Director, Country Office

The Director, Country Office leads and manages all delivery and operations of the UNOPS Panama Country Office, driving strategic leadership and operational excellence to deliver sustainable results and strengthen partnerships in-country. The role involves portfolio management, people leadership, alliance building, risk management, and representation of UNOPS in national and inter-agency forums.

Responsibilities

• Create, foster and role model a culture of trust, empowerment and accountability across the Country Office locations.
• Build engagement and foster a diverse and inclusive work environment, ensuring highest standards of conduct and zero tolerance for discrimination and abuse.
• Plan, recruit, manage and develop a flexible and diverse workforce with needed skills and competencies.
• Develop the strategy for the Country Office, establish priorities and oversee portfolio implementation and operational risk management.
• Lead delivery of the UNOPS strategic plan through the Country Office annual plan.
• Establish annual objectives, performance measurements, standards and results expected to ensure timely and partner oriented services.
• Guide, endorse and oversee proposals and project agreements for identified opportunities.
• Monitor implementation and progress toward objectives, making decisions to ensure delivery of results.
• Plan and allocate resources to achieve goals and ensure financial sustainability in accordance with UNOPS standards.
• Manage overall HSSE performance and ensure safety and security of personnel, assets and information.
• Act as UNOPS Security Focal Point and participate in Security Management Team.
• Build and strengthen strategic partnerships through networking, advocacy and communication of UNOPS competencies.
• Keep Regional Director informed on opportunities, challenges and risks to strengthen portfolio management and business development.
• Ensure arrangements for business process excellence and quality standards.
• Monitor and supervise timely and cost-effective delivery of portfolio according to partner expectations and budgets.
• Exercise financial control to ensure fiscal health of the Country Office portfolio.
• Provide advice on opportunities to enhance UNOPS contribution to partners' results.
• Ensure internal performance and quality management including tracking, monitoring and reporting on project delivery and financials.
• Evaluate performance for alignment with organizational strategy and compliance with standards.
• Represent UNOPS in inter-agency and external meetings to promote the organization and identify partnership opportunities.
• Participate actively in UN Country Team meetings and support programming and advocacy activities.
• Assume leadership role in UN Country Team related to UNOPS mandate and contribute to UN coherence and aid effectiveness initiatives.
• Keep UN Resident Coordinator informed of UNOPS activities through regular communication and reporting.
• Drive high-quality decisions aligned with organizational goals and promote risk management.
• Lead development and introduction of innovation and best practices in project service delivery.
• Disseminate and share best practices and lessons learned for development planning and knowledge building.
• Lead capacity building of personnel, partners and stakeholders.
• Contribute to identification and implementation of innovation and continuous improvement as part of the global management team.
• Share knowledge with peers to ensure coordinated corporate delivery and synergies.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in any discipline with 12 years of relevant experience OR Master’s degree (or equivalent) in any discipline with 10 years of relevant experience is required.
• Relevant experience is work in strategic and managerial leadership in public affairs, management, business development planning and operations in a large corporate or international organization, or related areas.
• Experience in Panama in comparable leadership roles is required.
• Experience in comparable leadership roles in other Latin American countries is highly desirable.
• Only candidates with an advanced level of Spanish will be shortlisted.
• Direct knowledge and experience in using new technologies to enable scalable operations is highly desirable.
• Experience of working in multicultural environments or UN system organizations in a developing country is desired.
• Experience in development or humanitarian contexts is desired.
• Fluent proficiency in Spanish is required.
• Fluent proficiency in English is required.

Skills

• Strategic Leadership
• Managerial Leadership
• Public Affairs
• Business Planning
• Operations Management
• Portfolio Management
• People Leadership
• Alliance Building
• Risk Management
• Representation in Inter-agency Forums
• Use of New Technologies
• Multicultural Environment Experience
• Development Context Experience
• Humanitarian Experience
• Spanish Proficiency
• English Language Proficiency

Languages

Spanish, English