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Job Title:   Senior Partnership Officer (UN Jobs)

Organisation: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda

About the Company:

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was established on December 14, 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly. UNHCR’s mandate under the Statute of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is to lead and co-ordinate action for international protection to refugees; seek permanent solutions for the problems of refugees and safeguard refugee rights and well-being. UNHCR has an additional mandate concerning issues of statelessness, as it is given a designated role under Article 11 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.

Job Summary:   Within the context outlined above, the role of the Senior Partnership Officer is to facilitate UNHCR’s engagement and cooperation with multiple stakeholders currently implementing or who have the potential to advocate for and/or implement medium term programmes assisting local communities and UNHCR’s population of concern and have the ability to positively influence the social and political environment.

It is anticipated that these programmes will grow in significance in future years due to the greater importance attached to addressing protracted displacement situations, including the expectations under the Agenda 2030. The role the Senior Partnership Officer will be pivotal to a) identifying opportunities for developing multiple stakeholder partnerships with International, Regional and State entities, municipalities, civil society, NGOs, development institutions, academia, the private sector, etc.; b) promoting UNHCR objectives and strategies with partners; c) ensuring that populations of concern are integrated within national policies and SDGs and that national actors are supported to do so; and, in doing so d) ensuring complementarity between UNHCR’s work and the objectives pursued by a variety of stakeholders.

For that reason, the Senior Partnership Officer will work under the overall supervision of the senior management to ensure that the UNHCR strategies are implemented through innovative partnerships, identifying the most effective partners, proactively engaging with and ensuring the involvement of partners in the strategy and supporting the field in all these aspects.

The Senior Partnership Officer reports to the Deputy Representative and covers a number of specific dossiers, which are linked to an overall role of facilitating UNHCR’s engagement and cooperation with multiple stakeholders currently implementing or who have the potential to advocate for and/or implement programmes toward Uganda’s sustainable programming approach in support of local communities and refugees. This includes supporting efforts so that refugees are integrated within national policies, the NDP, and SDGs, and supporting the localization strategy of UNHCR Uganda in doing so. The incumbent will advise and inform the senior management on partnership and stakeholder coherence in line with the overall UNHCR Uganda strategy. The incumbent must carry out his/her duties in close collaboration and coordination with many colleagues throughout the operation, including Development, Livelihoods, External Engagement, Operations, Protection and across the sub and field offices where s/he ensures a coherent, organized and streamlined approach on related issues across the operation.

The Senior Partnership Officer supervises Inter-Agency Coordination activities. This includes support to the planning and implementation of, as well as the communication and reporting on the UCRRP which requires extensive coordination with the Department of Refugees, Min of Local Gov’t, refugees, donors, and National and International non-governmental organizations as well as RLOs. The incumbent will also coordinate the compilation of RRPs for the DRC, Sudan and South Sudan situations, as well as working with donor relations colleagues on monitoring and the tracking of financial contributions. The Senior Partnership Officer leads the workplan development, monitoring, reporting and implementation under the 10 newly-developed Uganda-level Letters of Understanding with UN Agencies, as well as follow-up on the UN Common Pledge. The Senior Partnership Officer leads technical engagement on UNSDCF processes and convenes relevant technical staff in relation to this, which represents a significant workload, with UNHCR contributing to four UNSDCF pillars and co-chairing one of the UNSDCF Results Group pillars.

In light of the above, the incumbent will have extensive contacts with both internal and external counterparts and partners at senior and technical levels.

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.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

• Conduct research, analysis and advise accordingly the operation(s) on identifying partners that are able to engage with long-term political, economic and social planning that will define the opportunities for inclusion of populations of concern to UNHCR as well as more sustainable and whole-of-society approaches to refugee and stateless protection and solutions management.
• Support building relationship in partnerships with International, Regional and State entities, regions and municipalities, NGOs, faith-based organizations, academia, workers’ and entrepreneurs’ organizations, development actors, private sector, etc.
• Map and develop partnerships and networks with a variety of partners to influence the policy dialogue with governments on institutional arrangements related to sectors, locations and programme content of consequence to UNHCR and persons of concern.
• Work with a variety of interlocutors to incorporate populations of concern to UNHCR into the design, implementation, monitoring and communication arrangements of projects and interventions to achieve positive impact on their situation.
• Ensure coherence, where relevant, across operations in how they engage in terms of multiple stakeholder partnerships (e.g. messaging, policies, etc.).
• Process and analyse knowledge and data from country operations to support planning, policy and advocacy at the regional and HQ level.
• Ensure that partners are provided relevant knowledge and data to influence their planning, programming and advocacy around resilience for and inclusion of UNHCR persons of concern.
• Facilitate coordination, collaboration and the sharing of knowledge, best practices and lessons learned, internally in UNHCR both within HQs and across UNHCR operations globally- and with a variety of partners.
• Support training activities for the staff of UNHCR and a variety of partners aimed at achieving greater coordination, effectiveness and synergies in terms of multiple stakeholder partnerships.
• 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.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

• Education: Bachelor of Arts (BA): Development Studies, Bachelor of Arts (BA): International Relations, Bachelor of Arts (BA): Law, Bachelor of Arts (BA): Political Science, Bachelor of Arts (BA): Public Administration, Bachelor of Arts (BA): Public Policy

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: Public Policy; Public Administration; Law; International Relations; Political Science; Development or other relevant field.
• Certificates and/or Licenses: Not specified

Relevant Job Experience:

Essential

• At least six (6) years of partnership management experience in international context, of which preferably at least two (2) years in field operations. Experience in managing a variety of internal and external relationships in a cross-cultural professional environment.

Desirable

• Experience in coordination of UN interventions with other actors, in a refugee, humanitarian or development context. Solid experience in lobbying and advocacy with Government and other institutions. Experience in drafting and editing, in particular on protection and solutions strategies, advocacy strategies, or partnership building. Experience in primary data collection, quantitative research methods and results-based management.

Functional Skills:

• CL-Strategy Development and Monitoring
• *SO-Critical Thinking and problem solving
• *SO-Networking
• *UN-Policy Advocacy in UNHCR
• PG-Results-Based Management
• *CO-Strategic Communication
• *CO-Drafting and Documentation
• PR-Refugee Protection Principles and Framework
• (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.

Desired Candidate Profile:

• The incumbent must also have a proven track record in working with external actors, interagency coordination, providing strategic vision, technical guidance and oversight in coordination related issues, have knowledge about the refugee coordination and its application in different contexts, preferably in large refugee operations.
• Knowledge and understanding of how to develop a refugee response plan, promote consensus in decision making, guide information management, ensure emergency preparedness and contingency planning, and identify and report gaps in the delivery of humanitarian responses is required. The incumbent must demonstrate the ability to support the development of strategies, engage partners, report on and monitor interventions aimed at strengthening the humanitarian/development nexus. The candidate should have knowledge of UNSDCF processes and linkages between RRP and refugee planning and the UN development planning. Knowledge of the application of the Global Compact on Refugees, and its Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework, are desirable.
• Competencies: Accountability, Analytical thinking, Client & results orientation, Commitment to continuous learning, Communication, Empowering & building trust, Judgement & decision making, Leadership, Organizational awareness, Political awareness, Stakeholder management, Strategic planning & visions, Teamwork & collaboration

How to Apply:

All suitably qualified and interested candidates who wish to join the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) should apply online at the link below

Click Here

Deadline: 28th November 2024

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