About the job

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

Hardship Level

C

Family Type

Family

Residential location (if applicable)

Grade

PR3

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

2023-10-13

Job Posting End Date

November 9, 2023

Standard Job Description

Human Resources Officer

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships

The 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 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 Human Resources Officer plays a critical role. The main areas of work of the 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 Human Resources Officer is usually supervised by Head of Office, or Senior HR Officer 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.
• Support HR initiatives that support organizational culture change such as good people management practices, and promoting gender, inclusion and diversity.
• Plan and implement HR operational activities to ensure timely provision of HR solutions, prioritizing according to the needs and risks. 
  
   

Assignments and Talent Acquisition:

 

• Manage 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.
• Conduct outreach campaigns to attract diverse applicants. Ensure proper consideration is given to all applicants without discrimination.
• Analyse, track and report on recruitment and assignments trends for management, including efforts to reach gender parity.
• 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:

 

• Enforce 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 development and sourcing 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.
• Support the identification and management of risks and seek to seize opportunities impacting objectives in the area of responsibility. Ensure decision making in risk based in the functional area of work. Raise risks, issues and concerns to a supervisor or to relevant functional colleague(s).
• Perform other related duties as required. 
  
   

Minimum Qualifications

Education & Professional Work Experience

Years of Experience / Degree Level

For P3/NOC - 6 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 5 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 4 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.

Desirable

Proven ability to identify and implement successful business related HR interventions. Experience in some of the following areas: HR administration, workforce planning, 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-Talent Development and Nurturing

HR-Coordination and Oversight of Workforce Mobility

HR-HR data and people analytics

HR-Employee Relationship Management

SO-Critical Thinking and problem solving

SO-Situational Judgement

SO-Learning Agility

HR-HR Business Partnering

HR-Inclusion, Diversity and Gender strategy design and implementation

RM-Risk Management

(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 should have strong managerial and leadership skills. Experience in large and complex operation is desired including very strong cross functional competencies. S/He should be an experienced professional who will be able to address the evolving administrative needs of a protracted, complex operation. S/He will need to provide overall management and guidance to a human resources team supporting over 360 staff members. S/He should have experience in change management and HR. S/He should have proven diplomatic/negotiation and communication skills, results orientation, assertiveness, consensus building and cultural sensitivity. S/He should have proven management skills and be fully conversant with UNHCR corporate tools (e.g. COMPASS, WorkDay, etc.). English language is essential.

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:

Under the supervision of the Senior Admin Officer, the incumbent is expected to supervise the HR unit consisting of 1 International and 3 national staff members including one GL7 Senior HR Associate, one GL6 Human Resources Associate and one GL5 Senior Human Resources Assistant. In collaboration with all sections in the country office and 2 Sub Offices, candidate should implement HR operational activities to ensure timely provision of HR solutions, prioritized according to the needs of the operation.

With about 360 total staff, the HRO will manage and support recruitment of international and locally recruited staff, including efforts to reach gender parity as a strategic priority of the operation. Given the dynamic and volatile nature of the operation, the incumbent is expected to review staffing resources and identify gaps and provide guidance to managers in right sizing in line with the priorities of the operation. Similarly, experience in rapid workforce deployment is essential to timely respond to growing operational needs.

The incumbent is expected to have close linkages with Headquarters divisions, Bureau for guidance and countries with similar operational context to share synergies on common challenges linked to the implementation of the strategic priorities of the operation.

Living and Working Conditions:

Islamabad is a category C family duty station. Most of the international staff rent houses, portions of houses or apartments. There are areas of the city that are considered “off limits” for security reasons and your security in-charge can provide you with detailed information. As there is a large expat population in Islamabad, there are several rental options available that cover a wide range of prices depending on size and location. Many of the residences come fully furnished.

The internet service in Islamabad is relatively good, and IT can help you get the internet installed or connected in your rental home.

There are several markets in Islamabad, and several grocery stores. The grocery stores are fully stocked and have several brands that are cognizable to westerners. You may have to use more than one grocery store to get all your household needs, so be prepared to shop at a few stores when stocking your pantry. As mentioned above, westerners can find most everything at Jinnah Super Market (F-7), Super Market (F-6) or Kohsar Market (F-6), There are certain stores like Metro which provide all the items under one roof. Fruit is for the most part seasonable and fresh produce is a little more difficult to find compared to grocery stores in the west. Prices in grocery stores are non-negotiable, but most other consumer goods in Pakistan are most certainly negotiable, so be prepared to bargain. Drink only bottled water.

There are several Embassies that have clubs for which memberships can be obtained, for example the Canadian Club, the French Club etc. These clubs usually have some type of recreational facility such as a pool or tennis courts.

Skills

Additional Qualifications

Education

Bachelor of Arts (BA): Business Administration, Bachelor of Arts (BA): Human Resource Development, Bachelor of Arts (BA): Human Resources Management, Bachelor of Arts (BA): Personnel Administration

Certifications

Work Experience

Competencies

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

UNHCR Salary Calculator

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

Compendium 

Bi-annual Compendium 2023 Part B - October 2023

Additional Information

Functional clearance

This position doesn't require a functional clearance