Director, Office of Human Resources

UNDP•New York, NY

About The Position

With the Secretary-General’s reform efforts underway and the new administration at UNDP, there has never been a more exciting time to be at the forefront of organizational change. Human resources management will be an important driver in achieving the kind of dynamic, transformational change that is called for to support the 2030 Agenda and the achievement of UNDP’s 2026-2029 Strategic Plan. UNDP is a unique working environment and will play a forward-looking, effective and central role in delivering the development system reform. Our staff provide services to some of the world’s most vulnerable people, investing in development programmes across the globe. This working environment presents special challenges for people management. UNDP works in over 170 country settings around the world and has a global workforce of over 23,000 personnel including staff, colleagues on Personnel Services Agreement (PSA) contracts, contractors and UNVs. We work in development, humanitarian, post disaster and multi-country programme contexts. UNDP’s national and international staff and long-term experts contribute to on the ground solutions around the world working as part of a larger UN system. The Bureau for Management Services (BMS) supports management for development results. It provides operational solutions, strengthens the ability of UNDP to achieve programme and development results, keeps pace with the evolving needs and expectations of development partners and at the same time safeguards the organization’s accountability vis-à-vis United Nations member states. BMS provides advisory and transactional services and support to UNDP and UN agencies in its core functional areas. BMS develops management policies, Regulations and Rules, prescriptive content, management networks, other management and strategic leadership. BMS oversees policy adherence, safeguarding UNDP and Administrator accountability. It manages cross-cutting functions linked to change management and acts as the operations unit of Headquarters, providing operational services for implementation of UN Reform initiatives. The role of the Office of Human Resources (OHR) is to provide UNDP and its leadership with the best strategic HR advice. Leading the provision of HR business focused services, the office delivers best practice HR services and interventions that deliver results. The Office is accountable for the strategies, policies, systems and frameworks that enable UNDP to attract, develop, retain and motivate a highly skilled and diverse workforce. It shapes and cultivates a workplace that enables the organization’s staff to be productive, valued and rewarded. Headquartered in NY, and with presence in regional and distributed HQ hubs, OHR offers high quality business focused HR services across the globe. OHR ensures the availability of a highly skilled, aligned and engaged workforce to deliver today and tomorrow. Services include workforce planning, change management, recruitment, talent development including leadership development, engagement, performance management, succession management and strategy management for all HR related services. It provides advisory and oversight services for human resources management of its global workforce. It provides the learning and knowledge management systems to ensure that staff skills and competencies remain highly competitive for advisory and development services. It ensures that the Human Resources architecture is aligned to support the organization’s direction. OHR administers the global workforce through its systems support and advisory services. Position Purpose The Director of OHR leads OHR personnel in ensuring the provision of HR business focused services, delivering best practice HR services and the provision of interventions that deliver results. The Director, Office of Human Resources has a dual reporting line. S/he reports to the Administrator directly on all high-level, strategic Human Resources matters (including senior workforce deployment, interagency matters impacting UNDP’s strategic plan, partnership outreach to member states on special staff funding arrangements, and critical performance data relating to UNDPs reputation and capacity for change). S/he has a direct reporting line to the Director of the Bureau for Management Services on all other areas, including HR policies and tools, delivery of HR business partnering and transactional services, interagency support, technical HR matters, day to day management of the office, partnerships and representation. The Director, Office of Human Resources, is part of the BMS senior management team. 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 to enhance and enable horizontal collaboration. The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

Requirements

Advanced university degree (master's degree or equivalent) in Human Resources, Public or Business Administration, Management or related field is required.
A first level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in the fields of study mentioned above, in combination with an additional two (2) years of qualifying experience, which will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree.
A minimum of 15 years of progressively responsible professional experience in Human Resources Management is required.
At least 5 years of experience managing teams in a diverse workplace in private or public international organizations.
Demonstrated professional expertise in Strategic Human Resources Management developed through significant experience at a senior level in large and complex organizations.
Proven track record of excellent leadership, strategic thinking, and analytical skills is required.
Demonstrated experience of strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to manage large multi-cultural teams and engage effectively with stakeholders including donors, staff representatives, and interagency fora is desired.
Proven track record of High level of integrity, professionalism, and discretion is required.
Fluency in the English language is required.

Nice To Haves

Demonstrated ability to advise senior leadership and contribute to high-level decision-making is an advantage.
Familiarity with international development and the UN system is an advantage.
Working knowledge of another UN language is desirable