Only candidates who are not nationals of the country of assignment are eligible to apply to this position

Hardship Level

E (most hardship)

Family Type

Non FamilyDanger Pay

Residential location (if applicable)

Grade

PR4

Staff Member / Affiliate Type

Professional* Staff members will not normally serve in International Professional positions in the country of their nationality. In addition, in case of a first appointment upon recruitment, the assignment must be outside the staff member’s country of nationality.In practical terms this means that you are not eligible to apply for International Professional vacancies advertised in the country where you are national of.

Reason

Regular > Regular Assignment

Remote work accepted

No

Target Start Date

2024-01-24

Job Posting End Date

February 14, 2024

Standard Job Description

Senior Human Resources Officer
Organizational Setting and Work Relationships
The Senior Human Resources Officer supports the UNHCR's People Strategy and contributes to the implementation of the 2018 independent Human Resources review, which resulted in the establishment of HR strategic priorities and the reconfiguration and transformation of the Division of Human Resources (DHR) from a largely transactional model into a strategic business partner for field operations and senior management. Having the right people in the right place at the right time is at the core of enabling UNHCR to protect and respond to persons of concern. By attracting, retaining and developing a talented, diverse and agile workforce while nurturing a culture of excellence, respect and wellbeing for all, UNHCR¿s Human Resources acts as a strategic partner to the organization enabling a people-centric culture.
The Senior Human Resources Officer contributes to the development of a HR customer service-oriented culture that values proactivity, continuous improvement, innovation and high performance. By translating operational needs into workforce action and individual development needs, the Senior Human Resources Officer plays a critical role in partnering with management and the workforce. The main areas of work of the Senior Human Resources Officer include the implementation of HR policies, staff administration, workforce planning, recruitment, and talent development with inclusion, diversity and gender as a cross-cutting issue. S/he will also support the implementation of the staff health and counselling plans and in fostering an inclusive and respectful working environment. The incumbent maintains employee confidence and protects the organization and its workforce by keeping human resource information confidential.
The Senior Human Resources Officer is usually supervised by the Representative, Deputy or Assistant Representative responsible for HR in a Country Operation, or the most senior HR staff in a Regional Bureau. She/he supervises HR Professional and General Service staff.
The incumbent maintains a direct working relationship with a number of functions across the Division of Human Resources (DHR). For positions in Bureaux or Country Operations, the incumbent also works closely with the Senior HR Partner, the Senior Medical Officer and Senior Staff counsellor for his/her region.
He/she also maintains contact and close cooperation with other UN agencies in the region or country and represent UNHCR in the working groups/task forces within country/regional UN inter-agency mechanisms.
All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR¿s core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.
Duties
Strategic workforce advice and operational support:
- Engage with management to understand priorities, and provide advice and solutions on all aspects of HR in line with delegated HR authorities.
- Sponsor HR initiatives that support organizational culture change such as good people management practices, and promoting gender, inclusion and diversity.
- Lead HR operational activities to ensure timely provision of HR solutions, prioritizing according to the needs and risks.
Assignments and Talent Acquisition:
- Oversee the process of recruitment, assignment and reassignment of locally-recruited staff and affiliate workforce, ensuring compliance with UNHCR rules and procedures, and providing advice to managers where required.
- Set up and run (Regional) Assignments Committee.
- Take a proactive approach to risk management in the areas of recruitment, ensuring the issues are identified, addressed and reported and, where appropriate, escalated.
Advice to managers and staff, and contribution to an inclusive work environment:
- Build dialog and outreach with staff to provide support with their queries; and also promote dialog between staff and management to help find solutions to HR-related issues.
- Be proactive in identifying issues, themes and patterns affecting the workforce¿s health and welfare, including sexual harassment and abuse of authority.
- Ensure that on-boarding, induction, re-integration into the workplace and off-boarding support, is provided to colleagues; Induction programmes should include information on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) and Sexual Harassment, Code of Conduct as well as workforce¿s rights and obligations.
HR policies and inter-agency:
- Ensure compliance with UNHCR¿s Human Resources policies and procedures and the UN staff rules, regulations and UNHCR administrative instructions.
- Participate in a network among HR staff members in the region in order to harmonize implementation of HR policies and initiatives, collect field insights to inform the development of DHR policies and activities; identify and share HR best practices, also through contacts with other UN agencies.
Duty of Care:
- Contribute to establishing and maintaining a medical evacuation plan with senior management, Field safety and the Senior Medical Officer.
- Support the development and implementation of a Duty of Care strategy. Identify and assess issues related to duty of care including physical, mental health and safety of UNHCR¿s workforce. Promote work/life balance and flexible working arrangements with managers and staff.
For positions in Regional Bureaux only:
- In the absence of a Senior Talent Development Officer in the Bureau:
- Implement a talent sourcing and development strategy for UNHCR workforce in the region, in line with UNHCR¿s needs and staff members¿ career planning.
- Equip HR teams and Managers in the region with skills on people management and tools related to talent development, career guidance and performance management.
- Lead risk assessments and discussions with team(s) to proactively manage risks and seize opportunities impacting objectives. Ensure that risk management principles are integrated in decision-making both at strategic and operational levels. Allocate resources for planned treatments with resource requirements in Strategic Plans. Ensure that risks are managed to acceptable levels and escalate, as needed. If a Risk Owner, designate the Risk Focal Point and certify that the annual risk review is completed and ensure that the risk register is updated during the year, as needed.
- Perform other related duties as required.
Minimum Qualifications
Education & Professional Work Experience
Years of Experience / Degree Level
For P4/NOD - 9 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 8 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 7 years relevant experience with Doctorate degree
Field(s) of Education
Human Resources Management; Human Resource Development;
Personnel Administration; Business Administration; or other relevant field.
Certificates and/or Licenses
Not specified
Relevant Job Experience
Essential
Experience working in Human Resources. Sound knowledge of general HR policies, processes and systems. Managerial experience.
Desirable
Proven ability to identify and implement successful business related HR interventions. Experience in some of the following areas: workforce planning, organizational design, recruitment, HR policy or talent development. Experience in HR information technology systems and tools. Experience in field humanitarian operations and/or emergency settings. Experience working with the United Nations. Experience working in a multi-cultural setting.
Functional Skills
HR-Local mass recruitment
HR-Coordination and Oversight of Workforce Mobility
HR-Inclusion, Diversity and Gender strategy design and implementation
HR-HR data and people analytics
HR-HR Business Partnering
HR-Employee Relationship Management
HR-Talent Development and Nurturing
RM-Risk Management
SO-Critical Thinking and problem solving
SO-Learning Agility
SO-Situational Judgement
(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)
Language Requirements
For International Professional and Field Service jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English.
For National Professional jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language.
For General Service jobs: Knowledge of English and/or UN working language of the duty station if not English.
All UNHCR workforce members must individually and collectively, contribute towards a working environment where each person feels safe, and empowered to perform their duties. This includes by demonstrating no tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, harassment including sexual harassment, sexism, gender inequality, discrimination and abuse of power.
As individuals and as managers, all must be proactive in preventing and responding to inappropriate conduct, support ongoing dialogue on these matters and speaking up and seeking guidance and support from relevant UNHCR resources when these issues arise.
This is a Standard Job Description for all UNHCR jobs with this job title and grade level. The Operational Context may contain additional essential and/or desirable qualifications relating to the specific operation and/or position. Any such requirements are incorporated by reference in this Job Description and will be considered for the screening, shortlisting and selection of candidates.

Desired Candidate Profile

The incumbent of the position should ideally demonstrate:
-Experience in HR Management including personnel administration (including affiliate workforce), entitlements, recruitment, assignments of both local and international staff members; separation;
- Experience in MIP verification and processing;
- Experience with COMPASS in position planning and budget apportionment;
- Experience in staffing reviews and workforce planning exercises (COP and RAF) in large operations and with respect to refitting the HR structure to a new strategic vision and reduced budgets;
- Experience in supervising teams located in different field locations;
- Exposure and experience in IGO/LAS and Management Evaluation mechanisms and procedures;
- In-depth knowledge of UNHCR internal HR policies, processes and procedures, including regular staff, and Affiliate Workforce;
- Experience of active involvement in HR Working Groups under OMT;
- Experience as Ex-Officio in Assignment Committees;
- Proven experience regarding staff welfare during a restructuration period;
- Ability to work under pressure and ability to multi-task;
- Ability to adapt easily to different operational changes and shift in priorities;
- Excellent drafting skills;
- Strong communication and negotiation skills; and,
- Client orientation and conflict resolution.

Required languages (expected Overall ability is at least B2 level):

,

,

Desired languages

,

,

Operational context

Occupational Safety and Health Considerations:

To view occupational safety and health considerations for this duty station, please visit this link:

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel

Nature of Position:

The Senior Human Resources Officer position is based in Baghdad and reports directly to the Representative. The incumbent will be responsible for heading the Human Resources team consisting of seven staff who are located in CO Baghdad and Erbil, Dohuk, and in Amman during a major transition of UNHCR’s footprint in Iraq due to a change of priorities and a sharp decrease of its budget.
 

Living and Working Conditions:

Despite the country's political, economic, and security challenges, Iraq hosts over 290,000 refugees, 1.1 million IDPs, 4.9 million IDP returnees. In addition to security considerations, Iraq is a relatively high-risk operating environment regarding displaced populations' protection and fraud & corruption in programming.

Iraq faces numerous political and security challenges, which evolve rapidly and unpredictably. As a result, a flexible and adaptable attitude to work is necessary. 

In Baghdad, a non-family high-risk E duty station, staff live in a joint UN compound with freedom of movement outside the compound in armored vehicles only and is limited even so. Missions within south/central Iraq are undertaken with similar tight security measures being required. 

There is a fully equipped gym in the integrated compound in Baghdad, in addition to basketball, tennis, and badminton courts. A UN market operates seven days a week in the integrated compound in Baghdad, where groceries and fresh vegetables can be purchased. There is a canteen that operates seven days a week for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, offering a variety of food for reasonable prices. Also, there is a coffee shop and a pizzeria located inside the compound, both of which operate during lunch and evening times.

Iraq does not have a Residential Location, therefore colleagues assigned to Iraq will be administered under the POD approach.

The functions of this position cannot be performed remotely.

Additional Qualifications

Skills

Education

Bachelor of Arts (BA): Administration, Bachelor of Arts (BA): Human Resources Management, Bachelor of Arts (BA): Law

Certifications

Work Experience

Competencies

Accountability, Analytical thinking, Change capability & adaptability, Client & results orientation, Commitment to continuous learning, Communication, Empowering & building trust, Judgement & decision making, Leadership, Managing performance, Managing resource, Organizational awareness, Planning & organizing, Strategic planning & visions, Teamwork & collaboration

UNHCR Salary Calculator

https://icsc.un.org/Home/SalaryScales

Compendium Add. 3 to Bi-annual Compendium 2023 - Part B

Additional Information

Functional clearance

This position doesn't require a functional clearance