Organization: UNON – United Nations Office at Nairobi
Location: Nairobi
Grade: Junior level – P-2, International Professional – Internationally recruited position
Occupational Groups:
Human Resources
Closing Date:
Org. Setting and Reporting
The United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON) is the UN headquarters in Africa and the Director-General of UNON is the representative of the Secretary-General in Kenya. UNON supports programme implementation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP),the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and the Resident Coordination System (RCS) globally, as well as other UN offices in Kenya, by providing administrative, security, conference and information services (www.unon.org). The principal function of the Associate Human Resources Officer is to serve as the team lead for the administration of benefits and entitlements for the locally recruited staff members in UNON, UNEP, UN-Habitat and other client offices, in accordance with the staff rules and regulations and other applicable UN policies. The incumbent will report to the Chief of the Section of the Staff Benefits and Entitlements (SBE) Section, HRMS, UNON. Within delegated authority, the Associate Human Resources Officer will be responsible for the following duties:
Responsibilities
Administration of Benefits and Entitlements for locally recruited staffs • Supervises the work of the Human Resources Assistants in carrying out administrative transactions, including onboarding, offboarding, contract extensions, leave entitlements, salary, benefits and entitlements. • Monitors timely implementation of movement of General Service staff including on-boarding and off-boarding. • Ensures accurate implementation of contract extensions, while providing advice on the exceptional approval, including extension of Temporary Appointments beyond 364 days, 729 days, and mandatory break-in-service period. • Reviews monthly payroll lock report and takes necessary actions to ensure appropriate salary payment to General Service staff. • Reviews Special Post Allowances and Education Grant requests. • Reviews cases for exceptions to rules and policies and ensures adherence to the delegation of authority framework. HR Policy advisory and support • Acts as the focal point in SBE for the locally recruited staff in UNON, UNEP, UN-Habitat and other client officers and establishes collaborative relationships with the clients, administrative offices, and other service delivery unit to ensure open channels of communication and client-oriented approach. • Responds to staff members’ and client offices’ inquiry regarding contracts, salaries, entitlements, and benefits. • Provides advice and support to managers and client administrative focal points on human resources related matters. • Provides advice on human resources related matters through interpretation of applicable policies, regulations and rules. Reviews and provides advice on exceptions to policies, regulation and rules. • Reviews and prepare response to requests from resolution mechanism and oversight/audit bodies. Other • Keeps abreast of developments in various areas of human resources. • Prepares special reports and participates and/or leads special human resources projects. • Collects and analyzes data to identify trends or patterns and provide insights through graphs, charts, tables and reports using data visualization methods to enable data-driven planning, decision-making, presentation and reporting. • Performs other related duties as assigned.
Competencies
PROFESSIONALISM: Knowledge of human resources policies, practices and procedures and ability to apply them in an organizational setting; the ability to analyze and interpret data in support of decision-making and convey resulting information to management; ability to identify issues, formulate opinions, make conclusions and recommendations; shows pride in work and in achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations; takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work. COMMUNICATION: Speaks and writes clearly and effectively; listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately; asks questions to clarify, and exhibits interest in having two-way communication; tailors language, tone, style and format to match the audience; demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed. CLIENT ORIENTATION: Considers all those to whom services are provided to be “clients” and seeks to see things from clients’ point of view; establishes and maintains productive partnerships with clients by gaining their trust and respect; identifies clients’ needs and matches them to appropriate solutions; monitors ongoing developments inside and outside the clients’ environment to keep informed and anticipate problems; keeps clients informed of progress or setbacks in projects; meets timeline for delivery of products or services to client.
Education
Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in human resources management, business or public administration, social sciences or related area. A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. Successful completion of both degree and non-degree programs in data analytics, business analytics or data science programs is desirable.
Job – Specific Qualification
Not available.
Work Experience
A minimum of two (2) years of relevant experience in human resources and personnel administration is required. Experience in administering benefits and entitlements for geographically dispersed staff members is desirable. Experience in using Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems such as SAP is desirable. Experience with self-service analytics and data visualization applications (MS PowerBI, Qlik, Tableau or similar), or business intelligence tools (SAP Business Objects, etc.) is desirable.
Languages
English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the post advertised, fluency in English is required. Working knowledge in French is desirable. Knowledge of another official United Nations language is desirable. NOTE: “fluency equals a rating of “fluent” in all four areas (read, write, speak, understand) and “Knowledge of” equals a rating of “confident” in two of the four areas.
Assessment
Evaluation of qualified candidates may include an assessment exercise which may be followed by competency-based interview.
Special Notice
This is a Temporary Job Opening. Appointment against this position is for a duration of five (5) months, or until 31 December 2024, whichever is earlier, a limited duration, and does not carry any expectancy, legal or otherwise, of renewal. If selected, an internal candidate will be on temporary assignment to the post; an external candidate will initially be offered a temporary appointment. Staff members are subject to the authority of the Secretary General and to assignment by him or her. In this context, all staff are expected to move periodically to new functions in their careers in accordance with established rules and procedures. The United Nations Secretariat is committed to achieving 50/50 gender balance in its staff. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for this position. Individual Contractors and Consultants who have worked within the UN Secretariat in the last six months, irrespective of the administering entity, are ineligible to apply for or be appointed to any professional and higher temporary or fixed-term positions, within six months of the end of their current or most recent service. For such positions, at least six months need to have elapsed between the end of a consultancy or individual contract and the time of application and consideration for an appointment as a staff member under the Staff Rules and Regulations of the United Nations. Internal Applicants – when completing the PHP, ensure ALL fields, ALL professional experience and contact information are completed and up to date. This information is the basis for the hiring manager to assess your eligibility and suitability for the position and to contact you. At the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the recruitment and employment of staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity, with due regard to geographic diversity. All employment decisions are made on the basis of qualifications and organizational needs. The United Nations is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. The United Nations recruits and employs staff regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, race, religious, cultural and ethnic backgrounds or disabilities. Reasonable accommodation for applicants with disabilities may be provided to support participation in the recruitment process when requested and indicated in the application. All applicants are strongly encouraged to apply on-line as soon as possible after the job opening has been posted and well before the deadline stated in the job opening. On-line applications will be acknowledged where an email address has been provided. If you do not receive an email acknowledgement within 24 hours of submission, your application may not have been received. In such cases, please resubmit the application, if necessary. If the problem persists, please seek technical assistance through the Inspira “Need Help?” link.
United Nations Considerations
According to article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Candidates will not be considered for employment with the United Nations if they have committed violations of international human rights law, violations of international humanitarian law, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment, or if there are reasonable grounds to believe that they have been involved in the commission of any of these acts. The term “sexual exploitation” means any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust, for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially or politically from the sexual exploitation of another. The term “sexual abuse” means the actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions. The term “sexual harassment” means any unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that might reasonably be expected or be perceived to cause offence or humiliation, when such conduct interferes with work, is made a condition of employment or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment, and when the gravity of the conduct warrants the termination of the perpetrator’s working relationship. Candidates who have committed crimes other than minor traffic offences may not be considered for employment. Due regard will be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible. The United Nations places no restrictions on the eligibility of men and women to participate in any capacity and under conditions of equality in its principal and subsidiary organs. The United Nations Secretariat is a non-smoking environment. Reasonable accommodation may be provided to applicants with disabilities upon request, to support their participation in the recruitment process. By accepting a letter of appointment, staff members are subject to the authority of the Secretary-General, who may assign them to any of the activities or offices of the United Nations in accordance with staff regulation 1.2 (c). Further, staff members in the Professional and higher category up to and including the D-2 level and the Field Service category are normally required to move periodically to discharge functions in different duty stations under conditions established in ST/AI/2023/3 on Mobility, as may be amended or revised. This condition of service applies to all position specific job openings and does not apply to temporary positions. Applicants are urged to carefully follow all instructions available in the online recruitment platform, inspira, and to refer to the Applicant Guide by clicking on “Manuals” in the “Help” tile of the inspira account-holder homepage. The evaluation of applicants will be conducted on the basis of the information submitted in the application according to the evaluation criteria of the job opening and the applicable internal legislations of the United Nations including the Charter of the United Nations, resolutions of the General Assembly, the Staff Regulations and Rules, administrative issuances and guidelines. Applicants must provide complete and accurate information pertaining to their personal profile and qualifications according to the instructions provided in inspira to be considered for the current job opening. No amendment, addition, deletion, revision or modification shall be made to applications that have been submitted. Candidates under serious consideration for selection will be subject to reference checks to verify the information provided in the application. Job openings advertised on the Careers Portal will be removed at 11:59 p.m. (New York time) on the deadline date.
No Fee
THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.