Background Information - UNOPS

UNOPS is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world. Our mission is to help people build better lives and countries achieve sustainable development.

UNOPS areas of expertise cover infrastructure, procurement, project management, financial management and human resources.

Working with us

UNOPS offers short- and long-term work opportunities in diverse and challenging environments across the globe. We are looking for creative, results-focused professionals with skills in a range of disciplines.

Diversity

With over 4,000 UNOPS personnel and approximately 7,000 personnel recruited on behalf of UNOPS partners spread across 80 countries, our workforce represents a wide range of nationalities and cultures. We promote a balanced, diverse workforce — a strength that helps us better understand and address our partners’ needs, and continually strive to improve our gender balance through initiatives and policies that encourage recruitment of qualified female candidates.

Work life harmonization

UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands.

** Background Information - PCG

The People and Change Group (PCG) is based at the UNOPS Headquarters in Copenhagen. Its mission is to empower effective leadership and high-performing talent as well as to enable business transformation pursuit of organizational excellence and a culture of innovation. We are bringing together more than 30 experienced professionals in organisational design, recruitment outreach, talent management, learning management, and change management. All of us have a passion for achieving results and building innovation into our way of doing business. In a truly multicultural atmosphere, we work in a dynamic, flexible team based approach and thrive to get things done.

** Background Information - Job-specific

The role of the Head of Change Management reports to the Director, People and Change Group and supports the organization to adopt new ways of working, through how we organize, how we work, the skills our people develop, how we embrace digital technologies and how we embed innovation. The role will oversee, ensure, and enable the appropriate and consistent application of the UNOPS change management approach and its associated methodologies and tools. This role leads and enables the assessment of the prevailing environment, scoping and definition of change across multiple projects to ensure outcomes and expected benefits are clearly articulated and that agreed work is aligned to the overall project/initiative.

The role requires the ability to drive a transformational agenda and connect digital strategy to organizational and talent strategies.

The Head of Change Management will engage in a high level of collaboration across a number of work plans to improve our organizational effectiveness and ultimately strengthen UNOPS competitive position as a partner of choice in sustainable development and project services.

** Functional Responsibilities

1. Change management team leadership**

  • To establish the annual work plan for the change management team, in collaboration with the PCG leadership team and stakeholders, set objectives, performance measurements, standards and results expected.

  • To monitor implementation of the team’s annual work plan, oversee progress and ensure the delivery of results as planned and according to expectation.

  • To promote teamwork and collaboration by providing the team with clear direction, objectives and guidance to enable them to perform their duties responsibly, effectively and efficiently.

  • To plan, recruit and develop a flexible workforce with the skills and competencies needed to ensure optimum performance, and ensure gender and geographical diversity.

  • To foster a positive work environment, respectful of both men and women, and ensure that the highest standards of conduct are observed.

2. Change visioning

  • To work with senior stakeholders to define and lead organisational transformation, including digital transformation initiatives. To lead corporate change programmes, and / or regional or group change management programmes to support strategic objectives.

  • To collaborate with project sponsors/stakeholders to ensure the business case for change is clearly defined and documented.

  • To assess change drivers and translate them into viable programmes/projects with clear vision and objectives.

  • To advise on change management strategy, based on situational awareness of the details of the change and the groups being impacted by the change.

  • To lead the prioritization of change projects and initiatives with guidance from the People and Change Group leadership team.

  • To lead the application of the UNOPS change management approach and methodology to identify potential risks, anticipate points of resistance and develop specific plans to mitigate or address concerns.

  • To ensure the availability of relevant tools, information and knowledge for the change programme, through supervision of data collection, research, analysis and presentation of information from diverse sources.

3. Stakeholder management

4. Change implementation

  • To curate a network of UNOPS experts and resources with complementary skill sets to provide dedicated support for change management engagements.

  • To provide advice to UNOPS country offices on issues of people, process, technology and organizational structure, to maximise the effectiveness of the change programme.

  • To identify and monitor Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to monitor change progress.

  • To provide advice to key stakeholders to drive the implementation of work plans for the projects identified in change programme.

  • To lead the change management team to deliver specific work items through development, facilitation and consolidation of high quality project deliverables.

  • To develop and implement the required actions to manage the impact on people as a result of change, in consultation with the PCG colleagues and IPAS HR.

  • To ensure change related risk across projects (people, operations, organisational) are within desired levels by managing and leading the identification of risks; highlighting impacts associated with the change, development of mitigation plans with associated business case and benefits; and facilitating informed discussions about change related risks to key stakeholders.

5. Knowledge management and innovation

  • To drive continuous improvement in the UNOPS Change Management approach through sharing of examples, development of new tools etc.

  • To lead change network meetings, providing insights on emerging issues.

  • To lead the consolidation and dissemination of lessons learnt and best practices in change management.

  • To build relationships and partnerships with private sector and other non-UN organizations with an aim to stimulating innovation in the change management team and network.

Impact of Results

The effective and successful achievement of results by the Head of Change Management directly impacts UNOPS ability to continuously adapt to altering business realities. Through effective change management UNOPS can more effectively align organisational resources, both financial and human, to the vision for the future and strengthen our position as a partner of choice in sustainable development and project services.

** Education/Experience/Language requirements

Education:

  • A Master’s degree in a relevant field is desirable.
  • A combination of Bachelor’s degree with an additional 2 years of relevant work experience may be accepted in lieu of the education requirements outlined above.**
    Experience:**

A minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible experience working in change management, management consulting, organizational development or strategic human resource management.

This should include at least 3 years of experience leading organizational transformation and complex change programmes, in an international context, whether from private or public sector.

Other essential requirements include:

  • Experience of leading large-scale organisational transformation, with a focus on the future of work, digital adoption, organizational change, employee enablement and internal communications campaigns.

  • Exceptional organization skills, and an ability to adjust and adapt to the rolling, day-to-day changes that transpire in the implementation of large projects.

  • Energy and resolve in overcoming challenges in various contexts.

  • Demonstrated experience cultivating relationships with internal/external clients and stakeholder networks to achieve organisational priorities.

  • Exposure to the change management practices in the private sector.

  • An ongoing commitment to incorporating best practices in change management and adapting to digital trends such as automation / new technologies and cloud-based solutions is desirable.

Language:

  • Fluency and proficiency in English.
  • Working knowledge of UNOPS languages (French/ Spanish) is a distinct asset

** Contract type, level and duration

Contract type: International ICA
Contract level: IICA-3
Contract duration: ongoing

For more details about the ICA contractual modality, please follow this link:
https://www.unops.org/english/Opportunities/job-opportunities/what-we-offer/Pages/Individual-Contractor-Agreements.aspx

** Additional Considerations

  • Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time
  • Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
  • Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.
  • Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
  • UNOPS seeks to reasonably accommodate candidates with special needs, upon request.
  • Work life harmonization - UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands. We have a progressive policy on work-life harmonization and offer several flexible working options. This policy applies to UNOPS personnel on all contract types
  • UNOPS seeks to reasonably accommodate candidates with special needs, upon request.
  • For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post
  • The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.

It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential recruits/interns.
Recruitment/internship in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.

This vacancy is archived.

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