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Common Operations Analyst (Open to Ethiopia Nationals Only)

Addis Ababa

  • Organization: UNDP - United Nations Development Programme
  • Location: Addis Ababa
  • Grade: Junior level - NO-B, National Professional Officer - Locally recruited position
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Operations and Administrations
  • Closing Date: 2024-12-30

Background
 
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are core principles at UNDP:  we value diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate, we foster inclusion as a way of ensuring all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, and we ensure equity and fairness in all our actions. Taking a ‘leave no one behind’ approach to our diversity efforts means increasing representation of underserved populations. People who identify as belonging to marginalized or excluded populations are strongly encouraged to apply. Learn more about working at UNDP including our values and inspiring stories.  
 
UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Under the UN Delivering as One (DaO) Standard Operating Procedures and as per the Secretary-General’s efficiency agenda, the UN needs to ensure efficient and effective delivery of results in support of national development priorities. By strengthening the efficiency and effectiveness of its operations support, the UN system can maximize the impact of its development and humanitarian activities. 

The implementation of DaO requires a “step change” in the way the UN does business. The Operating as One pillar of the DaO process in Ethiopia is therefore supported by a comprehensive UN Ethiopia Business Operations Strategy (BOS) which complements the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2020-2025. The BOS provides a strategic framework to improve operations efficiency in areas including procurement, human resources, information and communication technologies, legal affairs and business continuity. 

Under the overall leadership and guidance of the United Nations Country Team (UNCT), the Operations Management Team (OMT) is implementing the BOS 2.0 through six OMT Working Groups. Within this concept, the post of the Common Operations Analyst is required to support the OMT and the UNCT. The function is also essential in ensuring the strategic linkages between joint programming under the UNSDCF for 2020-2025 and common operations activities. 

Ethiopia has been selected as one of the pilot countries to roll out the Common Back Offices (CBO) in the country. This position will support the roll-out and development and implementation of the CBO strategy. 

Position Purpose

Under the direct supervision of the Head of RCO and the Operations Management Team (OMT) Chairperson, the incumbent will work closely with the OMT, OMT Working Groups (WGs) and RCO staff, as well as technical experts regarding common operations activities. The chairperson of the OMT will be delegated to work with the incumbent on a daily basis.
 
Duties and Responsibilities

1.) Provides substantive support and advises to the OMT in the scaling of the Business Operations Strategy (BOS) 2.0 for 2020-2025 at the country level to reduce duplication and improve efficiency.
  • Conduct the required analysis and assessments with OMT to decide priorities in common operations and finalize the BOS 2.0. Operational areas include: Common ICT, Common Procurement, Common Logistics, Common Finance & Harmonized Approach to Cash Transfers (HACT), Common Human Resources, and Common Administration; 
  • On an ongoing basis, promote the simplification and harmonization of UN organizations’ systems and procedures, including reviews of business processes and advice to the OMT for informed decision-making;
  • Ensure the OMT provided with analysis and recommendations for professionalization and harmonization requirements to improve quality and cost-efficiency through common operations;
  • Support with the data collection using the BOS Online Platform for the reporting on the progress of BOS 2.0 on annual basis. 
  • Support the Human Resource surveys that UNCT, UN RCO and UNECA lead on an annual basis. This includes not limited to Annual Hardship Survey, Place to Place Survey, Local Salary Survey, etc.
2. ) Actively support the UNCT in the development and roll-out of the Common Back Office/ Local Shared Service Center (CBO/ LSSC) Framework and the Common Premises Plan in close collaboration with the Regional Development Coordination Office (R-DCO) Africa and DCO. 
  • Provide substantive support in the development of CBO/ LSSC in the country;
  • Establish national baselines, cost avoidance goals and support the business case development for the implementation of the CBO/ LSSC with the R-DCO and DCO;
  • Monitor Common Premises Plan and CBO/ LSSC implementation in the country level, identifying and documenting bottlenecks and facilitating solutions, and contribute to scaling up of innovations;
  • Liaise with UNDCO HQ on issues that need resolution and recommended solutions from reports on best practices and lessons learned;
  • Coordinate the annual reporting of CBO/ LSSC implementation measured from the base line and providing evidence of cost avoidance and quality improvement;
  • Provide substantive support to consultative and other meetings, conferences, etc., to include proposing agenda topics, identifying participants, preparation of documents and presentations, preparing the meeting minutes, progress reports, etc.
3. ) Provides the OMT and its Working Groups (WGs) with technical, administrative and logistical support  and advices for the successful monitoring and implementation of the BOS 2.0 and to ensure the delivery of operational efficiency in support of the UNSDCF. 
  • Support the OMT Chairperson(s) in managing and coordinating the overall work of the OMT, as well as reporting of results, progress and challenges to the UNCT;
  • Follow-up on OMT meetings, ensure that relevant technical experts present their work and process at meetings, and finalize and disseminate minutes of these meetings;
  • Support the OMT WGs Chairpersons and their secretariats on a regular basis, including conducting of regular meetings and ensuring follow-up on agreed action points; 
  • Support the OMT and its WGs to conduct capacity development training, business seminars for vendors, and surveys on common services including vehicle maintenance, travel, cafeteria, etc.;
  • Provide advice and make recommendations to the OMT on all issues related to common services, including identification and launch of new common services, negotiations with service providers, formulation of draft supplier agreements, and monitoring of the performance of common services;
  • Maintain repository of all OMT and OMT WG files. 

4. ) Coordinates monitoring and reporting of BOS results under the UNSDCF and Manage the operations in the RCO in accordance with Development Coordination Office (DCO) rules and regulations and policies and strategies.

  • Support inter-agency efforts on results and progress monitoring and reporting on the BOS 2.0 and CBO/ LSSC, particularly through BOS Online Platform;
  • Monitor the progress towards the OMT work plan and budget, and the achievements of various common services, and provides regular reports to the OMT Chairperson(s) and the Head of the RCO;
  • Ensure adherence to UN policies, procedures, standards and tools, proper accounting practices, financial management and control procedures;
  • Provide substantive and analytical support to RC/ RCO in preparing and positioning the UN to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the country, including overall support to the UN RCO in matters related to the Delivering as One (DaO) initiative;
  • Support the Head of RCO in the development and implementation of operational plans, Service Level Agreements (SLAs), and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs);
  • Support the Head of RCO to prepare and coordinate implementation of the work program and budget to ensure compatibility with work priorities and objectives taking into account the most effective use of resources;
  • Act as a focal point for internal and external audit related matters (with OIOS and Board of Auditors), and coordination of assignments originating from Joint Inspection Unit (JIU), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), Ethics Office, Management Evaluation Unit (MEU) of United Nations (UN) System Ethiopia or other UN entities;
  • Maintain close contacts with other ECA Divisions and brings to the attention of the Head of RCO all matters requiring his/her personal attention, assists in formulating options as to how those matters might be handled, and ensures proper follow up, as directed;
  • Perform other duties as required.

5. ) Actively supports knowledge management and capacity development of the OMT and its WGs by sharing lessons learned, resolving challenges, and identifying and implementing global good practices in the field of common operations.

  • Support the UNCT and OMT with knowledge management, in particular help maintain an intranet file sharing platform for all the UN organizations at the country level;
  • Share and update the relevant OMT and common operations documents, M&E tool, attendance dashboard, local and regional LTA database, IPs database, HR Roster at the Information Knowledge Management (IKM) platform for the use of all the UN organizations;
  • Contribute to knowledge sharing (including through training and peer exchange) amongst UN staff on issues related to common operations, Disability Inclusion Strategy, Gender Environmental Sustainability which are parts of BOS, UN strategic planning frameworks, methodologies and tools;
  • Identify good practices and lessons learned at the different levels of the UN System (national, regional and global) and share findings with HQ, Regional and country colleagues so that best practices benefit UN’s work;
  • Coordinate workshop in Ethiopia to build close collaboration among operations and programmes;
  • Support the development of induction course materials for skill development, knowledge transfer and maintenance of consistent levels of BOS and UNSDCF related capacity at the country level.
The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization. 
 
Competencies 

Core Competencies

  • Achieve Results: LEVEL 2: Scale up solutions and simplifies processes, balances speed and accuracy in doing work.
  • Think Innovatively: LEVEL 2: Offer new ideas/open to new approaches, demonstrate systemic/integrated thinking.
  • Learn Continuously: LEVEL 2: Go outside comfort zone, learn from others and support their learning.
  • Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 2: Adapt processes/approaches to new situations, involve others in change process.
  • Act with Determination: LEVEL 2: Able to persevere and deal with multiple sources of pressure simultaneously.
  • Engage and Partner: LEVEL 2: Is facilitator/integrator, bring people together, build and/or /maintain coalitions/partnership.
  • Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 2: Facilitate conversations to bridge differences, considers in decision making.

Functional/Technical competencies

Business Management  

  • Operations Management: Ability to effectively plan, organize and oversee different parts of corporate operations, simultaneously and in an integrated way, in order to convert the organization's assets into the best results in the most efficient way. Knowledge of relevant concepts and mechanisms. 

Business Management

  • Partnerships Management: Build and maintain partnerships with wide networks of stakeholders, Governments, civil society and private sector partners, experts and others in line with UNDP strategy and policies. 

Business Management

  • Risk Management: Identify and organize action around reducing, mitigating and proactively managing risks.

Business Management: Customer Satisfaction/Client Management 

  • Ability to respond timely and appropriately with a sense of urgency, provide consistent solutions, and deliver timely and quality results and/or solutions to fulfil and understand the real customers' needs. 
  • Provide inputs to the development of customer service strategy. Look for ways to add value beyond clients' immediate requests. Ability to anticipate client's upcoming needs and concerns. 

Business Management

  • Resource Management: Allocate and use resources in a strategic or tactical way in line with business needs and priorities and principles of accountability and integrity.

Finance 

  • Budget management: Ability to support budgetary aspects of work planning process, drawing and management of team budgets. 

Procurement 

  • Procurement management: The ability to acquire goods, services or works from an outside external source.
     
Required Skills and Experience

 Education:
  • Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent degree) in business or public administration, Business Management, Statistics, International Relations/ Development, social sciences, or related area is required. 
  •  A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. 
Experience:
  • A minimum of 2 years (with Master degree) or 4 years (with Bachelor’s degree)  of progressively responsible experience in providing strategic support to project/programme management or operational activities in the context of development cooperation or related area is required; 
  • Experience in the use of computers, office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.), and web-based management systems such as ERP is required;
  • Demonstrated sound experience in client-orientation and result-orientation in service delivery is an asset;
  • Demonstrated experience and knowledge and understanding of core business processes in Human Resources, Procurement, Finance, and General Administration is desirable;
  • Proven experience as in operations and coordination is desirable; 
  • Working experience within the UN is desirable.
Language:
  • Fluency in English is required;
  •  Knowledge of French language is desirable. 
  • Knowledge of another UN official language is an advantage.
 
 
Please note that continuance of appointment beyond the initial 12 months is contingent upon the successful completion of a probationary period.

 
Disclaimer          
 
Applicant information about UNDP rosters
 
Note: UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement.  We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.

Non-discrimination
 
UNDP has a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual exploitation and misconduct, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.  
 
UNDP is an equal opportunity and inclusive employer that does not discriminate based on race, sex, gender identity, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, age, language, social origin or other status. 
 
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