National Post: Assistant Representative, NOC, FTA, Bogota, Colombia

NOTE: This post is pending downgrading.

The Position:

The Assistant Representative, in Coordination with the Representative, designs, develops, and manages an innovative and responsive country programme. You will lead the programme team, inspiring it to translate the regional and country goals into tangible solutions and results.  

How you can make a difference:

UNFPA is the lead United Nations agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is intended, every childbirth is safe, and every young person's potential is fulfilled. The UNFPA Strategic Plan for 2026-2029 articulates the organization’s response to a complex global environment, providing a roadmap for resilience and renewal. It is designed to accelerate the implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. This mandate is pursued through a focus on four interconnected outcomes: ending the unmet need for family planning; ending preventable maternal deaths; ending gender-based violence and harmful practices; and adapting to demographic change through evidence and rights-based policies.

In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical staff who embody these international norms and standards and will defend them courageously and with full conviction.

UNFPA is seeking candidates who transform, inspire, and deliver high-impact sustained results, ensuring effective external relations, communications, partnership-building and resource mobilization in a rapidly changing development and funding landscape. We need staff who are transparent, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them, and who commit to delivering excellence in programme results

Job Purpose:

You will contribute to the management of UNFPA programme activities in the areas of population and development, reproductive health and gender. Working to advance the ICPD policy agenda in a politically sensitive environment, you will respond to changing priorities of Governments. Promoting partnership and strategic alliances with counterparts in government, multi-lateral and bilateral agencies and civil society will be key to your role. You will coordinate technical advisers and contribute to UN systems coordination through participation in policy dialogue and provision of inputs into joint common system initiatives.

Reporting to the UNFPA Representative or Deputy Representative, you will act on their behalf as required. 

You would be responsible for:

• Conducting policy dialogue with Government, UN and other development partners to incorporate UNFPA’s priorities and agenda into national plans and strategies, and UN systems, initiatives and development frameworks.
• Translating global strategies into country-specific advocacy strategies. This includes creating and delivering evidence-based advocacy messages and expanding the normative role to promote UNFPA’s programme goals, taking into account political and social sensitivities.
• Promoting a results-based approach, integrating innovative policies and strategies into the design and formulation of country programmes, sub-programmes and projects. She/He will ensure programmes are responsive to the country’s needs in areas of UNFPA’s strategic priorities.
• Facilitating the achievement of programme results by identifying, providing and coordinating inputs into programme development and implementation, ensuring programme monitoring and oversight, and coordinating and evaluating the inputs of consultants and technical experts.
• Promoting knowledge sharing and continuous learning including testing, evaluating and documenting innovative strategies and best practices internal and external to UNFPA, and integrating these as appropriate.
• Contributing to resource mobilization and the shift from funding to financing by identifying potential donors, preparing proposals including outlining co-financing resources for support to the country programme, and supporting the government and other agencies in coordinating assistance for programmes.
• Leading rapid adaptation of programme management to respond to the changing environment arising from humanitarian situations to reach displaced populations and LNOB using common operational data on population statistics and the provision of life-saving sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence prevention activities. 
• Promoting UNFPA positioning in the interagency space through active participation and management of the programme team participation in interagency groups, contributing substantively to interagency documents and other knowledge products, and leading opportunities for joint programming and resource mobilization.
• Analyzing population and development, reproductive health, gender issues, youth and humanitarian response in the country to provide substantive inputs to institutional responses and advocacy strategies taking into account political and social sensitivities. Creating and making use of opportunities to leverage the positioning of UNFPA’s policy agenda by participating in public information events.

Qualifications and Experience

Education: 

Master’s degree in public health, medicine, sociology, demography, gender, international relations, international development, economics, public administration, management or other related discipline.

Knowledge and Experience:

• 5 years of progressively responsible professional experience in the field of development and population activities, including programme designing, appraisal and management.
• Demonstrated ability to refine programme design with innovative and strategic focus to ensure alignment of organizational programme objectives to national priorities/capacities, including finance and human resources management. 
• Proven ability to lead and manage teams to achieve demonstrable results.
• Evidence of resource mobilization and contribution to normative role, including experience in the area of humanitarian response. 
• Excellent written and oral communication skills to foster engaged partnerships at a high level of representation and to maintain political partnerships.

Languages:

Fluency in Spanish (mother tongue) and English. Proficiency in Spanish will be considered an asset.

UNFPA Work Environment:

UNFPA provides a work environment that reflects the values of gender equality, diversity, integrity and healthy work-life balance. We are committed to ensuring gender parity in the organization and therefore encourage women to apply. Individuals from the LGBTQIA+ community, minority ethnic groups, indigenous populations, persons with disabilities, and other underrepresented groups are highly encouraged to apply. Reasonable accommodation may be provided to applicants with disabilities upon request, to support their participation in the recruitment process. UNFPA promotes equal opportunities in terms of appointment, training, compensation and selection for all regardless of personal characteristics and dimensions of diversity. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is at the heart of UNFPA's workforce - click here to learn more.

Disclaimer:

Selection and appointment may be subject to background and reference checks, medical clearance, visa issuance and other administrative requirements. 

UNFPA does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process and does not concern itself with information on applicants' bank accounts. 

Applicants for positions in the international Professional and higher categories, who hold permanent resident status in a country other than their country of nationality, may be required to renounce such status upon their appointment.