Chief of Strategic Prioritization and Practices Branch

UN Atlas; Genf; Hybrid; CHF 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Geneva seeks a Chief of the Strategic Prioritization and Practices Branch to lead reform of the humanitarian programme cycle and strengthen coordination among humanitarian actors. The role emphasizes change management, localization, accountability to affected people, and cross-cultural responsiveness.

The Chief provides strategic leadership, staff development, and external engagement, guiding policy, resources, and best

Qualifications

• Advanced university degree (Master's or equivalent) in international relations or public administration.
• A first-level degree with additional qualifying experience may be accepted.
• Minimum 15 years of progressive humanitarian experience.
• At least 4 years of field experience in aid operations.
• Experience in humanitarian programme cycle and interagency coordination desirable.
• Required languages: English; additional languages (Arabic, Russian, Chinese, French, Spanish) desired.

Responsibilities

• Lead reform of the humanitarian programme cycle and strengthen coordination.
• Provide strategic leadership, staff supervision, and external engagement.
• Develop guidance and tools for humanitarian coordinators and disseminate best practices.
• Represent OCHA in interagency forums, coordinate policy development, and advance humanitarian coordination.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Program management

Change management

Staff development

Interagency coordination

Policy guidance

Education

Master's degree in international relations or public administration

First-level degree with qualifying experience

Job description

Organizational context: The Strategic Prioritization and Practices Branch (SPPB) within the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Geneva is responsible for coordinating humanitarian actors to ensure effective emergency response. The Branch plays a key role in reforming the humanitarian programme cycle, strengthening coordination, and producing the Global Humanitarian Overview, contributing to OCHA's overall strategic plan.

Job purpose: The Chief of the Strategic Prioritization and Practices Branch leads the reform of the humanitarian programme cycle and enhances humanitarian coordination in line with the Humanitarian Reset. This role involves training personnel, documenting best practices, managing interagency negotiations, spearheading cash coordination, and fostering humanitarian-development collaboration. The Chief provides technical support to key humanitarian actors and oversees the production of the Global Humanitarian Overview, ensuring the Branch's activities align with OCHA's strategic objectives and contribute to effective humanitarian action and sustainable solutions.

Responsibilities: The Chief of Branch is responsible for streamlining Branch functions and driving change management for the humanitarian programme cycle reform, aligning with the Humanitarian Reset's principles. This includes promoting localization, accountability to affected people, and cross-cultural responsiveness. The role involves providing strategic leadership on needs assessment, response planning, resource mobilization, and monitoring. Key duties include staff supervision and development, fostering teamwork, managing administrative tasks, and promoting OCHA's mandate through external engagement. The Chief represents OCHA in interagency forums, coordinates policy development, and leads efforts to raise awareness and strengthen humanitarian coordination among stakeholders. Additionally, the role involves developing guidance and tools for humanitarian coordinators, facilitating best practice dissemination, overseeing training programs, and contributing to OCHA's corporate policy development.

Education: An advanced university degree (Master's or equivalent) in a relevant field such as international relations, public administration, or social sciences is required. A first-level university degree with additional qualifying experience may be accepted as an alternative.

Work experience: A minimum of 15 years of progressive experience in humanitarian assistance, disaster, or crisis management is required. This includes senior management experience in coordinating humanitarian relief operations and at least 4 years of field experience in aid operations. Experience in implementing the humanitarian programme cycle and in interagency coordination is desirable.

Skills: Professionalism, creativity, client orientation, leadership, and performance management. Specific competencies include in-depth knowledge of humanitarian response and coordination, ability to apply UN policies, partnership building, accountability, strategic vision, change management, and staff development.

Required languages: English

Desired languages: Arabic, Russian, Chinese, French, Spanish