JOB DESCRIPTION

Deadline for Applications

October 17, 2025

Hardship Level

H (no hardship)

Family Type

Family

Family Type

Family

Residential location (if applicable)

Grade

PR4

Staff Member / Affiliate Type

Professional

Reason

Regular > Regular Assignment

Target Start Date

2025-11-01

Standard Job Description

Senior Management Support Officer

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships

The Senior Management Support Officer is responsible for overseeing and coordinating the management support functions of UNHCR. This senior position will provide strategic leadership and support in the areas of Human Resources, Finance, Supply Chain, and Administration to ensure the effective and efficient functioning of operations.

All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR’s core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.

Duties

Strategic Leadership in Management Support Coordination

• Lead and oversee the integration of management support functions (HR, finance, supply chain, and administration) to ensure alignment with organizational priorities and goals.
• Drive continuous improvement efforts to streamline support processes and optimize resource utilization across various functions.
• Provide strategic advice to senior management on management support efficiency, risk mitigation, and resource allocation.

Human Resources Leadership

• Take the lead in shaping and implementing HR strategies, including workforce planning, recruitment, and staff development, at a strategic level.
• Provide guidance on complex HR issues related to staff entitlements, performance management, and compliance with policies.
• Act as a key point of contact for senior management on HR matters, influencing the development of policies and practices that affect the overall workforce.

Financial Oversight and Strategic Management

• Lead financial planning, forecasting, and monitoring, making recommendations for adjustments to meet changing operational needs.
• Supervise the preparation and analysis of complex financial reports, and ensure the timely execution of financial transactions, audits, and donor reporting.

Supply Chain and Procurement Oversight

• Lead the strategic direction for procurement, supply chain planning, and logistics, ensuring compliance with UNHCR policies and efficiency in operations.
• Oversee complex procurement activities, large-scale contract management, and vendor relationships, ensuring transparency and cost-effectiveness.
• Ensure alignment with operational goals through advanced supply chain management and logistical coordination across multiple regions.

Strategic Administrative and Operational Support

• Oversee the management of office facilities, travel, fleet, and general administrative support, ensuring compliance with organizational and financial policies.
• Lead the integration of digital tools and IT solutions to improve operational support across all functional areas, enhancing overall efficiency.
• Supervise the management of service contracts and relationships with external service providers.

Stakeholder Engagement and Capacity Building

• Lead cross-functional teams and influence decision-making processes, providing technical advice on operational matters and ensuring alignment with organizational strategy.
• Foster collaborative partnerships with internal and external stakeholders, including program teams, donors, and operational partners, to strengthen support systems.
• Lead the development and delivery of training and capacity-building initiatives, ensuring management support staff are equipped with the skills necessary to meet strategic goals.

Risk Management

• Lead risk assessments and discussions with team(s) to proactively manage risks and seize opportunities impacting objectives. Ensure that risk management principles are integrated in decision-making both at strategic and operational levels. Allocate resources for planned treatments with resource requirements in Strategic Plans. Ensure that risks are managed to acceptable levels and escalate, as needed. If a Risk Owner, designate the Risk Focal Point and certify that the annual risk review is completed and ensure that the risk register is updated during the year, as needed.

• Perform other related duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications

Years of Experience / Degree Level

For P4/NOD – 9 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 8 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 7 years relevant experience with Doctorate degree

Field(s) of Education

Business Administration Finance Human Resources

Supply Chain Management or other relevant field.

Certificates and/or Licenses

Not specified.

(Certificates and Licenses marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Relevant Job Experience

Essential

Strong leadership and team management experience, with the ability to influence and guide decision-making at senior levels. Proven ability to manage large, complex projects, with expertise in multiple functional areas (human resources, finance, supply chain, etc.). Expertise in financial planning, budgeting, and reporting, with a track record of managing resources effectively in a global or multi-regional context. In-depth knowledge of procurement policies, supply chain logistics, and asset management. Extensive experience in risk management and operational oversight, with the ability to implement improvements and address challenges in real-time.

Desirable

Experience in an international organization or non-profit sector is highly desirable. Experience with Workday ERP, Oracle Cloud across multiple modules (Human Resources, Finance, Procurement) in a UN or international organization context.

Functional Skills

FI-General Financial Management

HR-Performance management methodologies and practices

SC-Supply Chain planning and strategy development

MG-Stakeholder Management

MG-Change Management

DM-Data governance, quality assurance and preservation

CL-Strategy Development and Monitoring

(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Language Requirements

For International Professional and Field Service jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English.

For National Professional jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language.

For General Service jobs: Knowledge of English and/or UN working language of the duty station if not English.

Competency Requirements

All jobs at UNHCR require six core competencies and may also require managerial competencies and/or cross-functional competencies. The six core competencies are listed below.

Core Competencies

Accountability

Communication

Organizational Awareness

Teamwork & Collaboration

Commitment to Continuous Learning

Client & Result Orientation

Managerial Competencies

Empowering & Building Trust

Judgement & Decision Making

Leadership

Managing Performance

Managing Resource

Strategic Planning & Vision

Cross-Functional Competencies

Stakeholder Management

Negotiation & Conflict Resolution

Political Awareness

All UNHCR workforce members must individually and collectively, contribute towards a working environment where each person feels safe, and empowered to perform their duties. This includes by demonstrating no tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, harassment including sexual harassment, sexism, gender inequality, discrimination, and abuse of power.

As individuals and as managers, all must be proactive in preventing and responding to inappropriate conduct, support ongoing dialogue on these matters and speaking up and seeking guidance and support from relevant UNHCR resources when these issues arise.

This is a Standard Job Description for all UNHCR jobs with this job title and grade level. The Operational Context may contain additional essential and/or desirable qualifications relating to the specific operation and/or position. Any such requirements are incorporated by reference in this Job Description and will be considered for the screening, shortlisting and selection of candidates.

Desired Candidate Profile

The incumbent is required to have excellent analytical skills, allowing him/her to make judgement calls and be able to escalate sensitive issues as appropriate. The impact of the work has a high reputational risk to the organization. The incumbent must have proven experience in:

• Exceptional leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Strategic thinker with strong execution capability.
• Data-driven decision-making and problem-solving ability.
• Strong customer orientation with a focus on delivering service excellence.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Experience working in multicultural environments and managing teams with competing priorities.
• Strong understanding of digital transformation, automation, and AI-enabled customer service.
• Knowledge of performance management frameworks and quality assurance methodologies.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams and manage complex workflows.
• Familiarity with enterprise service platforms (e.g., ServiceNow) and tiered support models.
• Prior experience of managing service delivery operations preferably in shared services / Business Process Outsourcing for process such as IT, Finance, HR, and Supply.
• Very good understanding of service level agreements (SLA) and reports.
• Project management certification – PMP/Prince2 and ITIL certification will be preferred.

Required languages (expected Overall ability is at least B2 level):

,

,

Desired languages

,

,

Operational context

Occupational Safety and Health Considerations:

To view occupational safety and health considerations for this duty station, please visit: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel.

Nature of Position:

Global Shared Services (GSS) provides location-independent transactional services in Finance, Payroll, Human Resources, Supply, and IT, to enable operations to focus on strategic and context-specific priorities globally. The GSS located in Budapest serves as the backbone of the service, which is supported by satellite teams in Panama, Amman, Kuala Lumpur, Dakar, and Nairobi. The GSS also works very closely with all enabling functions, DPM, DRM, DEPS, and ITS, to ensure policies and controls are implemented and delivered in an efficient manner. The strategic direction and operating modalities of the service are governed by the GSS Advisory Board.

This position is part of the Contact Centre Section of the GSS and will report to the Chief of Contact Centre Section. The incumbent will lead the operational delivery of services within the GSS Contact Centre, ensuring that service standards are met, escalations are managed effectively, and continuous improvement is embedded in daily operations. The incumbent will play a strategic role in shaping service delivery models, managing performance, quality, knowledge management, reports and dashboards, and coordinating across functional domains including the management of GSS satellite centres.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead daily operations of the Contact Centre, including, knowledge management, quality assurance, performance management and reports.

• Ensure timely and accurate resolution of queries across all service lines.

• Monitor performance against SLAs and KPIs; implement corrective actions as needed based on effective trend analysis.

• Ensure alignment with enterprise service management tools (e.g., ServiceNow) and workflows.

• Drive customer-centric culture while achieving cost efficiency and service-level targets.

• Supervise and mentor the Contact Centre team across Budapest and the satellite locations.

• Coordinate with functional leads in HR, Finance, Supply, and IT to ensure seamless escalation and resolution of complex cases.

• Promote a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous learning.

• Analyse service trends and feedback to identify improvement opportunities.

• Support the Chief of Contact Centre in strategic planning and reporting.

• Serve as a key liaison between the Contact Centre and internal stakeholders.

• Represent the Contact Centre in cross-functional forums and working groups.

• Ensure consistent communication and alignment with GSS leadership and field operations.

• Identify and implement digital transformation, self-service, and AI-enabled solutions.

• Contribute to the development of the GSS performance monitoring framework and service-level agreements (SLAs).

• Monitor and improve key performance metrics such as service levels, average handling time, first call resolution, and customer satisfaction.

• Ensure robust workforce management, scheduling, and capacity planning.

• Serve as the escalation point for critical service issues.

• Build strong relationships with internal and external partners/vendors to optimize service delivery.

• Drive a performance culture with clear KPIs, coaching, and recognition.

• Promote diversity, inclusion, and employee engagement across teams.

• Implement best practices, process improvements, and Lean/Six Sigma methodologies to enhance efficiency.

• Lead initiatives to integrate automation, AI, and digital solutions into customer service operations.

• Maintain robust risk controls, escalation processes, and reporting mechanisms.

• Benchmark performance against industry standards and implement improvements.

Living and Working Conditions:

Additional Qualifications

Skills

CL-Strategy Development and Monitoring, DM-Data governance, quality assurance and preservation, FI-General Financial Management, HR-Performance management methodologies and practices, MG-Change Management, MG-Stakeholder Management, SC-Supply Chain planning and strategy development

Education

Bachelor of Arts: Business Administration, Bachelor of Arts: Finance, Bachelor of Arts: Human Resources, Bachelor of Arts: Supply Chain Management

Certifications

Work Experience

Competencies

Accountability, Client & results orientation, Commitment to continuous learning, Communication, Empowering & building trust, Judgement & decision making, Leadership, Managing performance, Managing resource, Negotiation & conflict resolution, Organizational awareness, Political awareness, Stakeholder management, Strategic planning & visions, Teamwork & collaboration

UNHCR Salary Calculator

https://icsc.un.org/Home/SalaryScales

Compendium

Flash Vacancy Notice

Additional Information

Functional clearance

This position doesn”t require a functional clearance