Technical Advisor (Social Development)

Job Description

Dutystation: Home based

Functional responsibilities

Under the guidance of the Supervisor, the Technical Senior Advisor (Specialist in Social Development) will be responsible for the following duties:

• Specialized Technical Advice in Social Development:

  • Provide expert technical advice and support to the mission hubs on integrating social development principles, approaches, and best practices into their respective portfolios related to the humanitarian-development-peace nexus and food systems transformation. This includes areas such as social inclusion, gender equality, community engagement, and addressing inequalities.

  • Stay abreast of the latest developments, research, and best practices in social development, and advise the mission hubs on their application within their specific contexts.

• Knowledge Management and Case Study Production (Focus for 2025):

  • Support the UNOPS KM team on the identification, development, and documentation of case studies that analyze successful and less successful interventions related to social development within the mission hubs’ areas of focus.

  • Analyze these case studies to identify what works well, what doesn’t, what could be replicated in other contexts, and what the key gaps are in addressing social development challenges within the nexus and food systems.

• Foresight and Opportunity Identification (Focus for 2025):

  • Conduct foresight analysis to identify emerging social trends, challenges, and opportunities related to the humanitarian-development-peace nexus and food systems transformation.

  • Analyze the social, political, and economic landscape to anticipate future demands and needs in these areas from a social development perspective.

• Ideation and Scaling Up Approaches (Focus for 2025):

  • Facilitate ideation workshops and discussions with mission hub staff and partners to develop innovative approaches and solutions for leveraging opportunities in social development within the nexus and food systems.

  • Explore strategies for how UNOPS could scale up its support to countries in these areas to effectively respond to demand, ensuring social inclusion and equity are central to the response.

• Cross-Hub Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing:

  • Foster collaboration and knowledge sharing on social development initiatives across the two designated mission hubs.

  • Organize and facilitate peer learning events and knowledge exchange platforms.

• Partnership Engagement:

  • Provide technical input to the regions in engaging with partners on social development related aspects of their work.

  • Identify potential new partners and opportunities for collaboration in this thematic area.

• Reporting and Documentation:

  • Prepare high-quality technical reports, case studies, briefing notes, and other products as required.

  • Contribute to the preparation of progress reports on the foresight and ideation activities of the mission hubs.

• Other Duties:

  • Undertake other relevant tasks as assigned by the Supervisor.

Impact of Results:

The work of the Technical Senior Advisor (Specialist in Social Development) will directly contribute to:

• Enhanced understanding of effective and less effective social development approaches within the contexts of the humanitarian-development-peace nexus and food systems transformation.
• Increased availability of high-quality case studies and knowledge products on social development to inform UNOPS’ work and that of its partners.
• Improved strategic foresight capacity within the mission hubs to anticipate future social development challenges and opportunities.
• Identification of innovative approaches and strategies for scaling up UNOPS’ support in these areas, ensuring a strong social development lens.
• Strengthened collaboration and knowledge sharing across the relevant mission hubs on social development issues.

This position is a temporary assignment for an initial period of 6 months, with the possibility of extension for an additional 6 months. Please note that the assignment will not lead to further employment beyond the maximum duration of 12 months.

Interested candidates are requested to submit their application through the UNOPS online recruitment system. The application should include a cover letter highlighting their relevant experience and qualifications, specifically in green and blue growth and their understanding of its application within the contexts of triple planetary crisis, quality healthcare, and just digital transformation. A detailed curriculum vitae (CV) should also be included

Education/Experience/Language requirements

Education:

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in a relevant field such as sociology, social policy, anthropology, development studies with a focus on social development, or a related discipline.
• A first-level university degree (Bachelor’s degree or equivalent) in a relevant field combined with two additional years of relevant experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• A minimum of 7 years of progressively responsible experience in providing technical advisory services related to social development.
• Demonstrated experience in applying social development principles and practices in humanitarian, development, and/or peacebuilding contexts.
• Experience working on issues related to food systems transformation is highly desirable.
• Demonstrated experience in developing and analyzing case studies, and extracting lessons learned from a social development perspective.
• Experience in conducting social analysis and identifying social trends and opportunities.
• Experience in facilitating participatory approaches and community engagement.
• Experience working with the United Nations or other international organizations is desirable.
• Experience in knowledge management and partnership development is an asset.
• Experience working in diverse cultural contexts and with multidisciplinary teams.

• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of another UN language (e.g., French, Spanish) is an asset.

About the Organization

TOGETHER, WE BUILD THE FUTURE

UNOPS – an operational arm of the United Nations – supports the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by successfully implementing its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world.

Our mission is to help people build better lives and countries achieve peace and sustainable development.

We are proud of our people and embrace diversity and are committed to equal employment opportunities. Our workforce brings together approximately 160 nationalities, represented by over 5,000 UNOPS personnel as well as some 7,800 personnel recruited on behalf of our partners. Spread across 80 countries from a range of backgrounds, and languages and have different gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities.

We encourage women and candidates from underrepresented groups in UNOPS to apply. These include candidates from racialized and/or indigenous groups, members of minority gender identities and sexual orientations, and people with disabilities.