View Vacancy - Senior Policy Adviser, International Appointments Lead, UK Mission to the UN
Main purpose of job:
The British Government’s Mission to the United Nations in New York has an exciting opportunity for a dynamic, agile and enterprising person to join the Management Reform and Finance Section as the Senior Policy Adviser, International Appointments lead. This opportunity is a rewarding role, which supports and advances UK’s priorities in the United Nations through implementation of the UK Government strategy on International Appointments across international organisations. There will also be the opportunity and requirement, as part of the MRF team, to represent and negotiate for the UK in the UN General Assembly’s Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budget), usually on matters related to the UN’s human resources management systems and processes.
The UK Mission to the United Nations offers a unique career enhancing opportunity and is committed to supporting its staff through a variety of benefits including generous leave, insurance packages and a highly competitive 401k programme. It also promotes a culture of flexibility, which enables people to better maintain wellness through a work/life balance approach that encompasses hybrid working, including some remote working and flexible hours, where possible. In this role, you would be working in a diverse international environment working with UK diplomats and other country based staff, armed forces personnel, UK government officials based in the UK and across the UK overseas network, foreign diplomats and UN officials. You would be a key member of the UK virtual Task Force on International Appointments.
This is a chance to contribute directly to implementation of the UK International Appointment’s strategy to increase British representation and overall gender balance at entry, mid and senior levels across the United Nations, and advance UK interests within the Fifth Committee. The jobholder will lead work on senior appointments, including building and maintaining a network of contacts; providing policy advice and written/oral updates, including briefing to the UK Permanent Representative and/or Deputy Permanent Representative on appointments and topics in their portfolio, as required; and supporting and advocating for UK candidates for UN jobs at all levels, in particular Director level and above. The jobholder will also represent the UK in Fifth Committee negotiations, as required, on a range of issues.
The ideal candidate will be able to demonstrate their abilities in working with others, delivering results at pace, communicating and influencing, strategic awareness and problem solving and judgement. There may be scope for the portfolio to grow as the jobholder gains experience in the role. You will work in a fast-paced and changing environment and must be willing to support other team members and priorities as needed.
Roles and responsibilities:
- Lead on implementation of the UK International Appointments strategy to increase representation of British nationals and gender balance at the senior levels of international organisations, working closely with headquarters and UK missions in Geneva and Vienna as part of a virtual Task Force.
- Maintaining and developing relationships with senior contact points in the human resources departments and of senior decision-makers on appointment for all UN entities based in New York.
- Establishing a robust system to identify job openings, mapping appointments coming up in the near future and working with policy teams to identify UK priority positions.
- Keeping UK Government up to date on information about appointments decisions throughout the recruitment process.
- Supporting efforts to identify suitable candidates for vacancies in international organisations in New York
- Arrange activities and events to build contacts between British Nationals in the UN system and the UK Mission.
- Provide support and advocate for UK candidates for UN system job in New York at all levels, but particularly at the Director level and above as needed.
- Manage the UK Government’s Junior Professional Officer Programme in New York, with potential for other programmatic work in support of the strategy.
- Advance UK work on UN reform and effectiveness, including by representing the UK in Fifth Committee negotiations on a range of issues.
- Deliver Mission-wide objectives, for example, leading programmes for senior visitors during the UN General Assembly High-Level week and serving on cross cutting staff committees.
Resources managed:
The jobholder will be responsible for managing UK-funded programme activities in support of the Secretary-General’s gender parity strategy and the UK Government’s Junior Professional Officer Programme.
Essential on arrival:
- 2-3 years of relevant work experience;
- Experience of work in a fast-paced, professional office environment;
- Excellent written and oral communication, particularly with senior stakeholders;
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office;
- Strong organizational, project and time management skills, with very good attention to detail;
- Excellent networking skills with the ability to develop and maintain long-lasting and load-bearing relationships at all levels;
- Flexible and resilient under pressure, and decisive, with a proven track record of delivering results to a high standard within tight deadlines;
- Willingness to work additional hours as necessary, especially during peak periods in March, May and December.
- Bachelor’s Degree in a relevant field
- Experience of work in public service;
- Knowledge of the United Nations System;
- Familiarity with the UK Government.
- Delivering change programmes, for example on resource, personnel or management issues.
Learning and development opportunities:
The Mission is committed to all employee’s ongoing learning and development needs. We offer a comprehensive platform for personalised learning for everything from soft skill development (communicating with impact, handling difficult conversations, time management) to more technical or professional skills necessary to complete your job (software training, formal qualifications etc.)
Working patterns:
This role is 40 hours a week. It does not require set working hours each day, but is customer facing and therefore requires some core hours and regular contact with colleagues in different time zones. It may require some out of hours work during peak periods of Fifth Committee negotiations
This opportunity is closed to applications.