Field Officer, Service Contract, SB4

Field Officer, Service Contract, SB4, UNFPA Bangladesh for Bandarban district

The Position:

UNFPA’s Tenth Country Programme (2022-2026) in Bangladesh is targeting 10 districts for sub-national level capacity development and system strengthening in four programme areas: 1) sexual and
reproductive health, 2) adolescent and youth, 3) gender equality and women’s empowerment, and 4) population dynamics. The 10 districts include: Patuakhali, Barguna, Bagerhat, Gaibandha, Jamalpur, Sirajganj, Dhaka, Noakhali, Bandarban, and Cox’s Bazar,

The Field Officer will be responsible for strengthening sub-national capacities in the district to realize national development priorities related to the ICPD Programme of Action and Beijing Platform for Action, as well as creating and maintaining UNFPA’s partnerships and support national systems at the local level.
Under the supervision of the Monitoring and Evaluation Unit with matrix supervision with the Deputy Representative, the Field Officer will be contributing to the effectiveness and efficiency of the Tenth Country Programme by: 1) enhancing programme effectiveness through quality assurance, data gathering and analysis, monitoring and results reporting; 2) enhancing UNFPA’s capability of responding to local development and/or humanitarian needs and addressing gaps in a timely, efficient and effective manner; 3) improving the mobilization of resources, either domestic or external; 4) increasing adaptability through innovation, partnership and communications; and 5) consolidating the visibility of UNFPA´s comparative advantage and technical excellence at the sub-national level, and 6) facilitating smooth implementation and tracking of results for the 10th CP (Country Programme) commitments to ensure accountability.
While the Field Officer will be responsible for the programme implementation at the sub-national level
in all four programme areas in the districts, their primary focus lies in advocating for and supporting maternal and newborn health system, strengthening and provision of adolescent sexual and reproductive
health information and services in districts through the health services as well as in-school interventions.

How you can make a difference:

UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled. UNFPA’s strategic plan (2022-2025), reaffirms the relevance of the current strategic direction of UNFPA and focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning; and end gender-based violence and harmful practices. These results capture our strategic commitments on accelerating progress towards realizing the ICPD and SDGs in the Decade of Action leading up to 2030. Our strategic plan calls upon UN Member States, organizations and individuals to “build forward better”, while addressing the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on women’s and girls’ access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, recover lost gains and realize our goals.

In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical staff, who embody these international norms and standards, and who will defend them courageously and with full conviction.

UNFPA is seeking candidates that transform, inspire and deliver high impact and sustained results; we need staff who are transparent, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results.

Job Purpose:

The Field Officer monitors and supports respective Division and Districts’ with local level planning, human resource management including scale up of midwifery led care sites, as well as monitoring the procurement, distribution and cold chain of critical commodities, improving voice and accountability by facilitating stronger community participation and improving health information management and other systems and processes that enable quality maternal newborn health service delivery including family planning and coordinated GBV prevention and response. The Field Officer will also support the district level Education Officers with the implementation and management of the school-based interventions and facilitate community support for adolescents to access SRHR and GBV prevention information.

You would be responsible for:

1. Results Based Programme Management:

● Collect and analyze sub-national (district, upazila and union level) data relevant to UNFPA’s programme areas
● Contribute to the CO management with the development of appropriate field-oriented briefing notes and updates on themes and priorities on UNFPA’s mandate
● Document and generate knowledge and good practices, for scaling up successful interventions and for policy dialogue and advocacy purposes, as well as re-adjusting interventions
● Undertake regular environmental scanning at the sub-national level to support the CO
● Support the CO M&E Unit by provision of data and primary analysis of sub-national data on monthly and/or quarterly basis
● Support the CO with donor reporting with field level inputs
● Explore local level opportunities for innovative approaches to deliver on results and identify opportunities to generate new evidence
● Contribute to the CO substantively in the development of funding proposals by consolidating field- level inputs

2. District-level advocacy and representation

● Strategically position UNFPA and the ICPD agenda, as they relate to local governance and decentralization processes, at the sub-national level based on emerging trends, to help mobilize local political and public support for ICPD and UNFPA operations
● Build and maintain relationships with Divisional Commissioners, District Commissioners, Civil Surgeons, Family planning Deputy Directors, Officials from the Ministry of Education and other division and district level key local government officials and representatives, for policy advocacy and capacity development
● Identify UN, donors, multi and bilateral development partners, NGOs/CSOs, academia, think tanks and individual experts that are operating in the respective Division and Target Districts and build/maintain communications and relationship, to help advocate for and strengthen the achievement of 10CP (10th Country Programme) and International Conference on Populatoin and Development Programme of Action (ICPD PoA) goals and the SDGs
● Identify ‘left behind’ populations, determine needs and advocate for more equitable distribution
of local resources
● Represent UNFPA, at request by the CO management and respective units, in the sub-national level events, meetings, workshops, trainings, etc.
● Actively contribute to the CO in increasing UNFPA visibility and transparency, by providing materials and information that are readily usable for both internal and external communication channels, both national/local and international.

3. Programme Implementation Support in districts:

● Carry out the sub-national level activities as per the 10CP Implementation Plan 2022-2026 in the respective target districts that fall under the office.
● Monitor implementation of activities in districts by all Implementing Partners.
● Provide oversight and capacity development, technical support to the respective division and districts in the planning, implementation, monitoring and results reporting, of the programme.
● Review, identify, problem solve and communicate sub-national bottlenecks including management and coordination issues and capacity gaps that hamper the appropriate implementation of UNFPA programming, policies and strategies in SRHR, gender equality, adolescents and youth development and population dynamics.
● Maximize the synergies of UNFPA’s different programme outcomes in a given division and target district
● Maintain regular reporting to and consultation with the CO in Dhaka on program/project implementation, monitoring (programme and finance) and office management
● Provide technical support in emergency preparedness and response to humanitarian crises such as natural disasters and for refugees, including needs assessments, local level cluster coordination, distribution of emergency reproductive health kits and dignity kits, operationalization of women friendly spaces and community watch groups, capacity development of service providers, etc.
● Receive and facilitate the mission and site visit by the representatives of the donors that support UNFPA programmes/projects
● Ensure all actions among field staff and with external stakeholders are executed with integrity and in accordance with UNFPA ethics policies, thus reflecting a culture of respect, transparency and accountability
● Identify and work closely with community groups and improve their participation in decentralized decision-making processes for the programme

4. Other tasks

● Assist the CO in ensuring that the Decentralization Office’s infrastructure, assets and facilities meet requirements for conducting business efficiently and effectively
● Contribute to the CO with security risk management, also by providing local intelligence
● Perform any other tasks assigned by the Supervisor

Qualifications and Experience:

Education:

Education: Master’s degree in public health, development, social sciences or other related fields

Knowledge and Experience:

3+ years of professional experience preferably in programme/project management in public or private sector; clinical background would be an advantage
Practical experience in the development field, including health, gender, youth development.
Field experience is strongly desired.
Demonstrated experience in coordination and liaison with government counterparts and other stakeholders, including NGOs and communities.

Required Competencies:

Values:

Exemplifying integrity,

Demonstrating commitment to UNFPA and the UN system,

Embracing cultural diversity,

Embracing change

Core Competencies:

Achieving results,

Being accountable,

Developing and applying professional expertise/business acumen,

Thinking analytically and strategically,

Working in teams/managing ourselves and our relationships,

Functional Competencies:

Ability to analyze, interpret and think critically about the legal framework in Bangladesh;
Excellent technical understanding of the legal framework;
Builds strong relationships with colleagues and stakeholders;
Ability to work with high-level government officials, technical specialists, Programme Clusters and Senior Management of UNFPA;
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
Demonstrates strong organizational and self-management skills;
Sensitivity to policy environment and ability to find creative solutions when problems arise;
Ability to plan and organize work accordingly.
Excellent research and writing skills, especially legal analysis and legislative drafting;
Strong negotiation and persuasion skills;
Ability to deliver training, presentations and workshops.
Ability to persuade others through cogent and clear arguments.
Understanding of and focus on impact and achieving results for the direct beneficiaries;
Focuses on result and responds positively to feedback.
Proactive attitude to work;
Ability to work independently and as an integral part of a team to deliver results.
Ability to think quickly and improvise when necessary.
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities

Compensation and Benefits:

This position offers an attractive remuneration package including a competitive net salary plus health insurance and other benefits as applicable.