Director, UN Ocean Decade Coordination

The Director of the UN Ocean Decade Coordination leads the Decade Coordination Unit, providing strategic and operational leadership for the implementation of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. The role involves optimizing collaboration across IOC sections and regional sub-commissions, guiding sustainable ocean planning and management, and representing IOC in high-level meetings and partnerships.

Responsibilities

• Act as Director of the Decade Coordination Unit, overseeing the development and implementation of the Ocean Decade, goals and objectives, including a result-based approach, and translate the vision of the Ocean Decade into an ecosystem of Decade Actions and coordination structures that are delivering effective knowledge to inform policy and decision making to and beyond 2030.
• Advise and engage Member States in the implementation of the Decade, including through the provision of intergovernmental and strategic oversight, the establishment of national coordination mechanisms, and participation in Decade Programmes, and regular review of the Decade strategic ambitions as defined through the Vision 2030 process.
• Guide the tracking of progress of the Decade through effective monitoring and evaluation mechanism and facilitate reporting to IOC and UNESCO Governing Bodies, as well as to other relevant UN entities (e.g. UN General Assembly) and identify opportunities to continuously strengthen the engagement of UN entities in the Decade.
• Elevate the IOC Decade coordination function and steer authoritatively the implementation of the Decade in collaboration with relevant UN entities through mechanisms such as UN-Oceans.
• Enhance cooperation, and communication between stakeholders, including the private sector, as well as the development of partnerships aimed at fast-tracking the generation and application of ocean knowledge and update at policy/society level, ensuring wherever relevant optimal contributions of IOC programmes.
• Develop and implement innovative approaches and tools to strengthen the uptake of science and knowledge generated through the Decade to inform policy and decision making and coordinate their replication and scaling more broadly across IOC.
• Work across IOC programmes and regional sub-commissions to leverage the impact of the Decade to strengthen IOC's core programmatic work, the role of IOC within the UN system and the role of the regional sub-commissions as the leading regional ocean science coordination bodies.
• Lead the work of IOC related to Sustainable Ocean Planning and Management (SOPM) including coordination and tracking of the implementation of the IOC-wide strategy on SOPM.
• Consult with Member States, including in SIDS and LDCs, on priority needs in SOPM and develop and lead implementation of initiatives to provide technical support and capacity development.
• Provide support to regional sub-commissions to effectively implement SOPM activities with Member States taking into account specific needs of SIDS and LDCs.
• Liaise with UN and external partners working on SOPM to identify synergies and develop collaborations and partnerships to support IOC to achieve its mandate in relation to SOPM.
• Lead outreach efforts to enhance the role of IOC as a leader of SOPM approaches within the UN system and with external partners.
• Guide the implementation of the Decade SOP programme, facilitating the establishment of institutional partnerships and ensuring strong Member State buy-in the design and delivery of SOP resources at national level and leveraging the outcomes of the programme to support long-term IOC activities in SOPM.
• Provide strategic guidance and supervision to the heads of the regional IOC Secretariats in priority setting, work-planning, resource mobilisation and partnership development to deliver in line with the IOC Results Framework and Secretariat Implementation Plan.
• Facilitate regular exchange and collaboration between heads of regional IOC secretariats, Heads of Section and other senior staff to ensure that global programmatic priority setting reflects regional priorities of Member States and continuously develop and implement measures to ensure that Member States of regional sub­commissions and regional partners inform overall IOC priority setting and planning.
• Monitor the effectiveness and impact of regional programmes, work with the heads of regional IOC Secretariats to adopt corrective measures as needed to ensure strong delivery, and coordinate reporting from IOC Sub-commissions to IOC governing bodies.
• Support and promote the participation of IOC Sub-commissions' Secretariats in the development and implementation of extra-budgetary projects to meet identified priorities.
• Steer the priority setting and work-planning of the IOC Sub-Commissions towards enhanced science/policy relevance and delivery towards relevant regional ocean policy/management frameworks.
• Ensure the meaningful contribution of the IOC Sub-Commissions to the effective outcomes of the Ocean Decade through strategic guidance to regional coordination structures and catalysis of regional Decade Actions aligned with IOC's mandate.
• Identify focus areas for collaborative work between Member States aligned with the overall IOC Medium Term Strategy, IOC Results Framework and its contribution to global ocean governance processes and frameworks (Agenda 2030 /UNOC, Sendai Framework, UNFCCC, CBD Global Biodiversity Framework and UNCLOS/BBNJ) and in support of science-based approaches to the sustainable ocean economy.
• Monitor technical advancements in ocean management and science-based applications, and identify marine policy requirements, particularly those emerging from UN frameworks.
• Establish, maintain, strengthen and expand research and policy partnerships with a high-level network of partners, including with academia, intergovernmental organizations, government bodies, the private sector, media leaders, civil society organizations, academia, UNESCO Chairs, Category 2 Centres, Decade Collaborative Centres and other relevant bodies.
• In line with the IOC Results Framework, propose priorities for and coordinate the development of IOC decision support input to Member States and multilateral processes.
• Provide strategic input regarding ocean policy development and contributions of IOC to relevant UN inter-agency processes such as UN-Oceans, the World Ocean Assessment, the SG report on Ocean, UN-ICP and generally support higher level of visibility of IOC's work at the UN.
• Recommend programme and project approaches, plans, expansions, and changes; and develop and propose policy-relevant activities, to be approved by IOC governing bodies.
• Act as focal point within IOC for ocean related activities within UNESCO sectors, and lead reporting to UNESCO Governing Bodies on relevant issues.
• Represent IOC in high level internal and external meetings and conferences.
• Participate in senior management mechanisms established within IOC and other structures of UNESCO.
• Lead efforts to engage in interdisciplinary work within IOC and with UNESCO sectors.

Requirements

• Advanced university degree (master’s or equivalent) in the field of Ocean sciences, Marine Sciences or a field related to the IOC programme.
• A minimum of fifteen (15) years of progressively relevant professional experience, with a focus on Marine Sciences or related fields, including at least five years at the international level.
• Strong experience of trends, demands and challenges in ocean sciences and management, including in developing countries.
• Proven track record of successfully establishing and maintaining partnerships at a global, local and community level.
• Proven capacity to connect with leading institutions related to Marine Sciences, and a strong knowledge of state-of-the-art research in the field of Ocean strategies.
• Demonstrated experience in advocacy and resource mobilization.
• Strong and proven record of innovative applied research.
• Knowledge of, and commitment to, UNESCO’s mandate, vision, strategic direction, and priorities.
• Capacity for institutional leadership, a high sense of objectivity and professional integrity, diplomacy, tact and political astuteness.
• Capacity to provide intellectual leadership to guide staff, and an ability to build trust, manage, lead and motivate a large and diverse body of staff in a multicultural environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity, and to oversee ongoing training and staff development.
• Ability to identify key strategic issues and opportunities, and associated risks.
• Demonstrated strategic planning and excellent management abilities, including a capacity to administer multiple programmes and projects, financial and human resources, while exercising appropriate supervision and controls.
• Excellent organizational skills, including the capacity to establish plans, priorities, and to implement them effectively.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including the ability to manage relationships at all levels.
• Excellent communication skills, both orally and in writing; and demonstrated ability to interact with a wide range of high-level partners.
• Excellent knowledge and drafting skills of one of the working languages (English or French) of the Organization.
• Professional experience in the United Nations System and/or in the field of international multilateral setting organizations (desirable).
• Working knowledge of the Organization’s second language (English or French) (desirable).
• Knowledge of another official language of UNESCO (Arabic, Chinese, Spanish, or Russian) (desirable).

Skills

• Ocean Sciences
• Marine Sciences
• International Ocean Management
• Global Partnership Building
• Applied Research
• Advocacy
• Resource Mobilization
• Institutional Leadership
• Strategic Planning
• Programme Management
• Project Management
• Finance Management
• Human Resources Management
• Multicultural Staff Leadership
• Training and Staff Development
• Organizational Planning
• Stakeholder Engagement
• High-level Communication
• UN System Experience
• UNESCO Mandates Knowledge

Languages

English, French