Closing date: Saturday, 28 February 2015

Vacancy Announcement No: UPU/15/D2/FT-C/85

Title: Director

Grade: D2

Type of contract Fixed-Term (Core) Appointment

Duration: Three years

Publication Date: 14 January 2015

Application Deadline: 28 February 2015

Organizational Unit: Operations and Technology Directorate (DOT)

Duty Station: Bern Switzerland

Scheduled date for taking up appointment: As soon as possible

Organizational Context: With its 192 member countries, the Universal Postal Union (UPU), a specialized agency of the United Nations, is the primary forum for cooperation between postal sector players. It helps to ensure a truly universal network of up-to-date products and services.

Main duties

The Director of Operations and Technology will perform the following broad tasks under the supervision of the Director General (DG) of the International Bureau (IB) of the UPU

1. Develop strategies, policies and guidelines covering the programs under the DOT and make decisions on postal operational matters in conformity with the UPU Acts.
2. Develop appropriate technologies and standards to meet the operational needs and improvement of the quality of the international postal service.
3. Initiate, plan, coordinate and direct the DOT programs and activities to improve the interoperability, quality and efficiency of the physical, financial and electronic dimensions of the international postal network keeping pace with the constantly evolving postal markets and customer needs.
4. Direct and supervise the works of the various technical units under DOT.
5. Perform the function of Secretariat to the Postal Operation Council (POC) of the UPU.
6. Liaise with UPU member countries on POC matters.
7. Liaise with other Directorates.
8. Perform any other assignment given by the DG on behalf of the IB.

1. Strategic duties

1.1. Member of internal IB committees

• Contribute to the development of general strategy, policy, operations, budget, resources, staff management in the IB.

1.2. Functions of scope of work of the Director

• Develop strategies, policies and guidelines on postal operations matters.
• Implement decisions of the UPU bodies in the areas of postal operations and technology.
• Direct key areas such as quality of service, security, standardization and certification, letter mail, parcels, postal payment services, customs, airmail, addressing, Express mail service (EMS) and technology.
• Supervise cross-directorate projects under his/her responsibilities.
• Build/ strengthen relationships with external partnerships (E.g. WCO, IATA, UNODC,IAEA, CEN, ISO, WSBI, INTERPOL, etc) to improve the efficiency of the international postal supply chain.

2. Management of DOT

2.1. Project formulation and implementation

• Identify priority projects and programs within DOT.
• Coordinate with the Directorate of Development Cooperation (DCDEV) on implementation of regional projects to improve quality of service for letters, parcels and EMS and to develop electronic payment service

2.2. Implementation and coordination of ongoing activities

• Provide organizational leadership, strategic guidance and authoritative technical advice on issues relating to the activities of the directorates.
• Coordinate the development of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) messages and promote their use with Airlines and Customs Organizations and other UPU partners.

2.3. Resources and administrative matters

• Oversee administrative matters necessary to the functioning of the Directorate, including
  1. supervision the preparation of the budget to ensure the optimum use of resources (financial and human resources);
  2. reporting to the DG on the Directorate's performance in the context of a results-based management.
• Create an empowering and motivating work environment for staff in DOT.
• Develop a high performing team of experts motivated to seek innovation and deliver excellence.
• Anticipate trends in financial and Human Resources (HR) needs and develop internal capacity to meet evolving programme delivery requirements.

3. Responsibility to UPU bodies (Congress, POC, Telematics and EMS Cooperatives)

3.1. Congress and POC

• Act as Secretary of the POC, and its Management Committee.
• Ensure meetings of the POC and its bodies are properly planned and organized.
• Act as Secretary of Congress for one or several committees as decided by the IB Management.
• Act as Secretary of the POC constitutive meeting at Congress.
• Advise UPU bodies in the areas relevant to postal operations and technology.

3.2. Telematics and EMS Cooperatives

• Participate in the meetings of the Management Boards of the Telematics and EMS Cooperatives.
• Provide guidelines and advice on decisions to be taken by these bodies in conformity with UPU Acts.

4. Communication/ relationship with designated operators and other external partners

• Ensure that communication to the designated operators is consistent with the UPU Convention, Regulations and the Postal Payment Services Agreement.
• Ensure designated operator's conformity to UPU standards and their participation in development of new ones.
• Ensure coordination of standardization activities within the UPU members.
• Ensure coordination with POC, Council of Administration (CA), and external organizations with which UPU maintains formal relationships.
• Ensure liaison with UN agencies, Designated Operators and private sectors in areas of operations and technology to ensure maximum efficiency on behalf of the DG.

QUALIFICATION AND SKILLS REQUIRED

Education: University degree (Masters or equivalent) in either economics, business administration, management, engineering or related fields. Postal training background and experience would be a great advantage.

Experience: Senior executive from Designated Postal Operator with a minimum of 10 years of experience. The candidate must provide proven track record on his/her performance.

Technical knowledge

• Very good knowledge of postal operations, quality of service, security, standardization and certification, letter mail, parcels, postal payment services, Customs, airmail, addressing, EMS.
• Very good knowledge of postal sector trends at world-wide level in above-mentioned areas.
• Very good knowledge of project management skills.
• Very good knowledge on Budgetary management and organization skills.
• Very good knowledge of business presentation skills.

Skills and abilities / competencies:

• Ability to lead and manage staff, delegate, supervise, coordinate and manage activities while keeping staff motivated.
• Ability to identify key strategic issues and provide strategic priorities and direction.
• Ability to drive UPU to a successful future, demonstrating a broad-based understanding of the increasing complexity of operations and technology issues and activities.
• Good interpersonal skills, client orientation and quick decision making capacity.

Language skills: Proficiency in English or in French. Knowledge of the other language would be considered as an advantage.

Additional Information: Candidates must ensure that they provide relevant contact details so that they can be contacted at any time, to prevent them from being excluded from the selection process.

Annual salary: (Net of tax)

104,219 USD

113,443 USD with primary dependants

Post adjustment: 86.5 % of the above figure(s). This percentage is to be considered as indicative since variations may occur each month either upwards or downwards due to currency exchange rate fluctuations or inflation.