UNDP Head of Sub-Office (Nationals Only) | Paid Internship || Apply Now

The Head of Sub-Office leads and supervises the SO staff and project staff working in the geographic area of responsibility of the SO, ensuring cross-unit cooperation and coordination. The Head of SO ensures a client-oriented approach and consistency with UNDP rules and regulations in conformity with the UN Development Coordination Framework and good management practices. The Head of SO advises the country office senior management on SO programme, cost effectiveness and responses to emerging complex challenges in managing the Sub-Office; and ensures programmatic and operational alignment and coherence between SO and Country Office.

The incumbent will work closely with internal and external counterparts, including but not limited to UN Agencies and Partners, Government, national institutions, civil society, and private sector to successfully deliver UNDP programme and projects at the local level.

UNDP adopts a portfolio approach to accommodate changing business needs and leverage linkages across interventions to achieve its strategic goals. Therefore, UNDP personnel are expected to work across units, functions, teams, and projects in multidisciplinary teams in order to enhance and enable horizontal collaboration.

Duties and Responsibilities

Ensure strategic programme planning, coordination and implementation in the geographic area of responsibility of the Sub-Office:

• Analyze the socio-economic and political situation and trends in the area and identify opportunities and entry points for UNDP.
• Support capacity building of national counterparts.
• Ensure full compliance with audit requirements and timely follow-up to audit recommendations. Coordinate and follow through on decentralized local evaluations.
• Promote identification and synthesis of best practices and lessons learned for organizational sharing and learning.

Exercise responsibility for effective Sub-Office management:

• Ensure smooth running of the Sub-Office, build an effective SO team, and promote teamwork and an environment that is conducive to delivering results.
• Approve contracts and ERP transactions under written delegated authority from the Resident Representative and/or Deputy Resident Representative. Exercise ERP manager rights as delegated. Manage the Sub-Office personnel, monitor their performance, and complete performance assessments where necessary.
• Build capacity of the Sub-office personnel by identifying capacity needs and establishing training and learning programmes.

Represent UNDP sub-nationally and coordinate with UN Agencies, UNDP counterparts, and other organizations:

• Represent UNDP at the field level, and at the regional coordination mechanisms and other platforms.
• Provide strong coordination support to UN Agencies, national authorities, and other organizations through the establishment of a wider consultation process.
• Ensure proper coordination and input to Interagency initiatives.
• Maintain collaboration and coordination with the other Heads of Offices to ensure programmatic integration and sharing of best practices.

Promote communication flow in the office:

• Maximize communication between the various programmes and projects and with stakeholders (development partners, private sector, NGOs, civil society, UN agencies and Government agencies).
• Maximize internal communication at SO level and effective and proactive communication between relevant CO units (both programme and operations units) and the SO.
• Ensure that UNDP’s work at the local level and its impact are effectively communicated in collaboration with the Country Office.

Foster partnership building and resource mobilization:

• Contribute to the development of the CO Partnership and Resource Mobilization (PRM) strategy, including creation of tools to implement the strategy.
• Identify new partnerships and strengthen existing ones at the SO level through innovative approaches to partnership development.
• Encourage ways of mobilizing resources for the Country Office in consultation with local counterparts and follow-up with development partners on local opportunities.

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities:  Supervision and performance management of Sub-Office staff and project staff working within the Sub-Office geographic area of responsibility

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Required Skills and Experience for Head of Sub-Office