People & Culture Associate, GS-6, FT, #00136778, Rome Common Services Center (CSC), Rome, Italy

Job no: 592219
Position type: Fixed Term Appointment
Location: Italy
Division/Equivalent: Partnerships
School/Unit: Geneva, Switzerland
Department/Office: Private Fund Raising and Partnerships
Categories: Human Resources

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UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do for as long as we are needed. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built: we offer our staff diverse opportunities for professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, a Champion

The Rome Common Services Center (CSC) will be newly established following the relocation of several UNICEF HQ Divisions to Rome, where they will be co-located with WFP HQ. The Rome CSC will play a critical role in delivering operational support to all UNICEF Divisions based in Rome as well as coordinating closely with WFP on the services provided to UNICEF.

Under the direct supervision of the People and Culture Officer, the People and Culture Associate is responsible for supporting individual consultancy contracts, low-value transactions, HR administrative services – system, procedural and operational support in compliance with UNICEF rules and regulations with a high degree of customer orientation. 

The People & Culture Associate performs highly skilled tasks, manages complex cases and client requests, which frequently requires the evaluation of urgent and complex situations, understanding of staff entitlements, host country regulations for protocol and privileges, and UNICEF procedures and processes to resolve issues timely with a focus on attention to details, sensitive to the needs of the clients, while applying relevant procedures.  May perform Officer in Charge to P2 People & Culture Officer during absences.

How can you make a difference....

 
  1.  HR Operational support  
  • Supports the People & Culture Officer to liaise with Divisions and clients to ensure HR administrative services are offered in a timely, systematic and transparent manner as per the established HR transactions in the CSC catalogue of services, SOPs and SLAs.  
  • Provides accurate and timely guidance in accordance with staff rules and regulations in respect to travel benefits and entitlements. 
  • Supports the review of cases that do not comply with UNICEF’s Rules & Regulations in consultation with People & Culture Officer and guides the clients accordingly.  
  • Monitor HR service requests through relevant systems and ensures timely response in line with SLA and internal SOPs. 
  • Provides technical support in submitting maintenance-related entitlement and benefit requests to GSSC via Service Gateway, as relevant to agreed service catalogue. In case staff member does not have access to Service Gateway, submits requests on behalf when required.  
  • Contributes to continuous simplification of CSC HR services and ensures client satisfaction.  

  1. Onboarding, Maintenance, Offboarding support for staff joining Rome Duty station  
  • Review for policy compliance and submit staff members’ entitlement travel requests for authorization. 
  • Certifies and signs grounds passes and facilitates building access cards for staff members and eligible dependents 
  • As part of newcomers’ registration process, facilitates allocation of space and equipment through CSC-Admin and ICT teams, ensuring issuance of UNICEF credentials and logins. 
  • Ensures the Rome onboarding and available welcome booklet are communicated to new staff. Coordinates induction briefings.  
  • Coordinates with focal point/HRBP of Division(s) to ensure equipment and building badge have been returned before Divisions begin final offboarding with GSSC.  
  • Maintains a monitoring tool to record all onboarding/offboarding cases.  

 

3. Protocol, diplomatic privileges, visas 

  • Coordinates with WFP protocol team on D-mission visas, MOFA ID, shipment, petrol card, and other diplomatic privileges as per staff member’s entitlement to privileges in the host country. 
  • Coordinates with WFP-protocol and staff for duty travel visa, renewal of UNLPs.

4. Low value individual consultant contracting 

  • Liaise with Divisions, clients and colleagues in planning the procurement of low-value individual consultant contracting, supporting development of relevant specifications, terms of reference, logistics arrangements and timelines and coordinating with GSSC. 
  • In liasion with clients and Divisions, support People & Culture officer to conduct low value contract submissions’ review and quality assurance for completeness and compliance with UNICEF rules and regulations. Follows through until the request (or case) is completed by GSSC. Respond to any queries from GSSC and consultants. 
  • Monitors dashboard of service requests to ensure timely action is taken in support of client Divisions. 
  • Reviews documents received for contract amendment for completeness and compliance with UNICEF rules and regulations. Prepare submissions to Contract Review Committee, if and when required .  
  • Processes amendments and closure of  consultancy contracts including change of funding source transactions, and submit for relevant approvals, ensuring completeness of documentation in UNICEF systems. 

5. Other duties/responsibilities: 

  • As assigned by People & Culture officer and/or Chief of CSC, supports client service and business continuity during absences of colleagues, given the small CSC team, as required. 
  • In collaboration with supervisor and other relevant stakeholders, provides input to help ensure knowledge exchange and learning is prioritized to continuously build capacity of individuals and the team. Develop and facilitate training of newcomers, establish processes or manuals to support effective workflows. 

 

To qualify as a Champion for every child you will have…

 Education:

  • A completion of secondary education is required, preferably supplemented by technical or university courses related to HR, business administration, contract/procurement or another relevant technical field. 

Experience:

  • A minimum of 6 years of relevant administrative experience in consultancy contracting management, and HR management in onboarding, offboarding, travel, protocol arrangements for staff is required.  
  • Demonstrated experience and knowledge of a range of HR-specialized topics, including the relevant policies is required. 
  • Demonstrated experience and understanding of the relevant individual consultancy contracting processes and ability to consistently apply relevant policies, procedures and good practices in the daily work is required.  
  • Demonstrated experience in coordinating with multiple stakeholders is required.  
  • Demonstrated experience in using ERP system (e.g., SAP/VISION, Service Gateway) for HR transactions is an asset.  
  • Demonstrated experience in maintaining tracking tools and monitoring service requestes, is an asset.  
  • Good judgement in order to handle complex cases including considerations for exceptions is an asset. 
  • Work experience with a development organization is an asset.  
  • Knowledge of UN/UNICEF’s rules, regulations and procedures is considered an asset.   

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are...

  • Nurtures, Leads and Manages People (1)
  • Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (1)
  • Works Collaboratively with others (1)
  • Builds and Maintains Partnerships (1)
  • Innovates and Embraces Change (1)
  • Thinks and Acts Strategically (1)
  • Drives to achieve impactful results (1)
  • Manages ambiguity and complexity (1) are required.

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF provides reasonable accommodation throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

Remarks:

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

UNICEF is committed to fostering an inclusive, representative, and welcoming workforce. 

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason. 

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

General Service Staff are recruited locally. Only suitable and eligible candidates with valid work permits, or EU nationals or Citizens of the country where the position is advertised should apply.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.

Advertised: W. Europe Daylight Time
Application close: W. Europe Daylight Time

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