Client Engagement Assistant

Mission and objectivesEstablished in 1970 by the UN General Assembly, the UNV programme had more than 14,600 UN Volunteers from over 180 nationalities by the end of 2024. They serve in 170 countries with 59 UN agencies, helping implement programmes that improve the lives of millions of people around the world and contributing significantly to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

ContextAt country level, the UNV Field Unit (FU) and/or designated UNV personnel are responsible for the mobilization and placement of UN Volunteers in UN Agencies, Funds, and Programmes in the areas of peace, development and humanitarian assistance. UNV Field Units / designated UNV personnel represent and position UNV in the respective countries with a focus on the UN Country Team, bringing UNV’s services and solutions closer to its partners within a client service approach and collaborating with other stakeholders from government, civil society and private sector. As UNDP represents UNV at country level, UNV personnel are usually hosted within a UNDP Office and are accountable to the Supervisor and UNV Executive Coordinator for compliance with UNV and UNDP policies, rules and regulations.

Task DescriptionUnder the general guidance of the Regional Manager, with day-to-day reporting to the Country Coordinator, the UN Volunteer serving as Client Engagement Assistant supports the identification, development, and cultivation of select partnerships with UN Agencies / Host Entities at country level. This includes managing the relationship with priority partners, gathering and sharing data and information that influence mobilization opportunities, ensuring client satisfaction with volunteer services, and bridging the delivery of services from centralized functions of the volunteer management cycle. The critical purpose of this UNV assignment is the sustained mobilization of volunteers to the designated partners (clients) and support to the duty of care for serving volunteers. The role involves regular contact and liaison with counterpart UN personnel at all levels, including senior level staff. Within UNV, all personnel are expected to work across multiple units, functions, and teams in order to enhance and enable horizontal collaboration. 1. Assist in mobilizing volunteers and developing and maintaining partnerships • Support the management of assigned partner accounts and maintain relationships with UN entities to promote UNV’s mandate, offers, and the added value of volunteer assignments. • Identify volunteer placement opportunities aligned with UN agency strategies and assist in preparing descriptions of assignments. • Contribute to the development of tailored offers and initiatives that address partners’ evolving needs for volunteer solutions. • Support advocacy campaigns, key events, and communications that raise awareness of volunteerism and highlight impact stories. • Collect and analyze data from UN Cooperation Frameworks and agency programmes to identify opportunities for volunteer engagement. • Record mobilization opportunities and partnership intelligence in UNV’s Client Relationship Management (CRM) system and ensure knowledge is documented and shared. • Prepare presentations, mapping, and key messages for engagement with partners and internal use. • Act as focal point for online volunteering, in consultation with the Regional Office, by supporting host entities in developing OV opportunities, promoting the concept of OV, and assisting with accreditation of OV service organizations. 2. Support in partnership building, engagement and advocacy on volunteerism • Support the organization of strategic dialogues, partner engagements, mainly UN partners, and outreach and advocacy events, including agenda setting and preparation of briefs; • Regularly identify partnerships and volunteers’ mobilization opportunities from regular dialogues with partners and through active engagement and exchange with UNV’s relevant units and cooperation entities to enable expansion of collaborative engagements and advise internal clients; • Support the Country Coordinator in identifying opportunities to strengthen communication of UNV’s results and offer at country level and regional/global level, by nominating and promoting ideas, stories and significant partnership results. Collaborate with regional and HQ personnel in enhancing UNV communications efforts. • Assist in preparing and disseminate country-specific promotional information on UNV’s mandate and work, in coordination with the Regional Office and the Communications team. • Assist in coordinating and planning events, in collaboration with other agencies, for annual, national, and UN-recognized international celebrations, including the International Volunteer Day (IVD). 3. Support volunteer experience and duty of care • As a fellow UN Volunteer, assist with onboarding and provide ongoing support throughout the volunteer management cycle to ensure an inclusive, smooth, and positive experience for all UN Volunteers in the country. • Respond to volunteer inquiries, escalate concerns when needed, and gather feedback through surveys or check-ins to inform improvements. • Help organize appreciation initiatives and local events that recognize contributions and foster belonging. • Support host entities with information on volunteer roles, wellbeing, and enabling instruments (e.g. insurance, benefits). • Contribute to duty of care by liaising with security focal points, supporting emergency headcounts, and coordinating assistance in cases such as medical evacuation. • Provide tailored support to peers facing language or integration challenges to help them navigate their assignments effectively. • Backstop other Field Unit/country-level functions during peak periods or staff absences to ensure continuity of service and support.

Competencies and valuesSystem Thinking - Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgement to understand how interrelated elements coexist within an overall process or system, and to consider how altering one element can impact on other parts of the system Integration within the UN - Ability to identity, and integrate capacity and assets of the UN system, and engage in joint work. Knowledge of the UN System and ability to apply this knowledge to strategic and/or practical situations. Knowledge Generation - Ability to research information and to turn it into useful knowledge, relevant for context, or responsive to a stated need. Ability to apply existing concepts to new situations, and to develop new concepts to generate workable solutions and new approaches. Knowledge of relevant concepts, conceptual models, and theories that can be useful in addressing new situations. Communication - Communicate in a clear, concise and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience. Ability to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media and other appropriate channels Customer Satisfaction/Client Management - Ability to respond timely and appropriately with a sense of urgency, provide consistent solutions, and deliver timely and quality results and/or solutions to fulfil and understand the real customers' needs. Provide inputs to the development of customer service strategy. Look for ways to add value beyond clients' immediate requests. Ability to anticipate client's upcoming needs and concerns. Relationship management - Ability to engage with a wide range of public and private partners, build, sustain and/or strengthen working relations, trust and mutual understanding. Event planning and execution - Ability to plan, manage and execute public and private events to ensure that they support and amplify individual communications and advocacy initiatives, as well as UNV's overall brand and mandate.

Living conditions and remarksThe Central African Republic is a post-conflict country. Starting in 2013, a bloody conflict pitted the Seleka against the Anti-Balaka across almost the entire country. Fearing the risk of genocide, the United Nations decided to send peacekeepers to the country to protect civilians and restore peace. Although the fighting has ended, there are still some areas of the country where armed men continue to attack villages, private individuals, and even NGO and UN personnel. Following the Political Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation signed on February 6, 2018, between the 14 armed groups and the CAR government, the state began deploying its services, including the armed forces, police, gendarmerie, and justice system, in several regions of the country. The CAR has only one international airport (Bangui M'poko), which provides all air links with the outside world and other regions of the country. There are aerodromes in the 16 capitals of each prefecture and also in some large sub-prefectures. The road network is very poor, as there is only one main road connecting the CAR to Cameroon, which is paved. There are two alternating seasons in the CAR: a dry season and a rainy season, each lasting six months. The most feared disease is malaria, which claims many victims each year. The hotel network is growing rapidly, but remains very expensive. In terms of food, Bangui and some of the country's major cities offer a wide variety of local and imported products. However, access to these products is not the same throughout the country. All these difficulties make the cost of living more expensive. The same is true for services such as banks, hospitals, electricity, etc., access to which is very limited and concentrated only in the capital, Bangui