen ROAP engagement and reputation, and to generate greater financial resources in support of ROAP’s portfolio; • Assists in the establishment and management of existing and new ROAP programmes in close collaboration with Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office and similar funds. 4. Supports communication, knowledge management and capacity development; • Assists in the development, maintenance and sharing of knowledge and intelligence, to inform and position of ROAP to effectively generate and harness opportunities to meet its resource mobilization targets; • Contributes to knowledge networks and communities of practice at national, regional and global levels; • Undertakes activities to strengthen the capacity of ROAP to mainstream and promote SDG investment partnerships; • Provides support for the discovery, evaluation and selection of partnership opportunities at the sourcing and origination stages. 5. Other • Contributes to the collection and analysis of data and identification of trends or patterns and provides draft insights through graphs, charts, tables and reports using data visualization methods for data-driven planning, decision-making, presentation and reporting; • Documents requirements and background information used for data analysis; • Performs other duties as assigned.

Competencies

PROFESSIONALISM: Knowledge and understanding of sustainable development theories, concepts and approaches. Ability to identify and develop sources for data collection. Ability to undertake research, analyse data, make recommendations and write draft reports on sustainable development issues. Able to analyze and interpret data in support of decision-making and convey resulting information to management. 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. Takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work. COMMUNICATION: Speaks and writes clearly and effectively; listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately; asks questions to clarify, and exhibits interest in having two-way communication; tailors language, tone, style and format to match audience; demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed. CLIENT ORIENTATION: Considers all those to whom services are provided to be “clients” and seeks to see things from clients’ point of view; establishes and maintains productive partnerships with clients by gaining their trust and respect; identifies clients’ needs and matches them to appropriate solutions; monitors ongoing developments inside and outside the clients’ 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.

Education

Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent degree) in business or a related area. A first-level university degree in combination with two (2) additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. Successful completion of both degree and non-degree programs in data analytics, business analytics or data science programs is desirable.

Job – Specific Qualification

Not available.

Work Experience

A minimum one (1) year of relevant experience in providing strategic support to partnerships, project/programme management, resource mobilization or development finance in the context of development cooperation or related area is required. Experience in supporting liaison and resource mobilization with Japanese government entities and development cooperation organisations is desirable. Experience in contributing to advocacy networks, communities of practice or communication partnerships is desirable. Experience in drafting and updating communication strategies, initiatives and materials using digital and other means is desirable. One (1) year or more of experience in data analytics or related area, including for the preparation of briefing papers, talking points, project information sheets and meeting reports for official meetings is desirable.

Languages

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this position, fluency in both English and Japanese is required. Knowledge of another official United Nations language is desirable. NOTE: “fluency equals a rating of “fluent” in all four areas (read, write, speak, understand), and ” Knowledge of” equals a rating of ” confident” in two of the four areas.

Assessment

Evaluation of qualified candidates may include an assessment exercise which may be followed by competency-based interview.

Special Notice

As this is a Temporary Position, appointment against this post is for a period of ten (10) months. If the selected candidate is a staff member from the United Nations Secretariat, the selection will be administered as a temporary assignment. While this temporary assignment may provide the successful applicant with an opportunity to gain new work experience, the selection for this position is for a limited period and has no bearing on the future incumbency of the post. Staff members are subject to the authority of the Secretary-General and to assignment by him or her. In this context, all staff are expected to move periodically to new functions in their careers in accordance with established rules and procedures. The United Nations Secretariat is committed to achieving 50/50 gender balance in its staff. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for this position. Internal Applicants – when completing the PHP, ensure ALL fields, ALL professional experience and contact information are completed and up to date. This information is the basis for the hiring manager to assess your eligibility and suitability for the position and to contact you. Individual contractors and consultants who have worked within the UN Secretariat in the last six months, irrespective of the administering entity, are ineligible to apply for professional and higher temporary or fixed-term positions and their applications will not be considered. At the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the recruitment and employment of staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity, with due regard to geographic diversity. All employment decisions are made on the basis of qualifications and organizational needs. The United Nations is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. The United Nations recruits and employs staff regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, race, religious, cultural and ethnic backgrounds or disabilities. Reasonable accommodation for applicants with disabilities may be provided to support participation in the recruitment process when requested and indicated in the application. All applicants are strongly encouraged to apply on-line as soon as possible after the job opening has been posted and well before the deadline stated in the job opening. On-line applications will be acknowledged where an email address has been provided. If you do not receive an e-mail acknowledgement within 24 hours of submission, your application may not have been received. If the problem persists, please seek technical assistance through the Inspira “need Help” link. • As this is a Temporary Position, appointment against this post is for a period of ten (10) months. If the selected candidate is a staff member from the United Nations Secretariat, the selection will be administered as a temporary assignment. • While this temporary assignment may provide the successful applicant with an opportunity to gain new work experience, the selection for this position is for a limited period and has no bearing on the future incumbency of the post. • Subject to the funding source of the position, the eligibility for this temporary job opening may be limited to candidates based at the duty station. • This temporary job opening may be limited to “internal candidates,” who have been recruited through a competitive examination administered according to staff rule 4.16 or staff selection process including the review of a central review body established according to staff rule 4.15. • Staff members of the United Nations common system organizations who will reach the mandatory age of separation or retirement within the duration of the current temporary need period are not eligible to apply. Submitting an application or selection for the current temporary job opening does not delay or increase the mandatory age of separation. • Retirees above the mandatory age of separation who wish to be considered for the current temporary job opening must indicate the reason for their last separation as “retirement.” Such retirees shall not be employed by the Organization, unless (a) the operational requirements of the Organization cannot be met by staff members who are qualified and available to perform the required functions; and (b) the proposed employment would not adversely affect the career development or redeployment opportunities of other staff members and represents both a cost-effective and operationally sound solution to meet the needs of the service.

United Nations Considerations

According to article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Candidates will not be considered for employment with the United Nations if they have committed violations of international human rights law, violations of international humanitarian law, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment, or if there are reasonable grounds to believe that they have been involved in the commission of any of these acts. The term “sexual exploitation” means any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust, for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially or politically from the sexual exploitation of another. The term “sexual abuse” means the actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions. The term “sexual harassment” means any unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that might reasonably be expected or be perceived to cause offence or humiliation, when such conduct interferes with work, is made a condition of employment or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment, and when the gravity of the conduct warrants the termination of the perpetrator’s working relationship. Candidates who have committed crimes other than minor traffic offences may not be considered for employment. Due regard will be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible. The United Nations places no restrictions on the eligibility of men and women to participate in any capacity and under conditions of equality in its principal and subsidiary organs. The United Nations Secretariat is a non-smoking environment. Reasonable accommodation may be provided to applicants with disabilities upon request, to support their participation in the recruitment process. By accepting a letter of appointment, staff members are subject to the authority of the Secretary-General, who may assign them to any of the activities or offices of the United Nations in accordance with staff regulation 1.2 (c). Further, staff members in the Professional and higher category up to and including the D-2 level and the Field Service category are normally required to move periodically to discharge functions in different duty stations under conditions established in ST/AI/2023/3 on Mobility, as may be amended or revised. This condition of service applies to all position specific job openings and does not apply to temporary positions. Applicants are urged to carefully follow all instructions available in the online recruitment platform, inspira, and to refer to the Applicant Guide by clicking on “Manuals” in the “Help” tile of the inspira account-holder homepage. The evaluation of applicants will be conducted on the basis of the information submitted in the application according to the evaluation criteria of the job opening and the applicable internal legislations of the United Nations including the Charter of the United Nations, resolutions of the General Assembly, the Staff Regulations and Rules, administrative issuances and guidelines. Applicants must provide complete and accurate information pertaining to their personal profile and qualifications according to the instructions provided in inspira to be considered for the current job opening. No amendment, addition, deletion, revision or modification shall be made to applications that have been submitted. Candidates under serious consideration for selection will be subject to reference checks to verify the information provided in the application. Job openings advertised on the Careers Portal will be removed at 11:59 p.m. (New York time) on the deadline date.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.