Human Resources Associate, New York

UN WOMEN: HUMAN RESOURCES ASSOCIATE

Location : New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Application Deadline : 31-Oct-12 Additional Category Management

Type of Contract : FTA Local Post Level : GS-6 Languages Required : English

Duration of Initial Contract : One Year

All posts in the GS categories are subject to local recruitment.

Internally advertised General Service (GS) fixed-term appointment (FTA) positions located in Headquarters are open to GS staff members currently serving in New York/Washington D.C. who hold a UNDP permanent or FTA who are either US Permanent Residents, US citizens or holders of a valid G4 visa at the time of their application and whose G4 visa has been acquired on account of their employment in the UN Systems based in New York or Washington, DC.

Externally advertised GS fixed-term appointment and temporary appointment (TA) positions located in New York/Washington D.C. are open to candidates who are either US Permanent Residents, US Citizens or holders of a valid G4 visa at the time of their application and whose G4 visa has been acquired on account of their employment in the UN Systems based in New York or Washington, DC.

Current UNDP GS staff serving outside of HQ must meet the eligibility criteria stated above prior to their application.

Selected candidates who meet the above mentioned eligibility criteria are responsible for their own travel and/or relocation costs.

Selection to GS fixed-term appointment positions at Headquarters requires passing a UN administered clerical test (ASAT).

Applicants under serious consideration for short-listing of posts requiring accountancy and finance skills, must take the UNDP Accountancy and Finance Test (UNDP AFT) prior to short-listing.

Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. Placing women's rights at the centre of all its efforts, the UN Women will lead and coordinate United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It will provide strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States' priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

The Human Resources Section is developing and implementing Human Resource (HR) policies under the umbrella of UN Staff Rules and Regulations. The Human Resource Associate reports to the Chief, Human Resources, for general guidance and supervision, and is responsible for the administration of a whole range of HR services ensuring compliance with organizational rules, regulations, policies and procedures .

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of key functions:

• Administration and implementation of HR strategies and policies
• Provision of HR services
• Facilitation of knowledge building and sharing

Administration and implementation of HR strategies and policies:

• Full compliance of records and reports with UN Staff Rules and Regulations, UN Women policies, procedures and strategies; effective implementation of the internal control framework.
• Provision of information to the management and staff on strategies, rules and regulations and relevant guidelines. Preparation of written responses to queries concerning HR related matters.
• Provision of information in support to audit exercises keeping accurate records and tracking of documents.
• Establishment of appropriate information flow in order to ensure due process, accuracy of required data and timeliness of required actions.
• Undertaking research on a range of HR related issues and preparation of notes/reports
• Provision of general administrative support to the Human Resource Section: processing, drafting, editing, proofreading and finalization for signature/approval a variety of correspondence and other documentation; setting up and maintenance of files/records (electronic and paper); scheduling of appointments/meetings, monitoring of deadlines, etc.

Provision of HR Services:

• Implementation of recruitment processes including uploading vacancy announcement and preliminary screening of candidates. Support to recruitment/administrative procedures for Junior Professional Officers (JPO). Screening of internship requests and preparation of internship agreements in accordance with established policy.
• Update position data in Atlas, association of positions to chart fields (COAs), update of COA information, and setting up vendors. Timely follow up with Finance staff on payment related issues.
• Input and tracking of all transactions related to positions, recruitment, benefits, earnings/deductions, retroactivities, recoveries, adjustments and separations through Atlas.
• Provision of information on benefits/entitlements to staff and on administrative issues, such as G-4 visa, UN Laissez-Passer, work permit for spouses, etc.
• Review of contracts/agreements including Service Level Agreements (SLA).
• Support country offices? requests liaising with the designated focal points

Facilitation of knowledge building and sharing:

• Assist in the organization of training courses and workshops.
• Provide logistics and administrative support to trainers.
• Contribute to improvements in HR policies, methods, procedures and tools by synthesizing lessons learned and codifying best practices in HR.

Impact of Results:

The timely and effective execution of HR services directly impact the prompt implementation of salaries, allowances and benefits and the expeditious and transparent management of other HR services in recruitment, performance management, career development and staff relations that in return result in building confidence of staff on the ability of UN Women to protect staff well being and to manage its staff equitably and fairly

Competencies

Core Values and Guiding Principles:

• Integrity: Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.
• Professionalism: Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.
• Cultural sensitivity and valuing diversity: Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity

Core Competencies:

• Ethics and Values: Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity
• Organizational Awareness: Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment
• Development and Innovation: Take charge of self-development and take initiative.
• Work in teams: Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi-ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.
• Communicating and Information Sharing: Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication.
• Self-management and Emotional Intelligence: Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behavior towards other.
• Conflict Management: Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.
• Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing: Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge.
• Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making: Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making.

Functional Competencies:

• Identifies and communicates opportunities to promote learning and knowledge-sharing
• Encourages office staff to share knowledge.
• Demonstrates ability to diagnose problems and identifies and communicates processes to support change initiatives.
• Collects information to ensure increased understanding of HR policies and practices.
• Establishes and uses network of contacts in the organization of HR information-sharing.
• Establishes, builds and sustains effective relationships with clients, demonstrating understanding of client?s perspective; anticipates client needs and addresses them promptly.'Responds positively to new approaches; tracks problems and proposes solutions.
• Demonstrates in-depth understanding of HR policies, practices and procedures, and utilizes regularly in work assignments.
• Ability to provide input to business processes re-engineering, implementation of new systems

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Secondary Education is required.
• University Degree in Human Resource Management, Business, Public Administration or other social science related field is desirable but not required.

Experience:

• A minimum of 6 years of experience in human resource management in a large multi-national or large international organization preferably with some experience in a UN system organization or agency.
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc) and experience in handling of web based management systems

Education:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Proficiency in another UN working language is desirable.