UN Women - Chief, Information Systems and Telecommunications (IST)

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. Placing women's rights at the centre of all its efforts, the UN Women will lead and coordinate United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It will provide strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States' priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors. The Division of Management and Administration is responsible for the planning, allocation and management of financial, human and administrative resources including information systems and telecommunications, the effective and efficient delivery of essential operations services in UN Women, continuous development and improvement in operations, policies, and methods to align with UN Women and stakeholders' evolving business needs and advisory support to the Executive Director in the formulation and implementation of the UN Women overall mission, strategy and plans of actions. The Information Systems and Telecommunication Office located in the Division of Management and Administration, is responsible for the strategic planning and development of information and telecommunication systems and services, IST solutions, sourcing of information systems and equipment to support business needs and for the maintenance, availability, reliability and quality of performance of information and telecommunications systems and services globally in all UN Women offices. The IST will work closely and collaboratively with UNDP, its principal ICT partner to achieve synergy, avoid duplication and to take advantage of potentials for partnerships in information and telecommunications systems and services development and implementation. The Chief, Information Systems and Telecommunications reports to the Director, Management and Administration for general guidance and direction, and is responsible for the strategic planning, implementation, management and delivery of effective, reliable and optimally functioning information systems and telecommunication services in support of UN Women global commitments, operations and business needs.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of key functions: 1. Strategic Leadership Lead the development of UN Women's ICT strategy in support of the UN Women's corporate goals, focusing on opportunities and challenges at the technology end and match this with the business requirements. Advise on emerging ICT issues and act as the organization's principal ICT focal point internally and externally. 2. Management Manage UN Women's IT budget with a view to ensure steady improvements in productivity and quality in the UN Women ICT platform and architecture. Plan the human resources requirements of the UN Women ICT Department to ensure goals are met on time and within budget; establish an enhanced performance and learning culture within the Department; empower staff through communication, participation, team-building and nurturing innovation and creativity. Oversee performance of the UN Women ICT Department, including its service provision, using appropriate results based performance systems. Manage outsourcing and other vendor contracts, including the components of the UN Women ICT architecture managed by UNDP, to ensure performance levels and cost effectiveness. Provide input to the UN Women administrative business processes mapping and implementation of the internal UN Women ICT Orientation Procedures. Provide input to the implementation of results-oriented annual ICT Work plan. 3. Partnering Within the framework of the ICT strategy, manage the ICT relationship with UNDP. Lead the establishment and maintenance of ICT related partnerships with UN System agencies, funds and programmes and represent UN Women in UN inter-agency fora. Lead the involvement of the ICT Department with other UN Women and UNDP business units for Atlas customization and applications development and support activities. 4. Change Management: Champion change management and re-engineering initiatives within the ICT Department. Support broader change management objectives in UN Women where ICT is a driver or an enabler. 5. System Applications Develop, promulgate, and enforce corporate hardware/software/practice standards. Manage and support system enhancements consistent with the ICT strategy. Manage CO and HQ system applications and their interfaces. Maintain a strong client relationship with the user community. Generate periodic reports on corporate applications. 6. Ensures facilitation of knowledge building and knowledge sharing within UN Women, focusing on achievement of the following results Participation and assistance in the organization of related training for the staff on ICT issues. Sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice 7. Database management and support business intelligence tools and other executive information systems for data analysis and reporting, by following on the following key results Ensure that outsourced and in-house corporate databases and data warehouses facilities conform to suitable technical standards. Support corporate business intelligence tools for data analysis and reporting. Support development and implementation of executive information systems and ensuring they are consistent with the ICT strategy. 8. Client Support Provide advice and assistance to HQ and CO clients. Support and provide technical clearance for ICT initiatives managed by HQ units and SROs. Facilitate public and private sector information partnerships. 9. Knowledge, Office Automation and Learning Services Foster a practice culture within the UN Women ICT Team by promoting knowledge sharing and facilitating networks of ICT focal points in HQ units and SROs. In conjunction with the UN Women Knowledge management group, ensure implementation of knowledge management in UN Women, including provision of ICT support in this regard. Implement office automation in UN Women, including designing the information architecture, business processes and workflows to be supported in line with HQ and field requirements. Provide web technology to provide internal and external users with access to corporate information and learning materials. Coordinate ICT training for staff. 10. Communication Technology & Technology Support Internet, Intranet, e-mail, portal and web services and technology Manage HQ telecommunications network and provision of advice and support for CO Telecommunications systems. Support HQ infrastructure (e.g. LAN, WAN, firewall, etc.). Provide advice on hardware and operating systems to HQ and CO clients. Manage servers and hardware operating on UNIX, Windows NT and Novell Netware. Plan and coordinate cost-effective procurement of information technology. Establishment and enforcement of hardware and software standards. 11. Business Continuity and ICT Security Develop and manage an ICT risk management and security plan. Contribute to the development and management of a UN Women Business Continuity Plan.

Competencies

Core Values and Principles: Integrity: Demonstrating consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct. Cultural Sensitivity/Valuing diversity: Demonstrating an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrating an international outlook, appreciating differences in values and learning from cultural diversity. Core Competencies: Ethics and Values: Promoting Ethics and Integrity / Creating Organizational Precedents Organizational Awareness: Building support and political acumen Developing and Empowering People / coaching and mentoring: Building staff competence, creating an environment of creativity and innovation Working in Teams: Building and promoting effective teams Communicating Information and Ideas: Creating and promoting enabling environment for open communication Self-management and Emotional intelligence: Creating an emotionally intelligent organization Conflict Management / Negotiating and Resolving Disagreements: Leveraging conflict in the interests of the organization & setting standards Knowledge Sharing / Continuous Learning: Sharing knowledge across the organization and building a culture of knowledge sharing and learning Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making: Fair and transparent decision-making; calculated risk-taking Functional Competencies: Strategic Leadership and Management: Advising on and guiding of UNW ICT initiatives and leading IST in providing cost effective and innovative technology solutions to business challenges. Strategic and Innovative Thinking: Contributing to the formulation of strategy and policy based on a practical business understanding that leads to the realization of corporate goals and the facilitation of creativity. Technical Expertise: Demonstrating expertise and experience in IT, especially ERPs and web-based solutions and an ability to drive innovation and improvements in technology standards within UNW. Change Management: Leading organizational reform and improved operational cost-effectiveness through sound people management and the adoption of best practice methods including reengineering, outsourcing, and decentralization. Advocacy and Communication: Raising awareness of the potential of information technology and knowledge management, promoting wider corporate and program usage of computer systems and applications, and developing strategic partnerships with external parties.

Required Skills and Experience

Education: Advanced university degree in information technology, computer science, business administration or other related discipline. Experience: Over 10 years of progressively responsible experience at least half of which should be in high-level information and communication technology positions in a large international organizations or multi-national corporations in information systems and telecommunications strategic planning and project design, management and implementation to meet business needs and operations. Technical experience: Expertise and demonstrated application skills in information communications technology, especially of large ERP systems, preferably PeopleSoft or Oracle, and web-based ICT solutions. Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required. Proficiency in another UN working language is desirable. In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment. All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

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UN Women - Chief, Information Systems and Telecommunications (IST)